Neverwinter Forest it sounds like it's the opposite of normal.

After spending a couple of steamy hours at the Hot Springs, Liffey had followed @Rannoch to the next stop on their journey to the Plateau. This was a place she had long been curious about, and also one that she knew would likely be difficult for her mate to traverse. It was the place of his birth--the forest where he and his brother had grown, lived, and been happy. But only for a time.

She knew this place was likely haunted for him, with memories both good and bad. She had never before been there, and yet it seemed so familiar. Not in the way that it did since she had been here before, but in a deeper, more personal way. Perhaps it was because she knew her mate so well and knew the stories he had told of it. Or maybe it was because this forest simply felt like him. Either way, she loved it, even though it was a sad place.

"It smells like you here," Liffey commented as they walked, bumping her shoulder softly into his. Or maybe you smell like it... she considered wordlessly, peering over at him to try and gauge how he felt being here. She wondered what he was thinking about, wondered if it was his parents, or if it was Cypress. Maybe it wasn't any of those, but of wolve he had known and loved that he'd never spoken of before. It was so strange that he had an entire life that she'd never been part of. It felt wrong that they didn't share every experience, though she knew it wasn't. He hadn't been part of her childhood at the Caldera, after all. But still.

Rannoch and Liffey's excursion to Sunspire had inspired him. Although it had been nearly three years since he had frequented Neverwinter Forest, Rannoch wanted to acquaint his wife to the territory where he had grown up. It would be difficult,  but he was also sure that the emotional burdens he'd endure would only bring him and Liffey closer together—which so happened to be the intention of their excursion from Lost Creek Hollow. 

Without wolves to occupy the land, Neverwinter Forest felt like a shell of its former glory. Rannoch kept his pace slow, as he took it all in; it was nothing like he remembered, and it made him feel hollow. It was only Liffey's voice that pulled him from his reflection, and he turned to her and nodded. 

"It's about the only thing I remembered correctly about this place," Rannoch admitted, his voice melancholy. "I used to remember it being so full of life—not like this," he was able to be vulnerable in his wife's company, and he spoke on whatever came to his mind.  "I didn't think that it'd be this hard to see it like this." It appeared that Neverwinter Forest had died with Scimitar and Eshe—at least, that's how he was interrupting the territory's blatant vacancy.

Liffey leaned gently against her mate, subtly keeping him aware of the fact that she was here for him. She knew this had to be difficult--it showed as much on his face. But this was good for him too, to face his past and find good memories buried within the bad. She reached and nuzzled his jawline softly as he finished speaking, then looked around.

"I think it's peaceful," she said, trying to gently change the way he looked at it. Quiet in his head could easily be lifeless in a place where his parents had died. But it quiet could also be a good thing. A calm, relaxing, content thing. "I can see why your parents would choose to settle in this forest. Maybe this is just what it was like before your pack lived here. Before you and your brother and your cousins were running around, tearing it up like little beasts."

Liffey smiled, hoping her comments wouldn't come across poorly. It was a difficult thing accepting light when you were deep in your darkness. She knew this from her own experience. But she also knew from it that she appreciated it when someone tried to turn the sun back on for her.

Rannoch welcomed Liffey's nearness, as this visit was more challenging than he had anticipated. All he could think about was his family and how he had managed to be the only one who survived. It was a sobering reminder of how far he had come in life since he had last seen Neverwinter Forest. 

When Liffey spoke, Rannoch's perspective improved somewhat. He looked around, considering what she had said; it was peaceful. "Yeah," he agreed eventually, offering a small smile. "That's a good way to put it." 

"I think that it would be good for the kids to visit here, too, someday," Rannoch added shyly, glancing at Liffey. "I think it would be good to make better memories here." He had handled the visit well so far, and he could see himself enjoying showing their children around.

Liffey smiled, glad that her mate seemed to be emerging from his melancholy at least a bit. She nodded in agreement. It would be good to bring their children here to see where their dad had grown up. She had always loved the stories her mom had told of the vale that had been the original home of the Blackthorn family. She had always wanted to see it when she was younger. That wasn't really something on her bucket list anymore, but still she thought their kids would appreciate it.

"Maybe we could bring them through here on a trip to see my parents. Next time we bring the kids along on one," Liffey suggested thoughtfully, "And maybe on the way home, we could bring them through the Caldera where I grew up. Then they can see where both of us came from, and we could tell them all the good stories of when we were growing up."

"Yeah," Rannoch agreed; he was excited for when they'd be able to bring all of their children to visit their grandparents. "Probably not until Summer ends, though—I couldn't imagine what it'd be like to carry them that far..." LOL. 

"It'd be good to see Redhawk Caldera again, too," Rannoch added. "I remember the first time I visited when I met your parents. I was so nervous that entire trip, and I probably didn't pay as much attention to the territory as I should have." he glanced sidelong at his wife, his expression suddenly bashful.

