Sun Mote Copse i wanna be the very best

at what borders have already been established on the side of ghost lion crag! he is, viewing on the map, somewhere on the other side of the river next to GLC and the lil' patch of light green above SMC. :)

His search for Revui brought the Moonspear Alpha to the borders of a pack that smelled very fresh. It was clearly not an established line but he knew better than to traipse all across it as if it held no meaning. Yet Charon considered it close to Moonspear; too close, perhaps, for a pack that he had not received any word from in any way. Even though there were formidable mountains that blocked this place and Moonspear -- and, if not for Revui's disappearance, might've made it so that Charon wouldn't have found out about this pack for some time -- he could see his Moonspear from here and so his logic dictated they were close enough to one another, even if they were not so muchly so in actual walking distance because of the rough terrain that separated them.

There was something familiar about the scents that littered these borders, although Charon could not pinpoint precisely what it was that bothered him so much about them. He could not decipher who they belonged to even though something told him that he should have been able to. It brought him distant thoughts of Floki, but if it were his brother that had settled here, then surely he'd have already known.

Despite not visiting this side of his mountain as often as the eastern side it did not sit well with Charon. But he wasn't here for diplomatics, and even if he was, history showed he was a pretty shit diplomat if he didn't already have preexisting relations with the pack's leaders, anyway. He'd just have to advise Amekaze on this one, and maybe she would come and greet their new almost-neighbours with diplomacy. Meanwhile, he was still curious who his new almost-neighbours were and he was still on the search for Revui -- and if fate happened to hand him clues on that one, Yami -- so Charon traced around the edge of the Sun More Copse's borders in hopes of catching a trail of his son's scent.

I think, at this point, Maia was probably looking for a meeting site.  She'd promised Wildfire she would, but now in the process, she'd gotten closer to the borders than she meant to.  Not that she realized that.

So when she saw Charon traipsing along, her first immediate thought was indignation, and she yelled out a loud HEY! before jogging forward a few steps.  Then the unmistakeable scent of their claim dawned on her and she stopped short.  Oh.  Uh, hey! Who are you!? Decidedly less yellish that time.

As he trailed along the border that was already established, Charon suddenly heard a shout. He turned his head sharply to the side as it was on his blind side -- he'd kept his good eye on the outside world as he expected more threat there than the territory -- but the wolf that had shouted at him didn't look too frightening. His posture was neutral as she approached and called out again, this time a little more friendly as she got closer.

In reply to her question, Charon put a smile on his face that was a little mysterious and broody -- he had Revui on his mind and was looking in his mind for whose scents he recognised here -- and answered: I'm Charon, Alpha of Moonspear. He gestured over to the majestic mountain in the east. Is this pack new? Last time I was in this area it wasn't here. I've been looking for my son, Revui -- he's a yearling with a silver pelt that goes from dark at the top to light at the bottom, and teal eyes. He watched her face to see if she recognised any of what he just described, and then hoped to receive some more information about the pack.

Moonspear.  What was it with Moonspear?! She'd met a whole three wolves from there, which granted didn't seem like a lot, but they did seem to get around!

Moonspear! I know you guys.  But I don't think I've seen him.  She blinked, trying to remember, but no way that rang a bell.  We are new! So probably if he came this way we weren't here yet.  How long has he been gone? She asked, staring at him curiously for a second before realizing heck, she'd completely forgotten.

OH!!! I'm Maia, and this is the Flamebirds.  Ah shoot, nope, Firebirds.  C'mon Maia, Firebirds.  What a weird name though, honestly.  Cool, but weird.

It seemed that his pack's reputation predecessed him. Charon nodded as se said that she had heard of Moonspear, but that she had not seen Revui. He added on: What about Yami? Agouti pelt, quite chatty and curious... She got lost a lot longer ago, though, maybe five months ago. Charon had even less hopes for her, but it didn't hurt to ask while he was here anyway. Revui's been gone for maybe a few weeks.

