Wild Berry Meadow he followed

For @Charon~

There was a fair chance, and curious, that Noctura had been here before. This journey through the moonlit lowlands was reminiscent of one he'd taken before, but that time it had been while hunting large game — now no such creatures trod these barren lands. This time he was not here following prey but following a star, which the stargazer was known to do. The stars led him places, to people and ideas, they gave him a mental strength that at times could outweigh his considerable physical strength, and their very presence was a constant source of comfort. So when starlight seemed to beckon, he followed.

Noctura slowed his pace and saw where he had come to. A wide meadow: the one he'd been to before. The ground was dark in the midnight silence, but not green as he recalled. In fact, now the berry meadow was sorely stripped of berries — a sad thing to see. But the black wolf felt he'd been led here for a reason, so began a quiet search for a lone berry he knew must be here. A symbol of hope, of prosperity to come.

Usually Charon would watch his stars from atop his throne, his glorious mountain, but at times he would go down its slopes and into the fields below. Down into the firefly glen, or in this case, a meadow that he knew had once held berries. It made Charon realise how long it had been since he had left the mountain. He inhaled the warm summer air as he made his way through the meadow, eyes on the stars.

Though he himself stood out from his dark surroundings at night, the majority of his pelt pale, he didn't see the other wolf there. Charon was headed straight for him, trotting at a leisurely gait with his gaze to the skies, unaware of the presence of anyone else.

For a moment he closed his eyes and let the starlight press through his eyelids and design him a fantasy. Noctura imagined that this meadow was full of grass, and that the sounds of his own breath were the sounds of the breeze swishing gently through the plants. He imagined a world of colour around him, flowers bright and wild, albeit atmospherically dim in the darkness of night.

Before he opened his eyes, he accepted entirely that the meadow remained desolate, though the fantasy had been a sweet one. But suddenly — be careful, white shadow. The deep-voiced male regarded the sudden stranger, not expecting his presence. Both, it seemed, had been distracted by the heavens.

It was sudden that he heard a voice speak out to him, and Charon visibly startled. His face showed a flash of surprise before it moulded into irritation. "The fuck are you doing here hiding?!" he snapped impatiently, his hackles raising and tail curled over his back in instinctive dominance.

He had spent a lot of time at Moonspear of late — he was not used to meeting strangers over whom he had no advantage or right to dominance — though he reacted as if he was at home all the same. It was the surprise that made it so, that made him aggravated and made him feel angry; for like always, all emotions were blanketed in a cloak of anger.

The stranger was as white as Noctura was dark, though he had some hints of low silver here and there — or perhaps that was just the moonlight. The youth was as surprised as Noctura (such had been their shared distraction), but took to it in a very different way.

Thanks to Ryūjin, Asterr and the stars, the Kanpō had reined in his aggressive instincts so much of late that he had no trouble resisting the stranger's violent invitation. Noctura did not react at all to his show of dominance, but replied courteously: nothing at all. For he wagered that the male knew full well that he had not been hiding, so did not disrespect his intelligence by denying it.

With that, Noctura made to move on — but was careful not to let his gaze become tempted by the night's sky again until his peripheral vision was back in check.

As the initial surprise wore off a little, Charon relaxed somewhat, especially considering the stranger did not challenge him in any way, physically nor in words. His answer hardly answered the question posed but it was also very clearly one intended to deflect a conflict. Charon looked at the darker male as he made to move on and said, calmer this time, "Wait. What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?" hoping to stop the male from moving on along his way. He'd gotten rusty meeting wolves not at his borders, in neutral territory, he realised. With some luck an affinity for the stars was shared and they could trade knowledge.

Noctura did not know why the white wolf was so persistent, but he could make an educated guess. Perhaps he was not used to meeting lone wolves on the road — or peaceful lone wolves anyway, because these times were dark and a fight in the wilderness was not uncommon. He didn't appreciate being stopped in his tracks, but he obliged calmly, one great black forepaw hovering for a moment in midair.

I'm stargazing, he said simply. It led me off the beaten path of my pack's borders and out into these lowlands.

Various questions hovered in Charon's mind as the male said that he had come here to stargaze, and that he had come here from his pack's borders. He wondered what pack the guy was from, for his scent didn't come familiar at all. Yet from all the questions he could think of, there was one that stuck in Charon's mind — "Me too. Stargazing, I mean." He glanced briefly at the skies before looking back to the dark wolf. His tail fell, his dominant posture melting because he did not think he would find a fight here today.

"I'm Charon Ostrega, Moonspear's Alpha." He looked over his shoulder in Moonspear's direction, a proud smile falling over his face as he did.

Having halted entirely, obliging when the stranger had stopped him in his tracks, Noctura felt somewhat more relaxed at the white wolf's change in tact. It seemed they both had the night's sky in common, or at least an interest in it.

So his name was Charon? Noctura committed it to memory, to replace the nickname 'white shadow'. Noctura, Kanpō of Ryūjin, he responded in kind. I've seen your mountain from mine, he followed Charon's gaze to the mighty peak. Your view of the stars must be magnificent.

A smile fell across Charon's face when Noctura complimented his mountain — his weak spot, especially in combination with the stars' mention. "It is," shared Charon. "I haven't managed to reach the peak yet. It gets very jagged up there. But some day I will see them from the highest reaches." He hoped that he might even be able to touch them, but kept this desire to himself for the moment.

