Northstar Vale a star fell from the sky

For Whimbrel

The sky above Aysun seemed to stretch on for eternity. She could imagine that the rest of her family, in Sadakât were taking a moment to gaze up at those same stars. That was something that had always drawn her into the sky, everyone looked at them, though few understood them the way that her family had claimed to. Cleto and Asli has learned about the stars from their pack in the Salvajes -- a pack called Sterrenvuur -- and they had passed on what information they had to their children. From her vantage point in a clearing of Northstar Vale she could pick out some of the simpler constellations. She listed them off softly to herself under her breath as she gazed upwards.

She had no pack here, only her sister -- and even then, Aysel was busy exploring, or doing whatever it was that kept her absent most of the time. Aysun spent her days exploring the vale, and occasionally moving outside of the territory to search out what other wolves lived in the mountainous ranges to the north and south. Today she had spent a majority of the say hunting small animals that lived in the thick wooded areas of the vale -- and even now, a portion of a hare lay between her front feet.

The sky flickered and changed as the whorl of purples and indigos slowly moved to black, and she sat with a contented smile on her face as finally there was nothing but inky darkness flecked with pieces of light. The silvery light was reflected in her large eyes and in that moment she wished that there was someone to see this, to share in the sky in the way she and her family always had.

She chuffed softly, letting her eyes at last fall to the forest around her, cast in the shadows and silvery light of a clear summer night. She fell back into the soft grass and curled her paws against her chest, happy to relax in the quiet of the vale.

Although Whim wasn't totally decided on staying in the area just yet, he'd settle for the moment and give himself some time off from traveling. He encountered neither conflict nor ill-word from anyone yet, so it seemed like a peaceful and friendly enough space to make his home for the time being. As he mentally mapped the geography of the reason, he'd found the vale to be particularly amenable to him. During the day, the mountains that encased it prevented the worst of summer's heat from hitting him, and at night it was even cooler, which suited him nicely.

He'd been about to settle down to sleep when he realised he wasn't at all tired — travel was a constant in his life, but it left his mind feeling as restless as his paws. He always found that after moving for days on end, he could neither coax himself to eat or sleep, his mind and body busy with other things; it took him a few days to settle enough to settle, which was a large part of the reason he was taking a break. He was a large, strong wolf, but he needed time to recuperate.

He stood instead of sleeping and began to move through the vale somewhat quickly, picking his way through the trees and the underbrush until he came to a clearing where he could see through the trees and then further still, through a crack between two mountains and to the stars that swirled in the distance, and followed them up above him with his eyes until he dropped to his haunches and just sat in silence, admiring the stars overhead. He'd been told a bit about them when he was younger, but Whim didn't remember terribly much, and he sat considering what knowledge he did or did not have, unconscious to the other wolf laying quite nearby.

Sleep danced around the wolf as she lay blanketed by stars, and she found it difficult for a time to keep her eyes open -- until the sound of someone's approach filtered through the ruffling fronds of grass and made eyes snap sharply open. She rolled quietly to her side, and peered through the darkness in an effort to find out who was there. Aysun came slowly to her feet, sniffing softly at the air as she pushed aside what little foliage there was and padded forward.

Her fiery eyes were focused, and so she did not notice the branch that lay in her path. It snatched at her paws like greedy hands and she stumbled, a strangled sound escaping her lips as she fell forward. She landed with an 'oomph' on her side, all air pushed form her lungs. Aysun clicked her teeth together and then caught sight of the other wolf, the one who sat stoically at the edge of her vision.

He cut a handsome vision in the night air -- pale, like the moon, and with eyes that glowed green. Aysun blinked stupidly as she lay there before managing, "Er...Hi." And silently wishing that she had never gotten to her feet in the first place. She came erratically to her feet, pushing herself into an obedient sit before making more of a fool of herself.

Whim's eyes snapped to the smaller wolf the moment he heard her stir, and he stood — perhaps out of politeness, but mostly out of sheer reaction and an insurmountable awkwardness that he seemed hardpressed to outrun — and watched her as she tripped over something on the ground before stepping nearer still and saying hello. Her uncomfortable entrance was like a balm to Whim; as he himself was no stranger to being a bumbling moron ninety percent of the time, he felt a bit of kinship with the girl in front of him, though his face was too blank to show it.


"Are you... alright?" he asked after a momentary pause, tilting his head to the side and regarding her with bright but cold eyes — he wasn't a terribly friendly creature, which was perhaps a virtue of his rather imposing and closed off appearance, or perhaps it was the other way around.

She fanned her large ears forward and offered a grin, "Yeah, I... I'll be fine." Aysun sniffed through her nose, "I didn't really expect anyone else to be out here..." She caught a quick glimpse of the stars, but let her gaze flick back to his features -- his eyes were dark but lit up with stars. It made her smile. "Caught me off guard to be honest."

Father would have been aghast that she spoke to strangers with such ease -- Asli had always been good natured and easy going, but Cleto... he was guarded and silent, communicating more with use of his body then anything else. Aysun had always identified more with the kind quiet soul of her father... but living alone in this big wide world was putting more words into her mouth then she knew what to do with.

"You uh, new here?"