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+--- Thread: Silvertip Mountain i looked up (/showthread.php?tid=23893)
i looked up - Phocion - November 20, 2017
They were gone.
Naught but the faintest trace of the pack that once had called this mountain home remained; scents suggested they had traveled eastward, presumably to more fertile lands. Now no one was here, and Phocion stood alone on the peak, looking at the moon.
The boy that had fled this place in the face of death was gone, replaced by a man whose destiny lay in the stars. Fengari had tamed his tongue and cooled his anger. Down in the southern mountains, he had become a part of something infinitely greater than himself. He found his way. But he never had forgotten about the times spent in Teekon.
Phocion wondered if Steady, Ezekiel, Krypton, had survived the famine, and if so, where they were. He thought of his former crush Anita, and if she was well. Clearly, none of them were here now. Would he stay or go? Would he try to seize the life that once was his or carve a new one out on this mountain?
Fengari was a mere sliver in the sky, waking from his night of rest. Tosi had come a few nights prior, the stars weeping for their mother. Asteria winked like many crystals in the black expanse above, a few shooting away here and there.
"Fengari, guide my feet and steer my fate;
Mercy, please take
On this soul devoted to you
Loyal and true."
With the incantation, Phocion settled on his haunches, sitting, his icy eyes moving intermittently from the sky to the horizon, then back up again.
RE: i looked up - Wraen - November 20, 2017
Lady Winter's beauty had two faces - one was breathtaking, joyous and able to make the grimness and darkness of late autumn miraculous again, the other, however, reflected her ice cold, merciless heart and her lack of sympathy to anyone, who was not well-equipped or able enough to survive harsh times. And even with this knowledge and also memories of the rather horrible tales Sven had told about the life in the North, Wraen still felt childish happiness, when the first snowflakes began to fall that day and as the day progressed created a thin white blanket, coating the bare ground, trees and branches of bushes.
Her scouting duties had taken her away from the Moonspear, she had caught various scents and picked up many trails, but after few hours of hard work, her mind began to wander. And in a direction it hadn't gone for a long time. Sven - her first crush and reason for heartbreak. She wondered, how he was doing now and whether he and Sarah had got together. Or, if he ever thought about her. It was odd to realize that neither the distance, nor the time had changed the way she felt about him and those feelings made her both giddy and sad at the same time. Oh, why won't you let me go... she sighed and stopped to look around and pick up a track back home again.
However, what she noticed was a white wolf standing in the distance, with a mountain that was a bit like Moonspear in the background. "Hey!" she called out to the stranger.
RE: i looked up - Phocion - November 20, 2017
A faint sound from afar caught his ear, and Phocion looked down, scanning the area for the source of the noise. His eyes finally lit on a sleek silvery shape just a little ways away. With a twitch of his mouth, he trotted cautiously over to the stranger.
She had called out a greeting to him, and now here she was, green eyes glowing in the darkness. Phocion gave her a gracious smile and bowed his head in return, with one wag of his bushy tail. She was not familiar to him, but she seemed friendly enough--not a threat, at least.
"Good evening," he said softly. She did, however, had pack scent cloaking her pelt, and for an anxious moment, Phocion wondered whether another group had claimed the peak and he had missed the markers on accident. "Is this your home, miss?"
RE: i looked up - Wraen - November 26, 2017
"Good evening to you too, stranger," Wraen returned the polite greeting, once she had reached him and stopped at a comfortable distance for both of them. She looked him up and down quickly, found that he was a very good-looking man and, from those few words he had said to her, she could deduct that he had manners as well. But best of all - he would keep her thoughts away from the unwanted memories for a while.
"I live not too far from here - the pack is quite big and strong," she replied, adding the last part just in case the man got any ideas. "I - myself - are scouting at the moment and since I have not seen you around - do tell, who you are and where do you hail from?"
RE: i looked up - Phocion - November 26, 2017
She was formal but kind, making a point to inform him she was a member of a pack nearby. Well, and if Silvertip remained unoccupied for now, that was good. Perhaps Phocion would one day make his home here again.
"My name is Phocion. I come from the south," he said, white nose pointing the direction from whence he had came. His icy eyes snapped back to her. "This once was my home. And I have come back, now, to find new friends."
He looked at the sky. "I am kyrios-filos, a missionary for my tribe. A priest of the stars." Then looked at her again. "What do you think of stars, miss?"
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 06, 2017
"Kyrios-filos," Wraen repeated the words in a language she had never heard before. Then the white wolf explained that he was "priest of the stars", which made her look at him in a new light. Being a "stargazer" or "starwatcher" was one thing, but "priest" was a whole new level.
"Stars... to me they are nothing more than shiny dots in the dark night-sky," she explained and sat down, preparing herself for a long and interesting conversation. "Though I try to change my ignorance on the matter and some of my pack-mates have taught me noticing constellations."
"I have heard from my mother though that stars speak to those, who know, how to listen - do they speak to you?"
