Physically speaking, Bones felt much better these days, though it would take a few more weeks for the rawboned yearling to reach a healthy weight. And she would always bear the scars of her captivity. But perhaps one day she could stand to be touched there again and maybe she wasn't too badly damaged to bear children someday after all. As she'd healed, she had become more optimistic about these things. Having Ira by her side certainly helped. And no matter how they (or, rather, she) labeled their relationship, they were definitely more than friends; they always had been and always would be.
All was not perfect in the young marauder's life, though. She felt out of place and it was a feeling she just couldn't shake; it grew by day. She hadn't seen Bazi since shortly after arriving and had heard a rumor that she'd even stepped down. And though she'd enjoyed meeting the likes of Dovev, Kaskara and Kieran, they weren't the familiar faces from her past. They weren't Ferdie or Jace, Tuwawi or Njal. Haunter, Jinx and Lecter were long dead. She yearned for the creek she'd been forced to leave behind that fateful spring night. But it didn't exist anymore, at least anywhere but in her fondest memories.
And if she'd thought of trying to go live with her dad, it wasn't a possibility anymore after that wretched visit. In the days since, Bones had really grown to resent her former Alpha female. Just like the creek had changed, Fox was not the wolf Bones remembered. The yearling felt bad for the way she'd reacted to her former leader's greeting. But the unnecessarily nasty way Fox had treated Ira bred bitterness in Bones. There was no possibility of living with her relatives on the plateau. She and Ira were a package deal these days, after all.
Speak of the devil, Bones thought as she rounded the creek's borders and spotted a familiar white figure standing in the distance, presumably on the shore of Duck Lake. Without hesitation, she began to trot to join him, her alabaster paws beating a soft cadence on the leaf-littered loam underfoot. She reached him in just a few minutes and slid alongside him, greeting him with a friendly nuzzle.
"Ahoy, blaggard. I'm glad I ran into ye. I was just thinkin' about me future," Bones said, pastel eyes twinkling before she amended, "Our future."
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Ira wasn't particularly sure why he ended up wondering to the bank of Duck Lake considering his horrendous dislike of the feathered avians that dwell there, as the namesake suggested. He had no real purpose there other than he had wanted to get out of Swiftcurrent Creek for a bit. There was unrest within the pallid Princeling, but he wasn't sure what to do with it. He belonged with Bones, or rather she belonged with him, this he felt to the very marrow of his bones (ha) but he couldn't say that he felt he belonged with Swiftcurrent Creek. Whatever chances he had at Blacktail Deer Plateau with Bones had been utterly destroyed, partially at his own doing, admittedly. There was a part of Ira that did regret that, that had been looking forward to meeting Atticus, that had hoped to make something of a decent impression on her father. Of course, Ira hadn't forgotten Bones' insistence that they were just friends, that after the abuse she had suffered she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to have a relationship like that. Ira understood the best that he could, glad that at least he had her. She was all that he felt he had left and he wouldn't lose her again. He would fight his curse for a thousand years, for the rest of eternity if that was what it took to make sure that it didn't take her away from him again. He had already lost Jinx. He wasn't sure that his heart could take the loss of Bones a second time.
Silver eyes stared, unseeingly out at the water, absently watching it's rippling surface, floating with downy feathers from the birds that occupied it, cringing slightly to himself when one of them would let out a loud call to it's partner. About the only thing he truly liked about ducks was that they mated for life, and if their partner died they did not find another mate. It was kind of ...sweet. It wasn't enough to convince Ira to change his general opinion on them but it counted for something even if it was a tiny change in his opinion towards the better. Ira was drawn out of his thoughts in surprise when he felt someone slid against him, suspecting it was Bones in the next second as he felt her friendly nuzzle.
"Remember when we were littler and we talked about courting and whatnot?" she mused in response, smiling fondly at him before casting her eyes out over the lake. "After what happened at Tortuga, I lost all hope for that. When I first came back, I still felt... hopeless," Bones admitted without looking at him. That was too light a word for the guilt, shame and horror she'd felt but already that dark smear was fading from her heart.
"But I spoke too soon." She turned toward him again, their eyes locking. Hers softened. "Ye've been by me side since we found each other again, even when it's been hard for ye. Ye've defended me during me most difficult moments. And ye came to Tortuga to rescue me before that. Ye love me more than anyone has ever loved me before. Am I wrong?"
