Falls of the Hinterlands I can't find my way now

Arrluk continued on his 'spirit walk'.

After spending some time at Lake Rodney, Arrluk had crossed a vast open plain of land and marshy waters and at its end had come to the Boartusk Heights. It took some time, yet eventually the young wolf found passage through, opening into the Strath beyond. It was yet another beautiful slice of land like the great big lake he had since left behind and Arrluk had found comfort sleeping here for the night along the riverside. 

Waking up early to this area, he came to notice its seclusion. Though far larger in expanse then Moonglow, it was surrounded by mountains on almost all sides. The familiarity of this caused his stomach to churn, his desire for home cutting deeper. 

The spirits had yet to speak to him. 

Arrluk followed the river north and out of the strath. By late afternoon, as the sun began to dip behind the mountains, he could hear the sound of water moving fast, louder. He turned to the river, rushing by, but that was not it. Where was that coming from? 

Following along, he came to the Falls of the Hinderlands. Streams of many small falls plummeting down into the wide river below and the land glowed by what was called a moonbow. Arrluk had never seen waterfalls before- at least not like this, not from so far up and so many and he certainly never had seen a moonbow before. Woah... The word slipped from his lips as he stood and watched with wondrous awe.

She recovered swiftly in the copse. Meerkat asked @Njord if they could make a trip back to Moonspear in the morning as they shared a light supper. He agreed, then went to patrol to the north. Although she ought to get to bed—she didn’t want to push herself too hard, not ahead of tomorrow’s trek—she decided to go for a walk.

Meerkat padded east to stride along the riverbank that formed the periphery there, glancing up every now and then as the sky dimmed, then darkened. Just when she decided it was time to turn back, she caught the faint thunder of the falls. She remembered them from her childhood days.

She told herself she could pay them a visit anytime once they settled. Nonetheless, she found herself drawn to them now. The trees thinned and she saw the cascade of water, bright beneath the waxing crescent moon. The ghostly mist gathering at its foot drew her eye, a gasp tugging out of her throat when she spotted her daughter standing there.

Confused and delighted in equal measure, Meerkat called, Orca? and strode toward her—only it was a him, not a her, and not her daughter at all.

She paused and gawked at the young man. She remembered seeing him as a puppy in the glen many months ago, though for the life of her, Meerkat couldn’t remember his name. She flashed him a sheepish smile, eyes tracking fondly over his uncannily familiar features, so different and yet to similar to her little girl’s.

I thought you were my daughter, Meerkat stated the obvious. I’m sorry, I don’t remember your name. I’m Meerkat, she introduced, wondering if he would remember her.

The voice of another broke his reverie, his ears perking high as he turned his head around to see the other wolf. It was someone he knew- well, kind of. 

She was gawking, apparently completely caught off guard by the sight of him and obviously having expected someone else. Orca. Her daughter. This too, he knew. 

Arrluk turns fully around now to her, his tail waving behind him along his hocks. Her sheepish smile is met with one of his own. That's quite alright. He says. I've been told the smiliarities are uncanny. He says with a little chuckle- his father's chuckle. I'm Arrluk. It has the meaning, killer whale, in my mother's native tongue. Like Orca, for yours. 

Yet why was her mother way out here and not in Moonspear? On the completely oposite side of the mountains?

They really are, she breathed with a quiet chuckle, though she silenced herself as the young man introduced himself formally. Arrluk, she repeated once he had, her tongue clicking on the “k.” It’s nice to make your re-acquaintance.

In the brief silence that followed, she wondered what he was doing here… unaware that he was thinking the very same thing! Of course, she could always ask, though the waterfall just over yonder was quite distracting, especially when she finally noticed the moonbow.

Arrluk, look! she whispered, unaware that he’d already seen it. I’ve heard about the moonbow but I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen it before. She paused. Is that what brought you here tonight? The legend of the moonbow?

To himself, Arrluk wondered if he and Meerkat's daughter were connected in some sort of way. One who would think from an outside perspective, that they were truly twins, parted from one another at birth. From Arrluk's thoughts, he wondered if he and Orca were twin too, but not like his sisters Samani and Kausiut. Instead, spirit twins, somehow. His mother spoke of spirits often. Maybe he would ask her about the possibility of it some day. 

Arrluk quietly smiles to Meerkat. A quiet fellow in general, really, who would wait for Meerkat to pick back up the conversation. His head darts up, looking to the Moonbow with a deep smile. I've never seen anything like it before. He admits. Not even in Moonglow or Moonspear. He grins and comes to pad closer to her, to stand at her side as they both looked up the mountain of tumbling waters. I didn't know there was a legend of the Moonbow? His ears perked, head tilting in wonder.

