Wolf RPG

On the edge of the sentinels and woods and the bay she tilted her head back in a query for @Phox, she had learned he had come to winter with Towee in Moontide and a part of her was hopeful. That perhaps he wished to see where it went, had felt the same possibility and interest she had when they had met. It may have been a bad idea to invite him on the jaunt, she could have gone to check if Hjolderfel had left their old holdings on Gryfalcon's keep on her own and explored it. But she wanted to know if he would be willing to journey with her. There was no urgency in her voice merely a question, although she hoped he would answer.

Phox hadn't wanted to be pushy, and frankly he was still getting his bearings in this new territory. He had lived on a plateau before, and he had lived near the ocean, but the two at once were a bit of a mind boggling experience. He couldn't help but think of Niamh whenever he saw the ocean, not to mention the children who had been raised by somebody else right under his nose for so long. Phox wondered if and when the subject would come up, but he reminded himself it would all happen naturally as they got to know one another.

He step-step-hopped his way down the plateau, making his way through the forest before emerging onto the sandy bay. It was chilly, and the wind from the ocean never truly stopped. He had learned that while living on the island with Maegi and her companion, and again when he had visited poor, sweet Caracal and his children. Phox wondered how Heda and the children were doing now, but he didn't really have the urge to find out if it was only going to be more bad news. He was so, so tired of bad news. Perhaps that was why Heph was so appealing: she was a breath of fresh air with no ties to anybody he really knew.

Hey there, he said as he approached, his tail wagging gently behind him. You rang?

"And you came." Her voice held the hint of a teasing note, soft laughter painting the edges of it. But she was glad all the same and her tail wagged behind her.

She looked away briefly to gesture towards a low peak to the east, while it was hardly the tallest mountain she had seen it did still stand up above the rest of the landscape. "A pack to the east of here, Hjolderfel, moved from their territory Gyrfalcon's keep. Because of their claim, I never saw much of it and wondered if you'd like to see it with me?" Though the screeching of the mountain's namesake had held a stark beauty she knew that a river ran down from the high ground and waterfalls also held secrets to explore. Her voice was easy and open, there were other mountains to climb and places to explore. But she had begun to feel restlessness itch in her paws and though settled life had grown on her she doubted the desire to see new horizons would ever fully die.

He understood most of what she said, but the names sounded like something Wraen would have made up for one of her stories. Like gibberish mashed into nonsense, chewed up, and spit out into a string of syllables. Still, he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to get to know the girl who had shown interest in him. And hey! He found himself wanting to spend time with her, which didn't always happen. Even though it felt like he'd only just gotten here, he couldn't turn her down.

Yeah, sure! he replied enthusiastically after a beat. He briefly considered letting Towhee know they'd be gone, but then he remembered they now had this home base, so that wasn't strictly necessary. Maybe that alone was a good reason to stay in one place: they could always find each other at the end of the day (or week, or month). Phox briefly wondered if Maxim had ever returned to Epoch. Since they'd heard nothing, he had to assume not. It was both deeply disappointing and deeply concerning. Phox couldn't imagine that he was okay. There had been no reason for him to leave.

East, you said? he asked, gazing at the horizon in that direction and trying to pick out which landmarks they might gravitate toward first.

She grinned, glad to have his company. Beginning to walk east, keeping the lines of the coast on her left she tilted her chin towards the short peak. While she had not grown up amongst mountains she had become more familiar with them when she travelled in Teekon, still remembered the first one she had climbed with Atka. "Yep. It's actually that low mountaintop there."

A few moments and she found herself uncharacteristically struggling with a topic for conversation. Truly she had thought herself at least grown out of the teenage desperate-to-impress phase but her heart was beating a little more quickly than the pace of their journey warranted and there was really only one wolf to blame for it. "Just north of where Ariadne decided to start Moonsong. It seems like I blink and another one of Kukutux's children decides to create a new pack, soon they're going to run out of Moon names and I won't be able to keep track of them all. This bay was supposed to be the Saltshores." She added, the last part almost absent-minded.