Speaking of chatty... It seemed that he'd run into someone who was quite chatty herself. She got the pack's name wrong at first, which struck Charon as odd, but whatever. Firebirds, huh? he said, looking like he thought it was a pretty weird name. It struck him as familiar somehow but he couldn't pinpoint it. I'd expected to hear word from your pack considering our territories are close, even though it's a bit longer to actually walk here. There was no judgement in his tone. Okay, maybe a little disappointment. But maybe it's because you're so new. What is your pack about? How are you with other packs? As long as they were friendly enough Charon did not care as much if they didn't contact him much. He preferred it that way, even, having little interest in 'allies' any longer.

Oh wow, two, and for so long!  No, sorry, she responded, genuinely disappointed she couldn't help him out.  She'd be freaking out if it was her siblings missing, and she guessed kids were even worse.

Oh.  That's probably our bad, she said with a short, sheepish laugh.  I told Wildfire I'd be traveling around but my sister and I traveled so much before that I was kinda taking a break.  We're really new and she's super nice, so I'm sure we'll be fine! Optimistic but Maia couldn't even visualize what conflict between packs would look like.  She'd never seen it before.

Charon frowned when she said that she hadn't seen the children. It seemed like their conversation would bleed to death if it weren't for the subject of their pack to go forward on. Charon nodded when she said that it was 'our bad', whatever that meant. She soon explained but some of her explanation went straight past him as she dropped the name. It was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. Wildfire. Had she really been stupid enough to settle in the valley right next to them without so much as dropping by? Now the scents made sense.

After about five seconds of visibly showing his bewilderment Charon straightened himself and continued the conversation. Sorry, Wildfire, you said? Charon asked off-handedly. The name felt weird on his tongue. Dhole. Her name was Dhole. Are you and your sister her family, too? It was a bit of a strange question, perhaps, but the only thing Charon could come up with on a whim to check whether they were related and whether it was 'his' Wildfire.

Charon didn't seem too interested until she hit Wildfire's name.  He knew her?  Yeah!  She and Wraen and I are... cousins?  I think? She paused, thinking, then nodded.  Cousins.  That was what she had said, Maia was pretty sure.  Osprey was somehow related to them.  You know her?  The way he said it made it seem like he did.

She was sure either way that the two packs would get along great because why wouldn't they?  If Wraen had told Maia any stories about this wolf, she had completely forgotten them in her excitement to stoke inter-pack relations.  That was probably why she thought nothing of mentioning her sister to him, and why she couldn't imagine anything but good coming from this chance encounter.

Wraen's name was even less expected than Dhole's. Charon ignored Maia's question for now. I thought Wraen lived with Rannoch and Liffey? he wondered seemingly idly. Then: Osprey's your mother? She and I were good friends when she still lived near here. She's a good wolf. Charon smiled, a little warmer this time. Things had gone awry with Terance and Wraen, but maybe he still stood a chance with Maia. But then again, maybe that was idle hope. Surely Wraen had already poisoned her sister's mind. Then again, maybe Osprey had not. It was all in all still a bit of a wildcard.

Realising that he'd skimmed over Dhole entirely, Charon added: Oh, right, Wildfire -- We were friends, once, but we haven't spoken in years. It seemed the easiest way to address the weird situation. Charon felt a stab at his heart when he thought of Wildfire and what they used to have, but he knew it was long gone now.

Wraen had told a story or two about Charon, and when he knew her and Rannoch and Liffey, she connected the dots.  But Maia was a girl who liked to make her own opinions of the wolves she met, and like Amekaze, she found she was enjoying this conversation.  So she smiled hugely when he complimented her mom.

She is!! The best.  That's awesome you guys were friends.  How did you meet her?!  She didn't think they'd been packmates, but she remembered maybe a story or two about him.  Maybe you should say hi? I could call her.

Charon was glad that Maia seemed to have Osprey's kind spirit, and a little bit of uber-enthusiasm he could pin on nothing more than her youth or maybe that was just the way she was? It reminded Charon - with a pang in his heart - a little of his deceased daughter, Galaxy. A kind heart and enthusiastic spirits, but not naïve in any way. As he was asked about how he'd met Osprey, he recalled well the first time they had met. She'd gotten hurt near my birth pack. I was maybe half a year old when we first met, and my parents had taken her in to heal. She told me stories and we just kinda clicked I guess. So we kept seeing each other often, even though we've never lived in the same pack. Charon smiled broadly as he recalled his history with Osprey. It was nice to think of her, especially after the scar that Terance and Wraen's betrayal had left on those feelings and memories of Osprey.

