Lion Head Mesa Running is a victory

After having her feelings unintentionally hurt in the valley of the rising sun, Pipit ran for days. She stooped on occasion to accommodate for her exhaustion and to take care of her other necessary faculties, but besides these brief pauses, the little wolf pressed on in full flight mode. She had no destination, no home to speak of, and the weight of her loneliness threatened to crush her into sullen oblivion as it had previously for the better part of this dreary year. She had escaped it for a moment, but the happiness had been so fleeting, she thought she might never feel the same again after being unable to seduce her company into abandoning responsibility for longer than an hour.

She felt as if she had lost her touch— lost her charm— in all that time she'd spent alone, but running made it easier to forget her woes. And the further she went from the Downs, the more physically distant the memory seemed, the better she began to imagine herself feeling. She had left massive mountains behind her, and the flatlands had occupied her journey for the past two days, but suddenly she found herself approaching a lone peak. It was not nearly as mighty as the slopes she had grown accustomed to seeing, but it gave her something to aim for.

Night was nearing by the time she reached it, and as the stars began to pucker up one by one, Pipit took the opportunity (in her supposed solitude) to sing them a song. She howled into the purpling sky, crooning "star light, star bright" in a wistful manner as she fed the heavens her wish for company.

It was strange, Genie had thought as she walked slowly through the flatlands, that once her only desire was to leave home, but now that she'd actually left home, there was a bitterness in her gut and a sharp pain in her chest that yeared for her to return to the welcoming arms of her family. Except the welcoming arms of her family weren't welcoming any more, not after — Genie shuddered involuntarily and shook her head. These were thoughts that she'd rather not dwell in just yet.

Purpuse evaded Genie as she wandered on and on. Distantly, she remembered a kind wolf she'd met sometime ago inviting her to his pack, and just as distantly, she wondered if she should go pay him a visit, given that her meaningless wanderings had not given away to the adrenaline-fueled adventure that she yearned to be lost in, if only to forget her past and current predicament. After all, it wasn't like she had anywhere to go. She was lost and alone, two things that she absolutely hated being, despite popular opinion. 

Day came and went, and soon, shadows began sneaking across the sky, shielding Genie from the harsh, and in her opinon, almost bitter glare of the sun. She'd decided she hated the sun earlier today - it was too hot and happy, and for some strange reason, seemed to get others into a good mood. Personally, she thought the sun was rude. How dare it shine so bright and burn so fiercely when she herself was shrouded in bitter and sullen shadows.

It was clear, even to Genie herself that, by then, she'd gone nuts. Not that she cared, obviously.

Just as she was about to settle down for a night of restless sleep and deep thoughts, a voice rang through the air. It was a sweet song, Genie decided, and there was a certain kind of sadness within it that resonated within her. Normally, the girl didn't go around seeking for strangers as company, but for some reason she picked herself up and made her way towards the direction of the sound.

It wasn't long before Genie found her, a silhouette against the distant horizon, but now that she had, she hesitated. Truthfully, she didn't know what to do, so she didn't do anything, as if hoping the stranger would acknowledge her existence first.

The wind brought Pipit the scent of a stranger nearby, and just as she had started to sing a slower, sadder melody, her mouth snapped shut and ended the cold tune abruptly. She cast her mis-matched gaze out into the dark, her nose wrinkling and her whiskers twitching as she felt through the unknown for her unseen guest. It was the eyes she found first— a pair of warm amber pearls hanging against the black backdrop of night like distant twin suns. It was the only light she could find on the earth in this moment, and she gravitated towards the shine like the archetypical moth to the proverbial flame.

"Hello?" she called out, padding slowly nearer as she tried to discern if the dark figure was yet friend or foe.

The sweet melody ended just as abruptly as it had began, and immediately, Genie straightenened, a sharp sense of sudden alertness draping over her figure. Her eyes narrowed, her ears twitched and her muscles tensed beneath her feathery shadowed pelt. Of course, there was also the fact that if anything, the stranger should be warier than herself, after all, it had been her than snuck up on the other, not the other way around. That thought alone should be incentive enough for her to move forward into the open and greet the fellow wolf, but for some strange reason, she didn't move. 

