Moonspear Starless Nights

@Sialuk

Elentari finally had some down time. Both Meerkat's and Nasamik's pups had been born, now resting comfortably with their families. Everyone was healthy. None of the older wolves needed medical attention that she knew of. She welcomed the respite. With it, something in her stirred.

The hour was late. Well into night. Outside of her newly picked ulaq, soft rays of silver moonlight filtered in to slide along the contours of her face. The air was peaceful and still, with the hint of spring. And despite the perfect setting, the dark Archer was wide awake.

On her back she lay, sprawled out gracefully. Paws brushing against the rise of her chest. Her neck craned so she could gaze up and out to the sky. In it hung the moon and the stars. Just like one memorable night before. Alone in the silence, she could not help but let her thoughts drift. They drifted to that time. To @Julian. The one she danced with. Of how he enchanted her.

She sighed, rolling slightly to her side, blue eyes bright. Filled with...something. Why couldn't she get him off her mind? She wondered where he was. If she would ever see him again.

tag for ref, although i do need a quennell thread one of these days! <3

@Quennell was the only one of their village that still healed, but he was coming along well enough that Sialuk did not seek him out daily. Instead, she found herself wandering near the sleeping places of her people, greeting them softly as she walked by. Elentari lay quietly outside her own ulaq, looking almost restless.

Elentari, she greeted, slowing as she approached. You are well?

Compared to Sialuk's own, and many others, her dwelling was sparsely decorated. Given time, she would add her own personal touches. She had at least, attained one item for the foundation of making her ulaq more personalized. Still draped on the extended branch of a fir tree, the skin cured. A fox pelt, of rare quality. Black phased fur, sprinkled with silver peppering like the very stars themselves.                                

Sialuk was passing by. Elentari's dark head, poking just outside, was easy to spot. Even easier was the look of longing in her eyes. She blinked up at the Star woman. Drew in a breath, gathering her thoughts. Trying to slow them down. "I am alright. I just can not sleep, that's all. These last few nights have been keeping me awake..." She did not let on to the source right away.

Elentari spoke of restless nights, something Sialuk had not encountered herself in quite sometime—mostly to the credit of Keen and Argent. A coy smile grew on the starwoman. You are aware of my ways, yes? Of taking many lovers? The suggestion was implied heavily, and Elentari would not miss it—of this, Sialuk was sure. But she would not encroach upon the woman's space if it was unwelcome.

She believed she could soothe Elentari to sleep with a warm embrace.

"I am." She affirmed with a certain nod. The Archer had largely ignored the turn of recent events, in which Sialuk bedded with others. She did not even give it much thought, on what her feelings should be of the matter. Elentari knew what she wanted during this lifetime. The connection and pull she had felt to Sialuk was still as strong as ever.

The only change, was that another invaded her thoughts. Was it worth it to get so hung up over a single, yet so magical night? Over a man of whose whereabouts she didn't even know, now? Before she would allow Sialuk to comfort her so warmly, she felt she must confide in her.

She scooted back further into the ulaq, shifting aside to invite the silver woman in. "My dreams at night...my thoughts. He haunts them. This is why. I can't shut my mind off. Not like this."

ah, good ol' misunderstandings, hehe.

An impish smile made its way to Sialuk's lips as she ventured to settle in alongside Elentari. The friendly warmth between them a pleasure in and of itself. She spoke of some other spirit, and Sialuk furrowed a brow in concern, her smile disappearing into the darkness. Has he done something? she asked, now worried that whoever this was may have harmed Elentari in some way. Sialuk already feared she would need to rally the hunters to seek revenge upon this man.

She watched and read Sialuk's expression, which grew concerned after she had spoke. For a moment, her own face was unreadable. Then, paired with the far away light in her eyes, she smiled slowly. Calmly. Thoughts of him and that night invaded every corner of her mind. She couldn't help it, to keep such feelings at bay.

Shamelessly blissing out, the inkjet Archer rolled, silk like onto her back. As if suspended in a dream like state. Something had come over her. She laughed, a short trill of a sound. "Oh, only given me the most magical night of my life..." Her usual smooth voice was gone, replaced by one who might be spellbound. But that night has been some time ago. His scent, regrettably, was no longer mixed in her fur. She would share more juicy details with Sialuk, should she wish to hear more.

Ah, so it was not somebody who had hurt her. Though he did seem to have done something. Sialuk grinned, knowing that feeling all too well. She lay sphinx-like next to Elentari, who had rolled onto her back. Her far-off gaze an indicator that perhaps Elentari was too far away to truly appreciate anything that Sialuk could offer in this moment. The starwoman was not bothered by it, her mood easing into conversation rather than more intimate acts.

Is he of Moonspear? Sialuk asked, curious if Elentari had found such company among the village. But perhaps he would have been here if that were the case, and Elentari would not need assistance in sleeping.

She shook her muzzle gently. Her steely blue eyes keeping that far away look. Searching the stars in the night sky, as if she may find him there. "He is not." Her tail languidly swept against the ground. No man here had caught her eye. She had been too busy to consider any of them, up until now. She would not compete with Sialuk for their favor, if they had eyes for the Ostrega first. Besides, now that Elentari could relax, Julian's face was the only one she could see.

"We met before my time in Moonspear." She gestured with her muzzle, outside. "There, in the cradled Valley. His song...it drew me down like a falling star..." Her voice grew soft, a slight smile at her lips. "We ran, sang. Danced  in the moonlight. Kissed. I...don't know where he's from, or where he is now. Only, that I must see him again, Sialuk."

