Moonspear moonlight outshines the brightest stars

Takes place the evening of June 30, 2017.

Happy National Meteor Watch Day, Moonspear!

The end of the month was marked by what felt like a particularly early sunset. The sun seemed in a hurry to dip below the horizon, leaving in its wake a brilliant green flash, quick as an errant thought. The cloudless summer sky was a swirl of purples and blues; and when the waxing gibbous moon tiptoed up through the tenebrae, her light shone especially brightly.

Though the moon was still about a week shy of her full illumination, her unnatural luminescence and the pale cyan halo that appeared around her made it seem that she’d skipped ahead in the lunar cycle. Moondogs glimmered to life like a pair of symmetrical parentheses — and then, in scant trickles at first, the stars began to dance across the sky.

They came in ones and twos — trios and quartets, quintets and sextets — and then they lanced the darkness in the tens and twenties, filling the balmy summer night with kaleidoscopic light. The stelliferous light show was bound to last for a few days at least, but this was its brightest hour.
Moonspear was perhaps the most ideal place to watch such an otherworldly display of beauty and energy; its high reaches and wide ledges were illuminated with prismatic light, particularly on the mountain’s northern face. The flat ridges and plains, elevated above the rest of the Teekons, made the sky seem even wider and the stars’ smiling arcs appeared to go on for eons.

posted by coelacanth.

The reality of her situation set in once the anguish abated. Dakarai was gone, Aries was gone — and though the broken Svartell family was less of a drain on Moonspear’s resources now, duty still drove Olive to provide for the wolves who had taken her family in and followed up on Teaghlaigh’s abandoned pursuit of nursing them all back to health. Yes, Olive owed a lot to Amekaze and Charon; but their aid could not be more valued as it was right then, when the hoyden was left as the sole caretaker of her last surviving babe.

When soul-crushing sadness did not trap the woman in its clutches, Olive traipsed across the mountain, all senses outwardly peeled and attuned for the signs of any prey. The woman was not a skilled hunter; not by any means, and she scared off more prey than she would like to admit. Olive steered clear of the large ungulates — Dakarai’s accident with the vengeful elk had been their ultimate undoing, afterall… nor was her frail body big enough to take on such a daring endeavor. So the woman relegated herself to small rodent-like creatures, and with puppy-like movements Olive managed to murder a small fieldmouse and used it to sate her own appetite before she turned her attentions to filling Moonspear’s coffers. 

Larger fare would be needed for the good of the pack — these ideas were almost humorous to the fae, who always imagined she’d have her shadowed lover to take care of life’s dirtier tasks — but the light was fading, so nocturnal animals would begin their ascent from their dens to forage amongst summer’s fertility. It was not long before Olive found herself in the presence of a raccoon, a striped bandit rummaging through a bramble’s many branches. The pale fae dissolved into her nighttime milieu as best as her snow-dusted pelt would allow, but her efforts would prove to be for naught... For at that very moment, the sky grew bright with something miraculous! The sudden light revealed her form almost immediately and with haste the raccoon absconded with its findings, but Olive’s every attention had been turned to the heavens. She cut her emereld gaze, waiting for the phenomenon to reveal itself once more — and when it did, her gaze then swam with wonder! There was another streak of light, and another, then one more out of the corner of her periphery, then one that looked so close she could touch it! The astronomer’s mouth fell agape at the magnitude of such a force, of such a message! Her mind simply could not grasp it!

How could she sorrowful over stupid love when such power existed in the universe? This, Olive did not know anymore.

He hadn't known in advance, but he had seen some smaller bits fall and he remembered the other night that there'd been a meteor shower that he had watched with Lyra and Terance. Charon gathered @Amekaze and @Vela, @Galaxy and @Jarilo in order to see the show. It was the first time they'd go so far from the den as he lead them a bit further up the mountain and he kept them close together, but felt they were ready; it was nearly time to move to the rendezvous site anyway, and it was good for them to see a bit more of the world now that they were growing more surefooted and vocal. He'd explained they were going to see something pretty and he lead them up to one of the lower ledges of Moonspear, one without any deep drops, with only a few painful falls that'd teach them rather than kill them.

He hoped that @Hydra, @Lyra, @Alya and @Korei Julia would join by their side, too, to finish the family outing, though he would certainly welcome any other wolves to come.

