Wild Berry Meadow i don’t believe in god but i believe in space jam

This thread takes place at the same time as the five started in BFW.

It took longer than she’d anticipated to get moving, leaving her with wolves she barely knows or isn’t entirely comfortable with. She’s seen more of Eske lately by chance than she had the last few weeks in Drageda and she can’t spend time around Hvitserk, even if she thought he would be interesting, and Blixen is god knows where and they’re left on weird terms and it all gives her too much to think about and nothing to do with it.

The wolves of Drageda and the Caldera disappear from sight as she and @Artaax stay back, idly lingering without much to offer. They don’t have a clear purpose other than middle men. Should the wolves of the woods retreat this way they’d have to intercept somehow, or sneak away and warn whomever is in danger. Even though Artaax has a kill under his belt, she still feels far too young to be doing what they’re doing.

Her throat tightens and she opens her mouth to say something but quickly snaps it shut, turning and looking in another direction as one thought rallies in after the other.

Cameo. Feel free to notice her and give chase, but she is far out, dude.

There was a strange scent on the wind. The dark woman could sense trepidation in the narrow of her bones as she travelled to see Vaati that day. It was with a sense of mounting dread that she hesitated over the various scents that were scattered on the way. She stopped at the edge of the meadow where they'd once met and saw two figures in the distance.

Was it time?
 
At once, Alya turned tail and fled, leaving the two Redhawk wolves behind. Whether this was what they had been waiting for or not, it was not a good time to be alone in the valley. She'd let her family know what she'd seen and smelled and then leave it alone - Vaati would have to survive this on his own merit.
 
But Alya would pray.

lol my boy don't notice nothing

Artaax hadn't been certain what to think of his altered responsibility. It had been hard to let Wildfire go when he'd prepared himself to protect her. It was even harder now to be given sentinel duty while the rest of the pack went in to face the Blackfeather devils. He'd felt deflated somewhat as he'd watched Wildfire and the others go. Now, he felt useless and tense as the rest of his family disappeared into the dark depths of the enemy's territory.

Not that he would ever complain about any command he was given. Artaax would walk straight off a cliff without a word of protest if heda commanded it, so absolute was his faith in her. He had become a dutiful soldier and no orders were outside of his will to obey. Though that didn't necessarily mean he didn't have his own misgivings about them, easily stifled though they were by reminding himself that nomi knew best.

But, nomi wasn't here right now. She was somewhere in that dark woods, laying waste to their foes. His heart had thrilled with pride at the thought of it back at the Caldera. Standing outside now, waiting for the sound of battling wolves to permeate the calm before the storm, he felt terribly anxious for them. Furi's presence was a welcome one, though it didn't do much to comfort him. Knowing they had more wolves at their back in the Woods was the only thing that would have comforted him. But still...

"This sucks," Artaax said, unexpectedly breaking the long silence that had stretched between them. He didn't look at her - his eyes seemed to be permenantly glued to the forest - but with only the pair of them present, he didn't doubt she'd know he was talking to her.

Furi isn’t entirely sure what she’s supposed to do out here. If one of the wolves they are going to fight comes this way, what are they really supposed to do? And she can’t really ask Artaax. The last time they’d had a conversation he scrutinized and questioned her decisions. What will it be like if he knows that she doesn’t know what she’s doing? He’s the son of Heda and reflects her in most ways. Blixen has those similar qualities but she does not feel such pressure with her as she does with her brother. Giving up on it, she sighs and looks away, shifting her weight until he pipes up.
 
“Sha,” she tests, having really only spoken their language with Blixen—and in front of Arrille and Seri, out of necessity—but never to another. She doesn’t even know if they knew she has been learning but, just maybe, it’ll earn her a few points to see a different side of him.
 
She lets a few heavy, awkward seconds pass by before she clears her throat, kicks her feet, and with seemingly little control, blurts: “Are you close with Blixen?”

Artaax didn't even notice as Furi replied to him using his own tongue. The words were so natural to him that it was often easy for his mind to interchange them without conscious effort. He recognized only that she agreed, and it was somewhat comforting, though only slightly. She didn't offer anything else to follow up, and so Artaax let the pathetic attempt at conversation slip easily away.

Until she spoke again. The hompleia glanced sidelong at her with a single quirked brow, wondering at the randomness of the question. And also the absurdity of it. Blixen was his sister. How was their any question of their closeness? Of course, he didn't see himself as the closed off, distant wolf that others likely did. He had little concept at all of how he appeared to others and little concern of their opinions either way. He knew he was great, nomi knew that he was great - obviously everyone else did as well. But we're off topic, aren't we?

"She is my sister," Artaax answered, as though that cleared everything up succinctly.

The first few seconds after asking the question, she immediately regrets it. Her ears slick back and her eyes widened and if she could, she’d scramble those words right back into her mouth. Each limb frees in place, waiting until the obvious comes out. “I know,” she says, then licks her lips, looking away. She can’t handle the stare anymore so she awkwardly begins to shuffle around in the snow. It had been a bad idea to even try and bring it up but there isn’t anything going on and there’s nothing for them to do and so now her mind won’t drop the topic. After a moment, lingering awkwardly and definitely not looking at Artaax, she offers her follow-up: “what I mean is… um, did you know she liked me?”

Though Artaax considered the conversation to be over at that, Furi continued. This time, he turned to look at her fully. He felt rather perplexed by her questions, and he did nothing to hide that emotion from his expression as he stared at her. A single ear flicked upon his crown as he considered her.

