Alpine Lake dirt

she went far today, she traveled along the lands and flowed like the river she followed.

a great big lake awaited her. too big for her to see it all but she found one of its many waterfalls. the spring made sure it still ran cold to the touch and it had seen recent enough activity from the tracks along the water bank.

she dared to slip into the waters that the waterfall fed into. it would be too cold to remain within it long, but the experience was enjoyable for now.

Hello

Gunnar was far from the coast today. Though he preferred to stay near the sand and sea. He still roved far and wide, much like had had done as a pup in this area, and even after as an adult. Tveir thought about it and he realized with sadness that he hadn't every really stayed anywhere, no permanent home. He had always been alone. A youth that had cared so deeply for his family and then he just became alone.

Gunnar was traveling the river today. Even when he was not near the sea, he sought out water like a wraith. He found himself staring down at the lake as a woman kissed in ivory succumbed to the watery depths. 

His first thought was I bet that's cold, flowing from the mountain. His next, She's probably used to the cold.

On careful footpaws, he traveled down, down and he stopped and settled a way's away from the water. Giving her space if she should decide to leave the lake and him. Hello

<3

a man. aged but handsome, called out to her. for a moment she only stared at him. soaked in his presence and his features. she wondered what he was doing somewhere like this.

hello, she offered. then slowly sought to remove herself from the chilled waters, but not to make a move away. instead it was to be closer to him. to talk to him without the water lapping at her ears instead of his voice.

do you live here?

Gunnar chuffed kindly and waited as she struck from the water, her fur plastered to her paws. She was pudgy female, but it fit her bulk well. Yellow eyes struck out at him with intrigue and curiosity. She roved across his face, it made him a little uncomfortable, but it was more he just wasn't used to such scrutiny.

He dipped his head in greeting and she moved closer still. He curled his tail about his paws. He shook his head. "No, not from here. Once upon a time, I just came back to the area. I tend to stay near the Sea, but as luck would have it. I went in search of someone to socialize with and here you are. I'm Gunnar by the way.

he spoke of grand things. of times before and of the sea. she listened intently, eyes near fawnish upon his features. there was no hardness in her body language by any means. only intrigue.

ikniqpalagaq, she offered with a coy smile. aware it might twist his tongue. you may call me niq, though, gunnar.

you are kind to come socialize with me. her tail offered soft waves behind her, tossing droplets of water behind her.

The Sea was always grand to Gunnar. It was the one thing he had missed, and had not strayed far from. Anytime he was a loner, he always went back to the sea. The sea with her majestic pearls and tears, the flow and ebb of her deep waters. The salty tang that tainted your fur, and tested your tongue.

Gunnar frowned, and then with gentle coaxing of tongue, he attempted her name. It was not much different than some of the names his father would pronounce as he had grown, though it was not norse, it was similar, though he probably still butchered it. "Pleasure is al l mine Ikniqpalagah, Nig. You have offered me a nickname, so i will offer you one. For most of my youth I was simply known as Tveir." 

Tveir bowed his head at her warming praise. Gunnar watched as the water arched above her tail, glimmering in the sunlit rays. Water, so beautiful. 

"It does my old heart good to speak with others. Tell me Nig. Do you live around here? In these cold places?

tveir, she hummed back to him. testing it on her tongue, the taste of it familiar and strange all at once.

there is a summit not far from here i live upon. my brothers have come here and taken a wife each, now leading their village strong. she spoke plainly, laying it all before him. she felt no danger from him. now i have come, hoping for a husband and a sense of something new.

this time she sheepishly looked away from him, eyes glancing back towards the waters she had come from.

He listened to her say his name, it sounded unique from her tongue, she stumbled at first, but she got the just of it. He wasn't one to harp about a name, it was only that a name. Had he given her his last name, she may have had trouble, most did.

Tveir listened intently. I'm not sure if my siblings ever took mates. I left long before we were old enough, and have only now just returned. Strong villages are always a good thing, strong villages make strong broods."

Gunnar would have liked to know she felt no danger from him, he had never felt like an imposing wolf. He could fight, he was a Viking after all, but he was also calmer than his father had been. Perhaps it was simply a matter of blood, not parentage in that aspect.

"I have searched for something new most of my life. It is an honest endeavor. A mate hmm. Don't settle, take a male that would give you the stars. My parents had an ever encompassing love, my mother took a man that was very strong and resilient, a bit of a ladies man, and turned him into a one wolf male. Their love was beautiful. Though it had hiccups of course. They were passionate beings."

she listened, with a smile that started off thin and ended a bit wide. genuine but soft. utterly charmed by the way he spoke, but such was how these things went, no?

a pretty stranger with pretty words.

you know much of love, it seems. a soft tease, a warm thrumming sound in her throat for it as well.

what new thing are you in search of now, tveir?

Tveir had never seen himself as a charming wolf, no. He was merely who he was an honest, sometimes too honest, he could remember if he thought hard. The arguments with those he cared for, because of the honesty of his words. 