Without waiting for an answer, she bumped her nose against his. "And I love ye too, Ira. Sure, it's young love but it's strong... stronger than merely friendly love too," she hinted, green eyes sparkling again. "And I was thinkin' we could become betrothed to be mates, if ye like that idea. Ye'd have to be patient with me and we probably couldn't be intimate for a while but ye've been by me side and I want to keep ye there, blaggard," Bones finished, licking his cheek softly.
Ira's head canted curiously in his companion's direction when she spoke about how they had spoken about courting when they were 'younger'. Bones' smile was fond, Ira saw, but his confusion was evident on his face, unsure where this was coming from.
Hearing Bones say that she loved him too, it filled him with rapturous joy but also a small hint of terror. Anyone that had ever loved him had been hurt, or killed, and Bones had already been one of those; but Jinx had once told him that he wasn't cursed that her losing her litter hadn't been his fault. He had mentally corrected her that it hadn't directly been his fault but without anything else to ever go off of he was left to believe in. Bad things happened to wolves who grew to care for him, and he for them. But he wasn't going to let it cost him his happiness anymore, and Bones held the key to that and his heart as wretched as it was.
"I am yers," she said, pulling back slightly to look him in the eye, "and ye are mine." Bones licked his nose, then declared, "And me heart is happy." Her silvery tail waved, swaying her hips with its vigor.
She really couldn't have felt happier at that moment, though all was still not perfect. Bones had another thing she wanted to talk about with her pale counterpart. She thought he might be just as happy about this development as the previous one. Bones herself wasn't sure how she felt. Only time would tell.
"Bazi's no longer Cap'n and I don't know the new leader," she said quietly. "There's nothing in the creek for me any longer. And I know ye only stay there for me." Bones paused, shifting her weight. "And we can't go to the plateau. Don't beat yerself up about that, blaggard. It's not yer fault and I don't blame ye," she said before he could possibly feel guilty. "Fox is no longer the Cap'n I want," she finished with a slight frown.
"Ye know who is, though?" she continued brightly in the next breath. "Ye are, Ira. I was thinkin'... what if we went explorin' together? I really haven't seen much of this big, wide world. We could travel and eventually start our own crew. Ye could be Cap'n and I could be First Mate, or the other way around. It doesn't matter to me. I just want to do it with ye at me side."
Ira drew in a soft gasp when he felt Bones headbutt him gently against the neck and snuggle into him. There was a part of Ira that thought that he was dreaming this entire thing, having finally resolved to the fact that Bones and him would be just friends despite that he could never consider her in any sort of platonic way. It wasn't that he wasn't happy about this because he was, he was overjoyed and terrified all in one neat little package of emotions. Their conversation switched to less happy things and Ira's face was stoic as Bones began to speak. Ira hadn't been paying much attention to the goings on in the Creek. He knew of them of course but he couldn't put the effort towards actually caring because he hadn't been sure how he felt about Bazi in the first place, and as Bones had pointed out he didn't know the new leader, either. As in everything, though, Ira was sure he wouldn't get along with Scimitar either (but that was a given because Ira rarely got along well with anyone).
Ira was silent, not really having much to offer since Bones' thoughts more or less reflected many of his own, though he looked at her, his brow furrowing when she spoke that he was the 'captain' she wanted. It was true that it was what the Princeling had always strove for, what he had been groomed to be. There wasn't doubt, not really, but he felt a small measure of concern because while she was a year old he hadn't even reached that mark yet. Many wolves would still see them as children.
His final question caused a small smirk to appear on her maw. Her pale green eyes danced. "Aye, blaggard, I am." She planted a quick kiss on his snowy white cheek. "Let's run away together, right now. What do ye say?"
Although she'd used the words run away, Bones was an honorable critter. Once it was decided that she and Ira were on the same page, she smiled and licked his cheek, then swung away from him abruptly. Facing the creek, she threw her head back into the air and announced, "Ira and I will be explorin' the seven seas! Good luck and farewell to ye!"
Her heart skipped a beat when she faced her companion once more. "Aye, let's have a Hex and a Voodoo," Bones replied, touching her nose to his pale cheekbone. She took a steadying breath, smiled and added, "Follow that star and on toward the morning then?"
Falling into step with Ira, Bones began to lope around Duck Lake, pewter muzzle and alabaster toes pointed toward the uncharted wilderness beyond. She left a piece of her heart in Swiftcurrent Creek, yet the larger part of it beat like a wild drum in her chest, presumably in rhythm with Ira's. The young lovers soon disappeared into the distance, toward a hopefully better and brighter future together.