@Somnia - a very, very long thread challenge. Set in Firestone hot springs.
When Osprey had returned to the plateau, she had decided not to leave the safe confines of her pack's territory anytime soon. Yet a week and a half-later after she had had plenty of rest and chance to readjust herself to the life at home, she woke up one morning, feeling this pull to go outside and look for adventure. It had lied dormant for almost two months, but now - probably as a sign that she was recovering from her trauma - it had resurfaced. She knew that resisting it was pointless - she had to go. Otherwise there would be no peace for her.
She made a compromise though, choosing to visit a place that she had seen already, but had never ceased to amaze her. Plus, whenever she went there, it was almost sure that she would meet another soul, enchanted by the sight of the Firestone hot springs and, how out of place they seemed in the overall scenery. It didn't take her long to reach the place, her paws remembered the way, she mused she could walk with her eyes closed and still find the place. Her step slowed, when she reached it, and a smile appeared in her lips, when she realized that nothing had changed here. It was a very soothing idea.
Did she dare travel farther away from the Caldera than she usually did? Yes, Somnia did. She found joy in knowledge and being smart, but also found joy in being loyal and helping out her pack. The Caldera definitely had a bunch of mysteries to help satisfy her curiosity, but a change of scenery was preferred this time around. And thus, she journeyed to Firestone Hot Springs to glean any possible facts about how, why, and any other facts dealing with them forming in that location.
The initial view of them weren't what Somnia had suspected. She had never seen a hot spring, let alone a cluster of many, but she had formed a visual of them in her head. A few, large pools of water that were warmed from geothermal activity, located in the middle of a grassy field. Although her visual wasn't correct, Somnia wasn't disappointed. At least she knew what they actually looked like, which were a great many pools of water with steam rising from them. The water was clear, but looked darker due to the brown color of what made up the bottom of the springs.
Even better yet, there was another wolf here. "Hello! My name is Somnia." She barked as she trotted over, tail swishing back and forth.
It didn't take a lot of time for a fellow wolf to show up, what it first appeared - out of nowhere. Osprey had expected to find someone here, but she hadn't been prepared to actually seeing one so quickly. Maybe it was true - this place held a bit of a magic. In a sense of meeting new people. Or... the springs was something like the 100 wonders of the world - it just drew people in.
She made some careful steps towards the wolf that had greeted her from the distance and now was coming her way. It didn't look familiar, yet she recognized the scent of Caldera and felt a pang of guilt for, how very distant she had grown to the brother that had once been her best friend. However, she shoved these thoughts away, when she returned the greeting and then asked a question with a humorous note: "Hello, Somnia! You probably didn't jump out of those springs, did you?"
The female was friendly, which was a good sign. The way she returned the greeting was a bit unexpected. This wolf was spunky, and Somnia liked it. She chuckled at the idea of her hiding in one of the springs, waiting for someone to walk by, so she could scare them. "Unfortunately, I did not. I don't plan on getting in the warm water, to only get extremely cold when I get out into the cold air. What about you?"
The temperatures actually hadn't been too bad for winter so far. There had been a couple snowfalls and cold spells, but the weather had remained warm compared to last winter. It still wasn't swimming weather though.
"Oh, what a disappointment," Osprey said mustering up a sad expression, while the glint in her eyes gave her away. It was considerably warmer here than anywhere else in the wilds, but this didn't mean that she wanted to get a swim either. As much as she liked and admired the springs, she didn't trust them.
"Nah... I prefer to observe them in action - this, in fact, is a great place, where you can realize, how very small and weak you are compared to the Mother Earth," she explained, shifting her gaze away from Somnia to a small pond with bubbling water. "You are from Caldera, right?"
Somnia was microscopic in comparison to the whole world. She never had that viewpoint before, but it was an interesting one. Who knew how far the land went until it stopped at the ocean's edge? With all that land there had to be tons of landforms, at least way too many to count. There was also the never-ending sky. Somnia was puny compared to the rest of the world.
Somnia was drawn out of her thoughts as the female asked a question. "Yeah, that's my home... Would you mind telling me how you know?" Most wolves she encountered didn't know about the Caldera, or at least didn't show any sign of knowing Somnia inhabited there. Maybe that was because the Caldera was relatively new compared to most packs? After all, she had joined about two months ago, and it had been founded about a month or two before that.
"Oh, that's easy," Osprey replied, enjoying Somnia's moment of confusion about her knowledge of Caldera, who was located quite a distance away. "I could - of course - tell you the improved version of the story - about me having a specific ability to read people and tell their secrets. That would be exciting and frightening, don't you think?" she mused out loud, while keeping an eye on her companion's expression. She liked to test people sometimes to see, what their opinions were about "extraordinary" things, and thus decide, which way to steer the conversation.