"Well. You do spend a lot of time together," he said, once again thinking that would resolve the issue. After all, Blixen didn't spend time with wolves she didn't like. She punched them in the face, wolf-style. The fact that they were talking about romantic liking was completely lost on him, as was all romance in general. Hopefully he'd become aware of that soon, otherwise his frustrated Rose-stalking was just going to get worse.

Furi blinks a few times when Artaax answers her question. Or, well. Responds to her question. She is no closer to the answer than she’d been find minutes ago but she’s hella embarrassed. Her cheeks burn hot beneath the cool air of winter on her fur. Now, if she could take back the last five minutes, everything would be just great. They’d go back to now talking and awkwardly lingering, waiting for something to happen. It’s too weird to do anything now. 

When she looks back at him, his face is just how she pictured it. He isn’t fazed by anything she says. Yes, she spends a lot of time around Blixen but she didn’t know until the other day. And then what about Rose? Furi didn’t fully admit that she liked her, too.

“What if I like someone else, too?” she asks, licking her lips. Her voice is soft and not necessarily directed at her companion but it lingers between them anyway. Artaax isn’t even the one she should probably be asking. It’s not like their friends, really. He doesn’t even like her as a friend. “I think… she thinks we’re girlfriends now?” she adds, questions? She doesn’t know. She’d much rather be out there fighting with the rest of them so she doesn’t have time to think about this.

Okay seriously, what was up with her. Artaax's brow furrowed as he stared at her, becoming more confused by the minute. Did she not think it was okay to have more than one friend? For a moment, he felt suddenly and inexplicably put out that she would choose Blixen as her one friend over him. But then he reminded himself that she hadn't said that she liked Blixen, and so he was content again since somewhere in his brain, he had decided she must've meant she liked him. Good. Everyone should.

But Furi wasn't done perplexing him just yet. Her next comment settled easily in his mind, though he didn't really know what to say about it. He had no concept for the way relationships worked in the beginning. He had never asked how Wildfire and Thur had ended up together. He'd never had any interest. He wasn't particularly interested in this courtship either, but she just kept talking, so... "Did she say that you are?" he asked, since it seemed Furi was unlikely to ceasefire until she'd gotten whatever was on her chest right now off of it.

“No… not really. But, I think she’s jealous of Rose because she thought we were girlfriends,” she goes on to explain without noticing any weird vibes from him. She liked Rose from the get-go. She’s pretty and she’d had the very strong desire to tell her, though she never did and when Blixen got weird about things… oh. Furi blinks a few times and lifts her head, glancing sideways at him but she’s focused on something else nearby, trying to sort through the new very sudden and very complicated feeling she’s experiencing all at once.

Now that caught Artaax's attention.

"Are you?" he asked abruptly, his stare intensifying. He was not the introspective type, and so his fascination with the fire-pelted girl went completely unnoticed by him for what it was. Which was... not much, in truth. He had yet to actually speak to her, so his crush was superficial at best. But it was there, and now the idea of both her and Furi choosing someone over him was bothersome.

Furi stares at Artaax a moment after asking about her relationship with Rose. There’s not a lot defined between them, but she is most definitely awkward with her and she had wanted to spend more time with her. Even a part of her wanted to stay back in Drageda with her but she’d volunteered to come, to be with Blixen (who definitely ignored her a lot, so). “No,” she says, looking away. “I haven’t told her I like her,” she adds, shuffling her feet a little. “I don’t know if I can now.” This was already confusing enough. Did she really need to add a third party? Then again, what if Rose likes her and she comes home to find out about Blixen? Did she have a stomach ache before all this?

No. Good. I haven't told her I like her. Also good. Don't. I don't know if I can now. No, you can't.

Or so went Artaax's inner monologue as Furi continued. It was clear to him that his companion was deeply confused, and she was trying to suck him into her confusion. It was working, unfortunately, and he didn't like that at all. He was not built to be a therapist, nor to be a good listener if the words being spoken weren't commands. Furi's words were just noise and they were getting her no where, as words so often did.

This is why Artaax doesn't talk.

"If it's Rose that you like, then do something about it," he said, "If it's Blixen, then do something. Either way, decide, and do something. Indecision gets you no where." He looked away from her then, back towards Blackfeather. He decided to leave out the part that if she chose Rose, he would probably end up fighting her for the fire-furred girl. But lord only knew what a tailspin that would send Furi on right now, so he kept it to himself.

Furi doesn’t expect to hear the truth so bluntly from Artaax and it takes her aback. She doesn’t change her stare on the ground but she hears his vice, over and over in his head. Rose, do something. Blixen, do something. Basically. When she does lift her head to look at him, he’s looking away as if that’s that. That’s just the simple answer and the way it should be and as much as she wanted to tell him that’s right, she finds it’s not as easy to make a decision. The girl doesn’t say anything, looking away and trailing a few steps away as if she’s searching for something related to those out in the woods in battle.

Furi didn't respond this time, and Artaax in his infinite ability to empathize was glad. He hadn't liked that conversation. He hadn't liked the idea of Furi being claimed by Blixen, and he hadn't liked the idea of Furi claiming Rose either. For once in his life, he began to consider the way he had reacted to his friend's words, wondering why they had bothered him so much. But, he was shortly saved from even a second of successfully instrospection as he was distracted as the first sounds of battle echoed to them faintly from the distant woods, and every ounce of his attention was stolen.