Moonspear you might catch a star

The Moonspear exploration. @Floki and also AW. :)

Charon had taken Flóki, who seemed to be his biggest fan in lieu of his plans for a move -- and therefore instantly one of Charon's most trusted and appreciated followers -- to explore some of the mountains to the south. The yearling really enjoyed being out and about with Flóki. In the midst of grumpy conservative wolves, his youngest follower had the most open mind and seemed really into the change, and Charon decided to let that positive energy energise him wherever he went. And so when he set out to explore the mountains to the south that Dhole had described, he brought Flóki along, for his opinion mattered more than any of the other wolves that were involved in the new pack (except for Amekaze, of course).

Upon approach, Charon looked up at the formidable mountain that seemed almost to pierce the sky, so high it reached. He wondered if this was Nocturne Summit, for it was the one that Dhole had been most enthused about, although she'd mentioned there was a lot of shadow. The real Nocturne Summit was forgotten, hidden behind the mountain that the yearling sized up, and he looked at Flóki when they approached a forest that lay at the bottom of the mountain. "Looks pretty huge, doesn't it?" Charon said to Flóki, a pleased smile on his face. "Imagine the view once we get up there!"

He entered the forest at its bottom, following a worn down broad trail that lead through it, probably used by all sorts of wildlife. The yearling kept his senses piqued, for he wasn't only interested in the aesthetics the mountain provided; he also wanted to know if there was enough food, and wanted to make sure that the storm hadn't touched this particular mountain like it had Ouroboros Spine.

A broken @Finley is somewhere around here, so maybe we can find her?!

She rested a few hours in Bramblepoint, just long enough to recharge her batteries. Wildfire then headed out again, desperate to find any sign of her aunt's whereabouts. She thought it might be a good idea to check out the place where she'd last seen the elder Outrider: Nocturne Summit. She spent the morning scouring the shadowy crags, though she wasn't surprised when she came up empty-handed. She had been here a few times since then and hadn't seen any sign of Finley. Her aunt had probably promptly moved on after their encounter with Fellway.

She did manage to find Finley's faded trail, which she followed north, toward Moonspear. Her amber eyes widened in surprised when a set of fresh scents overpowered Finley's. She recognized Charon's. Wildfire began to climb, moving more rapidly than usual in her haste, and nearly broke her neck when she tripped over her own forelegs and took a spill down a sharp but thankfully small slope. After shaking off the dust and making sure nothing was broken, the youth shot upward again.

Wildfire realized she had lost both trails. Making a sound of frustration, she moved over to a ledge and scanned the mountainside. She saw nothing. Then a movement down below, among the forested foot, caught her attention. Making the same noise again, she plunged back down Moonspear's flank, shouting, "Charon! Finley!" as she went. If one or the other (or both) were in the vicinity, howling would help her locate them more quickly than tracking.

The trip from Stavanger Bay had been long and arduous, at least for the five-month-old. This was the farthest he had ever traveled outside of his home, and while his paws already ached, he bit back any complaints that tried to surface. He was excited that Charon had requested his presence; in fact, everything that had happened over the last few days had changed the youngster's whole perspective on life. He now had a goal to strive for, and that energized him.

He was quiet for most of the morning, taking in his surroundings with all of his senses. It was amazing to see how things changed as they moved away from the beach -- sand changed to dirt and soil, and eventually he couldn't even hear the roar of the waves behind them. They moved through wooded areas where trees towered overhead before emerging into an open plain. Ahead of them, a mountain range loomed: their destination.

The youth gaped openly, looking beyond the cluster of trees at the mountain's base to its peak that seemed to touch the sky. Charon commented on its size, and Floki nodded. "It's huge," he agreed. This likely wasn't the tallest summit in the area, but it was certainly the biggest that Floki had seen. He was ready to start scaling its slopes with Charon when there was suddenly a shout that caused him to stiffen apprehensively, looking to his brother.