So, the other sought her out, it seemed. Genie saw her mismatched eyes first. One was the colour of the sun, an orb of burning gold and fierce fire, whilst the other was a shining silver reminiscent of the moon's sterling light. The first thought to cross her mind was how beautiful and striking those eyes were, then her train of thought wandered along the lines of how strange it was to have two eyes of different colour. Genie, however, dismissed the second thought as soon as it arrived. Who cared if it was strange, as long as it was uniquely beautiful? This was the kind of thing her parents would have thought of as a curse, whereas she would've thought of it as some sort of blessing. She supposed that it was that difference which drove her away from her family.

Genie tossed that thought aside. Now wasn't the time for that. 

There was a voice to match those eyes. The voice that had been singing earlier. Genie shifted her weight between her paws, suddenly nervous, before she opened her maw and in a soft, lilting voice, replied. "Hey," she said, immediately regretting her choice of words. Why, why was she so ineloquent with spoken words? Genie scowled to herself, but otherwise, shook those thoughts aside as she, in turn, with cautious movements moved closer to the stranger until the other was no longer a silhouette in the blackness of the night.

"Hey," Pipit breathed back, relieved that the voice was not only feminine but absent of any malice or coy tones. As they drew closer to one another, she realized belatedly that the other she-wolf wasn't black as she had initially thought, but was a deep chestnut hue instead. In the poorly reflected light of the moon, the stranger even looked a little red— serving her an eerily beautiful glow that Pipit felt drawn to rather than deterred by; and the continued silence between them beckoned her to fill the silence.

Pipit wagged her tail, hopeful for a friend. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" she smiled, bravely coming so close to the taller she-wolf that she could touch her if she reached. "I mean, there isn't much to look at around here," she added with a sheepish glance to their dusty surroundings; "but the stars are brilliant, and they cast you in a nice glow." She was unabashed with her words, quick to look pleased and slower to be careful with the stranger. Belatedly, Pipit took in her scent, nothing that she smelled much like herself in regards to the absence of any recent company.

And the stranger spoke. They drew close enough that Genie could make sense of what she was seeing. She was slim and sylphlike, bearing an agouti coat that she'd seen several times before and yet, looked strangely beautiful on her. Genie suppsoed it could just be the lighting, or her eyes, maybe it was her eyes. She'd always been a sucker for pretty eyes, and this stranger's eyes were...uniquely striking. 

Then the stranger came closer, so close that they could touch. Genie swallowed thickly. She was not used to this. But she could certainly get used to it. It was a nice change from lonliness and, well, near madness. And then, of course, the stranger complimented her. Well, it was a compliment, wasn't it? Genie was suddenly thankful for the dim lighting; the stranger couldn't see the flush that darkened her cheeks.

The girl cleared her throat and flashed the stranger who she'd nicknamed 'pretty eyes', a shy smile. "Thank you," she said, her voice soft and lilting. "Um, you're really pretty," Genie blurted out, the words coming out unfiltered. "- I mean, shit, um, like - yeah, your eyes are really pretty." She was sure if her blush hadn't been noticed before, then it was definitely noticeable now. Genie looked away, shifting her weight between her paws. Fuck.

Pipit found the young she-wolf's complimentary blustering to be quite endearing. She'd never been the shy sort herself, but she was used to the awkwardness of others— especially in the face of her own proposed boldness. Her tail picked up its slow pace, flinging itself double-time as she relished vainly in the compliment. "Oh, well aren't you sweet," she purred, daring to extend her nose for a quick boop on the chocolate yearling's slender chin. "But you can't possibly mean that with a pair of eyes like yours. I'm afraid I'm getting jealous." Pipit, the shameless flirt!

She had long come to terms with her own flexible sexuality. she had a taste for all wolves and could find something to compliment in the ugliest of mugs— not that the stranger standing before her carried an ugly bone on her body. But Pipit was mostly just glad not to be alone; not in this desolate place. "I hope my awful baying didn't wake you or something. I know it's late, but I was feeling pretty lonely."

Yeah, Genie died. No big deal. None at all. Because, of course, there had been innumerable she-wolves who'd flirted with her in her one year of living on this planet. Loads! Thousands! Millions! Yeah, no big deal, she was totally used to this by now. So used to it that the other wolf's words had brought a dark flush to her neck and the tips of her ears, and that oh-so-quick touch to her chin had allowed her cheeks to darken to a near black. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating a bit, but honestly!

