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+--- Thread: Sleepy Fox Hollow west of the moon (/showthread.php?tid=41543)
west of the moon - Journey - May 20, 2020
Even though these lands were not all that different from what she'd been born into, Journey was still having a grand old time exploring them. She began to feel that she was living up to her name, even if she was eager to settle down.
After perusing the ruddy canyon to her heart's content, she moved onto the next little hollow and found it even more enchanting than the last. This, she thought, looked like a place where magic might happen — and while that made her a little wary, she was still happy to zip through the protected valley as the heroine of her own imagined Odyssey.
"@Brave," she called again, tipping her head back to belt out his name-sound in a carrying howl. She was sure they hadn't gone too far from each other, but it had been a day or two since she'd last laid eyes on him.
Let me know if I need to change anything!
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 20, 2020
And there it was! That joyous ring of a familiar voice.
Brave could scarcely help the spirited increase of his pace. Dark ears cupped forward so that he might locate where it was that she had summoned him from. The length of his limbs seemed to move him with ease and graciousness that was unbecoming of a young and wild man. Nothing could stop that familial tie that he felt to the small dark girl. More than this, Brave felt as though he had wandered well enough without her and he had exciting things to share.
From the top of a small hill, the shadow caught sight of her down below him. A bark was issued to pull her attention just moments before he allowed the fire in his feet to carry him down the bank and toward where she was. “Journey, I’ve found this tree that grows higher than any I’ve ever seen before. It’s amazing,” he could not help but to share with her as he closed the space between them.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 20, 2020
This time, she did not have long to wait before her brother appeared. Her tail gave a cheery whisk as she changed her trajectory to meet him head on. As they neared, she gave an excited little hop and circled around him as if looking for changes.
"A tree!" she laughed, as if this was the silliest thing she'd ever heard — but she was interested in seeing it, and proved this in the next breath with a silly question: "Do you think we could climb it? All the way to the top?"
She had been told stories as a girl of giants that lived in the clouds, but unlike certain other stories, this one seemed too fantastical to be true. Only birds lived in the sky. "Where is it?" she added, rearing back on her hind legs to try and grab her brother's ear; she was a sweet girl, but something about Brave always made her act insufferably.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 20, 2020
Her query was met with a toothy smile. His tongue lolled from the side of his mouth comfortably. Within her company, he was perfectly relaxed. The steps that carried him to her were smooth, almost gracious; Brave seemed to move with a feline's swagger. All pride had vanished from him. He was young and wild and had a grounded calm to him that kept him steady. Something behind the curious glint in his caribbean gaze betrayed mischief. The slight curl of his dark lips did too.
"We could reach the stars and make them our hunting grounds," he returned with a devilish smile. She was quick and reared back with teeth aimed for his ear. Brave lowered his crown and then his torso into a playful bow. Dark ink swayed with a swing of his hips, tail unapologetic in its wag. Though she laughed, he knew that she would humor his discovery. There was something about the lure of the unknown and what could be found there.
In a beat she asked where it was. Brave laughed and turned his muzzle away from her with a firelight gleam in his eyes. The smirk that danced along his features was devious. "Well... I'm a little fuzzy on where it was now that I think about it, Journey." The young man's voice was like a smoky taunt, just waiting for her riposte.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 20, 2020
A dubious harrumph was Journey's response to this fantasy; still his words led her along in her own imaginings, and she spent a happy moment picturing what such a life might be like. They would both need wings, of course. Or else, they could live in the trees like squirrels, leaping from branch to branch and visiting the forest floor only seldomly.
"I always knew you must be part squirrel," she decided, bowing back for only a beat before dancing away from him to try and incite a game of chase. But then she whirled to face him with a gasp, as if his 'forgetfulness' was a personal attack. But a moment later, she'd found a way to turn things around once more. "I'll just follow your footsteps," she said loftily, feigning right before trying to dart around him, back in the direction he'd come.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 20, 2020
"Boy you don't waste time do you, Journ," the swarthy youth exclaimed, whirling to catch up with her when she had moved so far ahead. She had always been quick and nimble. It felt like it had taken eons to feel comfortable in his own flesh. He still did not feel as though he had filled his frame or that he could control much of it. More than once he had stumbled on his own steps. Time and the chiming of their birthday had granted him more than his gangly puppy days ever had. From there, the future seemed optimistic. Brave had wondered if Journey felt the same, or ever had.