His clever quip earned a huff of laughter from Meerkat. He seemed rather interested in this legend, which caused her ears to splay as her laughter took on a slightly more self-deprecating note.

Oh, just that it exists, she explained. Apparently it’s a very rare phenomenon. Rainbows can happen any old time, as long as there’s sunlight and water. But moonbows only appear at a handful of places in the whole world, or so I’ve heard. And they don’t appear every night, not even every cycle. So it’s very good luck to be witnessing it now.

She wished Njord was here, though she would certainly tell him about this sighting later. Perhaps it would bring good luck to their new village. The thought quirked up the corners of her mouth as her eyes drifted back to the young man’s face.

What brings you out here tonight, Arrluk? Whatever it is, she said, gaze returning to the moonbow, I would take this as a sign, a blessing even.

Arrluk enjoys to listen to the tawny woman's laughter at his little play on words and then goes on to tell him about the Moonbow which they were looking at. He imagined they came about somehow along the lines of how rainbows did and an Aurora borealis (dancing lights). Yet from Meerkat's explanation, they were far more rare and only came to be in certain places. He (and Meerkat it seemed) just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. 

I will do just that... His words whispered, the smile on his face light as he shifted his attention between the moonbow and the woman at his side. 

I am on a mission of sorts... He murmured once more. My mother says that each young boy must take it in order to return to the village as man. After, my sister- He paused a moment, sighing, Mom said that it was our time- my brothers and I.

He spoke of a mission, though his explanation was a little vague. Where was he meant to go? What was he meant to do? What about it made him a man? Meerkat had these and so many more questions to ask Arrluk but something he said—or, rather, didn’t say—captured her attention.

Your sister…? she gently prodded.

Meerkat had many questions: where to go, what to do, how did he know if he was doing it right, what if he failed? But how did he know he was failing if he didn't know what was to happen? Questions, questions... all which he had, too. Arrluk's words to her were as vague as his mother's had been to him before setting him off on his way. 

She had passed on to the spirit world, recently... Arrluk murmured, his green and blue gaze shifting as he moved from the moonbow and down as it followed the path of the falls into the water below. She lead the moon tribe of Tide, on the plateau. Maybe this one knew her?

Oh, Meerkat acknowledged with a sympathetic frown, I heard about her passing. I’m sorry for your loss, Arrluk.

She chewed the inside of her cheek as she contemplated this additional context. She found it a little sad and strange that his mother—Kukutux, she realized now with certainty—had sent him away following such a tragedy, though Meerkat knew different cultures called for different responses to the loss of a family member.

I’m not sure about your beliefs and traditions, though I like to think there’s an afterlife. Meerkat watched his face carefully for a beat before adding. Maybe the moonbow was a sign from her, though she left its exact interpretation up to him as she turned her gaze back upon the phenomenon.

After a few moments of silence, Meerkat let out a small sigh and admitted, I ought to be getting home. I’ve been under the weather recently and I need to rest up ahead of a trip to Moonspear in the morning. You’re welcome to accompany me back to the copse and even to Moonspear, Arrluk, although she anticipated he would continue his journey. Otherwise, I’d be happy to pass along any messages you’d like.

Can wrap up here or with your next post!

Arrluk's ears flattened as his head lowered, a silent acknowledgment and thanks to her sympathy. 

I'd like to think that... He said as Meerkat spoke of the Moonbow and his sister, though he felt it probably was mother nature at her own work. It was a nice gesture, if anything. 

Mother calls the place where our spirits go, the Dancing Lights. He commented on behalf of the afterlife. She was no longer a part of their world but maybe she had found solace now within another. 

Now, she spoke of heading home for the night and resting up before her visit back to Moonspear. Arrluk nodded. I think I'll join you in the copse, then continue on when you head back to Moonspear in the morning. You'll tell Orca I said hello, won't you? He questioned with a small smile. Besides, if she wasn't feeling her best self, he wouldn't be himself to leave her for the night.

His mention of dancing lights called to mind the daybreak when she and Njord had buried their son and sang to the ribbons of color winding in the sky. The memory was beautifully bittersweet. Meerkat couldn’t help but think of what her son would look like now if only he’d lived. Would he be as strong as Arrluk here, while wearing the same pelt as Seal? Would he have come with his parents or stayed with his sisters?

That sounds good to me, she murmured when he opted to follow her home. It’s this way. Meerkat pointed with her nose, then began stepping back toward the copse. Of course I will, she tacked on with a wave of her tail, glancing back at the moonbow one last time before they left.