Greatwater Lake we are the reckless

Atka's travel with @Heph had guided them to a grand lake. She sighed glancing at the landscape, the mountainous and forested backdrop's reflection painted onto the water. Keeping her eyes fixated on the alluring view, she roamed alongside the bank. Her ears angled outwards in other directions, hoping it was enough to keep her aware of her surroundings, along with her nose regularly twitching, informing her of the scents of this beautiful area.

i know you're on your trip so if you'd like to post here there is no rush! (if not, tags for reference) :)

Heph kept pace beside Atka, reveling in to the company. While she had been skeptical, and a part of her, reluctant to hope, still was they had settled into a companionable rhythm of travel and they had stayed together. She let her gaze take in the surrounding area, stunned by the vastness of the lake, and noting the distance from the mountains and the forest. The wide open land meant that she could see and smell and hear for vast distances, danger if it was coming. It made her feel like the world was open and bright beneath the sun, Atka a particularly bright point as she made her way along the edges of the water.

But Heph felt the warmth of the sun on her coat and knew that the waters would feel cool. Letting out a loud whooping laugh she raced past her throwing her entire body into the water. The water buoyed her and though her entire body was soaked she came to the surface easily and was able to paddle to surer footing. Shaking her fur out sending droplets flying she  let her mouth hang open, tongue lolling out as she called over the shore "Care to get wet gorgeous?" Her words her accompanied by a laugh, bright and comfortable with Atka. Heph had swum a few times before but never in something so large and expansive.

Atka's wistful stare quickly turned into a shocked one at the loud splash, followed by a soft laugh. Her head recoiled as the droplets of water came her direction with a shriek.

Care to get wet gorgeous?

She playfully rolled her eyes while following past Heph into the water, closing her eyes in delight as the cool water hit her belly. Atka gave a small hop to submerge herself faster, the water felt nice, she'd never been able to swim in something so calm, the ocean waters vastly different.

❝Don't mind at all.❞ She said, voice slightly strained as she tried to speak, keeping her head up as she tread through the water.

She returned to bank, laying herself down in the shallow water while staring at Heph. Atka felt so relaxed, her body cool, mind at ease, and spending time with companion she considered dear to her already.

❝It's weird we haven't come across others here, packs chose to place themselves in harsh mountains and burnt forests, but not here?❞ Her words weren't laced with malice, she simply wondered, clueless to others simply having different preferences.

Again, she stared off into her surroundings, infatuated with the view. Though she was sure she was going to see many others views like it as they continued their trek Northwest.

❝It's beautiful here.❞ Her tail thumped the ground, turning to smile at Heph.

Heph gave out a laugh and a smile, tail doing its best to wag in the water as Atka took a hop of her own into the cooler waters. She swam nearby, drifting closer and further away until Atka began to tire and Heph began to feel the burn in her legs and shoulders. Following the small white wolf back to the shore she laid down nearby in the shallows, finding the gentle lapping of the cool water against her sides cooling and comfortable against the warmth of the summer sun.

She shrugged her shoulders slightly, it was true that these plains were sure to be plentiful in animals that preferred wide open terrain to graze, and would most likely suit a large enough pack very well. But she supposed that those packs had placed themselves near prime hunting grounds without the need to defend it as part of their heartland, and wide open plains perhaps did not make the safest place to store pups. "It is strange we haven't come across a hunting party at least." She hummed a bit. Of course she did not know why packs had chosen, but the idle wondering over possibilities felt companionable, like something that wolves with a deeper than fleeting connection might do and though it did not feel as sturdy as the ground to her she still could not help jumping in with this wolf who she already was beginning to subconsciously feel more and more at ease with. So she mused. "Maybe they chose their pack lands for defensibility? or to hide away?" Her speech was lazy, meandering outwards into the air with no care for speed though not quite slow.