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 11, 2017
He smiled at her explanation. He had once thought the same of stars--nothing but meaningless blinking orbs, some of which were at least a bit useful to guide your way when you were lost. Then again, Phocion had always traveled during the day. He had done everything during the day. And now it had all changed.
"They speak to us all--but yes, I suppose I am more willing and able to listen than most," Phocion responded, trying to temper his tone so as not to sound bragadocious. Vanity had once been a vice of his, and his time with Fengari had humbled him enough to see the error of his past ways. Where once he had puffed out his chest, now he remained quiet and small, merely an instrument of the universe rather than the entire universe itself.
He lifted his nose to the sky. "The stars are daughters of the moon," he explained, smiling as he caught sight of some of the more radiant girls there. "Asteria, they are called. They are each unique, like individual snowflakes--but they come together to light the sky."
Phocion turned back to the girl, the smile still lingering over his white muzzle. "You never told me your name," he said, eyes twinkling in the dark. "You don't have to give me one, but rest assured I will give you a name of my own choosing if you do not--to remember you by."
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 16, 2017
"I suspected that," Wraen replied, not finding anything boastful in the way the white wolf affirmed her earlier statement. It turned out that this particular star-gazer was more of a poetical one than the rational one (those, who tell the astronomy for what it is - big bangs, dusts forming orbs, reflecting light and all the etc.s) and she liked that even more. It was always easier for her to memorize important facts if they either had a little silly edge to them, or a story.
"I did not - but know you intrigue me - what would you call me, if given a chance?" all her life Wraen had been just Wraen and nothing else. Terance had a nickname - Terry or Ter. Sarah's name was a nickname itself for Sagittaria. Mom had had a nickname in her days - Silver Bullet - or what was her persona in the game she had played with Charon. Lady Garlic-shrimp something? "If I like it, I will keep it. If I don't think that it fits me, I will tell you my real name."
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 19, 2017
He smiled, thinking. The moonlight glinted off her eyes, green as ripe apples in the fall. Phocion lifted his head upward, searching for a long moment--to no avail, for she hid during the bleak winter season--but settled on one of the Asteria: Veeri, the emerald star. When visible on a summer's night, she pulsed a bright, verdant color against the whites and silvers of her sisters, almost perfectly matching the shade of this girl's beautiful gaze.
"Veeri," Phocion decided finally, looking back down at her. "It is the name of the star who glows green." He pointed his nose toward the sky once more, in vague illustration. "You can't see her tonight--but she's there, somewhere. Green. . .for your eyes," he added, his own creasing as he grinned at her.
He wagged his bushy white tail. "So, Veeri," Phocion continued solemnly, though not without a faint note of levity in his tone. "Will you keep this name or tell me your own? Either way. . .you may always be Veeri to me."
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 21, 2017
"Let's stick to Veeri then - I like it," Wraen replied and smiled at the man, who had - knowingly or unbeknownst to him - complimented her. She did wonder, if that green star really existed or he had come up with it on the spot. It seemed more likely that with her rather un-star-like appearance it was difficult to find a match in the sky. But not wanting to be impolite - she didnot ask.
"So, Phocion - what star were you named after?" it seemed only fair to think that a person, who came from a tribe that knew stars, would be essentially called after one of the billion in the sky.
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 21, 2017
It had been so long since she had died that any thought of her that came to his mind, whether prompted or spontaneous, hurt a thousand times less than it once had. Still, he felt that customary, tiny pang in his chest when Veeri spoke of his name, reminding him again of his mother.
"Not a star," he said, shaking his head. "It is the name my mother gave me. I keep it, to honor her memory." He paused to think once more, then with a smile, added, "My tribe back home called me Pago--our word for 'snow.' If I call you Veeri. . .you can call me that."
Pago. Another little twinge of sadness brought the corners of his mouth back down to a half-frown, as he suddenly found himself missing his home. Pago. How he missed the sound of that name, spoken in rusty tones from the elders or the sweet, pure flute-voices of the youth. How he missed being in a place where he was truly wanted, needed.
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 23, 2017
"My mother was named after her uncle and her brother named his firstborn daughter after her. So there were three Ospreys in the family - Sr., Jr. and Jr.Jr.," Wraen found it funny and was glad that neither of her parents had decided to carry on the tradition of naming their kids after their dead relatives. Terance's name was similar to Tarin's - Dante's sister's - but that was as far as the similarities went.
"Pago it will be then," she was happy that there was a pronounciation-wise easier name to spell and remember. Plus, Snow and Green - didn't that sound like a beginning of an interesting story? "What was your tribe back home like?"
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 28, 2017
He smiled at her story, both because it amused him and because he had always been charmed by the idea of family lineages. Having no father to speak of, and with his mother dead and gone in his adolescence, he had none of those kinds of anecdotes to offer--so he loved hearing of them.
"It's wonderful," Phocion responded, holding back a wistful sigh. She had made him suddenly homesick. "Everyone is so loving and kind. We're priests, missionaries, artists, hunters. We don't spill blood unless absolutely necessary. All are considered part of the family."
