Moonspear hey hey what can i do

His range was expanding, and he was starting to want to test these limits to help find his place among it now that he had begun to grow into a lot more than just a mess of legs and puppy teeth. Mama had recently taken him further down the mountain than ever before, and as bizarre as the lower slopes felt to him during the very brief time there--being pretty used to the close company of the clouds--it had riled a bit of a new curiosity in him once he had regrouped from the unknown. For now, he was still law abiding enough to not press it too fiercely just yet and a little hesitant about the mystery of the below, but he sensed that one day, he'd feel like more.

But.. not yet. Today was certainly not that day, and he was kind of feeling broody about it out of nowhere. The sterling boy was lurking south of the rendezvous for now, waiting for something to happen anxiously. He'd like another go at getting to tagalong on one of these almost-patrols, but both parents  had seemed pretty busy lately, or at the very least, preoccupied with something that wasn't always mainly him and his sisters for once. He wasn't quite used to that, either, so flicked his tail and gave a little huff; they probably wouldn't be back up here until closer to evening, and since they were the Law, his best chance to get to go was with them.. Without a better plan yet, he hunkered down into a strange, almost-stalking trot and set out through a small swatch of woods, hoping he could find something to direct his energy on soon.

Wraen had spent the morning learning important essentials about patroling and guarding with Terance, but once it had got too much for her and she felt that her questions and confusion about some of the topics might irritate him in a long run, she pecked a thank-you kiss on his cheek and left for the woods inside. As much as she wanted to live up to the "good Monspear citizen" award, it felt to her that battle knowledge was not just her field. Useful - yes, enjoyable - not so much. 

While walking and playing with loose-ends of various unfinished stories in her head, she noticed someone not so small, but definitely young moving in her direction. "Hey!" she called out to the kid, trotting towards the wolf and upon closer inspection realizing that this was one of the Charon's younger brood. "Are you up to an adventure?" she asked, just in case he was going to have fun and there was a possibility for her to join in. Wraen needed fun.

He sniffed and he listened and he looked around, but most of all he skulked along down a well-traveled pathway. A 'hey!' calling out to him jarred him clear out of any former preoccupation, and the boy shot his head right up to see what was going on. His path was heading right for her and he made no moves to change this, so jogged up to her with big eyes. While not typically one of his go-to adults to harass with a thousand questions, she did suit his need for something to stay busy with.

"Well..." he answered, and drew in an exaggerated breath. "Kinda," Jarilo explained, swinging his nose this way and that in a really vague sort of gesture. "I'm practicing so I can be strong for the good adventures," he detailed with a huff, because this seemed to be a hurdle he faced at times when chasing after his parents and sisters sometimes--a stamina that waned too soon, lacking stealth skills (citing an awkward, growing body still for that one though), or just a general unease when it came to certain things he hadn't faced much of so far. He just had to get over them and get good, because he had a long way to go before he could really run with his packmates and keep up. ".. Like the ones that get to go way down the mountain, too," Jarilo said, ears wiggling as he peeked off that way then--the way he'd been hoping to head in eventually, before returning to eyeball Wraen hopefully again.

"The good adventures?" Wraen followed with her gaze in the direction the young man beckoned to. She did not want to dampen his enthusiasm, but from her experience due to frequent travels outside the pack territory, adventures down there weren't that much different from those you could find up here. It did not occur to her that Charon's kids may not have had the chance to go out in the world and therefore everything unknown seemed more wonderful from the nest than, when actually getting there and seeing things for what they were. 

"We can go down, if you would like," she suggested and added quickly, "If you are allowed to do that, of course."

The green-eyed boy nodded. "Yes," he stressed, trying for a serious face then. Of course she had to understand what he meant.. although in an instant later, it occurred to him that she might know even grander adventures, in a scope past what he could imagine--so maybe just so simple was far from anything she'd call a good adventure. He was still reeling at the thought of anything south of a certain elevation on this mountain, let alone anything beyond.

When she offered going down, he stiffened all up, it was that unexpected but he was bright enough to roll with it. His boundaries, expanding as they were, weren't well as defined anymore. Usually when it came to new things, the requirements meant a capable adult. Usually that was his immediate family, the ones he did everything with all the time, although not always. Within certain limits and with certain folk, he was allowed, he decided. No one had told him otherwise yet.. and she had to fit this criteria for the who part of it, so long as she was willing. "Well. Pretty much. I've gone down a little with Mama and Hydra and.." Jarilo punctuated with a really hopeful look to stress the point, all the while hoping that her offer wouldn't go away just because of his glaringly newbie status. "Mama says if I'm good and pay attention and get strong, I can go more.." he added for good measure, because this would be really good exposure to practice all of that, if he said so himself.

"That sounds good enough for me," Wraen replied, though deciding against her inital idea to take Jarilo not only to the territories at the foot of Moonspear, but beyond too. In the light of the youngster's lack of experience in the world outside his circle of comfort, she suddenly realized, how much she could show and tell and how much she could teach him. 

"Well, let's save your first journey beyond the borders for later," she told him. "But I can take you to the rock-slide and the caves. There is plenty to see, including some dwarves and grumpy goblins."