"What if there was another wolf out there and there are more tracks?" he called to her, a sing-song note slipping into his voice.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 20, 2020
Journey had often been teased about how she was always go-go-go but never really got anywhere — it was a consequence, she thought, of being so very small. It made her feel as though she had a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of space to take up but not much mass to do it with. "You'd better keep up," she said in tones of false severity; "or you're gonna get lost again."
But she slowed enough to be sure he was coming along before putting her nose to the ground to cement his scent in her mind's eye. "You think I can't tell your scent from everyone else's?" she asked him, adding a huffy, "Ya doof," under her breath. "How long ago did you see this tree, anyway? We haven't been apart all that long, so everything should still be fresh." Unless he'd double-crossed over some rivers.
Damn! Then she would really be lost.
"Or you could just think really, really hard, and just show me," she added, peeking back at him to see if he might cave.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 20, 2020
To be lost in that hollow did not seem all that bad of an outcome. Wistfully, the boy drew his muzzle to the air and breathed in the scent of summer that was whisked by the breeze. In only a moment he noticed the shift in pace from his sister and set his sights to her. She would know his scent without fail, but he had crossed through a single source of water before having found her again. He wanted to see if she could find her way to it, at the very least. There was an active itch in his limbs and the desire to move was something he felt needed to be shared. The world their was different from what they knew. Perhaps, not much. Brave still felt that there were great things to be found.
"You know, I feel like I saw it a while ago but it couldn't have been that long since we haven't really been apart long. Hmm... I'm sure your tracking skills are adequate," the inky young thing remarked. If she were to look at him, she would have easily caught the delighted expression that had brushed across his features. At that point, it had become a game for Brave. He had faith in her enough that he did not believe she would lead them astray. He only hoped that she was stricken with a desire to jaunt into the unknown.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 20, 2020
"Adequete!" Journey gasped, clearly affronted. Her tail and ears had both pricked at the word, and she shot her brother a steely-eyed look that spoke of the deep well of patience she kept for him, and how very grateful he should be for her benevolence and forgiveness. "You're on."
The words were almost a growl; she had always been easy to rile up, at least for Brave. Still, her sweet disposition shone through even here. Her anger was short-lived, shifting quickly into determination and a thirst to prove herself.
Quick steps led her along her brother's path. She nearly did lead them astray where the water had briefly dilluted his steps, but she had soon led them to the pace where Brave had emerged from the river on his way to meet her. Here, she stopped in her tracks, gasping as she realized —
"I forgot to tell you! I found this canyon that was full of red sand. Like the beach by White Spine, but red and there was no water anywhere. Just up in the mountains!"
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 21, 2020
That slanderous expression was one that he was not altogether unfamiliar with. A devilish smile curled his dark lips and touched the corners of his eyes. It seemed as though that provocation had been enough to inspire Journey to put her nose to the earth and really focus on finding the point in which she could track his scent without issue.
The leisurely sway of his frame carried him after her. Speed pulled her away from him further than he would have liked. Brave did not adjust his pace, though. He was marveling at their surroundings with a thoughtful countenance and a gentle wave of his tail. The valley had always been so kind to them. The world beyond it was remarkably wild to the young wolf. It was thrilling in many ways.
Journey whirled to him when she had found the river. The inky boy approached with a knowing smile. It didn’t take more than a moment for her to remember a place that she had found. When she described it, Brave’s mind was filled with a magical image. “I’ve got an idea… how about I show you the tree and you show me the red sand?” he suggested.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 21, 2020
As much as she kept trying to tell herself that the wilderness was all the same, Journey was very good at finding things to marvel at and admire. While Brave caught up, she admired the river, and then the sky, and then her own dirty paws for a moment before his suggestion registered.
"I thought you forgot," she reminded him, but what she really meant was, Yes, obviously! "Can we see the tree first? It might be harder to find."
Now that she had her brother beside her, she was ready to cross the waterway; it was an embarrassing quirk of hers that rushing water had always made her nervous. They didn't have any large bodies of water in the valley; only a stream that ran very shallow in the summer months. Her first trip to the elking grounds had been something of an ordeal when she'd nearly been swept away by the current.
