AW night time scouting thread!
Night was falling over the Tuktu Hinterlands, the last vestiges of winter chilling the air and forming miniature clouds in front of his nose with every step Stingray took. It wasn't like him to be out of the copse so late, but recent scouting had revealed the nearby falls to him, now fully free of winter's icy grip. It was a wonderful place for being alone and thinking and he came by often enough to enjoy the sights. Finding he couldn't fall sleep tonight, Stingray decided to pay them a nighttime visit.
He was shocked when he arrived to see something spectacular in the dark mist: a rainbow, dim in comparison to its daytime counterpart, but perfectly formed and visible from his perch atop a flat slab of stone facing the falls at a slight angle. Stingray didn't know the word moonbow and had never heard of the phenomenon before, so what he was witnessing felt like a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. He could only stand there in awe at how magical and otherworldly his little thinking spot felt under the moon's glow.
In her exhaustion and the world's darkness, she mistook the stranger for her
brother, but a few more seconds of inspection told her the truth; this one was robust and sure where Gavrel was adenoidal, wavering. She swallowed in hopes to quell her rapid-fire heartbeat, which hammered almost at her throat.
What are you looking at?
she murmured, though she still sounded very much like someone who was trying to calm themselves down.
She crossed behind him, and past his shoulder she saw that a shaft of moonlight hit the mist and refracted itself just so, iridescence dispersing itself across the surface of the water.
Oh, wow.
Shirin closed her eyes and let her slowing pulse lull her a quarter of a way to sleep,
lub-dub, lub-dub. When she opened her eyes again the "moonbow" remained, and so did the stranger, the back of his head limned with silver.
The secluded falls were not destined to remain so secluded for long. Nyssa was also up late and out for a walk. Not because she couldn't sleep, but because she was full of energy. The burst of the spring season had invigorated her. Set her blood aflow with lightning jolts of energy.
As she veered away from the Copse, she found a pleasant surprise in the form of the scent of Stingray. The man around her own age, who she met once, briefly. That first time was a bust. They must've gotten side tracked with what they had been doing before their little run in. She really hadn't meant to get so side tracked.
Following his trail, she hoped to meet up with him. To try and wrap up any loose ends, if he may have been offended. The gentle rush and crash of tumbling water guided her forward. Tendrils of mist curled up in the night air, wrapping around her legs.
It was mystical. Enchanting. But nothing could compare to the brilliant spectacle of the moobow. Mouth slightly parted, gold eyes wide, she stopped in her tracks, awestruck. Sitting to take in the dazzling sight, was not just Stingray, but another young wolf as well. She didn't recognize Shirin, but given her outgoing nature, Nyssa wasn't put off in joining either of them.
"Oh my goodness. This is incredible. I've never seen anything like this..." She said in a quiet voice.
At some unregistered moment during his awestruck gaping, Stingray sank to his hindquarters. The stone beneath him was wet and cold from the relentless spray, but he took about as little notice of it as he did the way his fur collected miniscule droplets until he veritably sparkled in the moonlight. As little notice as he took of the approaching shade with the blackened face.
Her voice, though quiet, startled him. It seemed Stingray was doomed to being surprised whenever he was out on his own, and not for the first time he found he must improve upon this lack of awareness. Here, in the silver light of the moon with spray drifting down on them, he did not feel afraid; the momentary surprise quickly smoothed down into a warm smile as he turned his face over his shoulder to peer back at the visitor.
Behind Shirin was another wolf approaching, and this one he recognized. His smile grew wider at Nyssa's hushed exclamation. Isn't it beautiful?
His eyes danced merrily between the two women, who in the dark could well have been sisters for the similarity in their pelts. I wonder what causes it,
he breathed, turning back to the moonbow. The astronomers would have known, he thought, but the play of light on airborne water was beyond his comprehension.
Any ideas?