Blacktail Deer Plateau i hear the thunder in your heart

Night has fallen. All of creation is cast in darkness, illuminated by argent moon. Clouds cluster blurrily across the sky, obscuring some stars. She finds herself awake and breaking free of the plateau's cover. Sleep has evaded her thus far. No, she wished to embrace the night as lovingly as it embraced the terrain. And this was the safest place to do it. It was with long strides she stole across the plateau, parting navy grass and hedge with her legs. She came to a stop overlooking Whitefish River. Little light was reflected in their waters but from what she could see, she was charmed.

The good thing about the plateau is the open sky most of it offers. It’s a different view than she’s used to but it still offers a similar satisfaction, just a different way. Watching the stars twinkle above her with the sea below offers a view into the expansion she cannot comprehend. There is no end in that direction, no way she can see for herself, and she retreats. Her, as the stars touch the distance where sky meets ground, there’s more to offer that she can potentially get to.
 
After a while, she realizes her friend isn’t anywhere nearby and she stands, trailing after the freshest scent she can find. Toward the edge of the plateau she rots, noting the pale form in the distance against the dark blue sky the moon has cloaked them in. Varinril soaks in the moon differently than the world around her and she has to stop in her tracks to catch her breath. No longer do her legs work, but her pale eyes do not trail away from her friend, watching her as she absorbs the world out below them.

Swaddled in silvery moonglow, Varinril listens to the cacophony of nightlife. Crickets chirped, frogs croaked, and the river below burbled as it always did. A rain scented zephyr brushed through the forest at her back, the leaves rustling loudly. Somewhere far off - where her eyes could not see - wood snapped and echoed. Her ears pivot to the north, slowly sweeping to the south. Whatever made that noise intrigued her, but she wasn't about to go roaming in the dead of night.

A presence behind her made her turn briskly, fur about her scruff catching the movement. Her pitch eyes fell upon none other than her knight, Mallaidh. The moon illustrates her in such a way that Varinril can't help but stare for a prolonged period of time. Varinril stops her gawking prematurely, welcoming Mallaidh closer with a swing of her muzzle.

"Can't sleep?"

Her approach doesn’t go unnoticed for long. When the pale girl spins around, a smile forms upon her muzzle, and she takes a few steps forward when she’s invited closer. The company of the other girls is nice but it had been Varinril and herself first, however short of a time that may be.

The question is met with an indifferent shrug as she steps up and bumps her nose against her cheek, peering out over the illuminated horizon. “I like being awake at night,” she says. The world is at a standstill while everything else sleeps. She and other nocturnal creatures use the other world to their advantage, but their purpose divvy outsides of their nature. “It’s quiet. I feel like I can actually have a coherent thought.”

A smile lazily draws across her maw, pleased by the girl's touch and her rejoinder. There was a perpetual hustle during the day. It did not matter who or what it was. The weather hummed with invisible energy during the daytime. She could not be sure, but it probably had something to do with the day-star; how it warms the chill of night from their bodies and invites the birds to sing their ancient songs.

"I feel the same way." And then the inevitable silence falls between them. Varinril is at ease in it, leaning firmly on her haunches. Something cracks in her back. She hums a pleased note before looking back at Mallaidh.

"Plenty of wolves have joined our group." She pauses, looking down at her companion's paws in thought. "I wonder what they expect to come of this assembly." Did they expect a permanent residence here at Blacktail Deer Plateau? Or did they desire for fellowship, as Varinril had? Would Mallaidh have the answer to her ponderings, she wondered, as her shadowed stare rests back upon the girl's comely face.

Having someone that understands some of the anxiety going through her mind has been nice. She doesn’t have to spell out the problems for someone to get it. Varinril seems to… just understand. Blixen never picked up on those things, eventually driving Mallaidh away enough to split. And leave entirely. Thinking of her now only leaves her heart heavy, weighed down—there’s no closure for either of them—but she tucks it away for another time, not wanting to ruin what she has with the pale girl.
 
She trails off about Max and Saarthal and she smiles, nodding her head. “I liked when it was just us but… having them is nice, too, you know? They bring something we don’t,” she adds, shrugging a little. They know a little about healing and herbs Mallaidh never took the chance to learn and being on her own, she needs that sort of knowledge. Now, with two friends, she doesn’t have to worry so much but she knows they may not stick around forever. Their group of four may not last the season, but that’s okay, right? She can learn from them now so she’s prepared, but as her friend implies, who knows what the future holds?
 