Phox was always happy to travel in companionable silence, but since Heph seemed eager to fill the air with conversation, he wouldn't prevent it. She spoke of Ariadne, the wolf Phox had briefly helped put together a shrine. While their interaction had been brief, Phox had enjoyed their company and felt he had been helpful. That was, anyway, his whole reason for visiting Moontide the first time. Now, of course, he had ulterior motives. Namely one named Heph.

Oh? he asked when she mentioned that this very bay was meant to be an offshoot of one of Kukutux's. What happened to it? he asked, hoping the story wasn't a grim one. He'd been a part of many failed attempts at settling down, so he knew there were all kinds of reasons it might not have worked out.

They walked along the beach and when he replied she realized her mistake at bringing up the topic at all. While nothing particularly violent or grim had occurred it was hardly a happy story. "Ahhh," A brief exhalation as she tried to gather her thoughts, at least her paws continued to move smoothly over the familiar land. "I think Vaire returned to Moonglow with her kids when her husband went missing and it was to be their pack." Waves lapped at the shore. She was not sure what might have happened to Rhaegal, he had seemed so happy to, in his own words, chase the married life, left speechless by his own wedding. And Vaire had seemed equally taken by him and his life by the sea. All things changed but she had hoped that they would have neighbors. "I met her kids when Moonglow visited and they seemed well." A little quiet at times a little boisterous at others, but pups should be all those things and more. They had not seemed to miss the sea.

While it wasn't a particularly grim story, Phox couldn't help but wince. It reminded him of what had happened with Towhee and Maxim earlier this year. Phox still had a hard time believing that Maxim had left on purpose. There was simply no reason to, was there? Towhee and her kids were wonderful, and he'd had a good spot in Epoch. It was likely going to be one of those mysteries he never really figured out and would go on bugging him until his dying day.

She mentioned Vaire's children, and it made him wonder how Sable and Towhee Junior were doing. Both had dispersed quietly, as far as he could tell. The latter had at least made an effort to let Njord know she was leaving, Phox knew, but she'd never come back after her supposed mission. Maybe she'd decided she liked the world outside of her family's grasp better. It wouldn't be the first time, which had him thinking about Fennec and Penn, too. While the latter had always been anti-family, at least he felt he was on good terms with Fennec, wherever she was now.

That's rough, Phox said finally, idly wondering if anybody had a normal, stable family. His own parents had passed away before he got to know them, although Finley, Elwood, and Raven had been excellent stand-ins. The mother of his first litter had died shortly after Fig and Fennec were born, and well, at least Alyx, Quetzal, and Primorse had a relatively stable upbringing with all three of their parents: Niamh, Towhee, and himself. He didn't know where Alyx and Quetzal had gotten off to, but he could only assume they were out there living their lives in whatever way made them happy.

Did I already ask if you had any kids of your own? he asked. He vaguely recalled that she did know that he had some, although they hadn't really broached the topic beyond that.

If she was startled by the question it did not affect her steps as she continued on, although it did take her a few steps to answer. "No. I'd like to, but I'm not in a rush." She spoke plainly and honestly although it was somewhat vague. When she had first arrived she could not have supported starting a family, hardly staying in one place even for a full night to rest herself. The next season she had been working to help found Moontide. Though she might have tried she had met no one who caught her eye in particular. If she had wanted kids first and foremost perhaps she could have tempted Chakliux but she had had no intention of becoming a fourth or third wife in his lodge.

They wound their way up the coast and the easy pace of the journey and the conversation gave Heph a moment to ponder her next words. "Do you want more or would you rather be a doting grandad?" A humorous glint in her teeth as she spoke although there was an openness to the question. She wondered briefly, a flash of a joke somewhere there hidden in the seriousness, since he and his sister were close if Towhee also wanted to be aunt to another gang of kids although the thought faded quickly from her mind so she could listen to his reply.

He was thankful for her answer, glad that she did not seem intent on having kids right out the door. With both Camilla and Niamh, things had always felt rushed—brought on by the season rather than their actual desire for a family. For once, Phox didn't feel like he needed that right away. Of course, that was easy to say this early, before the world began to warm up and pheromones began to waft in his direction. Still, he liked to think he could resist such a thing, especially after his encounter with Sialuk the year prior.