"But in reality... you have my brother's scent all over you. Mixed with other's, of course, but I could recognize his anywhere," she cleared the mystery.
While the first thing the female said wasn't what Somnia was expecting for an answer, she still humored it. This was one of those scenarios where a straight to the point answer was preferred, but she was polite enough to tolerate the other answer. "Yeah..." She agreed halfheartedly, waiting to see if she'd get to the point with a follow-up sentence.
The idea of "extraordinary" things did usually pique Somnia's interest, just not at that exact moment. Curiosity held one of the ruling thrones for her, along with logic, but logic was second to it. Perhaps there was a logical way for mind reading to exist, but no one was curious enough to figure it out.
In the next moment, the female cleared the mystery, but introduced another. She was the sister of one of the males in the Caldera, but who? Two wolves immediately came to mind: Elwood and Ashton. Elwood had mentioned that he had originally came to the Caldera to stay the winter, and was planning to leave upon spring to set out to find his sister Avery. Then with Ashton, he had mistakenly called her Mara in his half-asleep daze that one morning, and fixed it by explaining that Mara was his sister.
The thing was, Somnia hadn't learned this female's name yet. "Would you happen to be named Avery or Mara?" There, killing two birds with one stone, or so she thought.
It was always exciting to see, how events unfolded in the most unexpected ways. When Osprey had mentioned her brother, she had not thought about the other males in the pack. How foolish of her, because surely Peregrine wasn't the only guy among many girls (but there was a chance that he wouldn't mind - given his charming qualities). Mara and Avery were nice names, yet she didn't know anyone, who had them. Too bad for Somnia - if - by any chance - she was looking for them. Sometimes it seemed that there were far too many people in the world, spending their time to searching for someone, while their own lives were left on hold. This, of course, was a general observation. Not that it applied directly to this wolf, who she had just met.
"No, unfortunately not," she felt a bit sorry for not being this someone, who had been long lost and now found by chance or the will of fate. "I am Osprey, I am Peregrine's sister."
It turns out she was neither Avery nor Mara, but Osprey. Somnia had completely forgot that any of the other males in the pack could have sisters. Chances were most of them did, but the chances were just as well that they also didn't keep in good enough contact for them to be significant in their lives. Apparently, Peregrine managed to keep in good contact with his sister.
Now, out here in neutral territory, Osprey was no longer some random wolf from a different pack. No, she was the sister of her Alpha. That would put her in a higher ranking then Somnia, even if they weren't in the same pack, correct? Her tail lowered slightly. It would've gone down farther, but where Somnia stood was still undetermined to her. It was probably unnecessary, but it was always better to be on the safe side of things.
"I never knew Peregrine had a sister. I wonder if all of your family is as interesting as you two. Not in the bad way, but the good way." Somnia mused.
Osprey didn't understand the sudden change in Somnia at first - had she said anything that might have made the other afraid of her? Was Peregrine so feared among his packmates that they got scared even by the mention of his name? This image somehow didn't go well together with the brother she knew he was. Funny, reckless, outgoing, straightforward and prone to rude jokes. No place for a bogeyman.
Was it her then? She couldn't tell - she was convinced that none of her actions implied danger. In the end she was at loss and decided to ignore it. People could feel as they wished after all. "That's interesting - there was a time, when he couldn't shut up about me," she overexaggerated, of course, and smiled to soften her words. "But I am glad that he has changed - being an alpha comes with tons of tasks and responsibilities. How is he doing?" Osprey asked.
Somnia let a small chuckle escape her at Osprey's words. For her, being slightly submissive had nothing to do with fear or discomfort. Instead, it was a way of being respectful to others, as well as expressing her high opinion of them if they earned it before they had gotten to a more casual relationship. She also had a good opinion of Peregrine, and it probably showed in her answer to Osprey's query. "He's doing great, as far as I know. The Caldera is filled to the brim with members, and it's a good place to call home. Your brother's been an excellent leader! He also might have children on the way soon, as Fox went into heat a few weeks back."
Overall, things were going great for Peregrine as far as Somnia knew. Except, didn't something recently happen with him? It was on the tip of her tongue... "Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed, "Peregrine got sprayed by a skunk recently, but he's handling it well!"
Osprey's heart swelled with pride, when Somnia spoke well about Peregrine. A year ago, when he had been banished from his home, he had sworn not to be anything like his eldest brother Tyrannus. He was keeping that promise and it was not hard to see him being a well-respected leader that could make anyone feel as a part of the family. There was a moment, when part of her wanted to be there with him, but it passed, happening out of habit. Osprey had made her choices in life and there was no turning back now.