“I think as long as we’re happy together, it doesn’t matter what we are,” she says, thumping her tail on the ground before shuffling her front feet downward, laying down.

In the dim light, she can make out a forming smile on Mallaidh's face. They did bring something new to the table, there was no doubt about that. Varinril reveled in having two extra bodies to help them in whatever endeavor they come across. Food is easier to procure, given the season. Four wolves could accomplish much if they put their minds together. And it wasn't just food, either. Saarthal and Max (Max was her name, right?) were cultured in different fields as well. It was frustrating to Varinril. She knew much but she had no idea how to apply the history she knows. Worse yet, she is the oldest in their group. Should she not be more traveled than the others? She prides herself on hunting and wordcraft. Wow. Amazing list of abilities, there. Useless, useless.

Mallaidh says it does not matter what they are, so long as they are happy. Varinril blinks. A congregation subsisting on...happiness? It won't last. Nothing good lasts forever. But as Mallaidh resigns herself to the earth does Varinril shake the grimness clouding her heart. It will not do to dwell on the (possible) future. Following her protector, Varinril sits and lays beside her with a histrionic exhalation, playfully elbowing her. After that, the alabaster wolf was content in gaping up at the unfathomable sky...and occasionally stealing glances of Mallaidh. Some indefinable quality really accentuates her at night, she notes in passing. Thinking of voicing her thoughts, the words forming in her brain quickly morph into something different.

"You should teach me how to fight...Not right now, but soon." Because what happened back at the Thunder Dome was embarrassing, quite frankly. Varinril did not want a repeat of that. Ever.

The request throws her a little off guard and she turns her head, staring at the pale girl. Her whole life, she’s been the student, whether with her parents teaching her the very foundation as a child or Eske as her mentor, teaching her how to fight and follow in her tactician footsteps. And even Blixen, teaching her everything Heda’s been teaching her daughter. Mallaidh doesn’t want to admit she wouldn’t know where to even start, barely feeling capable she can handle something alone, and so she nods and smiles anyway, disguising the imposter in her as just nervousness.
 
“I can try,” she says, looking away. “Maybe the others can help and we can all learn from each other,” she adds, hoping to take some of the responsibility off her shoulders. What if she can’t teach what she knows? Or she teaches something wrong and they get hurt? Her mouth opens to say something but she snaps her teeth shut, once more burying the past. Her life before Varinril? Doesn’t exist.

Night and the somnolence associated with it encompasses them. Yet, Varinril's shrewdness is ever at work. So Mallaidh does not want to be her sole tutor. That's fine. She knows the girl does not have a high opinion of herself and that, of course, extends to the way she will inevitably instruct. If she finds the girl's instructions to be wanting she will have to turn to Max or Saarthal. She knows next to nothing of Max, appearances notwithstanding. As for Saarthal...she's not sure she wants to open that can of worms. Their last interaction was charged enough to drain the Renatus. She oft enjoys talking with others, so long as their discussion is lighthearted. Her talk with Saarthal was not terrible, per se, just exhaustive.

"I would be okay with that," she lazily assures. A flying insect irritates her right ear, buzzing about. She flicks it several times. It doesn't take the hint so Varinril snaps at it. Whether she caught the insect is debatable. "The only reason I brought it up is that I do not want any repeats of what happened." What happened being open-ended. One thing is definitive though: she is tired of being the damsel in distress. It's an awful archetype and Varinril wants nothing to do with it. 

"It's not just that, either," she elaborates further. Mallaidh had not asked but Varinril wants to share her thoughts. She wants to learn how to fight and so she wants her friend to know why. "I want to be able to stand beside you. Not as a wolf unable to defend themselves, but as someone who has your back as you have mine." This she admits with a bit of a smile, eyes focused on the twinkling stars above. Yeah, she loved the sound of that.

Mallaidh flinches a little when Varinril snaps at the bug, and then nods her understanding when she continues. They can learn and fight and defend together. She doubts any of them would have any protest working together for the common good. If they plan to stay in any place for any significant of time, they have to withstand any unexpected backlash. So far, there doesn’t seem to be any upset of their presence on the plateau but she knows not every place and time will offer the same comfort.
 
“I want that, too,” she says with a smile, though she never doubted Varinril having her back, regardless of skill. “We can start tomorrow, if you want?” she questioned, wondering if their new companions would be up for the task so soon. Mallaidh barely waits for an answer as she leans against her friend, suddenly feeling the weight of exhaustion come over her and drift off to sleep.