The forest looked promising so far, untouched by the storms, and at the very least not burned down in any capacity. Charon trailed along a path and he looked left to right, taking in his surroundings, while he tried to sniff for prey. He wasn't intending to catch anything now, for he was stiff and weary from the journey and didn't doubt the same went for Flóki, but it would be good to know what sort of prey lived on the slopes of what could possibly be their new pack.

Flóki seemed to agree on the size of the mountain, and Charon couldn't wait to check out the view. It was one of the biggest perks of living on a mountain. If it was really good, he could just take his pack here to show them how fantastic the view was. If they'd feel as much a king as he did sitting atop of the mountains, they'd be fine moving to one.

Upon the call, Charon flinched, head in the air and ears erect to listen. He exchanged a quick look with Flóki, who seemed alert too, but when he heard the second name shouted Charon recognised the voice. "Dhole!" he said, and looked down at Flóki with a relieved smile. "It's Dhole, she's one of my friends." Charon came into motion again and galopped out of the forest while he looked up to see where Dhole was at. "We're over here, Dhole!" he called out once he reached the edges where the forest ended and the mountain truly started, a cheerful smile on his face while he searched for where Dhole was at.

A voice called back to her seconds before two figures emerged from the tree line at the mountain's base. Wildfire's heart leaped into her throat, briefly thinking the silver wolf beside Charon was her Aunt Finley. She quickly realized her mistake and felt her heart sink back down into the pit of her stomach. She paused, frowning, then continued traipsing down the slope... only to wedge her right forepaw against a rock and pitch forward, tumbling down the rest of the way.

"I'm okay!" she assured her audience, climbing onto all fours to brush herself off. She winced when she put weight on her right foreleg. She hooked it into the air, then examined it with her nose. It was tender to the touch but she was pretty sure it wasn't broken. "Or maybe not. I think I sprained my ankle," Wildfire observed in a grim voice, glancing up at Charon before her eyes flicked sideways to the wolf she had initially mistaken for Finley.

She had never seen the sea, yet the oceanic blue eyes looking at her sort of took her breath away. Wildfire suddenly felt especially embarrassed about her smooth move and she dropped her gaze and mumbled something under her breath. She then conscientiously refocused her amber gaze upon Charon (though she watched his friend out of the corner of her eye) and offered a crooked smile.

"Scouting the mountain?" she guessed. "You haven't seen a gray she-wolf around here by any chance, have you?"

Kat, are you feeling better? I went back to work today but got worse (have a bad cough now) so I'm taking another sick day tomorrow. :(

Dhole? Floki wondered, thinking that it was kind of a strange name. But he knew better than to comment on it, and besides, Charon was already on the move. Floki wasted no time in kicking his paws into gear, racing through the trees after his brother. He wasn't very graceful and lacked skill in weaving around the wide trunks that lined their path, but he managed to keep his balance until they came to a halt just outside the forest.

Charon looked up the mountainside and Floki did the same, squinting against the sunlight. He quickly became aware of a bright red figure making its way towards them; this, he assumed, was Dhole. He gasped audibly when she tripped, watching dumbly as she toppled down the slope only to bounce to her feet when she reached the bottom. She seemed to be okay -- save for a potentially sprained ankle -- and limped towards the brothers.

He suddenly felt squeamish under her gaze as she looked at him for a long few seconds, but was relieved when she directed a question at Charon. Uncharacteristically, Floki piped up and gave a response. "Yeah, we're looking for a new place to live," he said, feeling strangely emboldened, though he then glanced deferentially at Charon and gave the future Alpha the chance to elaborate and respond to the second half of Dhole's query.

you guys are home sick too? me too! x _x i had a UTI (i battled it on my own on wednesday and thursday last week, but it came back with a vengence so i was on antibiotics friday - yesterday) and still feeling pretty bluh. :c feel better, guys <33

Charon watched Dhole as she excitedly made her way over towards them. He reflexively shouted "Watch out!" when he saw her trip, but obviously it was too late by that time and Dhole went tumbling down the slope. "Shit! Are you okay?!" he shouted up and he quickened his pace, Flóki shortly behind him. Dhole was quick to reassure them that she was alright, but when she got up and tried to stand, it looked like she wasn't feeling all that great after all.