Sialuk nodded, not knowing of this man before now, but there was no look surprise in her face. Elentari was a striking woman, and it would be easy for anyone to admire her. The starwoman listened as Elentari described her single magical evening with the man, smiling. What is he called? she asked. My mother knows many people of these lands, and perhaps she would know his village.

"Julian." He had given no surname, or one describing a village he was from. "He wore no scent of others. Perhaps your mother might still be of assistance."

She recalled the words she asked him, to which there was no answer. Reflecting on them now, she voiced her thoughts with a more rational mind. It showed as she laid upright. Her flank rolling to press against Sialuk's silvered one. "It seemed so surreal. Part of me wonders if it was really a dream." Her ears slicked back, brows curling. "Am I being foolish...rash, Sialuk,  by getting so enthralled with a man I have met only once? Who...may not be a sure thing?"

Julian. A lovely name to go with the picture Elentari painted with her words. The woman spoke of being rash, too quick in her attraction to the man she had met once only. To this, Sialuk shook her head with a smile. It is only rash if you put him on a shrine in your heart, she said. You see only one side of him, but every man and woman has many sides, and these must be known to love someone. Love came in many forms, and Sialuk knew each one to be important.

This feeling is first-love. It is why hearts become butterflies when we meet a new face that appeals to our spirit. Sialuk smiled, knowing first-love well. It was first-love that showed a path to the other types of love, each one leading in a different direction.

Quietly, she took in Sialuk's words. This feeling she had when she entered her own ulaq, the same as when she and Julian met. First love. "That is why I need to know there is more to it, by seeing him again." She turned and rested her chin over the rise of Sialuk's shoulder.

"But what if I don't?" There was every chance that her encounter with him would only be a one time thing. "I came here seeking to spread my lineage. So the Archer name will continue on. I want a family, to settle down with someone I love." Her body straightened slightly. "But only with the right person. Not...someone who will just drift into my life and out again." She needed stability in a relationship. Sialuk was working on her own with many others. It was not lost to Elentari that the star woman could provide exactly what she needed.

The woman nodded, knowing. There were men who would kiss and run. Perhaps Julian was not one of these men, but there was little to go on. Elentari spoke of children, and a pleasant smile pulled at Sialuk's mouth. Already they had many with Meerkat and Nasamik, but more would not harm this village.

I cannot give children, she said with a wry smile, but village Moonspear is built to nurture children. It is the way of this world that spirits come and go, but Moonspear is made so that the coming and going does not hurt so hard. When there is more love, there is less hurt. She smiled, putting her paw atop Elentari's. This was not to say she would not hurt when one of her lover's left the village, but she would have others to quell her sadness. A tree with many branches does not die when it loses just one, or even two.

She chuckled lightly, her tail waving back and forth. "Of course. Only a man can offer us children." Elentari had been raised in a more traditional setting, where a woman took but one partner. But she had spent much of her early days away from the bustle of such teachings. And her young adult life, on the move. So she had not been as exposed as she could have been. Leaving her malleable. Open to possibilities.

"I am happy at Moonspear. That it chose me. It's ways...they are different." A small smile, appreciative. Knowing. "But they seem to make sense, to me. For me." The loss of one lover would not hurt so bad if she had others to soothe her hurt. Her thoughts of Julian faded, shifted more to the woman at her side. It was not lost on her, of the lovers Sialuk had taken to her ulaq. "You desire this too, yes? A husband...children? A family?"

Elentari did not pull her paw away, and Sialuk felt first-love snake its way through her heart. Â, she said, affirming. Husbands, wives, children born of my own body and those not. Already she felt this of Meerkat and Nasamik's children. Each was a child of her own in some way. A child of village Moonspear.

May I share a kiss with you? she asked, the boldness of a doe who thinks she can face a village.

Not just a husband, but possibly several. Wives and children, even if not from her own body. "There would be no shortage of love, around you." Elentari had suspected this, but to hear it for herself added clarity. She wondered, who, Sialuk thus far, had found favor with. Did any stand out more than the rest?

Her heartbeat quickened at the bold request. For a second she was speechless, sharp blue eyes blinking cutely. She recovered, wearing a coy little smile, huffing slightly. With surprising boldness, she leaned forward, wrapping dark legs around silvered shoulders. Her muzzle loomed close. "By all means, go ahead."

last for me! <3

And no shortage near you, she breathed, face closer now to Elentari. In this embrace, she kissed the sweet girl, any thoughts of her own lovers gone to the wind. For tonight, she was for Elentari’s attention. The woman had proven herself a capable recruit of Moonspear, and now she proved herself capable or receiving Sialuk’s affections.

She pulled away after the kiss, warm and happy. I will sing you to my ulaq soon, the starwoman promised. Take time to think, she suggested. And if it is in your heart, you will answer my call. Sialuk knew it better for these things to take time. Each lover she had made to wait, and she did not deviate from her ways with Elentari. Again, Sialuk kissed her.

Soon, she reiterated, then slipped from the woman’s den.

<3

She shared the kiss with Sialuk, thoughts of Julian slipping away. She took the moment, enjoying the touch of the woman, of being close to her. Pleased to be worthy of such affection from her. As with others, she would wait. And she would, patiently.

"I will. Thank you for this time, Sialuk. I can't tell you how much I needed it." She said, tail thumping. Her mind felt clearer. Brought down back to earth, not swaying through whimsy. Already, fragments of an idea budded in her thoughts. 

"Soon." She repeated, contentedly letting Sialuk slip away and back out into the night.