Noctisardor Bypass Home is where the heart is

Semira found herself wandering throughout the Bypass, stopping at various places around the lake to admire the flourishing land. The flowers were in bloom and the grass was now a vivid green. She smiled unbashedly at the beauty in front of her. The femme lowered herself upon her haunches nearby an old patch of cattails. The water of the lake swept at her large paws, darkening her fur around the edges. She found herself gazing out at the glistening water, humming a soft tune from her childhood. It was not uncommon that she missed her family during lonesome moments like this, but the rift she left between her and her father was not to be missed. A solemn expression passed over her feminine features as she stood to head home.

She padded softly back towards the dens, watching the forest for any flickers of movement. Her habits from her time as a loner were not lost as she strode through the brush. Her large ears flicked behind her, as she though she heard movement, but she shrugged off her inhibitions and continued. Semira stopped just outside her den and nearly tossed herself to the ground. She lightly placed her paws atop one another, basking in the warm sunlight with peace. She found herself looking around in this silence, looking for her packmates that could be near the dens.

So these two can meet properly? :3

After speaking with Noor, the agouti male had wandered back toward the heart of the territory - the densite. He was just approaching the Inferior den when he noticed the female that he had seen at the meeting (the one who had nipped him) lying outside. With what he hoped was a friendly smile, Horosk padded over and greeted her. "Hey," he began, giving a small wag of his tail before sitting down beside her. "My name is Horosk. Y'know, the new guy."

Hopefully he would be able to make a friend out of the wolfess. He hadn't had a reliable friend for a long time.

The fae lifted her head from her soft paws at the sight of another. His voice called out a greeting and she smiled brightly. Pulling her form to her paws was swift and easy, but she remained relaxed in her stance. Her own voice was happy as she spoke, "Hello!" She sat down upon her haunches as he sat, her own tail mirroring his. "Horosk aye? Interesting name newbie" Her amber eyes glimmered with amusement as she spoke, "Mine's Semira" She tilted her head to view his appearance, appreciating the fact that he was similar to her.

The wolfess seemed friendly, which was certainly a positive sign. He chuckled with a nod, replying "Yes, it is. I have no idea what it means, though..." He thought back briefly to his half sister, Kelina, whom he had not seen since returning to the Teekon. The man made a mental note to locate the dark woman. They hadn't really gotten along as adults, but after deciding he wanted to restart his life, he realised that that meant making amends with her. Hopefully she would be cooperative.

"Pleasure to meet you, Semira. It's a nice name - do you know what it means?" He, too, had noticed that their appearances were fairly similar. It was a small thing, but it was nice.

She chuckled lightheartedly when he spoke. Unlike him, she was the opposite. She new many meanings for her name. Her soft eyes gleamed with knowledge as she spoke, "It is popularity known as 'high as heaven' but I was named after its older meaning, 'nighttime companion'. My father always said that our pack only hunted by the light of the moon." She laughed, embarrassed after speaking for so long. "but you can just call me Mira." her embarassment was wiped away by her namesake lopsided grin and a flick if her tail.

"That's nice," he replied, a smile gracing his maw. He gave another wag of his tail, glancing up at the sky. "And will do, Mira." he grinned. So, perhaps he had indeed found a friend. "In that case, you can call me Hor if you want. Or any other shortened version of my name haha." The only one to ever call him Hor had been one of his.... lovers... and Kelina, his sister. But he did not do well with formalities all the time, despite it being normal for him.

The femme let out a twinkling bark of laughter, "Will do!..Hor" She tacked his nickname onto the end of the phrase, letting the syllables roll around on her tongue. After a split second, she spoke, "I like it" She grinned widely, letting her head tilt to the side.

Her gaze flicked to the dens, and the lake off in the distance. She paused, drinking in the view. Her amber eyes settled back on Hor. "How do you like it here so far?" she questioned lightly, flicking her ears towards him.

So they had nicknames now. That seemed like a good thing, as that was one step closer to friendship. He grinned again, then followed her gaze to the dens and the lake, and he inhaled softly. "I like it. It's so.... relaxed. Everyone seems chilled." he responded, breathing in the scents of the densite. It was a nice place, for sure.

"What about you?"

As he pulled in a breath, she follow suit, letting the warm breeze indulge her senses. Her eyes closed for merely seconds before she spoke, "I love it here..Everyone has been so sweet, especially Gwen, and its already starting to feel like we are a family. You know?" She smiled sheepishly after she finished, glancing at his face to see what he thought.

He nodded, agreeing with her. "Yes. It reminds me a bit of a pack I used to be in, except their numbers were larger and I didn't meet everyone. Here it really does feel like a family. Everyone pretty much knows each other already." He smiled, then thought back to what the Empress had said during the meeting.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but who is Knew? I heard Gwen mention him and I was curious... Do you know who he is?" Horosk, of course, did not know of the Emperor who vanished. He didn't even think there had been one, he thought it had just been Gwen as the Empress and sole leader.

