Stone Circle there's always just a little more left

for dad! @Ethan

The weather was starting to turn. For Mya, it was still a novel experience, even if she already had an autumn under her belt. She'd been so young back then, and although she could faintly recall the excitement of the new smells and falling leaves, it was just as breathtaking to her this time around. She wondered if she would ever tire of it, or if the passing of the seasons was a purposeful thing crafted by some unseen, unknown maker. If it was there, perhaps, to entertain all the little creatures on earth. To keep life new and interesting and beautiful.

Mya knew, intellectually, that her father was not much older than she was. That he'd only seen the passing of the seasons a scant two or three times more than she had. In her mind, however, he was very much older than her, and very much wiser, and so she sought him today to ask.

The leaves fell around her like new snow as she wandered the forest of spindly, quaking aspen trees. She was staring up at them in wonder as she walked, and so failed to see the tree right in front of her until she bumped nose-first into the scratchy black-pocked bark. When she reeled back at stare in silent accusation at the tree, it was to see a perfect imprint of her nose on the white trunk.

"That hurt," she told the tree, but a fit of laughter threatened to take her over, and she couldn't stay angry at it too much longer. "I'm sorry," she said humbly, "I wasn't watching where I was going. Have you seen my father around, Mister Tree?"

The tree, of course, did not answer.

Ethan was standing near some bushes behind Mya. She had seemingly been distracted by the falling leaves and not caught his scent or spotted him. He let out a chuckle when she walked into the tree, and then preceded to talk to it. He strode up to her slowly from where he had stood as she asked the tree if it had seen him.

"You should've seen me." He said, coming up behind her, which would startle her if she was still in the trance from the forest entering fall. He noticed the imprint of her nose on the tree which also made him chuckle yet again. "Its pretty, isn't it." He said. "Doesn't give you an excuse to forget to use your other senses though." Ethan teased.

The sound of her father's voice made her jump, but by the time he stood beside her, she'd settled down again.

"My nose sensed it just fine," she fired back with just the slightest hint of cheek, but it was clear that she didn't mind being teased. Still, she lifted a paw to scrub at her nose before turning to wipe it on her father's shoulder. It was still smarting just a little, and starting to run from the irritation.

It was hard to focus on just a minor inconvenience for long, however. Dad was right — it was beautiful out here. Mya loved the forest just as much as the standing stones, and the plains were so good for running!

"Soon it will all be covered in snow," she said, speaking on her own racing thoughts rather than what Ethan had actually said. "It's hard to imagine. I almost forget how snow feels. Real snow. Not that old icy stuff we saw on the way here."

"Yeah, I can't imagine you remember your last winter, but you and Ike weren't such big fans of the snow and cold when all you had was thin pup-pelts to protect you from the cold. Ike fell into a snow drift once and if it weren't for his black patches, we'd have never found him again." Ethan recalled with a chuckle. "In a year or 2's time you might be showing snow to your own pups for the first time." Ethan said, remarking on the fact Ike and Mya had reached one year old age, and may start to have their own young at 2 years old.

Mya gazed at her father with deep fascination in her eyes. It was strange to hear a story that she’d probably been involved with that she couldn’t remember for herself. They’d been so little! Mya hardly remembered what that was like.

She had more to say about the snow, but then Ethan had to go and talk about her having pups. She balked at the very idea, having never thought of it herself. It hadn’t yet occurred to her that she was anything more than Baby, and that she had a whole future full of other wolves she probably hadn’t even met yet.

“I’m not gonna have pups,” she said without thinking, shrinking from the embarrassment of talking about this with her dad. After all, if she wanted to have pups, she knew that there was a boy... involved... in that process. She didn’t even know any boys!

But now she was thinking about it. She was a grown-up, now. Was it time to find a mate?

“Hey Dad?” she asked him, taking on a purposefully calm and nonchalant tone. It was not to great effect, even though this was something she’d been thinking about already, and not just an excuse to change the subject. “Do you think you’ll have more pups one day? Or that maybe you’ll — ” She cringed as she said it, again due to embarrassment: “... fall in love?”

"Having pups is quite a big thing for all females, even i've had them and I'm me. And if its raising them that scares you, remember we are in a pack and that you will have many people to help you." Ethan told Mya. "But you don't have to have pups." He added

"yes, I do suppose I will have more pups. I enjoy having you and Ike very much, and now that we are in a pack, I feel any pups I have will be even safer and more loved. And I do want to find someone to love, just there aren't any wolves who will like me for me, if you know what I mean." Ethan told Mya

It was not raising them she was currently concerned about, but as soon as Ethan brought it up, she found a new reason to dread the prospect. She'd have to think very carefully about this once she had a minute alone!

For the moment, she was relieved to be let off the hook, so to speak. Her father went on to said that he maybe would bring another litter into the world, which was a much more exciting prospect than having to do it herself.

"I'm sure there's someone out there," Mya assured him, but truthfully, she was beginning to wonder herself. Her situation had always seemed perfectly normal to her, but obviously, she'd never known anything else. She didn't understand how anyone could not like someone as kind and loving as Ethan, but she was starting to see that he was something approaching a rarity, at least in this part of the wilds.

But they'd find him someone. If anyone deserved to be happy, it was her dad.

"I'd help you with the new puppies," she vowed, hoping he wouldn't call her out on this apparent dichotomy. "They will be safe and loved, no matter what."

Ethan smiled. "Yeah, never have trouble having others to mate with me, maybe I can just ask one of them next time if they'd want to raise my pups with me, or be with me or something." Ethan said, feeling a bit awkward at this conversation, but understanding Mya was at an age now where he could talk to her.

"You'll find someone too, if you want too." He added. "And I would very much love your help raising any future litters I have." Ethan added with a smile.

@Mya, small bump of this!

Mya made a face when her father talked about mating, which was still something she was bizarrely adverse to talking about. She pretended to be very interested in the trees for a moment, as if one of them had moved and she wanted to catch it in the act. Only when the conversation plodded on a fraction did Mya feel able to look her father in the eye again.

"I'll just stay with you forever," she said, vehemently refusing to grow up to the point where a mate might actually be a viable option for her. This shyness made her feel awfully silly and young, but she was still learning how to get along with wolves other than her father and brother. There was a part of her that wanted to stay a child forever, while he true nature pushed at the back of her mind, insisting she was mature and capable and that it was ridiculous to cling to the past.

"I'll race you back to the standing stones," she declared, deciding that growing up could wait another day. For now, she was content to physically flee from these embarrassing topics.

Ethan nuzzled Mya affectionately when she said she'd stay with him forever. He wasn't sure if she could uphold that promise, but Ike was already planning on starting his own family this season. Whether he planned to stay in Kvarsheim or not, Ethan didn't know, but Ike was ready to grow up. He'd happily keep Mya with him while he could.

He smiled at her challenge. "Sure, let's go." He said.

fade here?