Heph had to agree with Atka, the mountains framing the lake and the water coming down off it, surrounded by a lush verdant green only encouraged by the summer made her heart swell a bit. But before the other wolf's gaze turned back towards her she found herself watching Atka watching the scenery. Before she was able to fully think it through, fully meld her throat into that teasing tone she found herself returning the smile and swishing her tail out behind her "It is." Her smile twisted into something a bit more playful though her voice stayed steady. "Although that's probably just because you're here." Her tail slowed a bit, as she added, almost unthinkingly, just feeling comfortable and nostalgic and perhaps a bit more lonely than usual though she would never admit it. "I've never seen mountains so high or lakes so large back where I'm from." Her voice trailed off a bit and her smile turned a bit wry at the thought.

Sorry for the wait! I'm back home so things should be more regular :D

Atka nodded in agreement as Heph spoke, her eyes still staring ahead at the mountains, ears still angled at the wolf. Her reasoning made sense, but she still wondered who wouldn't decide to settle in this place, however, Atka yearned to see more. Perhaps one day she'd settle somewhere, but for now she was content traversing the wide span of Teekon Wilds.

It is.

Although that's probably just because you're here.

Atka gave a lighthearted scoff, she smirked and splashed water in Heph's direction.

I've never seen mountains so high or lakes so large back where I'm from.

❝Maybe we'll see more like it.❞ Her tail thumped at the thought, water spraying from it.

She made no attempt to stand, the cool water at her stomach was refreshing. Instead, she simply kicked her back legs out from under her to lay halfway on her side like usual.

❝You ever seen the ocean?❞ Atka's expression was not far from a melancholic one as her mind drifted to thoughts of it.

Heph blinked as a small wave of water rippled towards her from Atka's playful movement and the swish of her tail. Chuckling breathily herself she shook out droplets from her mane, twisting her head, good-naturedly sending droplets flying towards the white-colored wolf her own tail unsettling the water and sending small waves out into the shallows.

She followed Atka's far-off gaze and considered her question. Heph had heard that there was an ocean and a coast up north, but she had no idea what really differentiated an ocean from a lake, she had assumed the coast that they spoke of was simply to a large enough lake that no one traversed it. She had seen some lakes that were large, deep, or dangerous enough to warrant such caution. Shaking her head slightly she answered, soft but with less humor than before. "No, have you?"

It was a strange feeling, all the wolves Heph had been close to she had grown up with in the same pack, in the same family even. They knew everything about her and she knew everything about them. But she found herself wanting to know, about Atka, wanting Atka to know something of her, no matter how little the past revealed of the future.

Atka felt wistful as Heph asked if she'd seen the ocean. A small smile showed itself on her expression, but it was clear she was still deep in thought, brows still furrowed.

❝Yes, I have.❞ Atka sighed, closing her eyes, sighing as she reflected images of it over in her mind.

❝Never ending water, it's beautiful. It's powerful, and vigorous, and is to be respected.❞ She recited what she'd been told by her mother, who was cruel wolf, but simply troubled in the mind, her marvelous and fiery psyche having been extinguished by traumatic events.

❝I was raised by it actually. There's beautiful, towering trees just off to the side that can make even the largest of wolves feel minuscule and the unwelcoming cliffs along the beaches.❞

Atka blinked, wincing at her ramble. She looked back to Heph with a light, breathy laugh.

❝Sorry didn't mean to get carried away there.❞

Her head shook gently as Atka broke out of her description. "Not at all, I enjoyed listening."  She was curious, but also Atka's voice was soothing and calm. Heph liked the sound of her voice.

Returning the soft huff of air with a smile she responded, trying to imagine something so vast, so all-encompassing. "It sounds beautiful if unforgiving." Maybe something like that could only be beautiful because it was unforgiving. That power held its own kind of seductive captivating quality. Atka's airy laugh echoed in her ears, the gentle lines of her interlocked with the water.

Heph's eyes somehow did not know where to look, eyes wide but almost empty as the sky. She felt a little bit like a cloud, though he could not say exactly why. The water gently tugged and let go of her fur. "Do you miss it?" There was a lilt that gave the words away as a question. Heph did not miss where she had grown up, though she sometimes missed the past - the friends and family as they had been.

