Silver Moraine Yet it don't bother me

@Esaro

She had decided to explore, the territory of Larksong Grotto hadn't taken long to completely discover, sniffing every nook and cranny. Now she ventured further afield, in a sort of outrider mission, even though she had no desire to be such. Now would be a good time to find if any lone wolves or predators were lingering their territory.

Despite all her logical seasonings part of her knew it was bullshit. She was still holding onto the hope that Esaro would follow, or maybe at least meet her in neutral territory. She didn't want to lose him, he was her best friend.

She went as far as Silver Moraine, about half way between the two packs, one she was forbidden to return to. She wouldn't go close enough to stir trouble, just far enough to see if he had even ventured out, perhaps hoping to see her as she did him. Seeing no one on the horizon she slowed, a heavy feeling in her chest. With a sigh she lay down, planning to rest before heading home.

As time passes, Esaro has been gaining a little bit of confidence in his abilities. Compared to the first days there were obvious changes. He isn't as good as everyone else yet but he has made progress in nearly everything. He learned enough to say 'Maybe I can do it' so instead of always hanging around in the pack territory he decided to head out a little. He when west and discovered some sort of a barren road that went straight towards the glacier. It was easy to see that not much was growing around here. Did that mean there wouldn't be anything to catch too?

He decided to follow the huge road northwards. The area was quite open but he didn't see anything of interest moving around. Maybe all the prey was hiding in holes or something. He put his nose near the ground in hopes to find some lingering scents. The rocky terrain made it a little difficult to move around has. He had already tripped a few times over some loose rocks. After the forth time he didn't to move nice and slow. Since his head was low and focused on catching scents he never noticed that Luna was actually laying down close by. Her coat didn't really stand out with all the light grey rocks around and the wind wasn't blowing in any direction.

Esaro continued his search, completely unaware of Luna's nearby presence.

When she heard the other wolf She nearly growled in frustration. She held back knowing that wasn't the best option, whoever it was might be agressive. She opened her icy blue eyes, wondering who was interrupting her sulking. 

They widened when she saw the wolf was none other than Esaro. Her head raised from her paws, not quite believing it to be him. Had she conjured up a hallucintion of him on will? 

Standing, she moved closer. "Esaro?"

Esaro thought about it for a while now, How did this place become so barren? It's like there was something around keeping stuff from growing. There was really nothing much around, not even prey. It's like nothing was meant to live here. It was good to know that the barren area wasn't too large. But while looking around, someone with a white coat suddenly stood up. Esaro quickly recognized who it was and quickly approached.

"Luna!" He said happily. He had always known he would see her again but he just didn't know when. The closer he got to her to more he slowed down. He remembered that the last time he saw her was when she confessed and then left. He never got to tell her his side but right now he was just happy to see his friend again. Still, she once said she loved him. Did that mean there was a way he was suppose to act now? He started getting a little shy as the distance closed between them. He came to a complete stop when there was half a meter between. He turned his head to the side a little while looking into her eyes and gave her shy smile. "Um, I missed you a lot."

It was obvious that he was glad to see her. He tail wagged happily and the whole time he watched her he really wanted to move in to cuddle her but he was unsure about doing that.

She watched him approach, almost in disbelief. "It's really you," she had been worried she wouldn't see him again, that he wouldn't want anything to do with her. That he would hate her much as Spring did. 

She rushed him then, running over to him as her whole body wiggled in obvious glee. She burrowed her head against his chest as she wrapped one foreleg around him, a sort of wolfy hug. 

Pulling back, she beamed up at him. "I missed you too. How is everyone? Does Spring still hate me?" Her voice grew quiet and timid at the end, still sad over her friend. 

Their last encounter had slipped her mind in her excitement to see him but as it reentered her mind she backed away somewhat awkwardly, putting about a foot between them. She cleared her throat quietly, suddenly shy.

Where Esaro had stopped Luna continued and did exactly what he wanted to do. It turns out she missed him too. He was remembering what Saena said about her. That if Luna really did love him she wouldn't have left. But Esaro never did believe that was how it worked, Personally he'd prefer Luna to be free to go where she wants. He didn't want to be the one holding her back from everything. The others didn't think that way though. He spoke in a calm manner "Well everyone is doing fine but they are still upset about all that has happend, including Spring." It wasn't a pleasant thing to talk about, he wanted to enjoy being with Luna right now.

