Great Bear Wilderness Take Your Time

Still out and about, but still getting very much closer to home. Kerosene wandered as he let his mate slip off to pee for the bazillionth time in peace. She could hold her own if anything befell her and he wasn't drifting too terribly far away. Just far enough to scout these lands further and pick up visual clues as to where they were and how far away their home was from this corner of the universe. They were getting closer, but they were taking their time about it.  

They'd crossed the river a few nights ago, slipping across whitefish river through one of the narrows in the gorge. It'd put them out somewhere just north of the heartwood, but not quite close enough to neverwinter forest for the terrain to be immediately familiar. They were caught somewhere in the middle of no-man's land where the great bear wilderness existed, but was left strangely unsettled by any locals who wandered in these midsts. Unsettled and unnamed. And by him? Unexplored.

Ears lifted, nose sniffing, he explored. One step at a time he prowled through the cover of the trees and kept his senses open of anything that might be of value. Scents. Sounds. He saw signs of life, both predator and prey, but he paid them little attention if only because he was here to gather information, not follow it. He ignored the broken undergrowth and hoof prints, and continued, following his nose in the direction of sweeter, fresher things.

Water. The scent filled his head with promises of a cool drink. He altered his course, adjusting his trajectory towards what quickly became a natural spring set beneath the shade of a large, twisting tree. It was something of a find. Nearing the water, he learned somewhat quickly that the water was safe to drink and home to an assortment of aquatic life. Frogs lingered in the shade of soft reeds as tadpoles flitted back and forth between the tall grasses. Dragonflies buzzed about the area, landing an drifting away as needed. Not too terribly far off a heron stared at him, peering across the water on tall legs as it seemed to suggest it was king here and nothing else.

Kerosene paid the bird no mind and instead lowered his head to sip at the cool waters. Delicious. Tepid. It quenched the thirst of wandering soul and satisfied some craving deep within. He loved finding places like this. These little gems of nature that made him appreciate the wilds he lived in all the more. Places like these? They were meant to be shared. He moved, drifting from the edges of the waters to climb into the low hanging bows of the tree that stood sentinel over this sanctuary. He let out a yip, a call to Tonravik that she might join him if she were nearby, but a place like this? This was meant to be shared with anyone who happened to come across it.

Hearing her mate, and finishing her business, Tonravik scouted him out, following her nose. Now and again it would brush against the earth investigating the same things her mate had noted. It was a good thing to know, the sort of walks of life around the area to reference in her mind. Useless to her except if it could profit the Spine, Tonravik sought larger prey to herd toward their home idly. But none were seen.

In little time, she arrived beside her mate near the peaceful, quiet alcove that buzzed with life. She trod next to him, shifting to nose his side before moving to lap at the cool waters he just had. Her tail swayed slowly, glad for this find in the shade. The days only ever seemed to grow hotter, and this area would give them some much needed reprieve.

Ahh. She'd heard him. Not too long a wait and his mate slipped onto the scene, moving closer to the edge of the spring so she might take a drink. Kerosene lifted from his perch within the tree and moved to join her by the water's edge. His shoulder pressed against her own as she sipped at the water and replenished all the hydration she'd lost with her frequent bathroom breaks.

He nudged her neck lightly, turning his muzzle to rest it upon her shoulders for a moment before he breathed heavily as if to sigh. They'd encountered a detour or several, but soon they would be home. Soon. He could almost taste their home upon the wind and if they altered their course slightly, they would find themselves there. Their hours of privacy were waning. He did not wish to waste a single moment of them.

Lifting his muzzle from her shoulders he moved, tucking his nose beneath her belly as was slowly becoming a habit of his. Still too soon for life, but he took some form of curious comfort with the gesture. All the same, he removed his head and circled round to her tail. He gave her rump a good push with the flat of his head as he nudged her towards or possibly into the water.

She was ready to return home, to rest her paws. The woman was one who enjoyed traveling, but there was pack to return to, and she longed for them all. Her mind thought of her newly proclaimed Beta, of Ivitaruk, and of the others she had left behind to bring the scrawny plains bitch home. Tonravik looked forward to her arrival, into reintegrating, and to sleeping at home.

His face upon her belly was something she had grown used to. She looked to him wonderingly, but there was no change in his face, no nuance to pick up on that he had noted anything. Indeed, all was quiet and calm within. No movement. No anything but their growth. If they in there had formed bodies yet, and paws, she was none the wiser.

He then moved behind her and nudged her forward. Tonravik obliged by slipping into the shallow pool, the day hot enough for her to desire and accept being pushed into the waters they had drank of. A dragonfly flit around her muzzle, continuing to zigzag in its own pattern. Now and then it would stop, then, go again.

