He had let his feet wander this day. He had started out letting his feet meander in order to find more things for his naturalist trade. It had been a while since he had dedicated himself to that feat. His last had been an inspection of the Redhawk Caldera's mountain top to ensure that it wasn't about to cause activity. Now it seemed he was at Silvertip Mountain to do the same thing.
As he wandered around this rock landscape, he realised that in some ways he was excited to be here. It felt as homely as the Caldera was. If he and Raissa ever left the Caldera to create a new home, Silvertip Mountain would be the place he wanted to come.
Pausing for a while, upon a rocky outlet that allowed him to gaze over most of the mountain's habitable side, he looked out. Did he even have what it took to be an alpha? He had held a fairly high position in the Redhawk Caldera for a while now and enjoyed the responsibilities that came along with it, though he had never actively sought out new pack members to welcome them. That decision would be his as an alpha.
Before this went any further, he probably should talk to Raissa and see if she even wanted to consider leaving. After all, they had only been mated together for ten days. Was puppies even in their horizon? Allowing his thoughts full reign, FitzDutiful let his eyes subconsciously study the landscape.
Andrea, rescue me ;-; I'm listening to Justin Timberlake while writing the post below ...
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Freedom was a great thing to have, it was the gift to roam around wherever you'd please without nobody and nothing holding you back. Being a loner meant living an adventurous life, although that was a more romantic perspective. In reality it was a struggle to survive, especially with the dawn of winter and the overall scarcity of prey. Spectra was fortunate though, she was thriving good after having found a rabbit carcass, half-chewed upon and with a measly amount of meat left. Still it was this poor man's treasure which made her thrive onward, forever curious to what lay beyond.
It made her wonder why wolves stuck to one place, forever wed to the same territory and same faces, having to chance to explore and adventure beyond. Sure, there were home bodies, but it had to be beyond dull to always serve the same leader. A rebellious thought entered her mind; instead of being a slave, why not be your own captain? Spectra decided that she would not sell her loyalty forever, one day she was going to make a name of her own; even though that didn't particularly mean become a leader. There were many stories of legends written in stone. Ah, the days of young yearling's dreams of greatness..
Reality brought her back to earth once more as golden eyes feasted upon a territory she didn't know before. It was around this time the scent -- no, stench -- of a pack wolf flared through her nostrils. He had given up a part of his freedom by joining a pack. Why? Deciding to be straight forward, Spectra spoke out loud as she didn't want to appear as the local stalker. "Holla! Want to explore this place together?" Ah, how straight forward.
Another pack wolf approached and asked FitzDutiful if he wanted to explore the land with them. It would be nice to have some company while doing his mountain surveying but all of a sudden he felt worried that another pack was considering branching off and making Silvertip Mountain their home.
Deciding to be just as forthcoming as she had been he responded with a nod and lifted himself up off the rock to begin a walk with her by his side. "Together sounds good, I was surveying the mountainside to make sure it wouldn't be a danger in the near-future. How about yourself, planning on making a home here?"
It scented as if she belonged to a pack already, but then again so did he and he was considering it. At the same time, it wasn't a scent his recognised but he knew that there were a fair few packs up north that he had yet to come across. Even closer packs like the Spine and the Plateau he regularly avoided contact with. After all, there was no use in provoking them.
While Fitz questioned whether or not she would make a home here, right on this territory, Spectra's mind didn't thought he meant it in that way. Instead she thought he meant if she would join packs or be an Alpha; one day. Quite ambitious, the yearling said; "Yeah, one day I'm going to be a bad ass leader!" Ah, at least that is what she dreamt about anyway. Then it hit her, this wasn't what he meant; "D'oh" -- she added; "No, I like flat lands way better for pack territory. Mountains ain't my thang, I do love to explore them though."
She was adventurous at heart, though not that much while considering living here. "How about you?" She wondered, especially because he brought the topic up. "Are you here to find out if this territory is suited for a pack?" Because she would be delighted in all her naivety to think that browsing territories like browsing for houses was a fun activity to do. Though, maybe it wasn't so.
