Larksong Grotto taken away to the dark side

For @Pasha first, and then @Wyn

Scimitar's strides had led him over the border -- but not without four little paws right behind him. He normally would have growled at the boy, ushering him back to the rendezvous site and lecturing him that travel was far too dangerous.

Instead, he lectured the cub about the dangers of the world, and told him that he was to never pass the borders until he was much older -- or, unless he was accompanied with an adult.

Pasha slowed him, but the trip was enjoyable. It was rare he got one on one time with his pups, and he made to point out the small things to Pasha as they went along -- the song of the birds above, and the stretch of plains before them. Coming upon the grotto (as far as the regal would take his son for now), he stopped to encourage the boy to smell around the area. "What do you smell, Pasha?" His tone was gentler than normal, his eyes fast upon the boy -- waiting for an answer. Soon, the pups would begin attending the packs hunts, and the thought tightened his chest in apprehension. They still seemed so little.

Like virtually all children, Pasha was ever eager to grow up. He wanted to be an adult now, to do all the things that adults were supposed to do. They didn't have bedtimes or have to take a bath if they wanted to. They didn't have to answer to anyone, in a sense, other than maybe their alpha. Or whatever. While he was still getting a grasp on the world and the hierarchy associated with it, Pasha did not turn down the chance to spend a little quality one-on-one time with his father. He could not fathom the difficulties there may have been in dividing time between all their children, or perhaps even the ones that they took in along the way.

So whatever little snippets of advice his father imparted to him, Pasha tried to take it all to heart. This was technically his first big adventure that took him anywhere near or outside the territory that was rightfully theirs, and the world beyond the familiar sights, sounds, and smells was somewhat overwhelming. It wasn't too different in truth, but to him, an entire world had been unlocked by their crossing of the borders. And the grotto was easily a locale that provided a plethora of lessons. The calling birds of the elevated lakeshore drew his attention at first, their songs intermingling with the general ambiance.

And then there was Scimitar beckoning his attention, asking him a question.

Pasha drew in the air, curiously testing it as he raised his muzzle towards the sky. A sky in which today, was spotty with cloud cover. It was warm, but where they were, not so stifling as it would have been in the nondescript lowlands beyond them. He was quiet for a few moments, pacing and inching forward just a little more to try and pick out anything that seemed strange. But he didn't find anything immediately, instead dropping his gaze and muzzle to the horizon and wheeling it around to peer at his much larger father's face.

"Water," he said, brow knitting, "and stuff." That's right Dad, stuff. "Rabbits?" He meant what he said, but it came out like a question because he found doubt budding at the forefront of his considerations. The hare his father had brought them still lingered in his memory, the scent tied strongly still the spot even when they had left the den.

Ever since the pale wanderess had entered the wilds, she had been following the scent of snow. Even though it was mid summer, there were still traces of the fluffy whiteness high up in the mountains. Her paws ached as she picked her way higher and higher, her stomach rumbling in protest. Her last meal had been a scraggly pheasant she had caught almost two days ago and the hunger pangs were starting to get to her. Wyn lowered her snout to the ground and started sniffing along the grass, hoping to pick up the scent of a rabbit or something. She was rather disappointed when the only thing she scented was stale wolf.

Huffing, she continued on up the mountain, her search of food continuing. Her paws cracked some brittle branches and the loner suddenly got the feeling she wasn't alone any more. So far she hadn't met any wolves in this strange place, so she had no idea what they would be like. Wyn pricked her ears and listened for sounds of the strangers, picking up the voice of a small pup. She looked around, but was not able to place where it was coming from. If it was a parent and their pup, there was a chance the wolf would be hostile, so she took a few steps back, still trying to locate them.

Pasha was concentrating – the dark agouti wolf awaited his answer patiently, his own eyes drifting from the boy’s thoughtful face and to the area around them. One ear flicked forward as the youth spoke, and his aqua eyes would zero in upon his child fully. Pasha was not necessarily quieter than his siblings – Allure, r even Whittier, when he wasn’t complaining, could take that title. Swift was far more exuberant.. and if anything, Pasha seemed most level headed.
 
As the boy made a guess – stuff, he determined, Scimitar withheld a snort of amusement. Pasha clarified his answer, though, and the father gave a nod of approval. “You will need to learn to catch them, soon,” he offered then, his muzzle sweeping down to nudge the youth upon the top of his head in silent praise.
 
The wind drifted just so in that moment, however, and another scent drifted to them. The cinnamon wolf stiffened, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the area around them – and yet no wolf could be seen just yet. “And what do you smell now, son?”

apparently i am verbose in the morning

Whether or not he was close in his guess, Pasha couldn't have said. But he assumed he was right, because his father mentioned something about catching them and most importantly, soon. Was that the real reason they had come out there? His heart leapt at the thought. The wave of his tail propelled itself just a little more, so eager.

