Stone Circle wonderful world

When @Grayday @Sunny and @Dawn had said good bye, Nikai had been filled with a sadness that'd been plain to see on his face. Sometimes wolves just moved on and didn't stay together, he knew, but it was still sad to see good friends go — and at the same time, he was beginning to wonder when the day would come he'd move on towards a new place to live, and if he was supposed to. He couldn't deny that at the sight of seeing parts of his own wolf family leave he'd felt two things: sadness for the loss of such close relatives, and a wanderlust that he had never felt before.

He loved playing with @Keoni , chasing butterflies around Easthollow or sleeping with his parents @Valette and @Steady , but there was a part of him that longed for the outdoors, like Valette did. As he sat in a clearing contemplating that today, he thought maybe he should go on his first exploration sometime soon.

Valette was usually patrolling inside of the territory. It was not much like a guardian would patrol. She was more out to explore new paths their prey animals took, and to check upon the bigger animals. What their prey would be doing was very important to her as the main hunter. She wanted to make sure she was well informed about what was happening. It was important for their own well being.

As she trotted into the clearing she saw her son sitting there. She let out a woof in greeting and then trotted up to him. Valette was trying to let them do more of their own thing. It was good to see Nikai though. She nudged his cheek and showered him with little loving kisses like a mother would do. Her tailed wagged. "Will you stop growing so big?," she hummed. Nikai was growing up to be a handsome young man.

Just as Nikai was contemplating the pack and his place in it, he heard the footfalls of his mother. He flicked an ear back towards her and greeted her with a soft woof accompanied by a smile. He nosed the bottom of her chin in respect as she washed his face, tail wagging.

"I don't think it'll be much more," he said, looking at his own paws. He doubted that he'd grow much more. Then, as their greeting died down, Nikai waited a few seconds and then asked, "Why did Day and Sunny and Dawn leave?" He missed them, a thing he wasn't afraid to admit — but he also longed to follow their footsteps and find his own path, a thing he was much more reluctant to admit to his mother.

Valette smiled at his words and nosed him right back. She was very proud of him. She was about to ask him something when the boy asked a question himself. Valette thought about Day and his young. She was not sure how she felt about the disappearance of Day. He would have gone a week max, but he had been away for far more than that. She hoped nothing happened to him. She hoped he would return. "I don't know, Nikai. I miss them too,' she spoke to her son.

She inhaled softly. "Sometimes life has a weird way of doing things. We don't have control over it," she returned and looked to the edge of the forest, like Grayday and his young would walk out of there any moment. "We just have to hope they are alright and will return. Plus we should cherish the ones that are still here." Valette glanced at him with saddened hazel eyes.

Day's howl had been so final, and it had hurt Nikai to think that he hadn't said a personal farewell to him and his family. It seemed only an afterthought as he and his family departed to say a last good-bye to his previous family, as if he'd already forgotten them. Nikai told himself that if he ever would give in to his wanderlust, that he would say good-bye to everyone that he loved at Easthollow. For now though, he didn't breach that subject, not wanting to bring up his thoughts of exploration when others had just left.

Especially not when Valette's words were so fitting, to enjoy those that they had left — he, amongst others — and so he decided to push his thoughts of travel away for now. "I do hope they're alright," he agreed with his mother, and nodded. "Do wolves often leave?" He knew, he remembered, somewhere far away, that his biological mother had passed but he didn't remember much about her except vague things like a familiar scent or the colour of her fur. Much about her was unknown to him now, as it was so long ago, but he didn't think that she had left because she wanted to — though he remembered nothing about that day, nothing except for comforting an upset Keoni.

Valette started to shower him with soft licks of affection, and perhaps a bit of grooming. She wanted to soothe him and his loss. It was a big one to swallow for them. She didn't think that his howl sounded that final and she hoped Day would return. Valette had a tough time answering his question. Because in her eyes wolves did leave often. Her dad left, with her brother. And then her mom passed away. She bonded with Reek, he messed up and left. Then she was all alone again. She came to Silvertip and started liking Ezekiel. She assumed he was dead. Now Day died. And of course not to forget Nikai and Keoni's mother.

Valette sighed. "Um. Well. Sometimes. Often it is not on purpose. Sometimes happens and they aren't able to return home. Those are the saddest departures. It can be that sometimes a wolf leaves to be with another wolf that lives in another pack, or wants to create their own pack," she explained. "But it shouldn't be normal to have wolves leave often. We need our friendships. Always try to be nice to other wolves, even strangers. You don't have to be overly nice, but friendly towards others might be the correct term. You never know when those strangers can be of help to you. I often had help on my travels as a ranger," she explained. After becoming alpha she hadn't left the pack lands much.

The way that Valette tiptoed around the subject at first made Nikai feel that they probably did leave more often. He'd seen wolves go and he'd seen wolves come, though none of them as impactful as Day and his children. He missed Sunny and Dawn a lot; the pack seemed so empty without them here.

Then, between grooming, she talked about being nice to strangers, and Nikai nodded. He thought on it a moment and giggled when there was a sensitive spot behind his ear that was being licked. Then he said, "I'll remember to be nice to strangers. Maybe I could visit Dawn and Sunny, if I find out where they went? I'd like to go and explore sometime." His heart hammered in his chest and he hoped for a positive answer, because he didn't just want to see Dawn and Sunny, but he also wanted to see the world.

Valette smiled when the other giggled. It was such an amazing sound that carried to her ears. She would do anything to hear the boy let out some giggles. Valette licked the spot again just for her own entertainment. Then Nikai made it known that he would like to explore. Valette liked that he would take after her, even though as a mother she grew nervous, she remembered that she was also trying to explore more when she was that age. She turned out okay.

"Well you should!," she encouraged. "Did you know your mother is close to becoming a master ranger?," she grinned. "We could explore together if you want that? And maybe after that I can think of a super secret mission you can do for me. How does that sound?" Valette was very open to the idea. She had the feeling her son would make a great ambassador or even a ranger like her.

Nikai was glad to hear that Valette was thinking positively of going to explore. Truthfully, he rather felt like going all the way out there; not just a little bit but explore all the worlds, see what happened in the rest of the world — be free. But he was happy enough to take baby steps towards that situation, and so he smiled excitedly at her offer.

"Yeah! When are we leaving?" he asked in his enthusiasm, hoping the answer would be 'soon'.

if you want/have time, feel free to start an exploration thread for Nikai/Valette :D

Valette chuckled at his enthusiasm. The female quirked up her lips and nosed over him. "Soon. We should tell the others first though. Your father would otherwise be worried," she explained. But she did want to go soon because seeing how much Nikai wanted to go she couldn't really deny him that. She remembered a time when she wanted to explore.

The mother licked over his cheek. "Let's go to the den and tell your father we will be on a super mission maybe... tomorrow?,' she suggested.

I shall start it tomorrow!

Nikai couldn't believe his ears when his mother said that they were going to be able to explore soon! He wagged his tail and smiled softly as he agreed with bashful excitement, "Yeah!" Nikai quickly scrambled to his feet and was ready to leave in an instant. He dashed away, only to wait a bit before going too far away from Valette. Everything about his body language screamed, Can we go now? But it was also clear that he was holding himself back politely.