The borders were becoming his haunt. He was focused on them, fixated even, and he continued to push along them and reinforce them. Every day he spent learning the forest, his scent added to the expanse. He had become comfortable and familiar in a quick time, but Castiel could put some of that to the benefit of rarely feeling uncomfortable. He didn't bother with things like that. Instead the large male continued his movements, pushing forward as if he could escape any problems that way.
deirdre had waited for castiel to become more acquainted with the forest before seeking him out again. she was thrilled that there was another presence here, and castiel had seemed to deirdre a good man. he also vaguely reminded deirdre of her father, but there were significant differences the two had in visage that made it easy to recall that this was not the man who had loved and raised her. still--she wished to see him again, to see how it was he fared.
he was on the borders, which did not surprise her at all. it was here his scent was most concentrated, much like her own brothers. she wondered if the duo had met, yet, but castiel was still a fresh face and donnelaith was no small sylvan. it took time to come across him, but come across him she did. castiel!
she greeted, her walk turning into a graceful and long-legged lope. her tail waved behind her as she moved to come alongside him, smiling.
While Castiel was not ignorant to the comings and goings of his packmates he was not privy to their dramas or concerns. It was more simplistic for the seraphim, just working and making himself as relevant as he possibly could. If he kept working and kept his head down then that would if nothing else be one less thing for others to worry about. Castiel paused in his steps as he heard a voice call out to him, remembering the young cherub that had greeted him with Aria. He turned his head, gaze softening a bit as he looked the young woman over. "Deirdre," He offered, a nod accompanying the greeting.
She seemed so pure and gentle, and yet within her he could almost feel the storm raging within. She had so much to fill up her tiny body - though the marks of youth would leave her soon and she would be considered an adult. He slowed his pace a bit to compliment her smaller legs as he took to walking again, inviting her to join him on his pass around the borders. "How are you today?"
deirdre was no small waif; she was large, her stature remniscient of grecian goddess aphrodite, when sculpted by praxiteles or drawn by botticelli! she was not so willowy, like her sister emaleth, but voluptuous! and through her frequent runs throughout donnelaith, there was strength to her softness, the muscle giving her the benefit of moving in a streamlined fashion. she stood alongside castiel, her smile having yet to remove itself from her lips.
i am well,
she hummed, her tail waving behind her. by now, youth had fled from her features. but there was nothing hard about her; even her eyes were filled with a softness that few could mean in earnest. and you? how are you finding donnelaith?
her ears pricked forward with marked interest, hoping he was coming to love the forest and that in time, he might love it as fiercely as she herself did. the very place was a map of her heart!
For Castiel everyone he had encountered was small. Though she may not have been a little tiny creature she still was not as massive as he was - his family was all large and statuesque, built for beasts even larger than their bodies. "It is welcoming." Castiel offered, knowing that to her things maybe have been trapped between two realms - it was strange to the Guardian the way that the pack seemed to defer to the whims of the child. He didn't know what was going on but Aria had seemed different almost once Deirdre had arrived. He couldn't hear what had been said between them, but he was suspicious in many ways.
"There are many differences between the forest and the plains I am used to - not all of them unwelcome." The Guardian was lonely though, the truth of the matter was that he did not have the companionship and comradery that he was used to. With some luck and effort perhaps things would improve but he was uncertain.
deirdre smiled warmly at castiel, truly glad to hear he thought so! i am glad,
comes her genuine words, for truly, she was. deirdre had no idea to his knowledge of the tension that she, too, felt--as for her part in it, deirdre was kind and deferential, when need be, only wishing to diffuse any tension created! there was no cause for her to be insubordinate toward aria, and she knew herself to not yet be of age to rule despite her dreams of it. she did not parade around as though she were queen, but she did move with a grace she seemed to be born with. nothing about her movements were forced; the same could be said of her relationships with others. that others naturally deferred to her whims perhaps meant she had an inherently commanding way about her, but this, too, was not something forced, nor was it something she recognized. she was gentle and warm, and as welcoming as the forest itself seemed to be. it was not something she strove for; it was something that simply was.
i know forests best of all,
she admitted to the man. she was not well-traveled, nor did she have any wanderlust in her heart. still, she did wish to see some things, and wondered what life was like outside of donnelaith. not to experience it, but simply to know it! what were your plains like?
she asked, her interest true.
To the question of his plains a near sad smile grew on Castiel's face. His lithium gaze shifted, looking further away for a moment - his gaze not dreamy, but still in the past. "It was open," He began. "Strong and spacious. Wide and beautiful and wild." His memory drifts towards Winchester, wherever he was, and the days they had spent hunting together. Charging into battle. There are marks upon their bodies from times spent together in battle and Castiel longs for those days again.
"The view is unfettered, the stars bountiful, you could see right into the heavens themselves." Castiel said wistfully, the lilt to his rough voice unusual for him. It was a better time to the guardian.
deirdre heard his words and breathed a dreamy sigh. it sounds beautiful,
deirdre responded, her gaze faraway for a moment. but an image soon came into her minds eye, and deirdre thought to share it with him! would you follow me? i should like to show you something,
she breathed, her plume waving behind her slowly. donnelaith was not yet home to the man, she felt, not as he spoke with such longing for his plains! there was more to a home than just the word, than the sight; home was a feeling, and deirdre desired to make him feel this way again. deirdre took a step sideways, smiling encouragingly; she only hoped he would wish to follow her to this place she would take him.
Castiel could not give her a more apt description than the look in his eyes and the tone to his voice as he spoke of his home. It was, to him, such a special thing and he did not know how to share it with someone who had not seen it before. His brow furrowed for a moment, confused by what she wanted him to see. He had crossed so much of the borders, memorized every tree that was theirs. Was it home? Perhaps not. But it was something he was fiercely protective about. "What is it?" The male asked, looking from the pale girl to the ground as he kept his steps light.
you will see!
came her bemused tones, peering playfully toward him. and soon he would! she lengthened her stride, moving gracefully within the woods; she had memorized every inch of them that it seemed she flew, her feet hardly touching the shadows!
but soon, she slowed--the forests trees seemed to cease for a moment as they entered a small clearing, where the clear night sky could be seen. the fringes of the circle were covered in violets, as though the place was made by the Fair Folk themselves. the sweet air was intoxicating, and she looked up toward the bright moon that illimunated the shape. this is but one of the places within the forest i come when i wish to see the stars. there is another, where forest meets the shore before ocean... it is not plains, but to me, it is beautiful,
she spoke while gazing skyward, but her emerald gaze found him after a moment. the view was breathtaking to the druid, though she only hoped that castiel might think the same thing. how terribly she wished this place might feel more like home for him!
He followed obediently though he did not know where they were going or why. Once it was revealed to him the destination that she'd picked he was appreciative, grateful for her consideration. It was so hard to lose his open plains and his comforts but the effort was being made by the wolves of the forest to incorporate him. "It is beautiful, in it's own rights." He agreed. After some time he left the child to her thoughts, choosing instead to make a final pass of the borders before he went to rest in his den.