She approved. Even with him being quite open about his inexperience and the hazy lines of approval; what mattered was that she had approved. Yes..! He was pleased, and his whole posture seemed to radiate this as he wiggled a bit. It was an important first step forward, so he wasn't even in a spot to complain about saving the goods for later. He'd not considered them even an option right now.

This time, and the more he heard about what there would be to see, the less contained the enthusiasm could be. The boy yipped a quick "Yes!" then recollected halfway a second after. Still, his eyes shone bright at her, eager with a tail wave. "Okay okay.." he bobbed his head and looked at her, his brand new adventure guide, then away towards whatever could await. Where to begin? "Which way? Tell me about goblins??"

"Here," Wraen instructed the young one, beckoning him to follow her and at the same time asking him to watch his step. There was plenty of space for both of them on the mountain path and it was pretty safe, but you never knew. And the young she-wolf felt even more responsible, because she was accompanying the alpha pair's son, who was not someone you could either dispose or replace. 

"Goblins are very smart things. Look almost like... hairless bears around our size," she explained after a moment of pondering. Had she ever seen monkeys, her description would have been more exact. "And the one I know is a very smart, very old, but therefore a bit grumpy persona. I found him a nice, comfy cave few weeks ago," she went on. "I suppose you have never met any, have you?"

Dutifully, and wearing his best look of concentration, he followed her lead to where she'd take him like it was his newest important task. Essentially, it was, and he was determined to soak it all up. It was enough to do with seeing everything there was to see, he had to learn about goblins too. Her mentions of them were so nonchalant, and it was the first he was hearing about them, so he couldn't tell how he felt about that yet. Mentioning them as hairless bears felt vaguely concerning.. since although he had never seen a bear, he knew enough through his family (with a history of that they were dangerous, bad news. "No.. Don't think so but I didn't know about them until now," he peered straight ahead, face scrunching. He wouldn't miss a naked bear, surely he'd remember! But why hadn't he been forewarned about goblins? Maybe they were not an issue.. maybe they were special, or uncommon, or just not a problem.. "How'd.. you get to know him like that?? Are they dangerous if they're like bears?"

"Dangerous? No. They are even smaller than you," Wraen told the boy, who at that time had grown quite a bit. "And usually they like to keep to their grumpy selves," she added, just in case Jarilo thought about these guys in the middle of the night and suddenly got scared. As much as she loved to exaggerate her stories and creations, she did not want them to do any harm to others. 

"Well, it is all about possessing an open mind and the Sight," she explained. "One is either born with the ability of spotting the unusual or - like me - you train from very early on. And yet - I still don't see not even a half of beings my mother Osprey can."

Visibly relieved by this revelation that they were small and kept to their own, he let out a big sigh. "Oh. Maybe that's why I never heard about them," he said as he shook his head, and the rest of her answer seemed almost vaguely familiar in concept. He had already come to understand the importance of training a mind (and body to match) towards a greater power thanks to it being Mama's answer more than once. This was, evidently, one of those sorts of things too.

That, and some piece of him was halfway comforted by her telling him that she was not nearly as versed as her mother in all of this. Although compared to him, she still had to be practically a master, so her mother was on another level all of her own to the green-eyed boy. It was easy for him to imagine her (by nature of being mother alone even) as being supremely skilled if Wraen was not even at her half yet. "Okay so... I think that makes sense.." he said with his ears tucking back thoughtfully, while very obviously still sorting through this as he followed dutifully at her heels. "I could still train to see them too, right? How does that work? Was she born with it?" he asked, rapid-fire, to let her answer whatever she wanted, or didn't.

If Wraen had told that Osprey was seeing stuff that others did not to an adult and not a kid, they would get an impression that her mother was a total lunatic or weirdo at the very least. However, kids Jarilo's age weren't very judgemental and welcomed all kinds of crazy things in their lives. The more magical and unbelievable, the better. 

"Hmmm... I never asked her, but I remember that her older sister and her daughter had been a able to see ghosts, though," she said thoughtfully. One of them had also lived here - Pied - had been her name, but she had died even before Osprey had got a chance to meet her again. Wraen thought that it was a true shame for her too - it would be amazing to talk with a true ghost-watcher. 

"I am not quite sure, how exactly it works, but we can try, of course. First - have you ever had an imaginary friend?" she asked the boy, recalling that Charon as a kid had also had an invisible Lauren-buddy.

He blinked, all ears still. Seeing ghosts.. he couldn't decide if he was more wary or curious of the notion. "Okay, weird. Are there lots of ghosts to see for those who can see, do you know?" he asked, maybe a bit hopeful that such information had trickled back to her from those ghost-seers. But that was a little off topic.

She had him veering back on track better with the hope that they could try (to which his tail wagged merrily), then her next question. "Me? No.." his ears slid back a notch, familiar with the notion because his sister had brought it into his life but it had never really concerned him much--like many things. Maybe he'd heard something about it from his dad, too, so he knew what it meant and how he had never seen one since they were imaginary and all. "Vela has.. but not me." Jarilo detailed to let her know it was in the family anyway, even if he hadn't originally seen the appeal when it had just been like that from her. A part of him now wanted to backtrack that thought if it was some aspect of coming closer to seeing the unusual. Now it suddenly seemed much more useful instead of just being another thing his sister was into that he didn't understand entirely.. and yet, it was another matter he'd failed to pick up on any sooner than this.