"That's lovely," she commented politely at the fact that Fox would be having children in two months time. She was happy for him, but this happiness was half-hearted. She knew that the whole leaving and moving away deal had caused a lot of turmoil and hurt feelings on both sides, that it was complicated and that there was no one way of viewing the situation... yet he had moved on with his life with such an ease that it left her wondering, whether he was going to do the same again with this litter. Make the same mistakes and move on again without any regrets.
But the most important message made Osprey forget the hard thoughts and burst out in laughter. "Oh... the stench probably is not easy to take with dignity," she said inbetween chuckles. "Do tell him that I said "hello"," she finished the subject about Peregrine. "So... Somnia, how did you find your way here?"
Somnia gave a nod, signaling that she would tell Peregrine that Osprey said hello. Then, the conversation was switched off of Peregrine, and towards her. "I heard about the place, and I wanted to check it out. After figuring out where it was compared to other places, it wasn't too hard to find." Between Neverwinter Forest and Whitefish River, that was where it was. A bit of exploring had been necessary, but that was expected of any journey to a place you have never been.
"What about you," Somnia turned the question back at Osprey, "Have you been here before, or are the hot springs a new sight for you?"
Osprey was always amazed by people, who remembered all landmarks so well that they had a visual map in their heads to aid them. Speaking of her - she knew the surrounding territories well and that's where her expertise ended. She was prone to getting lost occasionally during her small adventures and finding her way back home had become both as a challenge and as an aditional value to the journey itself. Added a bit of spice, so to say.
"A-a-and? Do you like what you see?" Osprey asked, wanting to know, if Somnia considered the place worth coming and seeing. As mentioned before, it was one of her favorite places to dwell. If it is possible to consider a place as a friend then it is the most accurate way to describe, how she felt about the springs. Therefore it was important for her that others spoke well about it. "I live nearby and I come here now and then. It never ceases to amaze me, plus, I always meet someone new here. It helps me explore the "horizon", whithout leaving the yard of my home," she explained.
Did Somnia like what she saw? Yes, she did. It wasn't beautiful like sunsets in her eyes, but it was intriguing all the same. "Yes. It just seems so..." A small pause took place while she searched for the right words. "Warm and alive. I mean, the rest of the world suffers from the curse of winter's cold, but this place fights against that. While everything accepts the cold as a way of life, this place rebels by making its own warmth when other things won't supply it." Not that winter was a bad thing. It was needed to give the world a rest from the growing, so the next growing season could come back even better.
"Mhmm. I would love to live so close to this natural wonder." No, Somnia wouldn't leave Redhawk Caldera to move closer to the Firestone Hot Springs if she was given the chance. It was simply a wish, but she had bigger wishes. One such wish had once been a new place to call home, and it had been granted.
Somnia was elaborate in her praise for the springs and Osprey listened to it with a happy and proud look in her eyes. There were many wonders around the wilds, she had no doubt about it, but this was one of the most original so far. With the benefit of being so close to her home and chances to visit it as often as she wished. "I never thought of it that way, but you are probably right," she agreed, thinking about the place as a rebel spirit against the seasons was novel yet very close to the truth.
"But wouldn't it cease to be a wonder then?" she asked. If there was a thing you saw every day, you got used to it and over the time failed to see any beauty in it. "Have you traveled a lot, Somnia? Or you took just one fateful journey that led you from your birth pack to Caldera?"
Would the Firestone Hot Springs cease to amaze her if Somnia saw them everyday? She wanted to protest that they would not, that they would still be appealing if she saw them everyday, but she held herself back. Even if Somnia didn't want to admit it to herself, what Osprey said was true. If they became a normal sight for her, they wouldn't be as special as they were now. Pushing her stubbornness aside, she gave a small nod.
As for Osprey's next question, the second option was correct. "I don't travel at all really, except for the one time I left my birth pack, as well as the small trips for hunting I make every now and then. Usually, I only leave the Caldera to hunt. This would be the first exception to that. What about you? You seem like someone who would enjoy an adventure."
"You are a keen observer," Osprey praised Somnia, even though she didn't know, what was this thing in her appearance that told others that she enjoyed adventures. It certainly wasn't written on her forehead - she had checked it in her reflection more than once. Was it the way she talked? Was it the look in her eyes? Her paws? To be sure of the last, she looked down at her pair of forefeet and then her gaze drifted to Somnia's. Regular paws, no difference, except for the color.