He gave a soft chuckle at her words and shook his head. I only know what I have seen. Not felt. Perhaps, I know nothing of love, for it was with child's eyes I speak of what I do."

He heard the soft tease in her words and dipped his maw, a gentle smile on his face. He enjoyed her hum.

Tveir's ears perked forward and then back, and he raised his tail and brought it down as he thought of how to answer her. "I cannot answer that, for I don't know. I have always seemed to be searching and never finding. I wanted to come back home to the Sea, trace the land again before I die."

he spoke of grim things and her heart reached for his.

do you think your time is soon? no look crossed her face beyond a curious gaze. there would be no judgement from her for whatever answer he gave to her.

it would only steer how she discussed ideas and concepts with him.

This was a kind wolf, she remined him of many and few that he had found throughout his years of travel. Her question drew him pause and he needed to look further inside to give her an answer. And he wasn't certain if he would find a grim truth or a happy lie. He chuffed gently and shook his head. 

"I'm not as young as I once was, but i don't feel entirely old. Oh my body tires out more, and my soul searches a little harder for far reaching things, while my mind travels more in the past than what had lain ahead. So I don't think my death is imminent no, but I know it's not far away. But can anyone ever really answer that? You could die at a youngling as swift as you could as an elder. You never quite know when your number is up."

he seemed whimsical, beyond the aged charm. she was endeared. smitten, perhaps. it was always so easy to be such an emotion this time of year, though.

so when she looked upon him again, there was something different to her features. a seriousness tinted by her own whimsy.

i wish to be bold, tveir. this she told him with a steadiness. and you have inspired me with your words to find such boldness. neither one of us knows what lies ahead, but we both have goals.

her eyes turned towards the summit of home before they returned to him.

will you go to the sea alone?

another question hung unspoken in the air.

Gunnar shifted and moved. His body growing achey from sitting still. The bane of aging, was how often his body stiffened. Usually just a movement and he could unkink it, but it was still exhausting and a bit irritating. Spring was the time for lovers, he knew this, had seen it first hand for many. Had never felt it's bite or sting or unfurling.


She looked him over with serious gaze, and he wondered at it. Had he said something to upset her or was she asking him a serious question.

"I'm glad I could help you be bold, females should be, they are our mothers, sisters, aunts, wives."

Her next question drew him pause, and he didn't have an answer for her, though he would try and search for one for her.

"If Freya and Odin deem it so I will not go alone, but if that is in the cards for me then I will. We shall see. It will depend on who I meet, when I meet them and how I imagine."

and what of me, tveir?

her eyes heavy upon his face.

what do your freya and odin say of me?

she remained silent now, awaiting his response. how bold of her! to even entertain the thought of running off with the first kind stranger she met.

Her bold question drew him pause. Her gaze burned into him like thousand solitary stars. She stared and waited. Though her words grew heavier as she spoke more, and he was not sure of what to say. She was a pretty femme, hefty and sturdy, even a bit larger than he, but that was no never mind to him.

He perked his ears forward and a small smile played with his lips and he blinked. He knew he would have to speak soon, or she would find his quietness unfair. So he forced out words while his mind raced a mile a minute.

I couldn't claim what Freya or Odin would want from you. They are beyond my realm of expertise.

His voice carried quiet and soft, and he knew that no matter how he worded what he would, it could hurt her delicate heart though he wished not too.

Well Nig. I don't know you all that well. You can come to the sea with me, if you so wish to get to know me. I can't promise more than that right now. However, do you want to leave your brothers and those you love on that mountain? 

niq with a Q <3

they know my spirit travels and flows like a river, it always had. it always would. there would be no way to contain her whenever a new concept or idea struck her very soul. and my love is not contained by where i am. i have been apart from them before and we have found each other again. this she told him only as proof, that any distance did not matter.

not to her.

would you wish to have my company?

sorry. :) <3

Gunnar found a kindred spirit in Niq. Much like him with her travels. He envied her certainty that no distance could tear she and her siblings apart. Gunnar didn't even know if his has died.

She spoke of rivers and constant flows. She painted pictures with words he liked that.

I will always take company. Always.

i dunno how we wanna play this out since he's now in sapphique, but feel free to PM me any ideas, i'm pretty open <3

i must call to them,

she whispered, certain of this decision now. even if it did not work in the way her heart sung, it would lead her down a new adventurous path.

then i can come to you, to the sea.

does this work for you?

Gladly. I will think of some ideas when i'm off this weekend. Thank you for the thread. <3

He nodded his head. It works for me. I'll see you when you come.

Gunnar stood on careful feet, his tail whipped back and forth once, and then twice, friendly. He studied her again. Unsure entirely what he had just signed up for. He hadn't lied, all he could offer her was friendship, perhaps that was all he ever could.

Gunnar had fully believed he was broken. He hadn't ever felt the urge that so many of his counterparts had. He always felt slightly strange about all the tings that had anything to do with love. He blamed it on his own broken soul, but perhaps given his parents love and passion, their anger, perhaps it had scarred him.

He chuffed gently. See you soon Niq