Just as they reached the place he had in mind Charon saw Olive there. He halted a moment, stared at her and then greeted, "Ah, Olive," still feeling the littlest bit weird around her, not knowing whether he could trust her, but upon realising this sort of happy that they'd run into her nevertheless, for she was still a part of the pack and he needed to be able to trust all of them, then.

She had eaten a big supper and begun drowsing directly afterward, so Galaxy had to be roused in order to tag along with her family. Sleepy and yawning, she bumbled at the group's rear, a straggling caboose in the canine caravan. She didn't know where they were going or why, at least until something bright streaked across the night sky. The half-asleep puppy gawped up at the falling stars.

"Veeela!" she gasped, her tongue finally curling around that damned "l" properly. "Look! Look!" She pawed at her older sister's buttocks with one forepaw even while gesturing toward the sky with the other, which resulted in Galaxy stumbling and hitting her chin in the dirt, smudging it. Barely even acknowledging the tumble, she stood up again and continued craning her neck to stare up at the meteor shower, unaware that she was toeing ever closer to a ledge with a pretty sheer drop.

Although she mourned in her own way the absence of her seventh little girl, the ill-fated Ran was no longer her concern. Detaching herself from the idea of what--no, someone--that had been of her came a little roughly but with time, bitterly, it began to grow easier.

Instead, perhaps, there was now more to give for the rest. She nurtured them best she was able, all while just beginning to feel the greater distinction of herself (the one separate from exclusively a mother) returning in full.. slowly, but surely. Weaning them a little bit early had started to help to bring her back around prior to all this, and evidently, removing the runt had gone on to do her notable good as well. But these were very private thoughts, instead best summarized as a thankfulness for their increasing mobility, independence, and strength.

She readily encouraged getting them out and about, however and whenever they could handle so far, so to Charon's suggestion, she was quick to help rally them up and out into the evening. She hung near the back half of their group to let her mate spearhead their trail to their destination, while she looked over each and every puppy hawkishly, and made sure the sluggish Galaxy kept up well enough.

They came upon Olive, and seemed to settle a bit with sights turning skyward--it was worth it, all streaked in fantastic lights. While not feeling overly conversational quite yet herself, and kind of on edge about the littles bumping around on strange (to them) turf, she only wiggled a tail as she came to Charon's side in silence. Attentions divided between the pups and the meteors was enough for now.

He was cheerfully gathered up by his father and whisked off into the night with a happy trot on his pale parent's heels. There was something exciting about it, something even more than just going someplace new. Surrounded by his family and getting to exercise a gradually expanding range (now that he was finally getting less timid about it) seemed like everything he could need right here and now.

When they made it to the spot, he sniffed around underfoot and then noticed the skies: the main attraction. "Ooohhh.. cooool," he murmured, blinking up at the endless night streaked in meteors. He didn't understand but sensed it didn't really matter--the majesty remained and it was more than impressive; this wasn't an every-day sort of thing, obviously! Maybe this was why there was little buzz he felt in the air?

Korei heard her father call for her, so she went out after having gotten to sleep. She wondered why the interruption in her rest, but seeing what was in the sky made her understand right away. It brought a massive smile to her face.

She ran over to where Charon had called her from, and saw there were others there already. But her focus was on the lit up sky, and her father. "Papa, why are the stars falling?" She always thought stars stayed up there, not falling from the sky.

I apologize for posting out of order but I wanted to toss this in here to give the thread a bit of a twist! Please note that there's no way to see or reach the body, as she fell down the mountain's butt crack. ;)

There were many watchful eyes on Galaxy's back and a time or two, she felt the gentle nudge of a muzzle as someone redirected her away from a precipice. The puppy didn't bother looking at her saviors; she was enchanted by the fireballs streaming down from the dark sky. She gasped when a particularly bright meteor streaked by directly overhead, leaving a glowing trail behind it which slowly faded into the black.

She did pull her attention earthward just long enough to search for her sister. Where was Vela? She was always so enamored with the night sky. Surely she must be loving this! Galaxy wanted to see Vela's reaction. She slung her belly to the ground to peer between the forest of legs. She thought she saw her older sister's familiar gray shadow on the other side of the group and went scrambling in that direction with another cry of, "Vela!"