And as a different combination of scents rose to them on the ever-changing winds of the day, Pasha did take notice. Not enough to perhaps respond the same way as his father did. Scimitar tensed and Pasha pulled himself in closer to his father out of instinct, though the happy demeanor of the son did not change in the slightest. Rightly so, for there was a lesson to be taken out of his too — Pasha once more tested the air at the trailing end of his father's question.

Whatever it was, at first he thought it familiar. It had that air of canine to it, but wasn't distinguishable as anyone he knew. Wasn't his father (obviously), definitely wasn't his mother. Not even his siblings or aunt. No, there was something more rugged and wild about this. There was no natural medley of cohabitation with others. Pasha's brow knitted, uncertain of how to describe what it was that he smelled. Were those faint hints of pine? Or snow? Or rain?

Of course, he had been told of the dangers that lied outside of the territory. That had been a fair bit of material that was gone over well as they had ventured out there. It was still fresh in his mind. So he concluded his own investigation pointedly: "Someone else?" Okay, that wasn't so sure, but close enough.

The foreign she wolf picked her way slowly over the ground, careful to avoid any sticks of crisp leaves the could give her away. She needed to find out if these wolves were hostile. Her frosty muzzle lifted in the air and her nose twitching, trying to locate the other creatures. She caught a strong whiff of their scent and was able to pick some things out. The faint traces of other wolves that lingered around the main scents told her these were pack wolves, and there were two of them. One was much younger and still had a puppy smell to it, but she couldn't be sure if they were related.

Wyn's indigo eyes flicked through the surrounding trees, but she was still not able to spot the pair. Moving forward a little more, she misplaced a foot and a branch cracked under her weight. A large crack filled the air and she froze, her breath held within her chest. If there was indeed a pup among the pair, it wasn't likely they would attack her, but she couldn't be sure in this strange new land.

Pasha’s senses were tuned for the better, but rather than steal a moment of pride for his growing son, his eyes were sharp upon the trees before them. One pale paw slid forward, his limb shifting closer to the boy before he stole a sharp glance down – a reassuring nod given to the young Frostfur.
 
It would seem their company did not want to reveal themselves – or they had yet to make it to the duo. The Alpha had time to usher Pasha back to the direction of Nova Peak, where the safety of their pack remained. Yet, he could only smell one strange wolf, and faintly – perhaps, there was no trouble posed.
 
But Scimitar was also not one to play games, and as a branch snapped nearby and no form emerged, his lips pulled back to reveal his fangs, if only for a moment when a growl bubbled from his throat. “Show yourself,” he demanded, his voice raising loudly. If the other made no move to do so, it would be ending this small trip from the Peak.

As his father stepped in close to him, Pasha became attuned to the shift in his demeanor. If not for that reassuring nod, he would have thought his guess off. But instead whatever he had found, well, it may not have been so good. That someone else, he realized as he followed his father's gaze, perhaps this was the very bad danger that existed so easily outside of their domain. He shrank back for a moment, but hid it poorly as though he were merely trying to widen his field of view.

Nothing materialized from the lush greenery around, and he failed to localize where the distinct snap of a branch had come from. It seemed to be directly ahead, he thought, but it wasn't. His father did not gaze off straight ahead, not entirely. With baited breath as the growl rumbled low from above him, Pasha's eyes scanned through the thick cover to see who — or what — emerged. If they would. If not, he wondered just how fast he'd find himself being carted away, a mystery in the world left unsolved.

Unless of course, this were real danger. In that case, how exciting!

PPing that Wyn left without appearing.

The world would fall silent – Pasha seemed to know enough to not leave his side, and the Alpha waited, his eyes drifting to the shadows where another could be hiding.
 
And yet no one revealed themselves. He remained silent for a few minutes, though none stirred.. and the scent began to fade. Bristling slightly, the Frostfur tipped his muzzle down to regard his ever patient son – who seemed excited at the prospect of meeting someone or something new. “What should we do now?” He wanted to know his son’s instincts – but the question was also lighthearted.. he didn’t want the boy to fear every shadow that lurked behind the trees.

As for what Pasha wanted to do, well, that was simple.

"Find 'em, find 'em!" he chattered excitedly at the notion, babbling on as children were wont to do.  Granted, it wasn't as clear crystal as the glorious form of writing was, but he couldn't help but beam a smile up at his father.  And in spite of the temptation to go bolting foward towards that fading scent on the wind, he stayed still.

Running off wasn't worth his adventure outside of the territory to be curbed, and that much he gleaned.  Wasn't like his parents didn't scold them all already for trying to dash off and explore places that were probably keen on leading them to an early death, right?  "We can yeah, yeah?" he went on to chirp at his towering parent, bouncing in place.

