After spending a couple weeks in the wildflower meadow learning words and learning of each other, Jasmine had proposed a preposterous idea, but her friend had agreed:
@Fallen Sun would travel the Wilds with her.
She couldn’t describe the thrill that coursed through her in any other ways than what she’d said when he’d nodded his agreement:
Dude! Right on!
and had promptly bounced in a happy prance.
They’d set out South and make a mighty loop past the Glacier in the North, touching the seawater and travelling the coast before trekking South again. Maybe she’s even stop them in at Brecheliant for a night or two to see Maia and Eljay again! She’d been here and there over the Wilds but never all in one go, and never with someone else to keep her company and watch her back.
This way’s easiest to go,
she said as they trekked towards the Downs,
it’s just a big field, we can race right through it and be on our merry Northern way.
Prompt: Glacial meltwater c:
His agreement to follow her had less to do with words, as he still did not know the secrets of the Important Noises she was so fond of barking at him. It had everything to do with the fact that he was a rather dutiful wolf with an adventurer's spirit and a wanderlust that matched little else. Above all, Fallen Sun wanted to follow his Wind Flower. She was so kind and her flame was that of a playful wildfire, not destructive or harmful and quite the opposite, this flighty thing that was trying to hold itself together while having a good time.
At least, that was what he thought as he had watched her prance about bouncily, her fur hopping along in time like the rhythmic chatter of excited songbirds. She looked so happy, and then the noises smelt of adventure, which prompted him to return it in excited wags and play bows. Returning her enthusiasm with his own.
Now he found himself in a windswept location, grasses thin, Wind Flower a little ahead of him. The breeze kicked and danced above his head, circling and chasing itself as his nose tried to catch the dance and decode what it was trying to show. Was there food? Or were there predators that could perhaps hurt them, especially Wind Flower? Fallen Sun shuddered at the thought of it. It was so... horrible to think about.
Who could ever hurt her? He wouldn't let them, no. No one could hurt her, she was a wonderful wolf and she deserved to be treated as such.
He shook his pelt, clearing the nasty thoughts from his head. She was talking, wasn't she? Had to be, her muzzle was moving in the ways two golden ears couldn't understand, but nodded and barked along with, catching up to her sleek, oak coat and padding alongside. The man's eyes were curious, head tilting. Where were they going? Lead the way! This was fun, it was always fun with Wind Flower.
When she turns to meet him, he meets her with a question. No words, just a simple turn of the head. Such is the custom and Jasmine isn't bothered. It's not like he doesn't want to talk with her -- from what she decides, anyway, considering he's stuck with her this far. And if only he knew!
But she is growing used to pairing her words with things he can understand, and when he bounds up beside her, she reaches up and nips at his cheek fur before giving him a low howl for him to follow her down into the fields.
He always follows. She never wonders if he will. And at this point, if he doesn't, she might just linger back with him. Jasmine's seen the way he tests the air. Always looking, checking, sniffing at the wind and the places around them. There's no paranoia in his eyes - only a look she would expect in the eyes of someone who cared.
It still rattles her, to think he does, and she feels a lingering ember from the night they'd spent together.
She lets the wind carry these feelings away.
Because anyway! They are here to have a good time! To explore the world, to see new things! To learn a few new words along the way!
Jasmine lunges forward, but looks to Fallen Sun with a tap of her paw to the ground beside her, and hopes he'll understand she wishes him to travel at her side today. Like equals. Like friends.
Wind Flower hadn't spoken a thing, but Fallen Sun had discovered that he didn't, necessarily, need the Important Noises to communicate with her. It made her insanely happy when he tried and even more so when she seemed to recognize the words in his head whispered to her, but it wasn't a requirement. Which was good, because the Noises still hurt his throat when he tried for too long and they were insanely tricky to get anywhere near right.
Their language was mostly through gestures and woofs, followed by happiness. She wanted him at her side right then, which he did without hesitation. The man liked it there. His head tilted once more, a tiny tail wag. Where are we going?
And he looked ahead, seeing... water, barking once, in confusion it its direction. On normal occurrences, it may not be so terribly out of place, but this water looked... like it had been put there, and not like it lived there.
It was terribly weird.
He joined her there by her side and she graced him a silly smile. That was much better than having him trail behind her. They were equals after all, travellers of a like enough mind, as far as she could tell.
As she prepared to beckon him on, he distracted her with something that sounded… more confused than excited. Jasmine tipped her head with a, what’s the matter?
as she dragged her gaze out to follow his — and saw.
Woah!
her ears perked up and she straightened, her grin ever broadening on her lips. Since when had there been lakes here?! It made her skin prickle with something uncanny, but curious it’s trumped the fear. Jasmine gave Fallen Sun a quirk of her brow and a wave of her tail to embellish, before she laughed and scampered off down the hill.
Let’s check it out!
Water?
He loved water! The golden wolf chased after Wind Flower, barking with excitement. Fallen Sun remembered a fuzzy image of a summertime trip to a lake, dozing off in the shallows as older siblings splashed and played in the deeper parts. The man's white paws overtook Wind Flower. Now he was the older one, and mum wasn't there to say no.
And then his paws hit the water, and he tripped, face plunging under its surface. Instead of being scared, he broke the surface and shook, water droplets catching the light and he stood. Water rolled off his pelt and dripped downward.
Fallen Sun almost looked like the sun had begun to sink over the sea, only a lot easier on the eyes and much fluffier.
That boyish smile was ever-present, and he play-bowed at his reflection, the tip of his nose touching the water's surface with a slight tilt.