And suddenly there was nothing but open air beneath her feet. Galaxy didn't even have time to cry out as she went tumbling into the night, her body hitting the hard slope with a muffled thump! and then sliding further down the steep grade. Even as stars continued falling from the sky, she tumbled down the mountainside. She began to yelp as she gained momentum and her flailing limbs smacked repeatedly into the hard ground. Then she was totally airborne again, free-falling straight into a deep crevice.

She felt like she was falling forever. When she landed, she gave a loud, "OOF!" and that was all.

---

The pack continued to keep a silent and mournful vigil well into the night, Scion's body at the center of their circle. As the night deepened, the stars began to fall as if the sky itself wept over the young wolf's death. Tacoma bit back his hundredth sob as he slowly lifted his tearful face toward the meteor shower. Perhaps Scion's soul was in one of those marvelous stars soaring across the sky...

When he glanced down a moment later, his eyes fell once more to his brother's broken body. He felt the miserable weight of guilt on his young shoulders. He seemed to crumble beneath it, at last, sliding forward with a quiet cry, one of his forepaws reaching out to bump gently against his dead brother's.

Tacoma suddenly gasped, drawing everyone's eyes back to the heart of the circle just in time to see—

Scion open his eyes.

Hydra had been with her mirror images, and together they paused when entering a clearing and noting the sky falling. Hydra blinked at the sky, sniffing the air—it had no different a scent than it did any other day, and she looked to her sisters. Lyra, who looked at the sky the most, might be privvy to the answer: what's going on? They were in route to catch up with their family, but had not yet arrived to the scene where Galaxy toppled down and down until she disappeared into what was her untimely death.

since this has become such an impactful thread, it's probably the easiest if we don't do a post order but instead post only once per 24 hours to avoid it dragging on really long. hope you're all ok with that.

Charon had made sure that there weren't any steep falls here; he knew this place, he'd come here before, and he was sure that it was safe for the pups. They weren't all that far on up the mountain, so it should be a safe place for them to experience some of the more mountainous terrain without more than a painful bump. He settled on the mountain with the family and looked up at the sky, amazed by everything. Jarilo seemed to think it cool to, making Charon feel a bit proud; he hadn't seen much of the youngest of the litter so far, but his interest in the sky made him feel happy.

He watched as the pups played along the plateau, keeping a watchful eye on them, but was distracted by Julia's question. He turned to look at her, looking annoyed and impatient as he answered, "Those are probably the stars that were wolves who asked annoying questions when they were still alive." He felt like it was about time for Julia to grow up. The triplets didn't do much to help her along there, but he didn't blame them, because Charon himself found it incredibly hard to muster the patience and will to spend time with his slowest of daughters, too. Although he never did tell her this, Charon always felt it — and it showed in his actions that he loved Hydra, Lyra and Alya more than Julia in every moment they spent together, safe perhaps a few moments here and there that they shared together star-watching with just the two of them when they were both quiet.

He heard Galaxy call out for Vela and an ear turned sideways, but when he turned away from Julia it was too late to react. He saw as she seemed to be sucked in by the earth, swallowed into a crack and only then did he come into movement. "Galaxy!" he called out, panic rising to his voice as he got to his feet and sprinted towards the crack. "This is what you get when you ask dumb questions," he snapped as he turned to Julia, uncontrollable anger rising in his voice. "Don't worry babe, we'll get you out, we'll find you!" he called out, feeling as though the hole couldn't be that deep considering they weren't very high up the mountain at all.

But when he looked through the crack that seemed too impossibly small for her to even fall into Charon didn't see anything, and he felt hope quickly sink to his toes. He looked up, searching for Amekaze in the crowd; one look at his face was enough to tell that they weren't going to find Galaxy again.

Only after seeing Amekaze he quickly looked around, searching for Jarilo and Vela, so that he could draw them away from the dangerous gap.

Vela had first caught sight of the sky's spectacle when the family had begun their ascent up the mountainside. Though drowsy, as it was past the children's bedtime and she had been roused from her sleep, the Omicron felt herself quickly waking as excitement rose within. Distracted by the night sky, Vela's pace was like that of a drunk individual; her steps zigged and zagged along the trodden path, and, on numerous occasions, she bumped into her siblings. Soon enough, the family had made it and Vela, anxious to continue watching what the heavens offered, sat at @Amekaze's side.  