He wanted to focus on just making her happy while they were here. It was very likely that she would have to go back later so he had to make sure the time here with her would be well spent. He noticed her turning a little shy while she stepped back. Esaro was feeling a little brave after she gave him a wolfish hug. So he closed the distance between them this time and nudged her cheek with his nose. "But I'm the one who is very happy to see you again." Then he attempted to nip at her ear playfully before trying to rub his head against her shoulder.

He made no mention of what she had told him during their last conversation so neither did she. He seemed more bold now that she had made the first move, coming forward to touch her playfully. 

She grinned and nipped his own ear as he rubbed on her shoulder, feeling odd at being taller than him now that he had leaned down. She had always been small, smaller than him and most others she met. She licked the top of his head gently as he leaned over, reminded of the time he had cleaned the wound on her face. It felt so long ago now, in reality it had only been about a week.

His words saddened her, she knew the Phoenix wolves would be upset about all that had happened but she didn't want them to be upset. Especially not because of her, but they were and there was nothing she could do about it.

Being allowed to cuddle her a little was very enjoyable. It returned him to the idea of loving each other. But with his inexperience he wasn't really sure what it meant to love someone. All he could understand was that he loved this moment more than anything. He just didn't really want to stop now that he was into it. He moved to her side and faced the same direction she was facing. He pushed against her lightly with his whole side and had his head leaned slightly above hers.

Then he decided to say what was on his mind. "You know, I still remember what you last said to me. You should know that I don't really understand want love actually means. But I will say I did care about you, even after you left." He said calmly. As a little bit time passed he noticed it wasn't too comfortable to stand on rocky terrain. He thought about going somewhere else with her but he wasn't sure where to go.

She wasn't surprised by his admonission, he hadn't ever made it seem like he had the same feelings for her that she had for him. It was okay with her, she cared about him and while a bit disappointed she would rather have him as a friend than not at all.

"Love's hard to explain. It's like when you see them you get all tingly inside and you just want to be with them. You care about them but it's different than friendship. It's like wanting them to be happy, even if you have to sacrifice your own happiness." She tried to explain but she wasn't sure he understood.

She sighed, not unhappily, and nuzzled him lightly. She had missed him, at the moment the rocky terrain wasn't even noticeable.

Esaro listened carefully to Luna's explanation on love. A checklist was running through his mind. Everything she said fitted perfectly what he felt. Every time he sees her he wanted to cuddle her, He did notice that he cared more about Luna than anyone else, and he was willing to let her go if that made her happy. So if he puts all that together, did that mean he was in love with her?

He continued to stay very close to her. "Then I guess I been in love with you ever since I licked your injury near your eye." He said as he thought back at when those feelings started to act stronger. But then he wondered what happens now. He leaned a little bit away to look at Luna. "So if we both love each other then isn't there stuff we should do that we don't do with others?" He asked innocently. At the very least he knew lovers treat each other differently compared to friends but he didn't have an idea of what it was besides getting very close like he was now. He believed that there was more to it though.

She glanced up at him, sure he was messing with her due to the offhand way he said it. It seemed he was serious which caused her to frown. She wasn't sure he really felt he was in love with her, that he was just mistaking a strong sense of friendship for love.

Shaking her head she asked,"Are you sure you're actually in love with me? You don't just care about me?" To her it seemed like he didn't really know, she couldn't quite tell him if he was in love with her. It felt different for everyone. 

She shrugged, "It depends on your status. We can't mate, we're subordinates. Only Alphas and sometimes Betas get to marry and procreate. Even if you're a subordinate though they can't stop you from having someone you love, you can do other things. Like this," she gestured to their embrace. "Sometimes wolves who love each other kiss," she elaborated further, growing shy once more at the thought of when she had kissed him.

He ended up having to think a little. For some reason Luna seem to doubt him but with his experience he couldn't reassure her. He wondered what he could say to her, at the same time he wondered what he really felt. Maybe this love thing was very complex but Luna was the one who first said she loved him. As for Esaro he never had the word to describe how he felt so what love really the right word for it?