Even though she was bigger, now, that wariness remained. She kept careful pace with her larger brother, so that his big, doofy body would catch her if she lost her footing again.
It didn't happen, of course. They reached the other side without incident, and Journey gave a full-body shake as if all of her had been wet, instead of just her legs. "Okay — now march, mister!" she commanded, ramming her head into his fluffy flank to try and propel him forward.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 21, 2020
“Well my memory is getting much clearer now that we’re by the river, silly.”
A fiendish grin flashed across his features. Brave approached the edge of the river with a curious sniff and stepped into the water until it came up his legs and touched the underside of his belly and chest. Journey might dislike that the water was that high, but with the winter snow melting down from the mountains, there would likely be plenty more bodies of water that had risen.
The dark young wolf set the course across the river and when the siblings had reached the other side, he turned to make sure that his sprightly sister was in one piece. She shook her frame, spattering water across his muzzle and whiskers. This inspired a similar shake of his own frame to loosen the droplets from his dark coat.
She nudged at his flank and he lurched forward with surprise and a feigned expression of indignance. Brave bobbed his muzzle a few times with a soft hum and squinted his jade gaze toward the woods in the distance. “Careful now, you might jostle the memory out of me again. That’d be a pity.”
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 21, 2020
In their youth, such retorts might've gotten Journey riled up all over again. Age had tempered these sort of reactions somewhat, so that she was able to zip her mouth shut and blink innocently at her brother, the picture of cooperation and good behavior. She really wanted to see this tree, mostly so that she could try climbing it.
"We should try and find Aunt Dawn," she said to her brother as she followed in his shadow, occasionally hopping from pawprint to pawprint in his wake. "Everyone speaks so well of her — and I bet she's got little babies we could poke at." Babies were one of Journey's favorite things. "And she should be the easiest, since Valiant says she had her own pack, last he saw her."
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 21, 2020
From behind him, he heard Journey mention seeking out their aunt Dawn. The boy furrowed his brow thoughtfully and nodded his head after only a second. It seemed as though it was a logical choice while they were bound to nothing but the land. If she had her own pack and pups, perhaps they could stay a few days with some family to surround them.
“Yeah let’s do it. Who wouldn’t wanna take in a pair of charmers like us? Let us torment their kids.”
The tone he took was teasing, but good humored. He thought aloud for a moment, pondering on the possibilities and probable ways that they could seek out their aunt. It was likely that they would find their way to her by sheer happenstance. Wasn’t that always how those things worked? Or was it that you always found it where you least expected it? Either way, Brave was certain they would find their aunt Dawn without much trouble.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 21, 2020
For Journey, it was as simple as employing her flawed and spotty mental map. Valiant had said they were a little over a week east of Whitebark Stream at Round Valley. They'd travelled... well, back and forth a lot. It was going to take a lot of creative math and squinting at the clouds to figure out how many days away they ought to be now — and in which direction!
Journey did not know that Valiant had taken a rather roundabout route himself and thus, had made some miscalculations of his own.
"But remember — don't ask about her babies," Journey warned. "If she has any, she'll probably tell us right away. And if she doesn't... she probably doesn't wanna talk about it." She was speaking from experience; Sunspot had failed to produce a viable litter this year, and had been extremely touchy about the topic. She'd apologized later for her outburst and quietly explained that a woman's fertility was a wonderous but delicate thing; when it stopped working, that sort of wound could be quite painful.
That, and she'd once overheard Easy telling Aunt Spot about how her last litter had disappeared.
"Do you think mom will ever find a new mate?" she asked, thinking about how badly they'd all been hurt when Papa died.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 21, 2020
Ah, so he wasn’t supposed to outright ask Dawn to point him toward the children… well, that seemed fairly logical. Beyond that, Brave wasn’t certain that he wanted to argue that point with his sister. She had always been better with all of that; she had a good sense for empathy and understanding that he had always envied. Even if it wasn’t about being proper about it, he didn’t imagine that he would understand many things about losing children. So, the young wolf nodded his head in agreement with Journey and continued to trek toward the thickest portion of the woods.