"It's a recent thing though - I don't make those epic long, lifechanging journeys often. Rather occasional wandering here and there, always having my home in sight," she explained. Back in Flightless falcons she had been more of a homebody. The fact that she possessed a bit of wanderlust some of her family members did, had been a surprise for her. Albeit a pleasant one. "Since you have come this all long way here, let's go and see more of the springs," she was ready to go herself and invited Somnia to follow.
While Osprey silently wondered what made others think of her as adventurous, Somnia knew exactly what gave that impression. It was the little hints that she didn't even know she was giving away in her conversation that triggered the idea. First off, Osprey liked stories, or at least it seemed that way off of her one remark she made earlier about telepathy. Stories were either past adventures retold, or ideas about future adventures, whether they could be achieved or not. Secondly, Osprey had expressed how she loved the Hot Springs. If she liked one unusual location, wouldn't she like to see another?
Somnia listened as Osprey answered her question. It sounded like something Somnia could say to describe herself, albeit it would have to be tweaked a little. She had only made one life-changing journey, and she wandered quite a bit, though it was usually really close to home.
"Ok." She agreed to seeing more as she followed Osprey.
Osprey led the way, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see, if Somnia was following or wasn't too far behind. The hot damp mist surrounded them, making it hard to see in the distance, as well as cloaking, whatever landscape was left behind. You couldn't get lost that bad here, because the place itself wasn't that huge, but at the same time it was easy to accidentally step in a steaming hot puddle or stream and get your skin burned. It had happened to Osprey few times, the consequences hadn't been pleasant at all.
"Now," she finally spoke, stopping several feet away from a especially big, round puddle, where the water was boiling and the steam that was raising up in the air was the strongest. "This is the best one here - we just have to sit and wait a bit. When you feel the ground rumbling beneath your feet - you will know that something is going to happen," she told with a mischievous glint in her eyes. She was not going to tell, what it was yet, not wanting to spoil the surprise. "While we are waiting - tell me, are there spots worth seeing around Caldera?"
Somnia gave Osprey a questioning glance. What was going to happen? Wasn't the ground rumbling a bad sign? Osprey didn't look scared though, and she seemed to know what was going to happen. Wouldn't she flee if it was dangerous? She wasn't, so perhaps it somehow wouldn't be dangerous.
After watching the water boil for a moment, Somnia answered Osprey's question. "Yeah. There's a lake on top of the Caldera with an island in the middle. At the top, you can also see really far away. It's astounding the first time you see it."
The ground started to rumble, and Somnia cast a frantic glance at the hot spring, and then at Osprey. She wanted to run, to get as far away from the rumbling as possible. How could it be safe? But, Osprey still didn't seem scared, and Somnia was curious as to what would happen. Her hackles raised a bit as she fought the urge to flee.
Osprey tried to recall, whether Peregrine had ever told her about this, because she had considered that the word "caldera" was simply something her brother and his mate had come up with. Sounding cool but with no real meaning underneath it. Now, that you started to think about the way Somnia explained this to her, she realized that she could have been wrong all along. That caldera was this sort of odd lake that was atop something.
The ground began to rumble beneath her feet and she sensed Somnia's uneasiness. She turned her head and met the girl's gaze, telling: "Don't fear it." Just as these words had left her lips there was a loud splash and big column of water errupted. Luckily both of them were seated far and safe away not to get burnt by the water that crashed against the ground again. "Now, what do you think?" she asked her companion.
Somnia tried to calm herself as Osprey told her not to fear it, but with the explosion of water added in to the mix, she couldn't help but freak out on the inside. Luckily, she stayed rooted to the spot instead of bolting. However, it was over as quickly as it began, leaving Somnia taking shaky breaths in its wake.
After she calmed down, Somnia could see how it couldn't hurt her as long as she was out of range. "It was a bit unsettling at first," A bit? It was more like extremely. "But, it's also amazing. How does it do that?! One moment it's acting normal, and the next the ground rumbles and water shoots out of it!" This would usually be where the bombardment of questions could be, but Somnia was too busy analyzing it with an awed look.
"I haven't got the slightest idea!" Osprey shrugged and laughed. That was, what she loved about this place. What this water did made no sense at all - probably a person more keen on finding reasons for everything would have an explanation for this too. A rational one too. But she would not want to hear it. This was the truest form of magic she had ever seen and was bent on keeping it that way.
"Believe me, when I saw this for the first time, I was scared to wit's end," she tried to calm down her companion, who had visibly become unsettled by what she had just seen. "But then you learn the pattern for the series of events and in the end... it's great to see it over and over again."