His head turned suddenly southward, glancing toward where he had come from. "Veeri, I came here to start a tribe of my own. To bring the beliefs that saved me to Teekon," he explained. "It will take time. . .but someday, I will have a family here. Perhaps even here, on this mountain."
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 28, 2017
"That does sound like an amazing pack to live in," Wraen replied, thinking briefly of her parent's tightly knit family group, where all knew everyone and treated nicely and friendly as well. Moonspear was not a bad place to be in, but living amongst wolves, who were not related to you and who you had not known since childhood, was very different. No matter, how hard she worked to prove herself, no matter, how long would it take her to achieve rank, power and respect, Wraen Redleaf-DiSarinno would never truly be part of the Ostrega family. Always a stranger, always a foreign blood.
"You do sound very determined," she remarked, comparing his ideas of good life to her own. Though just a year younger their levels of maturity were great distances away. Wraen still felt like a kid, whose real and serious adult life had just begun and she was nowhere near ready or determined to find a husband, have children and lead a pack until she died. "Sorry to barge in, but - if your pack was so great, why did you leave it in the first place?"
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 29, 2017
He smiled, shaking his head. "You're not barging in," he assured her. "I've asked myself the same thing since I left. . .quite often, actually."
Phocion looked out over the southern horizon, icy blue gaze taking in all the sights. They had come from a single place in the central plains and had scattered out from there, creating pockets of knowledge and wisdom in all corners of their known world. It was their destiny to leave, so that they may one day know a world where you never left. . .because your family was all around you.
"It is my duty as kyrios-filos to start a new tribe here," he explained, bringing his eyes back to the girl. "A new life, a new family. We travel far to spread our message everywhere."
Phocion looked at her for a long moment, thinking. She did mention she was part of a pack. But was she happy? "When I establish my tribe here, I'll call for you, Veeri," he murmured. "You would make a great addition."
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 29, 2017
"Oh," Wraen admired the man for his courage and sense of duty, because in his place she would have been no where as brave or loyal to the rules of the tribe. Having spent only 1.5 years in this world and taken those first, difficult steps towards adulthood and independence just recently, she was not ready for any other major change. At this point in life she felt quite comfortable with hanging around the mid-tier and taking her time in finding out, what she wanted to do in life.
"Thank you, Pago, for your trust in me, but I will have to decline your offer," it was surprisingly difficult to say "no" to someone, who was so charming and nice. "At least for now," she had heard the expressions "never say never" and "things change" and giving just 90% of a "no" felt better than 100%. "Where do you plan to settle? If that is anywhere near Moonspear - I could come and visit you."
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 29, 2017
Phocion took her rejection in stride, knowing the establishment of a new tribe would take time--moons, if not years. Perhaps the young lady would come around in that time, perhaps not. But he thought it would be a shame if he did not at least extend the invitation.
"No worry," he assured her. "It's far from being a reality. I don't even have an idea of a place yet. . .maybe here, on Silvertip." His heart warmed at the thought of starting a family on the mountain he had once called home. "But I'll have to see how it all unfolds."
She was young, maybe around the same age that he was when he had arrived at Silvertip. Still full of vitality and yet not quite self-assured enough to make big decisions. She would change, grow, in the time they spent apart. She might lose the sense of wonder that hung round her like an aura, a silver lining against her gray pelt.
RE: i looked up - Wraen - December 29, 2017
Pago was not offended by her rejection, which made Wraen feel less guilty for that. He was a nice person and it did not feel fair in her eyes to disappoint them. Even if it was just a "no" with valid reasons.
"You know, what this mountain is called?" she asked, having never heard anyone name it before and then it dawned to her that this might not be the first time the white wolf was here. "Have you lived here already?"
RE: i looked up - Phocion - December 31, 2017
He smiled politely, thinking he had mentioned the fact to her before--but perhaps she had forgotten, or he had omitted the fact entirely. "Yes. I lived with a pack that claimed this mountain." Memories of Silvertip washed anew over him, and he blinked a couple times, trying to dispel the faces from his mind. "They are gone, though."
The sky to the east was beginning to grow lighter, a faint purple-gold haze on the horizon suggesting that dawn was imminent. He turned his head back to Veeri, gazing in sudden apology at her.
"The day is almost here; I must go," Phocion said softly, dipping his muzzle in a brief bow. "It was nice to meet you, Veeri. I hope our paths cross again." The ivory-coated male took a step back, waiting for her to speak once more before he exited the scene.
RE: i looked up - Wraen - January 01, 2018
Wraen's face fell, when Pago wanted to leave. Conversation had just got interesting and they hadn't been here that long, had they? She often lost track of time, when the partner of the conversation was intriguing, but - probably - all good talks had to come to an end at some point.
"I hope so too," she told the man, giving him the most charming smile she could muster. "Good luck with everything and stay alive!" With that Wraen turned and left for Moonspear.