The moment Liffey said it, she began to consider the logistics of that trip. Their first four had been relatively well-behaved on the trip they first time they'd brought them, though it had been nerve-wracking seeing as there were four of them against her and Rannoch. Now they had four that she was betting would not be well-behaved, though she supposed if they brought Breccan and Deshyr along, it would be four v. four, which were... okay enough odds. She wasn't so sure that any of them were up for Sionnach, though. Maybe if they brought her while she stayed small enough to handle... That girl was seriously Finley Blackthorn reincarnate.

Liffey nodded conspiratorially. That would be an utter pain to have to carry them, even though it did have its controlling-Sionnach perks. She smiled as Rannoch recalled his memories of visiting her parents, trying to stifle any outright laughter. Her parents had to be the easiest creatures to get along with. Sure Finley could be domineering and critical but.... Yeah, she got it. "And at the end, even my mother had to admit she liked you. You worried for nothing, as usual," she teased, reaching to plant a kiss on his cheek.

"The Caldera really isn't too much to see on the surface, though. It's the underground I'd love to show you," Liffey said with a smile, feel a teensy bit guilty that she was stealing the attention from Neverwinter to talk about her own childhood home, "So many caves and tunnels running underneath it. We have a place called the ballroom which is this underground pool of water. There's an opening overhead for light to shine in and it's like a small lake in the summer, but all ice in the Winter. I'd love for you to see it sometime. It's where my parents first fell in love."

Liffey felt her heart swell as she thought of the story. It was so romantic, up until the point her mother had acted like a moron and ruined it by being absurd. Still, she did love the story. "Are there any secret places like that here you wanted to show me? Not caves, I'm sure, but just something unique and special maybe we could visit together?" she asked, pressing gently into his side as they walked.

"'Had to,'" Rannoch echoed cheekily; Liffey had made it sound as though Finely had been forced to support her daughter's intended. "But, yeah, you're right—I worried for no reason at all. Your parents are great," he admitted then, bumping his nose to the side of his wife's muzzle. Although he had only met Finley and Elwood on a handful of occasions, Rannoch had always felt as though he was in good company when he was around them. 

Liffey then went on to describe the intricate tunnels that resided under the Caldera, and Rannoch felt suddenly surprised. He was confident he would have remembered hearing about something like this. "I'd love to see the ballroom," Rannoch replied, visualizing what an underground pool of water would look like. "Was it better when you could swim in it?" he wondered, "Or when the water froze over?" 

When asked if Neverwinter Forest had any remarkable landmarks, he shook his head. Although his memory about the forest was limited, Rannoch knew that they didn't have any landmarks that were similar to the one Liffey had described. 

"Uh, I do remember there being a clearing," the memory was fuzzy, but he could recall hunting there once. "There was nothing too special about it, but it was filled with fireflies—it was beautiful." Rannoch kissed the top of her head before speaking again. 

"I'd like to take you there, if you were interested."

Liffey smiled softly. Her parents were pretty great, her dad especially. She'd always been a daddy's girl, and likely would've been even if her relationship with her mother had been better than what it was when she was growing up. That was likely what had drawn her to Rannoch in the first place. He had her father's kindness and patience, as well as his subtle strength. Not that she ever really considered her choice of a mate in this way. "I wish I could've met your parents," Liffey said softly, feeling a bit insecure just then that they would've liked her the way her parents liked Rannoch, or if they would've felt she wasn't good enough for him.

"Summertime for sure," she answered with a smile at the memories. She had never liked the cold, not after the terrible Winter they'd had when she was a child. She would always prefer sunshine and warmth, though she could admit that there was a bit of magic in a light snowfall in Wintertime.

She nodded eagerly when he spoke of the clearing and the fireflies. She wanted to see anything he wanted to show her.

"I do, too," Rannoch agreed. "I know they'd love you." His smile didn't falter; it was easier for him to face the harsh reality with her at his side. His smile remained as Liffey decided when she'd prefer visiting her former home, and he nodded. "Summer it is," he confirmed. "The kids will be old enough to travel by the end of the season." 

When their next stop was agreed upon, Rannoch redirected them towards the heart of the forest. "It shouldn't be too long until they start coming out," he said, feeling a sense of nostalgia as he began to trot with a renewed, juvenile-like energy. "Oh, I think you'll love this, Liffey—it's quite the show."

Her ears slipped back as he reassured her that Scimitar and Eshe would've liked her. She didn't argue with him, but Liffey wasn't so sure about that. She had never really considered herself to be a bad person. But she was flawed, and she was often weak. She did her best to surround herself with those who forgave her for those things, but not all did. Not all would.

Liffey stowed those feelings away and tried to return to present. She smiled at her mate's enthusiasm, glad to see that she at least had helped pull him from his own darkness that being in the place of his birth had earlier inspired. "I'm sure I will," she reassured him with a soft wag of her tail, trotting after him with lifting spirits. As she often reminded herself when she began to feel low about how few friends she had and how much she struggled to connect with others, she did at least have Rannoch who loved her completely. That was enough. And now it was time to play with fireflies.