"No, seriously, your eyes are amazing," Genie blurted out. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she said a second later, avoiding eye contact at all costs. It'll be clear by now that she was not used to this at all, and it was all a bit too much, to be honest. It also appeared that her mouth had no filter, as well as the fact that she didn't know when to stop embarassing herself. It was all quite embarassing - this was definitely not her comfort zone, oh, god, what had she gotten herself into? "No, not at all, I thought the song was nice, really," Genie reassured her quickly and smiled a dazzingly shy smile. "Because I was alone too," she added as an afterthought.

"I'm Genie, by the way," she introduced herself softly, still avoiding eye contact.

God, I love Genie!

Pipit wasn't to be deterred by the young wolf's shyness, but she did find it time that she respect it. Boundaries weren't her thing. She'd often pestered Shrike into oblivion, forcing him out of shell and otherwise making him act in ways that seemed to make him uncomfortable; but that was her brother. This was a complete stranger, and she had no right to tease her in the way she might have with kin. She didn't want her desperate loneliness to turn her into a greedy, unfeeling monster, so she eased back a step. "Don't apologize. I could listen to your praise all night if you let me," she beamed, watching the girl turn shier as their conversation moved to song.

I was alone too, she said, and then introduced herself as Genie— sweet, beautiful, brown-furred Genie. Pipit's eyes swept along her long, lissome legs, taking advantage of the lack of eye contact to study the girl's features more deeply. "I'm Pipit, and it's really nice to meet you, Genie. I don't believe either of us deserve to be lonely," she remarked, speaking softer now, as if she thought they might disturb the stars. "Do you know any songs?" Pipit asked then, her smile lighting up the space between them.

aw thank you ;) i love pipit too <3

The she-wolf seemed to realise that Genie was very new to this flirting business, and was, well, for lack of a better word, a bit embarassed right now. Not because of Pipit, god no, but because of her own awkward behaviour. She could only hope it could be percieved as cute, but given her luck, or lack of luck, in these areas, it was better to assume that no, it was not cute, it was painfully awkward and the other wolf hated her now. Yeah, that was way easier to accept.

Genie felt uncomfortable outside her comfort zone, a part of her wanted to leave. But the other part, the larger part, the majority loathed the idea of leaving. Here was a woman who was showing her attention. Who was, god forbid, flirting with her. And she was gorgeous as well, which, of course, helped. And she was nice, or at least, she seemed nice, that was important. 

Pipit. That was the stranger's name. Genie rolled the word around her tongue and smiled softly to herself, it was a pretty name, she thought, much like the wolf who owned it. Okay, okay, now that's just too cheesy and cliched and you know it. You need to get off this mindset right now. Like, go back to the present. Go back to reality. Yeah, now wasn't the time for that. In fact, it was never the time for that.  

She cleared her throat. And then she tried to stop herself blushing. She half succeeded. She didn't even know why she was blushing anymore. "Uh, no, sorry," Genie shifted awkwardly. "But you could teach me..? I mean, if you know any songs of course. And only if you're willing. Uh, there's nothing to do anyways.." she trailed off, unsure. "Unless you want to sleep? Then I can leave, you know..um, I can-yeah," it wasn't even Pipit's fault anymore, Genie was just naturally awkward and shy around strangers, any stranger. 

She shrugged and smiled hopefully. 

Yeah, she was pretty sure she just ruined everything.

Yay.

"Sleep? Oh no, that'd be a waste of my time and talents at the moment," Pipit chuckled, her tail swishing in the dark as she reclined in a neat stance to her lean haunches. "I'd much rather teach you a song. Perhaps one a little happier than the one I just sang..." She turned a pensive eye on the nightstars, and found the moon before a little song came to her thoughts. "Oh, yes! Here's a little easy one for you," she beamed, clearing her throat before tossing out a sing-song (wolfish rendition of a) nursery rhyme:

"Hey diddle diddle,
The cat's in the middle,
And the sow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed to see such a sport,
And the fish swam away with the croon."

She giggled at the words, finding that even though she knew what everything was, the song was just as nonsensical to her as it had been during her childhood. "It's not a very good one, I admit, but it always made me laugh at it's silly sort of tune."