Since he was no healer, Charon didn't know if spraining your ankle meant that you would be fine, or if something needed to happen to help you get fine. "Can you walk?" he asked, not sure if he should get a healer or if she was going to be alright on her own. Charon leaned down to carefully sniff her paw, not noticing the looks exchanged between Dhole and Flóki, as though that would tell him more, but he couldn't find anything off about it by looking and sniffing.

Dhole didn't seem that concerned though, since she plunged right into the next subject of the day. Charon nodded as Flóki said they were just exploring the mountain because they were looking for a new home. "This one is quite formidable," Charon said as he looked towards the summit that seemed to crash right through the sky, so high did it reach. Fitting of a King. "Is this the Nocturne Summit you told me about?"

Upon Dhole's question for her friend, he shook his head. "No, we haven't. Is it a friend of yours? She missing?" Charon's brows knit together in a worried frown, even though he didn't care overly much. Well, not about the missing friend, anyway, but he did care about Dhole's well-being and he knew that it was proper to pretend to give a shit.

I'm feeling much better today! I hope you two feel better soon. <3

She didn't answer Charon's question, mostly because she didn't want to think about it. If she couldn't walk, then she would have to give up her search for her aunt. Right now, she couldn't face that possibility. If they had seen her, Wildfire wouldn't have to worry about any of that. But it turned out they hadn't and the youngster felt strangely breathless, as if someone had knocked the wind out of her.

"It's my Aunt Finley. She went on a trip and was only supposed to be gone a couple of days. It's been two weeks and I have yet to find even a sign of her," Wildfire said, her voice a little strange as the sensation persisted. She felt a bit like she might hyperventilate. To stave it off, she shook her head and added, "No, Nocturne Summit is over there. You should check it out. But this is Moonspear."

Focusing on the conversation seemed to help, so Wildfire slowly dragged her eyes to Charon's companion and asked, "Who're you?" No one had introduced him yet, not that she blamed them. This encounter was rather spastic so far. "I'm Wildfire, also known as Dhole."

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well too, Iris! I'm heading back to work tomorrow even though I'm still under the weather, but I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon...so hopefully there are some antibiotics or something in my future. :)

Formidable. The word that Charon used to describe the mountain appealed to Floki. When their pack relocated, they would be formidable. It didn't matter to the youth that Atreyu and Thistle Cloud were reluctant to move. In his mind, a new home would fix everything. He stared up at the peak, one ear turned towards Charon as he asked about the name of the place, then queried about Dhole's missing friend.

He shifted his gaze to her face and frowned when she said that her Aunt Finley hadn't been seen in two weeks. That didn't sound good; but then again, Floki was used to wolves coming and going. Charon had vanished, but he had returned, a little worse for the wear but as ambitious as ever. And the same was true for Atreyu -- he had found his way back even though he had suffered the loss of his leg. He felt pretty confident that this Finley would turn up soon enough; unless her fate was like Jorunn's...

Giving his head a gentle shake, Floki smiled. He had been asked to introduce himself. "I'm Floki, Charon's brother," he said. Dhole had shared that her other name was Wildfire, and he thought to himself that he preferred that title. It fit her bright red fur and her outgoing personality.

I went back to work again yesterday too. Bladder still feels a bit sore so just making sure I drink enough. I do feel kind of stressed unfortunately, because my contract at work ends on nov 1 and I'm kind of stressed about money / the future, etc. but doing better today than yesterday at least.

Charon didn't even realise that he skipped over introducing Flóki and Dhole to one another, not even when Dhole introduced herself. It explained a thing or two that she introduced herself as Wildfire, as he remembered that Sebastian had referred to her as Wildfire. She'd just introduced herself as Dhole to him, so Charon had always assumed that that was her real name. Turned out that it was Wildfire all along.

There was something a bit off about Wildfire, but Charon decided not to pay it overly much attention. She was probably just feeling sore from the fall. "You sure you're okay to move?" Charon asked as he looked at Dhole's paw. "I mean, if you are, we could all go look for your aunt together." Charon figured that she was probably feeling very worried about her aunt so it seemed like a good idea to him. It all hinged on whether or not Dhole actually could walk proper or not, though. He made a quick mental note to check out Nocturne Summit later; but for now, they were on a journey to find Dhole's aunt Finley.