Hell, bolting off almost sounded like a good idea.

He'd consider it while waiting.

It wasn't really the answer he had been expecting, but who was he to quash the dreams of a brave and eager child? In reality, it was likely time for him to usher the boy back to the peak, so that his mother wouldn't worry too much.

.. But the way he bounced before him, Scimitar felt the eagerness to be infectious. Giving a nod, he nudged the boy forward, his brows arching up. "Alright then, but you lead the way! Let's see what your nose can do," he determined, assuming that whatever had been there was long gone now -- and puppy legs were not likely to catch it.

Right, lead the way. That was easy enough to do, or so Pasha thought. "OK!" he chimed in loudly, no doubt probably still in earshot of their escaping party. And he bounded forward with youthful ease, hot on the trail of where he thought the wolf had been. Though as he pushed his way into the underbrush of the watery locale, he found that their scent diminished greatly. Alright, so they were paying hide and seek then, that was fair. Pasha had played this a time or two with his siblings, though he didn't know whether or not he was a master seeker or hider by any stretch of the imagination.

Testing the air with questionable intent, Pasha moved on. They had to be around here somewhere, right? He searched at length for what was probably no more than a couple of minutes, though to him they felt like slow hours dragging on and on. And finally, the spot where they had been came to him. Bingo. "Here!" he said, though it didn't really matter whether or not they were there. They had been there, and that was a start.

Scimitar trailed after his son, surprised by the pace he did bound forward with. His own gaze remained upon the shadows of the foliage before them, deciphering whether or not the threat lingered and remained concealed.

Pasha was more or less on the trail, and the cinnamon Frostfur was both proud and leery. His own nostrils flared as he tracked with his son, though attempted to pretend he was simply following dutifully behind. The scent was certainly fading -- an indication the culprit was long gone, and Scimitar began to ease once more. Once Pasha found the spot they had stood at, not far from where they had stood, the regal gave a nod of agreement to his son. "Good work," he commented, allowing a smile to pull at his muzzle. "What was it?"

i just made myself sad, because maybe all pasha wants to do is play with everyone everywhere... :C

He beamed at the praise.  Pasha was a good boy.

But as for what it was, he faltered for a moment, as though the relay of his memory was uncertain.  "Somebody," he answered, sniffing after the musk they had left behind on the foliage or whatever or however wolves do stuff like that.  Even the writer's memory is sketchy.  Pasha looked to his father, halfway wondering if his answer was sufficient enough and also because he wanted the guidance without actually asking for it.

"Where go?" he questioned then, looking back to the spot they had so obviously been in.  They had left, but why?  Had they scared them away, like boogeymen in the night?  Surely not, he reasoned, surely they would have wanted to make friends with them.  Then they could all go off and play somewhere, together.

Pasha’s answer was bang on with the rest of his other generalized responses. The boy was keen on deciphering the scent, but nothing came to him, and the brown wolf only gave a nod of response. “Wolf – but we don’t know them,” he clarified for the boy.
 
The question was innocent enough, but his son looked miffed that the other had not wanted to stay and meet them. It had not surprised the dark agouti male – but he did not give the talk of how dangerous the world could be and why another might not be so willing to take such a risk with them.. in case they had been intent on hurting them.
 
Instead, the father leaned down, nudging his son on the rump and to the direction of home. “They went home.. like we should,” he murmured, casting the boy a small grin.

fade with your next post? ;D

For a moment, Pasha almost pouted. But he was trying so hard to be a grown up, at least closer to the big huge hub-bub about being an adult that he caught the action before it was fully out of the gate. His bottom lip might have jutted for a second, but he pursed those lips together and nodded instead. He took the lead briefly, bouncing ahead a couple of steps. Pasha didn't dare stray too horrible far away, knowing full and well that in spite of how much he had grown that it would be of little consequence or feat for his father to scoop him up and cart him still.

Still, he did mind to push his luck a bit. "Take long way, please please?" he said, emphasizing youthfully on the pleases. There was so much of the world he wanted to see still and he only hoped that Scimitar would give in and take the scenic route. At least a little bit.

Scimitar did everything he could to protect his family. At Nova Peak, this had proven easy enough to do, as they seemed farther from the complex dramas that encircled the heart of Teekon Wilds. Yet it wasn’t often he could steal such moments with his children, and when Pasha begged for them to take the long way home, the male cast his son a lopsided grin. “The long way home,” he promised, ruffling the top of the boy’s head with his nose before giving a quick leap away.
 
He slowed his pace considerably, but continued to show Pasha particular aspects of the landscape around them – from the hardwood trees that grew, and noting that in the autumn, the leaves would change colors to the slinking skunk as he attempted to keep his son from it.
 
It was a day well spent, and a harsh reminder to the agouti wolf that his children were growing up far too fast.