She smiled and nodded along with his first sentence, her smiles gleaming with happiness.

Her smile died when he mentioned Knew. She had only heard of the Emperer from the others here and there, but had never met him officially. All she knew, was that she was not please with him leaving the pack, and Gwen in the midst. Expecially in such an important time period. She though carefully before she spoke, least her personal opinions flare up. "I..err.. I have heard things about him, but I can say I honestly I do not know him. Although truth be told, I don't know if I can like someone after they ditch Gwen in one of the hardest times in her life." Her jaw clenched as she spoke, her anger boiling to the surface. 

Realizing that he might not know she added, "He is our Emperor. A leader along with Gwen."

He wondered briefly whether he should have mentioned Knew at all, for Mira did not seem to take it very well. He frowned, hesitant to speak, but soon the wolfess did instead. The news was most certainly not great. "Oh.... sorry for bringing it up." The man thought carefully about it, and was genuinly curious about why Knew would leave Gwen in such a time. "Yes, I mean, it would be good to know why he left."

Then Semira mentioned him being the Emperor, and a harsh scowl crossed Horosk's face before he shook his head and allowed his expression to soften. "I suppose he isn't a leader anymore, then. I think Gwen can handle being Empress... I mean, she's got the pack this far." he tried to lighten the mood by mentioning how the icy leader was doing. "Any wolf I know would have given up by now... especially after losing a loved one. I know I probably would have."

She paused, nearly silent as he spoke. She had know that her passion about the matter might fluster him, and yet she had spoke anyways. A flicker of regret cast over her delicate features. "Don't be, every member of the pack deserves to know where he went. If he comes back he is going to have a lot of explaining to do." 

As his face softened, hers followed suit. "I suppose so. And yes, she is a wonderful leader." She ppaused aagain as Hor spoke, his emotion on the topic becoming prominent. When she spoke her voice came out gentle and soft, "Well now you've met Gwen," a grin spread across her maw. "and me." She gently shoved his shoulder with her own in a playful manner.

"Yeah." He replied simply, thinking again about this strange Knew character. It was disloyal and certainly wrong to leave like that - Horosk hoped dearly that he had a good reason for it. Nobody should be left alone like that, expecially not when creating a pack with them.

"Seems I have," he chuckled, giving a friendly flick of his tail. Then he became curious as to what Mira really did here. "Do you plan on earning a trade?" the man asked with a tilt of his head. He wasn't really sure what he wanted to do, but he did like telling stories so perhaps that. Though he wasn't completely decided.

She mirrored his laugh with one if her own, smiling nearly from ear to ear. At his question, a faux scowl spread across her muzzle, "Of course I plan on earning a trade, hunter to be exact." Her eyes glimmered with humor still before flooding with seriousness, "My specialty will most likely have to do with taking down the bigger prey, thanks to my Mackenzie ancestry." She motioned to her form with a single paw.

Tilting her head questioningly she asked, "What is it that you plan on doing with your future? I mean-if you decide to do a trade." She corrected herself mid-sentence, a way of not insulting him, and smiled almost sheepishly.

"Nice." he nodded, then shook his head at her question. "Y'know, I've been trying to figure out what I want to do. I really don't know. I mean, I love storytelling, but I don't know if I want it as a trade." He flicked an ear, thinking over the possibilities. "I was raised to be a fighter... but I don't think I want to do that either."

"Maybe storytelling is the way to go. I don't know." he murmered, then turned to Semira with a light smile. "One day I'll sort my life out. For now I'm happy to just go with the flow, I guess."

When he paused in between speaking, she added, "You could have more than one. Like starting with storytelling and then choose another later on if you like." She smiled encouragingly.

She faltered slightly when he spoke about not knowing. She had not thought about chooseing something for her own life, it was more of a 'You will be a great huntress' or 'It goes all the way back to the base of our bloodline'. She never really had a choice, and was trained to be a hunter for her entire existance. She mummbled out a few unsure words, "I guess I've always just done what I was told, so I can't be much help." Her eyes had lost their glimmer and were now clouded with doubt.

"True - I just haven't really decided. I'll see where I end up. Maybe I'll discover a passion later on. I think.... I think perhaps I will go for storytelling first. It has been something I have enjoyed ever since I was young. I just love being able to make something up on the spot - and recounting old stories is great too." Then Mira mentioned not choosing, and Horosk frowned.