Atka settled her gaze back on Heph.

❝I do,❞ She responded in an unsure tone, continuing. ❝but that particular place, the loss... I had to leave, it's easier to move on when you aren't surrounded by the wolves who did it.❞

❝I'm sure you understand, no?❞ Atka said, still staring.

It was easy for her to speak to Heph, her browns eyes were gentle, yet enticing to Atka.

❝Not to pry, but why did you leave your pack as well?❞

She felt the need to lighten to mood, the talk of heavy things could make her feel nervy at times, even though she was a wolf who didn't shy from her emotions. However, she often was the one initiating talks like these, feeling it was necessary for her to grow closer to another. Atka wanted to know more about this wolf that she enjoyed her time with, simply growing more attached as days went by. If Heph was to leave anytime soon, she wanted moments like these to be how she remember their days spent.

Heph listened, intent, but warm as she contemplated Atka's words. "I think I do." And she thought she understood the missing something but knowing you couldn't go back and that particular aching for something. Like a hunger for something that did not exist, that was hard even to imagine.

She was a bit startled by the question, her own gaze turning misty though she continued to look over the other wolf and their surroundings. But the water felt cooling and Atka felt warm and there really was nothing to hide. Heph was not sure she had ever really put to words why she had left, she simply had. "Ahhh well it was really no one's fault." She was not sure where to start, her voice smooth over the retelling but distant as she began to pull her memories into the past. "We were all on a big hunt, moose, eventually we cornered this big bull." There was a faint smile on her face as she said that, remembering how proud they all were, the rush of a real challenge.

But her face twisted quickly into a frown. It had been enough time she could say it, but it felt weird to say it out loud. That her brother was dead. That whole chunks of her family had been taken when she had never had to explain before. "My brother and a few of my cousins were all killed taking it down, I got away with just a scar." There was a wry sort of smile and she shifted a bit to show the jagged line that ran down her shoulder. It felt so trivial. She had hardly been able to walk the first couple of months, but the rest of the pack had cared for her, and all the other injured wolves. It was a boon, but at the time the pain had felt like nothing, she could hardly focus on it as everything else just seemed like so much more. Her leg healed before her other wounds had and it was that healing that that allowed her to leave and begin the harder journey to be better.

She leaned back to a more comfortable position and added, her voice more distant, less laden with sadness. It was all like something rolling downhill, inevitable after so much death but still sad. "But after that the entire pack was just looking for anyone to blame, it felt like everyone hated everyone else, a lot of them left and I guess I did too." She shrugged her shoulders, unsure what to say after that. It was nothing special. Wolves died all the time, and packs dispersed less frequently but it happened. "It just didn't feel right to stay anymore you know?" Sometimes she wondered what would have happened if their pack had banded together, gotten stronger after losing their own, but that that not happened.

Bringing herself back to the present she could not quite manage a smile but it was all in the past. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be so maudlin." It felt strange to recall, because so many of her memories she could recall should have been happy, had been, but it was that moment and the moments and memories after.

❝I don't mind.❞ Atka said with a small smile, extending her head forward to catch Heph's gaze, emphasizing her point.

❝I think leaving was the best way for you to recover. It's not easy to repair things when others aren't interested. I'm sorry it happened that way, and not out of your inner calling to roam.❞ She paused, looking back at the water, reflecting on her relation to Heph.

❝My pack was built on morals I don't necessarily agree with, so when the only other I aligned myself was killed over inner conflict there was no reason for me stay.❞

Atka's still felt the lump rise in her throat when she thought about it. Recalling everything from the pack that was barren of connection, the things they did to strangers that ventured past borders, to each other when a disagreement was established, and fights were all to common. The group simply felt an obligation to one another, nothing more. So, when her reserved, prudent aunt, who was more maternal to her than her mother defended a stranger at the borders was killed, she could not stay.

❝I feel it was right for us to meet though.❞ Atka wasn't the best at creating reason in the midst of tragedy, she'd never be happy those events happened, but it did.

It left both Atka and Heph the opportunity to grow, bond, and wander.