All too enthralled in what was going on, Vela ignored the world around her in favor of the meteors overhead. Occasionally, a gentle coo in awe would slip from her when something spectacular occurred, but, for the majority of her time, Vela remained silent as she observed. It was only when Galaxy called to Vela a second time that Vela begrudgingly pulled her attention from the main attraction.  Irritated with the distraction her hard gaze swept the nearby bodies as she attempted to find her sister. While she did this, Charon rose suddenly and diverted her attention from her searching and towards the mountain's patriarch. Unsure of what had just happened, and feeling a sudden wave of worry crash over her at the panic in Charon's voice, she turned to her mother for reassurance. 

"Mama?" she questioned, an inkling of worry creeping into her voice as she addressed Amekaze. "Where's Gax?" 

Jarilo gave a start when he heard the yelling. He had been consumed with the stars, drowning happily in his endless wonder that rendered even him speechless until just now. He skittered back, spooked and unsure about what had happened; his father's snaps towards Korei made him nervous and he wanted nothing to do with that. Promptly he'd give that space, and in his hurry to get away from there, he didn't hear him calling down into the crevice that had claimed his sister.

Instinctively he sought his sisters and mama next, and darted to the two he could find wide-eyed and worried as he ducked beneath his parent. Somehow, and very suddenly, this outing's mood had plummeted.

Dividing herself between constant headcounts and stargazing kept her busied, although a satisfaction definitely bloomed in her chest at watching her littlest ones enjoy the starry show too. Up here, they had the most magnificent of views at their disposal.. and indeed, as her offspring they deserved no less.

Yet in a mere moment, there was a shift. She jerked upright as names were cried out, and darted her eyes around to a scene darker than anticipated. Galaxy was gone..? Charon snapped at Korei, Ame's ears were back and bristling fur rising, but Vela close to her kept her grounded. Stay right here.. came her mantra, for the both of them, and luckily Jarilo was already on his way to her. Once he got there, she stood close to them, very visibly anxious and watching Charon while her heart sank. Ugly realities were playing out, and as it seemed, the mountain had claimed her.

Amekaze stared, drifting between surprised and a shade of horrified. Vela's question snapped her from it. "She fell," she murmured, not that she had many details to share from this it had happened so quickly. Based on the look from her mate, it didn't look good. "Into a mountain crack.." she added, tight-lipped from the sorrow in saying so, then reached to nudge each pup in turn--Vela first. "Come on." Amekaze said a little louder and gestured they begin to leave: we have to go, we have to stay safe.. and she didn't need them involved in whatever this could escalate to right now.

small terance cameo! just to get him in the thread <3

terance hadn't really been aware of the family gathering, he had seen the stars begin to fall on his own and had trekked out to his favorite spot to watch them. he wondered if lyra would join him, since this is where they were during the last meteor shower, but he didn't count on it. he just sort of sat and stared at the stars all by himself, his tail tapping against the ground as he watched each individual star fall to the earth. he kinda hoped he'd find one, one day... man would osprey've been so proud. and charon! charon would've thought that it was so cool.

but he was too tired to go chasing after them right now-- they looked so far away. he decided he'd just hang out here until he fell asleep... that sounded like a much better plan.

Korei's ears wilted at her father's comment. She understood exactly what he meant. Then, it started. The yelling, the screaming. And her father's snap at her. The blame aimed to her. She had not seen it happen, and felt the pressure of the blame. It was all too much, so she did the only thing she found sensible to do, now thinking it all to be her fault.

She ran, and she hid. Not wanting to be found, to be punished. She went into a random den, not even her own as far away as she could. And there she remained.

His anger was directed at his daughter because he didn't have anything else to direct it at. She was an easy target, but unfortunately one that didn't stay around for very long. The children cowered at mama's side, and he was glad to see they were safe, but when he turned back to Julia all he saw was her tail disappear as she ran. "Coward," he growled under his breath and he stared back at the crack... There wasn't anything they could do now.

