Emberwood go away somewhere all bright and new

there was a difference in being alone and being lonely. it was something she'd come to understand in her time alone, and this small nugget of knowledge, of understanding, she guarded carefully close to her chest. it rested there alongside things don't last forever, you can run faster than you think when something else is chasing you, and carrion doesn't quite taste as bad as it looks, most times. Fern had learned a lot those first few nights on the mainland, an island the size of which she could not fathom. the first night had been terrifying and cold and silent, and when morning came she wandered the shore while her eyes sought out the isle in the waves. she could not find it out there, but then again did not know what truly to look for, never having seen her home from afar. she sought the coast she'd seen the dim outline of on the isle, the one that had never really sparked much longing or interest while she'd been part of Undersea but now was fundemental to finding her way back. but the quest seemed impossible, especially when the coast on this massive isle seemed all very much the same, and purpose had turned gradually from finding her way home to survival. 

she missed seelie dearly, so much so that she saw her inky outline in all the forgein shadows. but as time went by the outline seemed less clear, growing fuzzy along the edges, so much so that the girl could no longer imagine what colour the sheepdogs eyes were, and it hurt. still, sometimes she was happy, when the sun shone across the blinding white and she discovered something new about the way the rays danced. and then there were times when hunger took hold and the temperature plummeted and her mind saw Mou in the pale shapes the twirling snow made. 

somehow, she hung delicately between the two states now, tugging at a bundle of feathers and fur caught on a spindly branch before releasing it and watching it soar upward and downward, bouncing. there was a kind of simple happiness in seeing just how high she could get it to go, and yet she wondered achingly what it would be like to have someone bat the bundle back to her insteady of the silent return swing of the branch. and she released it once more before it swung too high and caught beyond her reach, and she was left only with the apologetic creak of the branches as they stirred above her.

Lily was still getting used to her new status as mother-to-be; she could hardly wrap her mind around it. How on earth was she going to handle this? She had the best friends and caretakers in the world, and Khali was amazing beyond words, but. . .god. The road ahead of her seemed more than daunting.

To clear her mind, she left the willows for a while, intending only to go to the neighboring ridge but traveling further, abstracted. She was glad she did, for when she entered the wood, she saw a figure that reminded her of something--someone--long ago, though the other was slightly obscured by trees and brush. Lily came closer, head canted in question, tail wagging behind her.

"I'm a dog - a border collie. We're herding dogs."

Poppy? she called out, drawing the name from the depths of her memory. Surely this must be the young woman; it was close to where they had met, and no one else looked quite like this.

"poppy?" said the trees, but it wasn't them at all. she canted her head, twisting and finding against the white snow a small, inky shadow that made her heart leap with wild joy. "seelie?" came a little gasp, before the slightly disorienting slide back to reality. it had been the woman's eye's she'd sought out first, the drifting hue she'd forgotten, but instead blared fiery orange. all wrong, and so were the features, the face, the pelt. the fall in her face was distinctive, sudden, and her tongue flicked over her lips in worried habit. 

she felt suddenly foolish - it hadn't even been her name on the women's lips (if poppy even was a name) - and she struggled with the feeling alongside the bite of dsapointment. "sorry." she allowed a moment of silence to pass, adding then, certainly a little more dampened, "i'm fern." the resemblance to her mother brought her something like comfort, even if she didn't fit the image of seelie the girl had in her mind.

Poppy turned and gave a name that she didn't recognize. Except. . .no. No, this wasn't Poppy; this girl was younger even than when she had first met the dog in the glade. Lily marveled at how much she looked like her, and stood for a moment, entranced, before stepping closer.

Don't apologize, she insisted softly, tail swishing behind her. Definitely not Poppy, then, for she gave her name as Fern. Seems we both were mistaken. I'm Lily, she offered, smiling. I once met someone who looked a lot like you, though I haven't seen her in a while. Your coat is very beautiful, Lily added, dipping her muzzle in graceful appreciation toward the girl.