"Oh? Well... I mean, you aren't alone. You see, I grew up in a very strict pack of fighters. My father... well, I didn't get along with him. He was constantly mating with other women - so, not my mother. I had a half sister, named Kelina - At the start, neither of us wanted to be fighters, but our father tried to force us. Eventually Kelina gave in and became just like him - cold, ruthless and bloodthirsty. I managed to resist, and escaped from there as soon as I was able. I haven't seen Kelina in... two years? Something like that. But I heard she was back in the Teekon." He thought about it for a moment. He did want to try and find her, but would she be like she had been when Hor left? Probably, but it was worth a try.

"Anyway... I'm getting off topic. My point is that Kelina did everything she was told too. Many wolves do - I guess... I guess you only realise that you are doing it when you are shown something different."

She listened quietly as he spoke, she had never been talked to in this manner. No one had ever taken the time to hear how she felt, and try to comfort her with similar angsts. His story was nearly the same as her own, except she had never had the time to pay attention to her siblings to notice how they acted. She was always busy trying to please her father. Escape. She would not have called her own leaving that, hers was merely tradition for the pack. She was meant to leave and build her own pack, but instead she came to the Wilds and found Gwen. A ember of warmth built in her chest as she smiled gently, it was a faint smile of trust for this man. He knew what it felt like to leave the people you cared about, that did not really care the same way. He understood what it felt like to lose a family member to that darkness.

She paused with a heavy silence before speaking, "I think that, even though its all that I know, I quite like to hunt... I mean, I was never told what to master and yet I have already chosen for myself." She pondered her own words. Perhaps she did want to be a hunter, even though she despised that it would satiate her father to hear of it. She wanted to comfort him, so she added on a few mummered words. Touching her nose the side of his face briefly in a consoling fashion. "I think that you should find her, your sister, at some point. Just to see if perhaps she has changed... I would do the same, but I do not know where my family is now." They would always move around when she was a child, never to stay in one place.

"Just do what you enjoy," he smiled, watching Semira as she spoke. "I just hope that she has changed. I miss the old Kels. The one that wasn't a specially-trained assassin. The innocent one. If she hasn't changed then.... well, I don't know." He frowned, furrowing his brow as he thought about what might have become of his sister. Maybe she was different now. Maybe she had changed her bloody ways.

"If she hasn't changed.... then she isn't my family, I guess. I mean, I don't need the murderous one. Ganador is my family now, and I couldn't be happier anywhere else."

She frowned, hurting for him. It was not everyday that conflicts such as this arose amongst families, and yet here they were. "She will always be your family, even if we are amazing." She added a flicker of humor to lighten the conversation. "Family is forever, so I guess that means that even I should forgive my father. Even if it is only to heal my heart." She paused in realization before adding, "Which you should do too -for your sister,  if you think that will help with the hurt." She did not want to tell him what to do, but merely suggest to how he could fix his pain.

Semira was a good wolf. She was kind and understanding - and this gave Horosk a little comfort. A chuckle escaped his jaws as she spoke, and his tail gave a small wag.

Then she continued to speak, talking about how family was forever. "I guess you're right. If I could find her again... I mean, I would try to solve our issues. I want to rekindle our old friendship. We were so close..." He let out a small sigh, gazing to his paws momentarily.

Her plumage mirrored his with slight fanfare, she was glad that he understood. "You will find her again some day, and I suppose I will have to meet her-just to make sure shes kind to my friends." She spoke the last sentence with a playful lilt in her voice, gently nudgeing his shoulder with her own.

"Yeah. Thanks, Mira." He smiled again, then sighed. "Hey.... can I tell you something? It's... it's been on my mind a lot recently..." Family. That was what had been on his mind. Liri. She had been in heat when he found her... and one thing kinda let to another. He didn't know what kind of relationship they had, really.

"I'm kind of worried... I found a girl in heat a little while ago, just before I came to Ganador. Her name was Liri. She was in heat... I don't know what happened. She was in a pack. What.... what do you think might have happened? Do you think she will be punished? It wasn't... it wasn't meant to happen... but she wanted it. At least... at the time...." He bit his lip with indesicion, wondering whether he really should have told Mira. No, I can trust her.

He seemed edgy about something as he spoke to her, "Yeah, of course." She tilted her head just so. As he spoke, she kept her face between impassive neutrality, and concern. She could not help the rising sense of jelousy, although it suprised her. Quickly, her feelings were pushed aside by the seriousness of the situation.

This was bad. If this girl was in a pack similar to hers, permissions and boundaries were needed. The impulse to gasp was stifiled by her worry. Either the fae, no Liri, got lucky and was not pregnant or her pups might be shunned of even killed. Worse, the girl might be kicked from her pack, left to bear the burden of a bastard litter all on her own, where the pups would surely not survive.

She wanted to tell him all of her thoughts, but his worry sank her heart. With a comforting tone she spoke, "Perhaps she never even got pregnant, or even if she did, maybe her Alpha is kind." Her amber eyes searched his, "Don't worry, she will be fine." But what about the pups? Her own thoughts betrayed her words.