Blacktail Deer Plateau home, and my music's playing

despite the month-long journey behind him, aditya's paws still itched for adventure. it was an itch he found himself constantly scratching throughout his life, setting off for one destination or another. now, though, he was accountable to a pack, a member of their fold--he couldn't just take off anymore.

so here he was this afternoon, wandering through the northwestern part of the territory. there were small bands of turkeys here, and aditya thought that maybe he could snag a couple, bring them back for the kids and for grayday, recuperating from his injury.

it was a still day so far, but clouds toward the coast indicated that snow was on the way. aditya thought it would be best to do his hunting quickly and get back to the den, curl up and ride out the flakes. he had a not-so-little hope that dawn would join him there; they could keep warm together.

*slides in*

For the time being, the adventurous itch in Dawn was scratched; she instead committed herself wholly to preparing the pack for winter. The idea of a grand adventure north, or south, beckoned sometimes, though she knew such a journey could wait until spring. Besides, she had all she needed and wanted here, and saw no reason to leave it behind to go off on some adventure as she often had as a child. 

Unbeknownst to her, this day marked the one a year ago, when her mother had pushed her tiny, slimy form into the world. She knew that she had been born around this time, but had absolutely no idea when, exactly, and this day did not seem remarkably significant.  It was Aditya she tracked today, glancing up when she noticed him ahead of her. Stalking near, she slipped to his side and nipped playfully at his shoulder, a happy chuff of greeting announcing her presence.

his ears had just barely registered pawsteps behind him when he felt a small nip at his shoulder, and dawn's beaming face soon came into view. chuckling, he rested his head atop hers for a short while, closing his eyes as he savored the feel of her. "hey, you," he murmured.

aditya pulled back, smiling. "i was just thinking of you, actually," he said. "wanna help me hunt some turkeys?" he hadn't found some yet, but he had been told that they resided here, and perhaps dawn, with more knowledge of the plateau, could help him sniff them out.

there had been a lot to digest since returning to morningside, not in the least of which was grayday's missing eye and burr, injured and far from home. with dawn by his side, though, things seemed simpler--or at least easier to handle.

 "hey, you" She muttered back, tone light and free of the things weighing on her mind. She leaned into him a moment, drawing in the scent that seemed so familiar and yet so novel, drawing back only after he did. A smile pulled at her muzzle, and she dipped her head in affirmation. "a hunt sounds good. I think there's a couple flocks north-west of here." It would prove a good distraction, too, from the things that seemed to drag her down. 

She'd known her father's eyesight to be weak for a while, now, though the loss of one eye entirely was a blow. The thought of his vision fading completely scared her, her father rendered blind a thought she almost couldn't bear to consider. How would he hunt? Would her face and those of her siblings fade from his memory? Perhaps she was overreacting, she told herself, and yet the thought of some trespasser doing this to her father infuriated her still. They would adapt, as they had before, as all things must.

These things seemed easier to bear around Adi, who seemed to draw away the thoughts she thought while alone. "I'll race you" She suggested, the crisp air and Aditya by her side bringing out a lighter side of herself which refused to be buried by all that had happened.

though her tone was light, he could see beneath the airy facade that she worried--over her father, over the pack to the south, over the injured bur. dawn did an excellent job, especially at her young age, at hiding these little worries from others, but now that he was getting to know her, he could see them peeking through the levity here and there.

"let's go find some birds," he agreed, grinning as she spoke next. i'll race you. the cheerful, almost childish challenge bubbled through his bloodstream, and he picked up one paw and scraped on the ground, back and forth, in an exaggerated fashion, as though to power up.

"oh, it's on. you can't beat these muscles," he whispered, his muzzle close to her ear. he flexed his burly shoulders, laughing as he did so. the lithe dawn was clearly going to excel in the speed challenge, but that didn't mean he couldn't still talk tough. "one, two, three--" and he shot off like a rocket, dead leaves scattering in his wake, anticipating dawn overtaking him in oh, maybe one or two short moments.

Her brow raised in amazement as he raked a paw against the frost-hardened ground, snorting at his comment. "muscles?" She asked, raking a feigned critical gaze over him canting her muzzle as if to ask "where?" All too quickly, however, he stopped flexing and delivered a countdown, taking off like a startled stag. She wheeled and lunged after him, catching him (as predicted) after a couple of moments, and falling into a teasing gait beside him, pulling ahead only to fall back. 

With a final burst of speed she pulled ahead, screeching to a stop only when something to her right burst out of the underbrush, wings beating. She whirled, launching herself at it, but was much too slow to act. Wing beating clunkily it darted back the way it'd come, the turkey lifting itself clumsily just out of reach, leering at her from the branches of a poplar.

he let out a bark-laugh, breath a white puff in the cold air, as she sailed past, her sleek silver form surging then retreating, coming back to run beside him. wagging his tail, he rolled his eyes as she toyed with him, doing his level best to keep up with her anyway.

a brown whirlwind of a. . .well, something. . .shot towards them suddenly, and dawn lunged for it, just missing capturing the creature. he could hear its derisive clucks from the tree nearby and snorted, holding back loud guffaws.

"looks like the turkeys found us," he panted, slightly out of breath from the run and from laughing. dropping to a crouch, he watched the bird, eyes pointed hungrily upwards. "come back down here, saala. i'm not climbing any trees today."