Fern wilted in the slightest as the woman stood still, thinking somehow in her own disapointment that she too had disapointed the stranger. but a moment later the woman asserted that this was not so, and the girl managed a quirk of her muzzle. Lily, she echoed, mouthing silently the word and remembering the simple way it formed on her tongue. she made her way closer then, easily closing the distance between them as her tail began a low sway at her heels, left ear managing to perk almost upright. "oh!" she said, surprised at both the compliment and the knowledge that somewhere out there existed someone who looked so nearly like her. she looked down at her paws and imagined them belonging to someone else, and decided that she couldn't. "thank you!" 

she pressed a little closer, not impedeing on the woman's space, exactly, but muzzle stretched toward her in a way that it was was easy to deduce the girl would very much like to. "your's is too! one of my mothers has a coat like that." reigi's was much shorter and an asortment of colours that danced when she tried to picture them, confusing and messy.

Lily smiled as she mentioned her two mothers, thinking of Olive's and Seabreeze's unconventional--but undoubtedly beautiful--relationship. She grinned further as she glanced down at her pelt, eyes creasing wryly. Well, my pelt certainly isn't as unique as yours, she teased. Lots of plain black wolves running around. But thank you, darling, for the compliment.

She lifted her eyes to Fern's again, gently questioning. Are you from around here, Fern, or are you passing through? she asked, trying to get a read on the scents that were woven into the silken fur. Is there anything I can help you with?

she gave a little contemplative hum at the lady's return comment, for she'd only ever seen Seelie (and perhaps another that danced on the fringes of her memory) with the same dark coat. it was striking, lovely, and spoke all things warmth and comfort, at least in Fern's perspective. it was odd to think it common, but perhaps that made it all the better, in a way. "I'm from Undersea!" she exclaimed, drawing neatly onto her haunches and peering at the woman, searching for a spark of recognition at the same. 

"it's an island, but I went too far out one day - swimming, in the water - and I got swept onto this really big island and then I couldn't see my island but all the coast looked the same but then I went away from the the ocean but this island's really big and I can't find the edges." ears drooped and eagerness faded as the full weight of it all fell from her lips in a lilting ramble. Fern pulled in a breath, then another, and looked carefully at the woman. "can you help with that?" a little bit of pleading slipped into her voice, hopeful that the woman would merely have to give her a direction to go in or an instruction to  follow that would solve sweetly all her strife.

The name was only vaguely familiar; Lily had certainly never been there. The story intrigued her, as it spoke of a girl carried far from everything she had known. She identified with that quite strongly, and it was without hesitation that she responded, Yes, of course I can.

You're on the mainland, actually, not a big island, Lily continued, unaware, of course, of the concept of continental land masses. The coast is to the northwest, erm. . . She spun slowly, losing her sense of direction for a moment before stopping and pointing her nose in roughly the direction she'd came. That way. Not too far from here, maybe a day or two walking.

Lily hummed softly as she tried to think of the best way to get there. If you follow the mountains that way, you'll come across a willow forest, she said. That's where I live. Past that, there's a river through a ravine, and then fields, and you should see the coast from there. Do you-- She broke off, wondering if someone so newly pregnant for the first time should even make this offer. Ah, what the hell.

Do you want me to take you there? she asked.

 lily agreed to help her, and Fern, though sharply curious at what a mainland was and how it deviated from an idsland, nonetheless held fast her tongue and listened raptly as the woman explained the route. it was rude to interupt, and questions she could hold down, no matter how pressing, until she found a better window in which to ask them. "yes, please! I would like to see a willow forest." she smiled, bright and open and in that moment ever so similarly to poppy. a willow forest must be much more spectacular than a forest, as the previous word was entirely unknown to her. her brow furrowed only a moment, with the acceptance of the woman's help came the unavoidable feeling of feeling very much like a burden. she doesn't voice these concerns for she doesn't know how to, but decided that surely she'll have to make it up to Lily somehow.

She couldn't take it back, now. It was settled. Still, Lily felt more maternal than ever as she moved toward the girl, smiling. All right, she said amiably. We can go there now and rest, and then find the island in the morning. Is that fine with you?

Her head canted slightly in query, eyes sparkling. Should Fern be amenable to this plan, she would turn and lead the young wolfdog through the woods, headed for home. 

Sound good to you? Threads at Hushed Willows, coast, and then Undersea? :)

the girl wiggled once in excitment, a full body dance that had her skip up and place a grateful kiss on the woman's cheek. she agreed without pause, thanks spilling easily from her lips as the graceful woman began to lead the way to her home, Fern following carefully just behind her right flank, her hunger and tiredness so much less, now.