Miyako had only been watching the fireflies for a little while before a prickling sensation at her nape alerted to the fact that someone could be watching her. Adding to that was a scent wafting close that seemed familiar, though she couldn't quite place it. Wheeling around, a growl in her throat, she was met by a pair of disconcertingly bright blue orbs staring unblinkingly back at her.
"Who the fu--" Her words cut off abruptly as she got a closer look, and realized the wolf was the dark she-wolf from her earlier conversation with Varick, who must have tracked her from the forest to here. She gave a low huff, mixed with amusement and relief--and a tinge of annoyance. "Oh, it's you," Miyako said quietly. "You follow me here?"
It was quite the effort on the lady's part for a wolf she barely knew. Then again, she supposed the mysterious black woman was a scout, after all. She had said so. An icy feeling creeped up her spine as she tried to figure out why the wolf had followed her. "Uh, am I too close to your pack territory? I didn't smell any border markings at all, but I can leave if. . ." Miyako trailed off delicately, trying to keep the peace if she was indeed on enemy territory.
Miyako's lip curled a fraction of an inch upward in a subtle snarl as she saw the woman laugh. There was something about her smugness that rubbed her the wrong way. And yet. . .and yet, she thought sourly, she saw some of that same sense of sarcasm, some dry wit, in herself. She didn't much like comparing herself to this stalker, though.
"Okay, good," she responded, letting herself relax just a little bit as the she-wolf assured her she was not trespassing. So, then. . .what? Why had the woman followed her, if not to make sure she didn't stray into her pack's territory? She had said her pack was to the southwest of Neverwinter Forest, and here she was, wandering.
"So, then," Miyako continued, padding a few steps closer and surveying her newfound acquaintance with curious, if still wary, eyes. "Talk. What things?" She then chuckled incredulously, flicking her tail in amusement. "Do you have, like, a crush on me? Why did you follow me here? I don't even know your name!"
Rouge. "Now that I think about it, I think I might have heard you say your name as you were leaving," Miyako said, a hint of apology in her voice. "That sounds familiar."
The other woman told her that she saw parts of herself in Miyako. She wondered about that. They were pretty different. Rouge seemed more suave and mysterious; Miyako felt as if she were all surface. Rouge was a cat and Miyako felt more like a. . .bear? Rouge was a winter wind, and Miyako was a hurricane.
Casting aside metaphors for now, she continued, "Okay, so what do you see about yourself in me?" She cast a glance down at her chest, then looked back up at Rouge. "We both have black pelts. That's one thing. But what else?
"I come from the north, by the sea, as I mentioned before," Miyako said. "I came down here after a family tragedy and have been wandering alone for about a month. I'm not part of a pack, but I do have one in mind. One a friend told me about." Mouse's offer to visit Northstar Vale grew more and more tempting by the day.
So she had remembered Miyako's off-hand mention of her father. She tried not to think about him, much, but he had been such a pain in her ass her entire life that he so often popped into her thoughts, often without her consent.
"My father was a piece of shit," she growled. "He slept the days away and spent nights out with friends, far away. Sometimes we wouldn't see him for weeks. Sometimes he'd be constantly around, nagging us about god knows what.
"He died being the idiot he was, and after he died, my brothers got into a spat trying to decide who would take over the pack. Didn't think to ask me to take over," Miyako added scornfully, frowning. "I had basically been their mother for all their lives, but when it came to actually being in charge, nooo, one of the guys had to do it."
She sighed, looking at the ground. "They were sweet boys, deep down," she said softly. "But when nature kicks in, you know. . .wolves change. My oldest brother killed the other two and took over, and I just. . .had to leave. Couldn't stay after that."
Miyako looked back up at Rouge, ears twitching. "So that's that. I don't want to become attached, to have to face that again, but I know I have to before winter." She cocked her head. "You got sort of the same story?"
Rouge went on to tell her story, and she nodded along in response, the words feeling familiar despite it not being her own tale. Maybe some wolves had had the luxury of a loving family with strong bonds, but many others did not. Miyako's parents had not completely abandoned them physically, but their emotional neglect had taken a toll on her and all of her siblings, one that would likely leave them with resentment for the rest of their lives.
"That sounds like a good arrangement you have with your pack now," she said mildly. "Lets you do your own thing without having to worry about starving to death in winter."
But her comfort soon faded as Rouge brought up. . .mother. Her lips drew up in a snarl again, as she struggled to find words to describe the only wolf she hated more than her stupid father. "My mother was useless," she snapped. "At least my father found us places to stay, and food on occasion. My mother came around once or twice a year to fuck my dad, have another litter, and take off with some other dude. He was obsessed with her, but the rest of us saw right through her." She looked away, eyes fixed on some unseen point in the forest. "I didn't shed a tear when she died."
Miyako looked back at Rouge, her anger fading after a few moments of stewing silence. "So, yeah, I guess you're right. We do have some things in common."
Her brow furrowed as she listened to the words falling like honey out of Rouge's mouth. She didn't know whether the dark woman was coming on to her or putting her under some sort of spell. Miyako did not believe in magic, but there were some wolves that seemed. . .odder. . .than others.
"I'm far from innocent," she responded, thinking back on her life. One-night stands. Broken friendships. Family tragedy. "I was basically a mother as soon as I was weaned. And I've seen some horrible shit. I don't know if I ever was innocent."
She had shivered as Rouge spoke in her ear, the female's warm breath stirring the hairs there, and had taken a few steps backward. Now she regarded her newfound. . .friend? acquaintance?. . .with curiosity tinged with suspicion.
"So what's your angle? Or are you just trying to get to know me better for the fun of it," Miyako added with a soft chuckle.
Rouge wanted to be friends, then. Now that was a concept pretty unfamiliar to her. Friends. It wasn't that Miyako was unpleasant in the least, but she had always been so wrapped up in her own drama and family shit that she had never had time to forge friendships.
It would be nice to have a friend, she supposed. Even if she belonged to another pack.
"So, friends? I can be your friend," Miyako acquiesced, nodding her head. "You are interesting, if a bit. . .intense," she finished lamely with a genuine smile.
One more question rose within her, and she spoke it before changing her mind. "Is your pack nearby? Perhaps we can meet up here every once in a while."