She slipped into the water just like that. No struggle, resistance or protest, just a simple slide into the water where she made a swamp monster of herself. She lingered in the shallows while a bug roamed about her nose. Other than that? Nothing. No movement. No sounds. No anything.

He took a few paces into the water and joined her there. It was cooler in the spring than it was to stand in the heat of summer. In this, he did not envy her dark pelt, though the sun bore down on him just as hot. Either way, inside the calm of the water there was no warmth to be concerned with. It was pleasant.

He lingered in the shallow for a moment before wondering if his mate had died on him. Unmoving, and silent, he had little to go by save for the way her nose sent ripples across the water's surface. He lowered his lips to the water, sucked a little into his mouth, and then squirted it at her. "You alive in there?" he asked, his tail waving playfully, albeit damp as it lifted out of the water behind him.

She likely could be perceived dead, given the only sign of life was the small, tiny ripples that her sides and her nostrils created. So small were these with her gentle breathing that one would hardly notice. Tonravik's tiredness came to in this moment, and when her mate splashed her, the woman started slightly, turning to look at him. Tonravik turned to move to his side, wading slowly in his direction before she shifted to rest her muzzle upon his shoulderblades.

There was plenty going on within her that she wasn't all that ware of, given her lack of eyes on the inside. But it did make her relatively more tired than normal, and with the miles they had traveled, some of that tiredness presented itself now. Her dark eyes drifted toward the back of her mates head, her own tail still despite the meek waving of his own. A small yawn could be heard as she nestled her face more into his plush furs, exhaling lightly.

She was a tough nut to crack. In all their time away, he was starting to wonder for everything he'd discovered of her, there was still that much more to uncover. She startled at his playful fount of water and seemed surprised, but otherwise unbothered by the action. She slipped through the water and approached him, setting her head upon his shoulders.

His tail stilled, falling back into the water as he stood more firmly on his paws. Not by much, but just enough so he could be sure to keep her nose above the water. He watched her then, turning his eyes to their corners to look down the length of her form. One ear flicked in her direction as he caught the breath of her yawn and the nestling of her head upon his form.

This was not the best place for sleeping, here in the water. He could support her for a time, but if she truly wished to sleep peacefully, the best place for them to do that was within the safety of their own sanctuary. It was closer now. So close. Just a few more hours and they'd see that all too familiar ridge they called home. But for now? He saw no harm in resting.

He sighed. If he admitted it to himself, he too was weary from their traveling. He'd ignored it up until now, but with her tired head upon his shoulders? Her admission made him succumb to his own fatigue. He turned slightly, swinging his head around to nudge whatever of her lingered above the water still before resuming his supportive position within the water. Soon. They'd be home soon.

Tonravik felt his eyes on her, and looked back to him. He was the only wolf able to look her in the eyes, as he was her equal. They were bright and interesting, and she'd seen them many times. It was only recently he was able to get a good look at her own, but they'd looked a thousand times over into one anothers eyes by now. She removed her head from his back once she was nudged, simply to wade to his side and attempt to nose his face. The cool water did wake her some, but it equally relaxed her when she grew used to its temperature.

She dipped her muzzle into the water and flipped it upward, to get water to cover her nape without dunking her head, and was swift to shake out her head so droplets would slip from the tips of her ears. And then she turned back to the waters edge, thinking it time they resume their journey home. This place was a good one, relaxing and tranquil... but it was time they get themselves where they belonged. Tonravik shook out all of her furs now, and they wildly stood up, making her look like a beastly porcupine.

Their stare met and held for a few moments before she slipped from him and nosed his cheek. He eyed her curiously, watching and reading her body language as she slowly dismissed herself from this reprieve and decided they'd lingered long enough. He mirrored her, only Kerosene sank within the water, fully lowering himself into the pool before he reappeared above the surface. He dripped. Water rolled across his face, but he did not shake himself until he pulled himself back out to the soft soils of the shore and shook out his pelt all at once.

They were both bristling. Her dark pelt and his own fiery hues. He stepped towards her, running his nose against her cheek before snapping playfully at her whiskers. He nudged her and tipped his head towards the Spine. It was time for them both to return home. They were so close. There was no sense in delaying their return any longer.

They both appeared to have faced an electric shock, and the woman snapped at his whiskers in turn as he went for her own. Where his muzzle ran tickled, and she wrinkled her muzzle to relieve the sensation. Above the trees, after taking some steps forward, she could make out the Spine and its height in the distance. To show she concurred with his decision, the woman threw her weight into a steady run. They would return by nightfall, so close they were, and there was no desire in her to delay their arrival.

The only time they ever stopped was when her bladder could not stand to wait for its own relief, and then, they ran again. Each and every time she had to release her bladder, the woman expertly covered it up, leaving no evidence of her presence there. Closer and closer they drew, so close to home.