The yearling mentioned how she preferred flat lands to mountain territory and Fitz has to hold back a smile. Her enthusiasm was infectious and FitzDutiful wondered if he had ever been as eager and the young one in front of him. Fitz wasn't yet two, but he already felt like he was old in his soul.
The question turned back on himself and Fitz shook his head. "I'm primarily here to scope out this mountain and make sure that there's no danger to any packs near here. I'm training to be a naturalist," he explained. He didn't say anything about the fact he had been considering it. After all, mountains helped you keep on eye on any intruders coming. The sides weren't too steep and the natural caves would make perfect dens for the wolves in his pack.
He realised that the two wolves hadn't been introduced and sort to remedy that situation. "My name's FitzDutiful, by the way."
Maybe because of her past -- or maybe that was just who she was, however, Spectra sometimes had the mind of a child. When the much more mature Fitz explained that he was here to scoop around for danger, a huge thirst of adventure suddenly streamed into her heart. "What sort of dangurrrr?" She asked, unable to somehow contain her excitement within boundaries.
"Spectra, is the name." The Stavanger Bay wolf said with a dip of her head. "I know a lot about the stars, they guide me." The yearling muttered while her mind switched topics with the speed of a sauntering roller coaster. "I mean, I mean I love naturalist things as well; but it's the stars I know most about. Perhaps we can learn from each other?" Hopeful her golden eyes glanced into Fitz's direction before deciding to push her luck. "Can I call you Fitz for short?"
The female, Spectra, certainly had a love for danger. She reminded him of his beta Finley and the way that she had seemed excited at scoping out the Caldera's mountain for potential dangers. "Of course you can," he replied to her question about calling his Fitz instead of FitzDutiful. He really had to change his name - he was fed up of being reminded about his father and mother's illicit affair that had produced him.
"I doubt it's actually dangerous, but I wanted to check this mountain for any sign that it might be a danger. Like, if earth tremors were around here that caused trees to fall." He had experienced one of those in his life, he would happily never experience another. "What do you learn from the stars?" he asked, as eager as she was to learn more about a naturalist trade. There were so many aspects to it that one couldn't hope to accomplish them all and so he was selective about the parts of his trade that he really delved into.
Spectra nodded inquisitively when "Fitz" spoke about the mountains and said natural dangerous were hidden. It reminded her of old, crumbled up stories about an avalanche her mother once told her. The thought of snow rushing down the mountain at a high speed suddenly scared her. "What about an avalanche?" The curious yearling questioned, maybe her fear was unjustified. "Do you think snow can tumble down the mountain if we speak too loud?"
Suddenly she wanted to shut up and say nothing at all anymore. However, that thought quickly faded away as soon as Fitz spoke about the stars; it was the one thing that made her heart beat with passionately. She loved the stars and she had learned all that she could. "Anything." Spectra said, remaining quiet for a second before adding. "And everything; they tell me where I am at night and how far I need to go." But stars were more than just that, sighing softly, Fitz better prepare for the wordy waterfall;
"When they appear at night some see symbols in the stars. Others say that stars are flickering lights of those that have passed, forever guiding us where we are. However -- and this I find hard to believe -- some say stars are just like our sun; but that doesn't make sense at all, does it?" Some things were too difficult to grasp for the simple mind of a wolf.
Spectra seemed pretty worried about the potential of an avalanche falling down around them if they talked to loud and Fitz smiled gently. "Don't worry about that. You would have to be as loud and as strong as an earthquake to cause it to avalanche." He looked up at the snow covered tips and wondered if it could also be more dangerous in the winter when more snow piled on. He didn't mention this though.
She explained how the stars worked and he found it fascinating. Once he had dreamed a dream about following an arrow in the sky that lead him to another naturalist where he had learnt lots of information, but it had been just that - a dream. He marvelled at her talent but found it difficult to answer her question, so it took it be rhetorical. "That's very impressive," he told her, genuine with his words, "I don't have much affinity for the stars myself and so I concentrate on herbs and plant life so if we ever need to find them in a hurry I can locate or point others in right direction. I'm also branching out into natural occurrences too - hence my visit here."