I was pretty happy when Terance and Wraen came to the Wilds and joined Moonspear after Osprey'd told them of me, but, well -- if Wraen's here too you probably know how that turned out. Charon's expression fell, though he hoped that Maia would not put too much stock in their stories about him. He doubted any of them were pretty.

When Maia asked whether she should call Dhole, he shook his head. Admittedly, they hadn't ended things on the best terms and, well, he wasn't sure Dhole'd even want to see him. Charon longed to patch things up between them but he was not ready to do so right now on the spot. It's been years since we'd seen each other. I think I'll call her on own sometime, when I'm ready. That sounded a little weird, Charon thought, but hopefully Maia wouldn't put too much stock in it. After not seeing Dhole for half a lifetime he wondered if things would be different or the same... And if it would be so in a good or a bad way.

Ohh yeah she tells the best stories, Maia responded a little wistfully.  Conversations like this always made her miss her parents all the more, although she still felt she made a good call in leaving.  

The subject of Wraen was a little awkward, but she lifted a paw as if brushing it off.  Pshh.  Yeah, but sometimes when you aren't packmates it makes it easier to be friends.  At least in her opinion! She didn't see herself ever being friends with Wildfire, not super comfortably. She did, indeed, completely pass over his statement about Wildfire.  It made perfect sense to her he might not want to see an old friend right that second.

That's neat though that you and mom visited.  What did you do when you would see each other?  Maia had quite a few outside friends, and wasn't opposed to making him another one.  So knowing what one could kinda do with these sort of friends would be super helpful.

Charon easily joined in the wistfulness of missing Osprey. It was a long time ago that he had last seen her, but he still often thought of his good old friend and hoped she was well. She'd been like a fun aunt kind of person to his life, even though when he was little he of course considered her an equal friend despite his young age. Charon easily decided that he liked Maia. She was like Osprey on speed or something -- just as friendly, goofy and creative (well, he had no actual proof for the latter, but whatever), except also very cheerful and optimistic. A quality that he felt he needed in his life right now, when many of his friends had left him and a lot of his family was great, but not in any way cheerful or goofy.

Anyway, she went on to say that it was sometimes easier to be friends when you weren't pack mates, and he wondered about that. Most of Charon's friends had been pack mates through his life, really, and those that weren't had been good friends but they had left or died, like Fitz and Eshe.. and Osprey. Hmm, maybe, he said thoughtfully, never having considered that. Maybe things'd be different if he would see Wraen now, he wasn't so sure. She had apparently left Terance, Rannoch and Liffey, after all.

Maia was interested in what sort of things they used to do. When we first met I was very little. I loved the stories and we often play-pretended adventures, like meeting trolls and dragons and stuff. You must know what that's like, growing up with Osprey as a mother. He paused briefly as he thought of what they did when he was older. He remembered feeling too old for imaginary friends and fairytale stories at some point. He also remembered the time he had visited Osprey, the last time, when she had told him that she would leave the valley, when Sarah, Wraen and Terance were but little pups. As I got older we mostly talked about our lives, visited each other, looked out for each other. I promised her that her children would always be welcome at my pack, that I'd offer them a home if they asked. Charon smiled as he thought of that moment. It was bittersweet. Osprey had left and that was sad, but it was such a nice thing that she would ask him for such a big favour -- it had shown how much she trusted him. He wondered what she would think now, considering the situation. Did she consider the trust broken, or did she understand? Would she secretly hope he'd make up with Wraen or to see her daughter once more live on Moonspear's slopes? He supposed he'd never know.

But he was curious about something else. How is Osprey? Charon had often contemplated asking for directions and visiting his friend, though she lived too far away for his duties on the mountain to allow it. This was his only gateway. The last news he had of her was years-old from Wraen, when she'd first come into these wilds.

Maia understood, to a point, that she might have passed an age where stories and such were unnecessary.  She hadn't accepted that though and likely never would - real life tended to be pretty darn boring to talk about, and it was wayyy more fun to make stuff up.  So she couldn't resist offering some when he said it's what he and her mom used to do.