They made some progress before the question sounded. Though he did what he could not to have a reaction, Brave could not help the clench of his jaw and the way his spine seemed to stiffen. The thought of their mother finding another mate was difficult. He wanted her to be happy. He felt like he would have done anything to guarantee such a thing, but the thought of her finding love in something who wasn’t their father seemed… fantasy.
“I’m not sure. I think that… she’s got a good chance. Because who wouldn’t want to be with her, you know? Did she mention something to you about wanting to find someone?” Brave was genuine in those moments. His voice was softer, and the expression on his face had shifted to one of thoughtfulness. Something in him was curious to know where the inquiry had come from in the first place. Had Journey been thinking about these things this whole time?
RE: west of the moon - Journey - May 21, 2020
At Brave's question, Journey gave a sharp, surprised shake of her head; she hadn't meant to imply such a thing, nor to upset her brother. It was not in her nature to feel protective over other wolves. It wasn't because she didn't care, but because she had not yet learned to fear the wilderness or its inhabitants. She could only imagine a kind and loving man taking Huskarl's place as their mother's mate.
"She never said anything," she assured her brother, sensing that the idea was not wholly pleasing to him. It bothered her only a little to think of someone 'replacing' their father — but Brave had not been a student of Sunspot in the same way the young women of the pack were, and so he had not learned as much of her cutthroat pragmatism. "I just wonder if it would make things easier for her," she explained. "I hate to see her so sad and lonely. Even now that she's... better... I mean, she's still so young! It would be nice, wouldn't it?"
She'd stopped paying attention to their surroundings, and was now relying on Brave to lead them and watch for danger. One of the many reasons she'd not often been invited out on trips.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - May 30, 2020
With Journey’s first statement, Brave felt as though he might have reacted rather poorly to the idea of their mother finding a new mate. She didn’t deserve to be alone. She was special, and it wouldn’t be surprising if she found someone else who cared for her. Journey went on to say that she didn’t like the idea of their mother being lonely or sad. She was still young, and it would have been nice to see someone else bring happiness into her life.
“You’re right, Journ. She definitely could do with some love and happiness,” the young man agreed with an affirmative nod. He was appreciative that his sister could help ease the worries of his mind with ease.
The inky youth paused abruptly and turned his head toward the line of trees. Toward the wood in the back, there was one that could be seen standing tall above the rest. A smile split his features, and Brave turned to Journey with a toothy expression of pride. “Found it,” the swarthy young beast remarked and pointed to the woodland and the tower toward the back.
RE: west of the moon - Journey - June 10, 2020
I am happy to play this out but if you want we can close? And maybe start a new one. Either assuming they visited Redsand or that they got distracted elsewhere, or even a current one where they go see it and they can talk about Morningside 2.0 maybe lol
"Everyone can," Journey said matter-of-factly, looking quite pleased with herself for having 'won' this 'argument'. But in the next moment she was giving him a font smile and knocking her shoulder into his; she was very lucky, she thought, to be so close with her brother. Some of their cousins had not been so luck.He soon directed her attention to the tree of (very recent) legend, however, and all other thoughts fled her mind. "Race you!" she cried, rocketing off into the woods after setting her mental compass for the towering behemoth. Her intention was still to climb it, if there were any branches low enough. If there were not, she would practice on any suitable trees nearby.
RE: west of the moon - Brave - June 14, 2020
We can totally say they went to see redsand behind the scenes and have one that's a little more up to date. <33 I'll whip us up a brand new one in the next few days.
Brave cast a sidelong glance toward his smaller sister as she finalized her point with a bump into his shoulder. The yearling smiled fondly, unable to hide the fact that he was just as pleased with her ‘win’ as she was. Journey had a good head on her shoulders, that much was certain. The subject had been on that had caused him a good deal of personal strife. Whether she realized it or not, the spirited young girl had helped to ease his troubled mind and heart. He too wanted their mother to find happiness again. It was the least that she deserved, after all.
When she had latched her sights on the tree in the forest, Journey seemed to have been inspired by a burst of energy that carried her forward. Brave watched her for a second or two before he noted just how quickly she was moving. Without any further lamenting, the swarthy young wolf rushed forward in pursuit. His only hope was that she would not scale the tree to its top until he had gotten there to witness it.