Of course he had never thought of mating and the whole idea reminded him of Saena and her future puppies. He felt a little awkward when that was the subject. Him having puppies with Luna? He never even dreamed of it. Esaro slowly pulled away and moved forward.  "I've always wanted to become as good as an Alpha but Um, I never really thought of.. puppies." He said shyly and then he turned to face her again.

"I don't know how to describe how I really feel but just being with you makes me happy. Did you know I always want to cuddle with you when I see you?" He said with a friendly smile. "But I also just want to do stuff together like we always did. So do you want to explore this rocky place with me?"

Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply in surprise. It choked her and she began to cough, mostly in shock. Her and Esaro having pups? That wasn't what she meant at all, the thought of having puppies hadn't crossed her mind it was just a fact that only high rankings wolves could have them.

Coughing in disbelief she backpedalled. "No, no Esaro that wasn't what I was suggesting." 

She smiled at him, "Yeah sure. That sounds cool." She got up and trotted over to him, beginning to sniff at the ground so she could find something interesting.

With all that has happend it was a little normal that he would think about puppies. Saena and Reek were going to have their own but then he was kicked out for cheating. Because of that the whole love/mate thing was getting very confusing. There was no trying to understand since he likely never will. He figured instead of thinking about all that stuff why not just aim to just be happy?

With Luna, he searched for something interesting in the rocky area. But his might was a little stuck on the subject with puppies since Luna didn't mean to talk about that. "I'm not really understanding all this love and mate stuff. So instead lets have fun while we can and make each other happy while we are together." He said with a smile as he looked back towards Luna wondering what she thought about that.

After looking in Luna's direction he spotted a bird's nest that was mostly hidden within some rocks "There's a bird nest over there!" He decided to go straight to it and look to see if it had any eggs inside. "But it has only one egg in it." Then faced Luna. "You can have it if you want."

She smiled at him, "That's kind of you but I'm okay. I ate before I came here." She nudged the small nest towards him, letting him know he could have the egg. It was only one and rather small, probably not enough to fill anyone up but it was food. 

sorry, crappy short post

You are not forgiven! :P

Esaro wondered what Luna thought about his idea but she didn't give any signs. There was no way to tell if she had approved of it or not. He shrugged, it didn't matter as long he and her were both enjoying themselves. If she was happy he was happy. Since Luna didn't want the egg, he crushed the top half of it and licked the yummy content inside. Once he was done and looked into her eyes. "We might have to leave each other soon again. I been out here for a while, they might worry."

She nodded understandingly. "Me too. No one asks where I go everyday, they think I'm just scouting." She hadn't known Tavi and Reek well enough for them to know about her feelings for Esaro though it was apparent enough when the agouti male was brought up in her presence.

She rubbed her head affectionately against his shoulder, her signature greeting/goodbye. "Tell Spring I'm sorry okay? I know she probably won't ever forgive me but I can keep trying." Her shoulders slumped slightly at the thought of her friend, wondering if the woman would ever forgive her for her decision.

It was time to leave, Luna gave him an affection rub on the shoulder. He thought of doing the same but she asked something similar to what Spring had asked of him. He was thinking about what he really wanted to do about that. He didn't want to be the messenger for two friends that still wanted to be friends. Instead he jumped in front of Luna. "Spring does get really mad sometimes but when she calms down she is nicer afterwards. I'm sure she had already forgiven you. That's what it sounded like when she talked to me about you. So all you have to do is meet her again and then you two can say sorry to each other." He said with a smile.

he nudged her nose excitedly with his. "Until next time Luna! I hope we get to see each other again soon." He said before heading back to Phoenix.

She wanted to explain to him it wasn't that simple, that Spring would never come out here to see her as he had done. Spring was too loyal, she would never have come to see the traitor she had claimed Luna to be. Maybe she was, not that she cared. As said you couldn't betray someone you didn't know and she hadn't known Saena.

She smiled at him, repeating back a goodbye before turning and loping slowly back to the Grotto, happy that at least one of her friends, er whatever Esaro was, had made amends.