Heph leaned forward, it felt easier than she expected to take the comfort that Atka offered. All the more surprising that the gesture actually did bring her back to that moment before she leaned back again. The water moved around her tail. Nothing could change what had happened, that it was terrible, but she found herself surprised at the imperceptible shift in the air, the air leaving and entering her lungs more easily as if the pressure was just right, at having talked to Atka about it.

Her own ears tilted a bit as Atka spoke more on her own past. Partly in sympathy, but partly in understanding. "I'm sorry that you had to go through that, that they did too." Heph was not quite sure what to say. But Atka proved herself nimbler in the conversation and she managed a slow and small twitch of her lips. I was true. "I am glad we did." Her tail wagged and her eyes scanned over to Atka's gaze slightly, not challenging but letting her see for a moment into her own eyes. They were bright beneath the sun, there was a bit of longing there as her words trailed into each other.

She wondered, at that seemingly inevitable parting of ways - how could this wolf stay when even her family had been able to separate from one another - how much time she could steal before time itself stole from her. She wanted to get closet to something she felt was far away. "We should climb one of these mountains, see if we can get close to the stars." she stretched out, almost close enough to nudge the white fur of the other wolf. Her tone went from longing and languid to teasing as she added "I'm sure you'd look stunning in the moonlight." They could double back go to the mountains there, she thought she spied, across the long long stretches of open land, one to the northwest. But they were wanderers, they could go anywhere.

Atka gave a breathy laugh in response, closing her eyes and sighing as she brushed against Heph's side with her muzzle before standing up. The air felt lighter than it did previously, comfortable. The two knew more about each other now. Atka felt tied already but a feeling lingered that Heph may decide to venture alone eventually, the thought was gone as it appeared, short lived but it made her stomach turn. She shook her head blinking, clearing her throat.

❝I'm sure you shine in the moonlight as well.❞ Atka chirped back, shaking her coat out before she stepped out of the water.

❝Well, come on. I'd like to see the view from up there as well.❞ Her tail wagged as she turned back to face Heph, staring as she waited for the wolf to step up and follow.

so sorry for the late reply, past few days were incredibly busy but are back to normal now so i'll be active again!

Heph felt the slight pressure of Atka's muzzle and for a moment she just felt that casual intimacy that made her want to brush her body by the fur of the other wolf, it was a bit surprising. She was not a naturally distrustful wolf but instinct usually told her that other loners were unsafe to share space with like that, but traveling with Atka, Atka herself somehow it no longer applied. There was still that hazy awareness, but it was borne out of something other than caution.

Smiling into the spray of the water she too used her legs to brace herself and shake out droplets to help dry herself off. Her own tail wagged and she bounded forward, the feeling of chasing the other wolf for a moment making her feel anxious, as if she was already losing something she would somehow have a harder time letting go of than so much else, but she let her own fur brush up and contact and it felt fun and light again.

"Wherever you go I'll follow." Heph's words rushed past her throat in an airy almost careless way but they came from the air in her lungs that settled around her heart when she breathed them back in. And she fell into a playful but unhurried lope towards the mountains, trusting that she was not alone.

Got a bit poetic with this one LOL, I'm good with continuing their ascent in this thread or another whichever you'd prefer?

another thread would be fine by me!:)

Atka felt warm at the contact she recieved from Heph, a sentimental feeling settling in her.

Wherever you go I'll follow.

Her ears pulled back at this, emotion tugging at her, sighing and actually contemplating what she'd said as her face transitioned into a smile as she bounded after Heph, laughing. Atka felt content, a feeling that was rare in her previous years. She was glad she'd met this wolf, her days being filled with laughter, joy, and companionship, was more than she'd asked for but Atka had no complainants.

Atka's laughter flowed into her ears as she bounded forward spurring her on and kindling her own huffs of laughter as her lungs burned from running. She could see the mountain and though she knew it would not be easy there was also that surety that it was achievable, and the wolf beside her. 

Like Stars at Night - Never Lonely tagged you here for a continued thread :D