"It is like the stars gifted me the mountain, like they smile down on me," Charon said boldly, unabashedly shining with pride as he spoke. "As if they guide my path, like I'm some sort of chosen something or other." Charon watched Noctura's face then, curious to see his reaction. He had once thought others might find him foolish for his thoughts, but of yet he had received only positive feedback and so right then he could be nothing but encouraged in his beliefs.

The smile that warmed the white wolf's face caused Noctura to tilt one ear in curiosity and — perhaps — appreciation. He was glad this might turn out to be a pleasant meeting after all, and one about the stars no less.

As Charon Ostrega spoke of his mountain, Noctura's gaze flickered to it once again — its peak wasn't even fully visible in the hazy black, but he had seen it before and knew it well from a distance.

Perhaps, he agreed, turning his eyes back to the fateful Charon. Where do you think your path leads? he added. The zenith of Moonspear?

He grinned when asked about where he thought his path would lead. He did but know; only the stars knew his own purpose for they were the ones that, in part, orchestrated it all. Yet he understood that a big part of destiny also lay in his own paws. All he knew was that he was destined for greatness, and that one day he would achieve it -- whatever 'it' was.

So he shook his head and admitted, "I don't know. Only the stars know. But I know -- I feel -- that there is greatness in my destiny." There was a confident, near cocky smile on his face as he spoke, clearly fully believing the words that he spoke.

Although not gazing at the stars in that moment, Noctura felt almost as if all the light of Taurus was shining down on Charon just then, making his fur all the brighter. To some such a sight might be a little obnoxious, but Noctura saw no shame in this kind of attitude. So far, he believed that Charon was simply confident, not arrogant.

And his words were curious, so it was with genuine interest — not any sense of challenge — that he asked why?

Charon quirked a single eyebrow and grinned as Noctura questioned his reasoning. It was a thing that was hard to describe, really; he just felt it, knew it in a way, that his destiny was one for greatness. He'd become a leader at young age and he had become master of one of the largest mountains in the area. It was hard not to realise that it was because he was destined for a greater goal.

"I feel it. It's like they speak to me, whisper, and one day I am sure I will find what they are trying to tell me so I can fulfill what greatness they have in mind for me." That was the only way he could explain it, even if others might not understand it as clearly as he. They did not hear what the stars whispered as clearly and loudly as he did.

The grin and the raised brow suggested that perhaps Charon wasn't being entirely serious, but Noctura could sense earnestness in his voice. It was possible that the moonlit wolf was simply making fun of Noctura, but he did not believe this to be the case. Especially when it came to astrology, he was an optimistic soul.

I wouldn't wait for them, if I were you, he advised with a tilt of his ear. They might take forever to convey their message. Achieve all you can, don't hold back — and if the heavens approve, they'll let you know.

For a start, there was the quest for Moonspear's peak. Noctura envied such an opportunity.

Charon pulled a face when Noctura told him not to wait. It was somewhere midway between being amused and insulted; anyone who knew Charon knew that he wouldn't wait for anyone. Not even his precious stars. He figured that whatever they had planned for him, it was bound to happen eventually anyway, so he might as well achieve all he could within the realms of his possibilities and they'd toss whatever they had planned at him when they were ready, or whatever.

"Nah, wasn't planning to," he said with a grin that betrayed his ambition. "If I'd be sitting around waiting for fate to happen, I wouldn't be King of a great mountain and destined for things even greater than that." There was a sparkle in his eyes as he spoke, for he truly believed that he was fated to do great things, and that some day he would be able to understand all that the stars murmured to him fully. "Whatever they've planned for me, if it is anything beyond what I've already achieved then they'll surely just chuck it at my path whenever they think is a good time."

Noctura watched, stoic as ever, and didn't have much response to Charon's denial of Noctura's advice. The white wolf had said that he'd wait for the stars to pass on their message so that he could go out and unravel their plans, but it seemed he meant these two things to happen simultaneously.

At the Mountain King's description of how the stars behaved, Noctura couldn't help but smile slightly. You make it sound as if the stars have paws.

He grinned as Noctura told him he made it sound like stars had paws. He hadn't meant to personify them in that way, although now that he thought of it, it made sense. He had always seen the stars as the souls of the deceased, those no longer with him, the ones he missed. Whenever he'd looked at the stars he hadn't felt so alone and miserable, when he was little and his parents had died. That was how their conversations had come to be.

"The souls of the ones we've lost are out there," he shared. "That's why there's so many." At times he told himself that was why his mother'd died so early; so she could guide him from above, from where she had much more influence over his fate. He looked at Noctura to see if the other thought his words folly or if he agreed in some way.

He had heard this one before, but that didn't make the theory any less ponderous. Noctura looked up accordingly — so Charon thought these the souls of the dead. It was a smart thought, for if Charon had lost loved ones, then they were the ones painting his path for him. They were the stars that thought he could ascend to greater heights.

Then in a way, I suppose the stars do have paws, Noctura mused figuratively. For each star had been a wolf. Four paws, two eyes, one tail. But according to this theory, only the soul remained.

He nodded at Noctura, for that was precisely the point that he had intended on. He suddenly felt himself curious for Noctura's opinion on the matter, and for a moment it appeared as though he might ask his companion.

Yet eventually he decided not to; Noctura had pretty much agreed with the point that he had made, and so he decided to stick to the fact Noctura must feel the same as he. For another moment longer he looked up at the skies, a fond smile on his face. He did not say any more for the moment, for he didn't feel he had to; he was content just staying here, in the company of a fellow star-lover, occasionally share a word or theory, but otherwise he was fine just looking at the stars.

want to fade? unless noctura has more to add! :D