Floki, she repeated in her mind, immediately taking a liking to the name for no known reason. She offered him a somewhat timid smile, then faced Charon again when he inquired about her paw. She would have to face reality, she knew. If she couldn't put weight on it, that meant she would have to cut her search short and hobble home, sans Finley. The thought alone made her throat tighten and abruptly she was fighting tears. She fought hard, for some reason not wanting Floki in particular to see her cry.

Trying to stiffen her upper lip, she had to admit, "I'm actually not sure I can walk very well. If it weren't for my aunt, I'd head right home to see my sister. She's a medic..." She knew she was babbling but she was really starting to feel overwrought. "But I can't give up on Aunt Flea! What if she's hurt? What if she needs help?"

Charon seemed to be concerned about Wildfire's ankle, while she was consumed with worry for the whereabouts of her aunt. Floki wanted to say something to reassure her, but found that he couldn't make the proper words form. Instead, he just frowned helplessly, glancing from Charon to Wildfire and back again.

"We can help you walk," he offered, though even as he made the suggestion he knew it wasn't a very good one. He and Charon would be able to support Wildfire's weight easily, but moving would be awkward, and they probably wouldn't manage to get very far. "Or you can take a break here and we'll go look for a little while?" He and Charon could always report back to her, and that would give the brothers the opportunity to continue checking out Moonspear while they scoped out the area in search of Finley.

Poor Dhole -- she looked emotional all of a sudden. Charon hoped she wouldn't break into tears, because he didn't really like it when others cried. It turned out his suspicions were right, though; she couldn't walk well, and was concerned for her aunt, understandably so. Flóki made some excellent suggestions, and Charon nodded to emphasise them, proud of his little brother to come out of his shell now.

"And if you can't, you'll just have to stay and come live with us here when we start our new pack," Charon said jokingly, trying to lighten Dhole's mood, although it was only half a joke. He thought that Dhole would make an excellent addition to their new pack, and secretly hoped that she'd be here on the day that he and Amekaze claimed this mountain. Or some other place, he reminded himself. It was Amekaze's decision, too. "But yeah, we can help you look for her, or take a break and then go look for her. We'll go together. It'll be alright, I promise." Charon smiled confidently at Dhole and briefly nudged her shoulder, hoping that his confidence and promises how things'd be alright -- truthfully, he didn't have a clue if things were alright or not, but for now he just wanted to comfort his friend -- would rub off on Dhole so that she'd realise there was nothing to worry about for now.

Floki spoke first, immediately offering to help her walk. She looked at him, not sure it would work but wanting to try. If she was being honest with herself, it wasn't just about finding Finley either. They would have to press their bodies together, a thought which brought a small flush to her cheeks (which was fortunately hidden beneath her fur). Wildfire caught herself and wondered if she was developing an instantaneous crush on this veritable stranger... but hadn't she done the same with Ashton? First she'd gone for gold, now she was upgrading to platinum.

She pushed those thoughts aside. Floki made another suggestion: she could camp out here while they looked. Her amber eyes hopped over to Charon as he embellished on his brother's idea. As much as she wanted to let them help her, she knew she would only hamper the search severely. If they were willing to go look in her stead, she would owe them a huge favor.

"Know what's funny? That happened to my mom. She got hurt falling down the caldera and that's why she and my dad moved there." Well, there was more to the story but she just found Charon's remark ironic. "If you two go on ahead without me, I promise I'll seriously consider your offer," she continued in a sober voice. "Finley's not just my aunt, she's my godmother. She has a young son back home. We need to find her and bring her home. She's kinda small, with silver fur and brown eyes. She has a black stripe down her back, you can't miss it..."