"That is totally okay - don't worry," Wraen thought she had caught a note of worry in Jarilo's voice and wanted to make sure that he did not feel bad or in any other way less worthy for not having a friend that existed only in one's head. With all her inherited imagination Wraen herself had never had a friend of such nature and, if she recalled correctly, neither had Osprey. Everyday had been too busy with learning and playing with her siblings than being on her own and letting her mind wander too much. 

"Not all people do and, when they grow up, the imaginary friends sort of... vanish," people usually got some reason kicked in and they left their trolls, fairies, princesses and occasionally nasty fellows in the land of childhood. "Besides - that means that you have also good friends in real life. And that is always a bit better. I mean, it is cool to have an imaginary dragon and what-not, but a real person is... well... practical to begin with. You can cuddle up to it and it will keep you warm." At this point she realized that she had steered away from the tracks of the initial topic of the conversation.

He had never put a lot of thought into what Vela's imaginary friends were about, but neither had he ever been particularly invested in what his littermates got up to specifically. His interests were usually pretty different from theirs, with more distance spanning as he started to rove more, so there wasn't always that much overlap between the boy and his pale-coated sisters at this point in their lives.

But still, Wraen assured him that it was fine and went on to detail very solidly why. He tried to not let it sting just a little bit, but he couldn't really argue with any of that. "Yeah, you're right.." he said, because it was true; he had plenty of others here in the flesh to pester between his family and pack mates, so there was no shortage of peculiar individuals for him to interact with. He didn't need to dream up his own. "Well I'll figure it out. I just wanna get good.. at all sorts of things and know lots about it, especially since I want to help guard with everyone else," he justified. This even included watching out for goblins and other seemingly benevolent spooks. He couldn't just ignore them..!

"A mercenary at heart..." Wraen smiled as she regarded the almost adolescent boy before her. With parents like his, with sisters like his - it was no wonder that Jarilo would want to take after them. And with a little bit of imagination she could see him growing up to be just as tall and proud and strong as her brother was. 

"In that case - we can play a game to practice," she suggested, happy that there was a way, how to involve invisible and supernatural creatures in order to learn something useful. "We will each have to choose roles before that. What do you say?"

His ears fanned out. Maybe she was right. He'd never thought about it--what he was at heart. He just wanted to do the things his family did since he looked up to them so easily. There was also the obvious choice of chasing the stars like other individuals in their midst. But, when it really came down to it, the grayscale boy just like the physical motion of it all more since it was something he could always do plenty of.. well, once he expanded his horizons properly, and all that good stuff.

So when Wraen suggested a game to practice, he wasn't going to object. He always was getting told he needed more of that if he wanted to be any good at anything. "Okay!" he declared readily and tapped his toes.

"Great!" Wraen replied. "Now, let me see..." She had a game in mind already, all she needed was something that could be used as a treasure. That bone she and Terance had sparred over few days ago would have been handy, but she could not remember, where did it end up. A rock maybe? But it was not pleasant for the teeth and she did not want Jarilo to break his first permanent teeth on an unsuitable toy.

"Bingo!" she said, went and picked up a piece of wood with gnarly leafless branches. "Let's pretend I am the parsimonious dragon and this is a very valuable stuff," she could have said "stingy" or "tight-fisted", but the word she had chosen sounded appropriate for the character. Pompous and ill-tempered. "And you are the brave hero that tries to steal it away from me. Questions?"

He tilted his head, wide-eyed and watching, as she seemed to get things in order. He trusted her to brew up something--she seemed to be really good at it, so he, all impressionable and too eager to soak up everything, was along for anything she'd suggest.

His sights followed the branch, all zeroed into attention after her exclamation. A dragon, though! Jarilo woofed lowly and whipped his tail. "Nope! Got it!" He sprang back with smirk smearing across his face. Keep-away with a twist, and he was most certainly here for this sort of romp.

The brave hero puffed his coat up and barked a few taunts at the dragon to get his reaction. Although he glanced to the treasure definitely more than once, he had to find out--what kind of dragon was he dealing with? When the time was right, he valiantly sprang. Jarilo knew he was tenacious, and with a goal in mind, he was very keen to lock on. Imagining a dragon, though terrifying, proved a worthy adversary indeed!

feel free to pp him and wrap with your reply. i need to tidy up with him badly for being as slow as i am. i loved this thread tho and definitely need more time with these two <3

Jarilo was quick to get the rules of the game and very eager to assume the role and play along. While he did his very best to be the valiant knight, Wraen impersonated the nastiest, scariest and stingiest of the dragons she could come up with. With appropriate growls and ill-tempered exclamations at the right moments. 

They kept playing with each other for the next hour and the half, until the boy got hold of the treasure and the dragon laid slain and laughing merrily at his feet.