"D'-oh!" A deer-like expression was upon her face when Fitz explained that she would need the strength and voice of a Titan in order to cause an avalanche; it wouldn't happen due to them. They were tiny. A strange, jittery feeling suddenly swept over her, but she decided to be quiet (for once!) and listen carefully what else he had to say. His reasons for coming this way appeared to be numerous.
Thirsty for knowledge, since her inner nerd squealed with joy, the midnight-painted wolf suddenly spoke out loud; "So tell me!" Impatient Spectra cursed underneath her breath, unhappy that her thoughts moved out into the open on such an impulse. Flattening her ears almost apologetically for a second, the lone wolf spoke; "Sorry -- I mean, I'd really like to learn more about plants and stuff. I haven't met a total plant and herb genius. Think you can show me a sneak a peak of knowledge?"
After the initial outburst, to which Fitz nearly responded in kind, Spectra acted apologetically and explained that she was just curious as to what kind of knowledge he had of the plants nearby. Laughing, partly to relieve the nervous tension he felt, FitzDutiful nodded and walked over to one nearby.
"I know enough to perform emergency first aid," he explained, thinking back to the event with the lynx and how it had been good that he had that knowledge, "but I'm a far cry from a healer. Although you can learn enough to get the job done, only a healer can make it heal well. For example, this..." he pointed to a purple flower "can be used to stop infection and this..." cue, wandering in the other direction to the mouth of a cave and pointing at the roof to a Canadian Wild Rye root. "This indications that the cave is supported and won't fall on top of your head." It was amazing the kind of knowledge plants gave him. Not all of them were medical, some were just noting how safe a particular area was.
He looked over at Spectra to see if this knowledge was what she had expected.
Maybe you could use this thread as one of the requirements to become a naturalist?
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No, this was definitely not what she expected. Spectra was thinking that those who knew of nature and how to heal those who were sick. The doctors among men, although maybe the sheep among the wolves. Today Fitz showed her what the difference was between one and the other and all she could do was nod. When he pointed at the purple flower, immediately her golden eyes embraced the sight of it. A thousand and one questions popped up inside her mind, but the most important one was the one that shattered the silence.
"How do you apply it?" And while Fitz safely secured idea that the mountain wasn't about to breathe its snowy pillow on top of her head, somehow it didn't matter anymore. She learned today that a superhero wasn't someone with extraordinary powers, superhero could be a naturalist who could mend the ill or a healer who could heal the sick. That was the kind of knowledge that really mattered.
I think I've already got it logged in my pawprints ^_^
He had been so caught up with explaining how to use the various aspects of nature around them to understand the dangers that he hadn't heard Spectra's question about the application of the purple flower. Once his excitement had calmed the realisation came to him and he wondered how to return to it.
"Um.. the application." he said as he wandered back towards to the purple flower.
"I used it not too long ago and you have to chew it into a paste before putting it on an open wound. Be careful though. When I did it I passed out for hours. That could have been because of a head wound I'd sustained though." FitzDutiful never had discovered the purpose of his black out. He'd woken up with Peregrine's paw over him and had felt too groggy to do much more than get home that day. He didn't dare repeat the incident with purple flowers without good cause so the actual cause would remain a mystery for a good long time yet.
Thanks for the thread [mate]
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When Fitz suggested that the application was to simply eat the flower, her head tilted sideward's, her left eyebrow raised and the tip of her tongue stuck out. Eeewww. She thought, while the moment lasted only a second or so; she was not some vegetarian; she was a lean-mean rabbit eatin' machine.
She had many more questions and queries, like a toddler wanting to know all about the way the world worked. Luckily Fitz remained patient to answer all of her questions and more, teach her a lesson or two along the way. Yes, today had turned into a surprise in more ways than one.
[Fade out]