The girl huffed, shooting a death glare at the bird before twisting back to face Aditya, who seemed to be holding back laughter. Plastering on a hurt expression, she sniffed, but quickly dissolved into snorts when she noted the disdainful, stupid expression of the bird in the tree. Adi's last words, however, had an idea spring to mind. She'd done it before (months ago) and it hadn't gone too badly, after all. Glint in her eye, she said only,  "wait here. I'll only be a second." 

Circling around the bird, she approached the base of the tree with a twitching tail, eyes on the bird that seemed interested in Aditya. It swayed, and it occured to her that turkeys didn't really seem like they belonged in trees. She'd help this one get back on the ground, though, and shortly after that (if all went well) into their stomachs. Rearing up silently, she dug her claws into the bark, exerting enough force to have them pierce it. Tail lashing, eyes on the spot where the lowest branch met the trunk, she prepared. With a mightly lunge she made the leap, dragging herself wildly onto the now swaying branch, turkey all stretched out in its alarm, frozen. She gained her footing after a few wild tilts, delivering a snap and a bark before the turkey finally moved, shooting itself out of the tree and in the general direction of Aditya, a mess of plump bird, cast-off feathers and madly beating wings. The last snap had sent her a little too far off balance, however, and she crashed out of the lower branches after it. Landing with an "oof"  and a thump, she gained her feet after a few moments, blinking after Adi to see if it'd worked.

After one too many "adventures", she learned how to fall.

his golden eyes rounded wide as she launched herself into the tree like a squirrel, dragging herself onto the branch where the turkey had once sat in relative peace. before he could react to anything he had seen, however, his body sprang into action as he saw the bird plummet in a flurry of brown and gold feathers and begin to hurtle toward him.

with no hesitation, aditya intercepted the bird and, before it could dart away, pounced atop its back, breaking its neck with one quick snap of his jaws. his mind buzzing from adrenaline, he stepped back, letting the turkey fall limp onto the ground. the taste of blood was sharp in his mouth.

he faintly heard a thud nearby, and wheeled around. dawn had fallen out of the tree! he began to rush over to her, thinking grimly of her last accident, but was relieved when she rose to her feet, looking none the worse for wear.

all that taken care of, aditya's lips split into a bright grin. "well, that's one way to do it," he laughed. "good thinking climbing that tree."

Giving her pelt a stiff shake, and dislodging a mixture of snow and earth, she grinned after Adi as he dispatched the bird quickly, rushing towards her. Briefly, she remembered a similar incident months prior, and seeing Adi's grin as he congratulated her had her own widen. Quite abruptly, covered skill in bark and mud, she admitted, "I think I love you, Adi." The words came easily now, eyes bright. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he supported her as her brother hadn't, congratulated her on the decisions that would make her father antsy (at the least), or the sheer amount of trust she placed in him. She hadn't quite expected the knowledge that she loved him to come now, she covered in mud and bark and he in blood and feathers. But it did, all the same, and she felt that he should know.

a feather fell from his muzzle, dislodged as his grin grew wider at her words, whirling to the ground, ignored by the wolf that stood above it. love. and how long had it been since he had heard those words, unencumbered by family crisis or followed by a but?

she said think, and he knew, and oughtn't he to be troubled by that? yet, he wasn't. he knew that in her own way, dawn's supposition was as sure a knowledge as his.

"i love you," he murmured, drawing close after licking his lips clean of blood. he pressed his nose into the nape of her neck, into her leaf-littered pelt, and smiled. "i love you."

and despite all the troubles in their world, those words were all that mattered. she, and her big, bold, beautiful family, were all that would ever matter to him,until he drew his last breath.

As he drew close to her as did she to him, pressing her nose into his fur and echoing the words that came so easily, now.  "I love you" His acceptance and echo of her sentiment had her fill with a joyful warmth, eyes closed as she hummed deep in her chest, almost a purr of happiness. Driven somehow by some urge she couldn't articulate, she reached up, nibbling softly the fur around his ear in a loving gesture she'd never think of performing otherwise, but somehow felt right with Adi. She repeated the words again, softer now, laughing softly at the happiness of the moment, the emotion that was both tenderness and fire.

the two twined together for a long while, a content bundle of brown and silver, stocky and lithe. their breathing even synchronized for a few moments, their hearts both figuratively and literally beating as one. aditya could not remember a single moment in his life more happy, more peaceful, than this one. none.

"how fitting that i should love a girl whose namesake breaks the darkness morning after morning," adi whispered, smiling against her cheek. "you are my peace. meri shanti."

the faint, almost mocking sounds of. . .gobbling, he thought, reached his ears, disturbing the quiet that hung about them like freshly fallen snow. for where there was one turkey, there must be more. probably concerned over their missing friend. he cast a rueful glance at the bird on the ground, bleeding into the earth. he hated to be the bearer of bad news.

"i think," aditya chuckled, pulling slowly away from her, loathe to leave her side--but duty called-- "that we should set a goal to bring home three turkeys. that seem doable to you?" he would have smiled wider, but, alas, that was impossible. he was at his joy's zenith.

gonna fade with this awwwwws Dawntya forevs <3