Although she was hopeful the two young men in front of her could help, she still felt helpless and upset about letting her clumsiness get the best of her. How would Uncle Elwood feel when she showed up, injured and empty-handed? He would feel disappointed and guilty, that's how. Wildfire's ears flattened suddenly and her whole body slumped as if in defeat. If she had thought being unable to locate Pan was a failure, there wasn't a word invented yet for how badly she had botched Finley's search-and-rescue effort.

Charon quickly made a playful suggestion, indicating that Wildfire could join their new pack. Floki knew that he was partially joking, but there was something about that idea that struck his fancy. Although he didn't know Wildfire well, he already liked her -- and it was obvious that Charon did, as well. He wanted to ask more about their friendship, but recognized that it wasn't the time. He would save his questions for the journey back to Stavanger Bay.

Wildfire seemed reluctant to give up her search, but she agreed to let Charon and Floki go on without her. Armed with the description of Finley, Floki felt a thrill rush through his body. Not only were they on the lookout for their new home, but now they had an additional task. At the same time, though, he felt a little dismayed that they were about to part ways with Wildfire.

"Can you get yourself home, or...?" he asked, glancing pointedly at her foot. If she stayed put, they could return to her in a few hours with a report; or, if she decided to head back to the caldera, they could howl a message to her before they left the area. He felt doubtful that they would be able to find her aunt, since she hadn't been successful, but he certainly wanted to try.

Dhole ended up giving up on trying to find her aunt, realising it was going to be hard to climb a mountain this way. Flóki asked if she could get home on her own, and Charon waited to hear her reply. He glanced up at the mountain, not sure if Dhole getting hurt on its slopes made the mountain more formidable or more dangerous. Maybe both. Charon didn't mind, though. A bit of danger kept you alive and looking out for yourself. And anyway, Dhole could've just as easily slipped in a forest or a plateau or a plainsland. Every territory had its downsides.

"We'll find her," Charon reassured Dhole with a confident smile, even though he wasn't sure at all if they would find her. He mentally mapped 'Aunt Flea's appearance and waited to hear if Dhole wanted to go home -- and if she could -- or if she would wait here until they'd return, hopefully with her aunt.

Floki seemed concerned about her ability to get home, and rightfully so. Wildfire peered down at her paw, then looked up at him and bobbed her head. "Yeah. I'll just keep weight off it. It'll take forever and I'll probably fall on my face a few times but I'll be all right," she reassured them both, her lips twitching into a watery smile that didn't last long.

"I'll wait here a while," she told them, "and see if you two turn up anything. Just howl to let me know one way or another, okay? I'll have to head back a few hours before nightfall if I wanna get home before dark." The Outrider did not want to navigate home in her condition with an extra obstacle like pitch black darkness. "And thank you. Seriously." Her amber eyes lingered on each of their faces, their shining depths conveying her gratitude.

Among the three young wolves, a decision was made. Wildfire would wait in the vicinity for a little while before starting her trek towards home. They would likely end up reporting back to her with a howl. Floki nodded his head, his tail waving as he looked to Charon. His brother was confident that they would be successful in their search, so the silver youth believed it, too.

"You're welcome," he replied earnestly, then prepared to fall into step behind Charon. The future Alpha would be able to navigate the unfamiliar territories with more skill, so he gladly deferred to him. In the back of his mind, Floki began thinking about returning to this area and perhaps even traveling further south, with the intention of visiting Wildfire and checking on her paw.

Charon considered dropping by the Caldera if they'd find Finley so that Dhole could just go on home, but then realised it would give them quite the detour. He had lots of scouting to do and needed to keep everyone happy at Stavanger Bay too, so he didn't really have time for that.

"Okay," he agreed. "No problem Dhole. Anything to help out a friend. Let's go, Flóks." Charon nudged Flóki's shoulder and then started heading further up Moonspear to look for the missing aunt.

Unfortunately he and Flóki didn't find Dhole's aunt Finley (if they had, Charon might've been surprised to find it was his old acquaintance "barf face" the bear-fighter). Forced to admit defeat, Charon howled to Dhole that he had been unable to find her, but they he'd keep his eyes open when he was exploring the mountain at a later date.

i guess this is a good place to fade? :)