If you still like stories or games, maybe we could sometime?  Talking too, I guess, but I don't think anyone's too old for fun.  She said with a nod, obviously very set on that particular ideal.  She wouldn't be leaving Wraen to go live with him anytime soon but that didn't mean she couldn't be friends like her mom was! That'd be pretty cool actually.

She's good!  The best mom ever, and when I left I had more siblings coming.  She'd been kinda sick, but since that had always been the case, Maia wasn't sure she should bring it up.  I'm pretty sure they are still ok.  Cori and Cass are both really good at taking care of things and Sarah's amazing.  Her eyes lit up with obvious admiration when she thought of her older sister, leading the pack with her dad.  Sarah was so cool.

Charon regretted it a little at this point that he had told Osprey that he'd gotten too old for play-pretend at some point. He felt they had in part drifted apart at that point, even though they'd later on had conversations about their lives and such. He liked to forget about their weird meeting, that moment when she had come into season, and the arguments they had. In the grand scheme of things those were glossed over in favour of the good times.

The concept of story-telling with adults was a little weird to him, though he'd always enjoyed telling his children the most fantastical stories when they were little. This year's bunch had been driven by war greatly, though. The stories they wanted to hear were often about fighting, while Yama had been distant and quiet and Yami had mostly seemed to be a babbly daydreamer who wanted to talk rather than listen until she vanished from the pack. It was different from Vela and Galaxy who'd been more receptive to the sort of stories Osprey liked to tell him.

Uh, sure, he said after a moment of thought. I still enjoy games, too, he said and he lowered his front body and scooped through the snow, batting a piece of white fluff Maia's way with a playful grin on his face.

It was good to hear that Osprey was still doing good, and it momentarily halted Charon's snow-throwing game as he listened to Maia talk about her. It had hurt him when she'd left the valley, but it turned out it was for the better, since she had apparently been doing better in the south than she had done up here. I'm glad to hear that moving away from the wilds has done her as well as she expected, he said with a nod. Cori and Cass he guessed to be Maia's siblings. Sarah he remembered from when she was a tiny lil' pup when Osprey and he had said good bye.

Hey!! She said with a grin back, trying and failing at dodging the snow.  It scattered across her nose and shoulders, making her laugh, and she dropped into a slight bow.  Now it's on!  She said, hopping sideways and tossing some light snow back his way.  

Her parents both had said the south was better for their health, but Maia was finding she enjoyed the snow up here.  It made travel harder and was cold and wet, but it was pretty and definitely fun to play with.  She hoped that Charon would join her in a small snow fight!  She was ready for retaliation at any point, playfully poised.

The snow hit successfully and Charon grinned, feeling young again as Maia laughed and the game started. She responded like he had hoped, accepting his invitation to a game of snow throwing.

Some loose snow that she threw up hit his legs as he raised up again. As Maia went to a play bow, Charon woofed a challenging bark and he leaped towards her. Just as it seemed he was about to pounce on Maia Charon instead landed in the snow, and dove his nose into the cold snow as deep as he could. Charon lifted his nose fast, hoping to cover Maia's face in snow in the process.

im gonna toss a wrap on this one, feel free to respond (or we can keep goin if you want) but I'm def gonna toss her by Moonspear on her way home from lch here soon!

For a minute she thought he was gonna tackle her (hey! That wasn't the game she intended! Though a good wrestle was definitely fun too!). She braces herself for it, but instead she got a faceful of snow as he plowed in right in front of her.

She shook it off with a delighted laugh and used her forepaws to try and scoop snow up on him in retaliation.  What followed was a delightful snow battle that would likely leave both of them breathless (Maia definitely with laughter) and fast friends, in her opinion, by the time he had to leave.

good idea, i'll archive!

His ploy worked exactly as intended, and Charon grinned with a challenging growl in his throat, clearly very keen with his own success. She threw some snow at him in revenge that landed on his snout, causing Charon to laugh. It'd been a long time since he had felt this light-hearted.

They played happily for some time until eventually, the game was over and Charon started making his way back to Moonspear with a spring in his step.