Heph's follow up question allowed him to voice what he thought. Phox realized how nice it was to be heard. Had he ever had this discussion with his previous partners? Probably, but he couldn't remember it being so... even-keeled. I do love the ol' grandad role, he said with a sentimental smile. I do think I'll want kids of my own again someday, but... it might be nice to get to know somebody without that added stressor for a little while.

Phox left a pause there, then realized he wanted to add something else. And in case it wasn't blatantly obvious, that somebody is you.

The smile on his face when he spoke of his family gave truth to the statement, it also tilted the corners of his maw into the sun the expression catching her eye. She hummed in agreement with his words, and though she had asked Rodyn to ask Kukutux about matchmaking she had not been in a hurry. When he added she felt her paws sink deeper into the sand a smile on her face, as she felt a nervous breath tickle her tongue. But she felt that thread of hope and the quiet enjoyment of his company and replied, warmth thrumming through her words, the end of the statement suffused with a laughter that belied no deception. "I'd like to get to know too, and I do like what I've come to know so far." But though she said it in all seriousness her next step took her a half step closer, not quite nudging barely brushing her pelt and a flash of a smile before setting her path back side by side.

She let time flow between them, not counting the seconds but feeling it all the same. And she found herself curious over one of the details she had known and yet had not fleshed itself out in her mind. "In that vein...Moonwoman mentioned you studied the stars. What drew you to them?" Heph was used to using a few of the stars to navigate, her mother and sister's words echoed in her head briefly, wishes are for stars. But because many of them changed positions with the seasons she found the north star, the sun, and her own knowledge of the surroundings to be what she used most to find her way.

With ease, they continued their walk, and Phox was not oblivious to the light touch of her against him. @Towhee was definitely going to hear all about this flirting as soon as he saw her again. He tried his best to stay in the moment, all the while daydreaming all the different scenarios about how their relationship might unfold. Hopefully, it would be slowly and gently, like a flower opening up after the last frost of the year. (Editor's note: Phox really needs to get out of here with that poetic hopeless romantic nonsense.)

Heph picked up the conversation again, and Phox's ear twitched at the question, remembering the stories Raven used to tell all those years ago. It was my older sister, actually. Raven used to tell me all these stories based on the shapes the stars make. And, once, she said that when we die, our spirits go up there and we get to watch everybody else's lives unfold. It was one way Phox had always felt connected to his parents, even though he had never gotten the chance to meet them.

"Some of them would be very old then." She mused, because she knew that her parents had known the same north star as her. The things the stars had seen, it sounded like a story Dwin would tell, but perhaps one that she would like to listen to one day. To Heph, living in forests and plains but not near mountains for her early life the stars had always seemed quite distant. She wondered what it would be like to watch and observe, but not quite touch, remembered a year ago when there was a deluge of falling stars and thought briefly about what Phox might have known or thought about that.

But her mind caught on to another detail of his speech and she queried. "Maybe you can show some to me sometime? The only story I clearly remember with stars is one with the eleven then seven sisters." She forgot which family member of hers had told her that one, but because the stars from the story clustered together she could usually spot them if she really looked.

Phox nodded. He too had thought about that. How many generations of their ancestors were up there watching them? And what did they think about everything that was going on down here, anyway? He doubted they had much in the way of swaying how things unfolded here in the real world, even if they were really up there, but it was still fun to think about and mull over. Besides, it made a good reason for children to behave when they were younger. Phox was pretty sure he'd used the "your grandma will know if you were a bad kid!" line a time or two.

Oh... I don't know that one! Phox replied with a bemused grin. I suppose we could always swap stories once the sun sets. Wouldn't that be some mushy romantic comedy-level nonsense? But in all seriousness, the thought did appeal to him. It was rare to find somebody who wanted to listen to him ramble about some folklore. Sometimes he made children sit through it, but even they got antsy pretty quickly.

"Looking forward to it then." She replied a light laughter to diffuse the heavy thud in her chest. Looking up at the stars under the night sky and swapping stories did seem very storybook but she was looking forward to it. Though she herself was not a particularly gifted storyteller it did not detract from enjoying listening to others. The waves marked the passing of time as her prints faded back into the sand.