He glanced up at the beautiful display of falling lights and then turned sharply back at Amekaze. The frustration was still visible on his face and he shook his head as he looked at her. One look was enough for her to understand what was wrong, surely. "Let's go home," he said, his anger making place for defeat. "Come on..." He'd inform his older daughters and the rest of the pack later. This wasn't like Ran. This was a healthy girl who was supposed to grow up and grow old, who had the whole world ahead of her. And now she was gone. He would tell them in his own time, but for now he just needed to be away from here, from this, from the helpnessness, the anger and the defeat.

He nosed Ame's cheek briefly, numbly, and then turned towards the den to guide his family home while keeping a close eye on Jarilo and Vela.

When Galaxy came to, her entire body ached and throbbed from her bad spill down the mountain. Her eyes slowly peeled open and she tried to orient herself, though it was too dark and muzzy to see much of anything. Carefully, she tried to push herself upright. Much to her surprise, her little feet dug into something soft and warm. She blinked down groggily even as she kneaded her toes, trying to figure out what was underneath her.

"You're awake!" The voice was friendly enough but it was so unexpected and close by that Galaxy jumped. She found herself sliding sideways off her soft padding and this time her rump smarted on cold, hard stone. "Oh, I'm sorry, dear! Are you all right?" Something shifted in the darkness, something huge. Galaxy felt a whoosh of air and sensed a presence looming over her, though her eyes still hadn't adjusted to the dimness.

"It's all right. You fell, poor dear, but I'm glad this big bottom of mine finally came in useful," came the voice again. She felt something (someone, rather) snuffle against the top of her head and heard a hearty chuckle. Despite the darkness and the strangeness of the situation, Galaxy felt inexplicably safe. "Come here, little one. Let me take a better look at you now that you're awake. I didn't dare move you before."

And so the pup found herself being shuffled about in the dark, by someone very large but equally gentle. Galaxy tried to guess where she was—a cave, perhaps? She dimly remembered tumbling down the slopes but she couldn't quite remember details and she wasn't really sure where she'd ended up. And who was in here with her? Whoever it was, she was too large to be a wolf. This knowledge stole over Galaxy even as she was suddenly positioned between two extraordinarily large forelegs. They were thicker than tree trunks!

"Who are you?" the youngster finally asked.

"My name's Kala. What's yours?"

"Ummm." Why was she drawing a blank? Perhaps she had hit her noggin on her way down here? She did feel fuzzy in the head. "Somethin'... stars," she murmured, thinking out loud. Her name had something to do with stars. Or stars had been responsible for her tumble. Possibly both. But hadn't she fallen into a canyon in the desert? Galaxy shook her head. Thinking was giving her a headache.

"Oh, sweetie. Maybe you hit your head when you fell. We'll worry about it later. Now—are you hungry, little one?"

"Yeah!" the pup said brightly, not really processing much else besides the mention of food. She leaped to her feet, which caused her head to swim. She teetered almost drunkenly, cheek smashing into one of those enormous forelegs as she slid back into a sit.

"Oh, poor dear. You stay still and I'll bring the food to you." The pup made no reply, though she felt movement all around her for a moment before an entire deer's leg was suddenly dropped beneath her nose. Her eyes flew wide and she ignored her dizziness as she began to tear off strips of meat.

"I'm glad to see the fall didn't knock out your appetite, dear," came that motherly voice along with another rolling chuckle. "Eat as much as you like, then you should get some rest," she said.

Cocooned by Kala's softness and warmth, Galaxy ate until she was fit to burst, then flopped on the floor with a satisfied sigh. She knew she should be more worried about what had happened to her and how to get back to her family but her eyelids fluttered as Kala began to hum a soothing lullaby above her. Galaxy felt those enormous paws tighten around as she fell asleep in the arms of the mother bear whose own cub had been buried only the day before.

Soundtrack: "Stay with Me" by Valerie Deniz.

"The beauty of a shooting star,
Simply blows my mind.
I make a wish and close my eyes,
Breathe the fresh air of the night.

A summer night under a southern sky,
Better when the moon is far.
The sea is dark, the waves are loud,
To me they sound like a lullaby.

You think you're looking at a star,
You realize it's a satellite.
The wind is blowing, I'm getting cold,
I cannot leave because I want more.

I need your body close to me,
I wanna feel the heat of your skin.
Your breath is warm but the air is cold,
You cannot leave me 'cause I want more.

Will you stay? Stay with me.
Could you stay? Stay with me..."