Genie lowered herself down onto her haunches and watched Pipit, almost entranced. She didn't speak — she'd never really been a wolf of many words, and found it easier to listen to others and usually other wolves were content to listen to the sound of their own voice, so it worked out. Most of the time, Genie really didn't mind...unless they were beginning to sound like vain, arrogant bastards. That was another story entirely.

But, Pipit had a nice voice, so she was content to sit and listen, even if the lyrics of her song was bit ridiculous. Genie's lips quirked upwards, and she let out a laugh,her eyes turning into little crescents. "It's funny," she said, lifting a shoulder in a shrug. "And it's good for a beginner like me."

Genie cleared her throat and in that soft, lilting voice of hers, she sang the nursery rhyme, just like Pipit had moments ago. When she was done, she glanced over at her companion tentatively, awaiting judgement.

Pipit grinned when Genie agreed that her nonsensical song was a bit of fun and easy to remember. She had feared the playful song was too obscure to reach anyone but a child's jolly, but as she still enjoyed it as an adult, she was glad to see another grown wolf take a liken to it as well. She canted her head as the girl cleared her throat, and sang in a gentle, musical tone the very rhyme she'd just presented to her. Pipit laughed delightedly when she finished, her tail thumping the ground like the clap for an encore. "Beautiful, Genie! I'm surprised you don't know any songs yourself with a voice like that," the small wolf praised, her two-toned eyes glittering happily in the dark.

"We should harmonize," the elfin bird chirped suddenly. "Sing it one more time with me?"

Feel free to PP them singing together -- no need to draw this rhyming out lol

Genie allowed herself to preen, just for a moment. It had been a long time since she sang, and well, it wasn't really a good memory - more bittersweet, you could say. She had promised herself to never go back to those days, and so shook those unwanted thoughts away now, unwilling to let her good mood pass so easily. "It's not really..my profession, my hobby, really," she answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

The older woman suggested that they harmonise, and Genie, although hesitant at first, agreed soon enough. She opened her maw and started singing, and Pipin joined her voice with hers. It was a beautiful sound, the yearling thought, almost wistfully, and she turned her eyes to the distant sky, at the stars that shone and glittered and wondered what would happen if things had been different.

All too quickly, the song ended, and Genie was left with more emotions that she should feel, listening and singing to a nursery rhyme, and a nostalgia that sought to swallow her alive.

The fae swallowed thickly and managed a soft smile. "You sing really well," she said, licking her lips.

Pipit wasn't surprised at how sweetly their voices blended in the night. But the rhyme was over so quickly she almost wished she had taught Genie a longer song, so that they might continue their melodies well into the night. Her tail wagged at the praise she was given, never feeling shy or undeserving of such words. And she'd been down in the dumps for so long, that the girl's attention was especially welcome on this once-lonely midnight. "I could say the same of you. It's a wonder you don't sing every minute of every day," she giggled, licking her chops anxiously as she suddenly became aware of an absence of topic. Unwilling to relinquish the girl just yet, Pipit hurriedly sought out another conversation to start.

"Would you tell me a story?" she practically blurted, though in realizing that her desperation was showing, she relaxed her tone slightly. "About you, I mean. I'd like to hear about you."

She didn't sing because she didn't think it was good, and it brought back more memories than it was worth. This, this was a one time thing, never to be repeated again. Still, Genie managed a smile in response, but said nothing. Nothing, until Pipit asked for a story...about herself. Her first reaction was: what the fuck, who would want to know about me. Her second reaction was: no, I can't tell stories. Her third was: This is a stranger.

She tensed, and her amber eyes turned guarded for less than a second before returning to normal. "About me?" Genie said, almost hesitantly. "Um, I don't think I'm very interesting...and I don't really have any interesting stories to tell, you know, I don't think you'll wanna hear it," she lifted one shoulder in a shrug, almost helpless. Genie didn't want to disappoint Pipit, but her wariness and sense of self-preservation was higher than her curiousity for the female, and her urge to please her.

This, this, she was not comfortable with. Her stories were still new, and the wounds they brought were still raw. Genie tended to detach herself from it — she feared that a breakdown was imminent of she even thought about it, thought for long enough, let alone tell someone who was practically a stranger.

"I have a brother," she offered then, the one person who didn't hurt her to mention. It was almost a peace offering, of sorts, as if to tell Pipit that it wasn't her that was the problem, but Genie herself.