Moonspear and i wonder

Today, Rannoch sought @Charon and @Amekaze. After extensive consideration, and one final check-up from @Lyra, the Iota had decided that it was time for him to begin to pull his weight. The wolves of Moonspear had been very accommodating in the time that Rannoch had been injured and he was eager to both repay his debt contribute what he could. 

Following the freshest trail that he had on the Alphas, Rannoch stepped lightly as he followed it. From his understanding, and his ever-growing knowledge about the territory, the path was leading him to the den that the Alpha pair shared. Such a realization caused the young wolf to slow his pace, and he licked his lips as his eyes sought the trail ahead. 

In time, as he drew nearer to the den site, Rannoch paused at a respective distance away. He did not want to intrude and, given his motives, he also wanted to be as polite to the pair as possible. Once he felt he was ready to call out, as he had adjusted his posture accordingly, the Iota chuffed out towards the nearby den in an attempt to get the attention of at least one of the leaders.

When Rannoch roved up the trail, luckily she wasn't far off from the sound of his chuff. Just nearby, she had stolen about an hour's worth of a nap after she had shooed her youngest (growing rapidly) puppies out and away from her immediate vicinity. By now when he had come up this way, though, something else had already stirred her awake; she had just been resisting doing anything needing her to move. It had been a good, cozy spot in the sunlight, happy for the warmth on an otherwise crisp day, but this was good motivation to press her up and around again now that she'd soaked up a solid bit of relaxation. After this, she could head back down the mountain with her spirits light and rested for a thorough roving and patrol.

She stretched languidly and made her way over towards the grayscale yearling, slowly waving a rising tail as she looked him over. "Rannoch," she greeted with bright, attentive eyes that were quick to appraise his healing wound. "Good to see you up and around." She had to wonder what brought him up this way, and trusted she would find out soon.

Charon arrived not long after his mate and he smiled at Rannoch as he approached. "Good to see you walking," he said, having not kept too close touch on the boy other than asking Lyra how he was doing every now and then. He knew that Rannoch'd survived and was doing well enough but to see him out and about was good. Charon nosed Amekaze's cheek as he reached her side and then turned to look at Rannoch, hoping to hear more about how he was doing.

Upon the arrival of the leading couple, Rannoch was met with kind-hearted sentiments, and to these words, he smiled. "I'm only walking because of your hospitality and accommodation," he acknowledged. "Lyra has done a great job of tending to my wounds, and I'm feeling much more like myself." Much more alive, he mused silently to himself. 

"With that said, I wanted to meet the both of you today and report that I am well enough to start pulling my weight around here and want to know ways which I can help begin the preparations for Winter." Given the fact that Rannoch had been held captive when preparing for the season had gone underway, he lacked the experience of pitching in to know what to do. Hopefully, the Alpha pair would help guide him in the right direction. "I am a practiced Guardian, Sitter, and Coach by trade. Though I prefer the latter two skills, I am more than happy to step up and patrol when needed." Curious to know if they had anything to say to the information, he paused to allow them the chance to speak up. In his silence, his eyes reached up slightly to meet both of their cheeks and his tail hinged at his haunches as he anticipated any orders they had.

Her speckled other-half joined her at her side, and Rannoch had her attention. She listened sharply, pleased that he had good to report on Lyra, and that he certainly seemed to have a favorable outlook upon him as far as all else. With a gently sway to her tail, she couldn't help but feel the least bit relieved. "Glad to hear it," she rumbled, on both his feeling better and the medic-in-training's positive review that would not go unnoticed by the alpha. For what it was worth, and without someone like Pyx still around to help guide her, she was proud of her daughter for managing what she had and tending to Rannoch had surely been favorable experience for her to have behind her now.

Ame then took in his skills, but first, before she'd have any better guidance on the matter, she was quick to a nod when he mentioned work on the borderlands -- something she enjoyed having heavily manned when the pack was able. "More patrols are always welcome," she replied. As for some of his other strengths, she had less immediate assignments right off the top of her head. In considering that her pups were not very young anymore and swiftly closing in on their sixth month, they could probably benefit more from coaching versus outright sitting at this point.

The girls fancied the stars plenty, and Jarilo always had a lot to ask about when it came to nature around him too.. so on that much, they had plenty of exposure already. With winter.. she wished to see them prepared more. Not only did they need to stay safe, but they would soon need to master how to keep themselves safe. Here and there, she had always been sure to expose them to whatever she could, be it small hunting lessons or rough play that could border on more. Ame did not know how much of it had been a point driven home yet, however, and nature was fixing to test them on it. "The pups can certainly benefit from more experience.. in all manner of things to help get them ready for winter," she said, suspecting Charon may have any input, or even a different train of thought to add. "I have taken Jarilo down the territory some, but not quite all the way. He seems interested enough, and he does well when his energy can be guided constructively," Ame explained with narrowing eyes, although she had not steered him to a fine-point yet. She knew Hydra wished to train him, and she didn't deny the appeal in it (when she didn't think any of his sisters would take up the role soon either) but she couldn't quite gauge if his attentions could turn towards a warrior or a guardian, or perhaps even different route like a scout. He'd take time, she knew.

For how miserable and beat down he had been when he had first come in, Rannoch sure filled up the space between them with words now. Charon was glad that Lyra had done well though he had not expected different from his daughter. Rannoch offered to patrol and Charon nodded absently while Amekaze mentioned that more patrols were appreciated.

Rannoch's combination of sitter and coach seemed useful, assuming that he had anything good to teach his children, anyway. Amekaze spoke of Jarilo and Charon was quick to tack on, "Galaxy and Vela are both very adamant about learning about the night skies, though they haven't been playing well together all that much. Maybe you could teach them it's important for sisters to get along." Had he favoured one child over the other much Charon might've thought that what didn't kill them only made them stronger, but Vela was his mini-me and therefore an automatic favourite, and Galaxy had nearly died in that crag which had put her right on top of daddy's list too; he didn't want to lose her again, and had only appreciated how much he loved her when she was gone. He wished they'd look out for each other better.

Rannoch listened as Amekaze and Charon shared their thoughts and nodded politely when either of the leaders provided information that he deemed useful. "Thank you both for filling me in," he began after a thoughtful pause, his voice appreciative, "I have an idea of what I can do to help all of your cubs learn."  Given the facts that he had been provided, it had been easy for Rannoch to come up with ideas of what he could do to further each of their personal development. 

Turning first to Amekaze, he elaborated his initial remark, "I'd like to take Jarilo down the territory some more if that's alright. Preferably on a morning patrol." The days were growing colder by the day, and Rannoch wanted to take advantage of the warmth from the light of the early morning. "It'd allow me to get to know him better while teaching him the importance of patrolling our borders," he added with a smile. He didn't want to risk anything along the borders, as the Teekons had been growing more dangerous by the day, but, Rannoch figured that Jarilo would benefit from at least knowing about the,  

With Jarilo's plan spoken to, Rannoch was able to focus on Galaxy and Vela, and his attention turned to Charon. "As for the girls, perhaps I can take them stargazing soon. Like Jarilo, I'd like to get the know them better." He paused then, his expression curious as an idea popped into his mind, "Do either of you know of any sister constellations?" With his limited knowledge of the stars, Rannoch felt short on material that could potentially mend their relationship. "I think I might want to start fixing their bond by telling them a story about two sister constellations. It might show them the importance of getting along." And if it didn't? Then, Rannoch would go back to the drawing board and see what he could do to help.

Charon answered on behalf of the girls, and together, this would hopefully give Rannoch half an idea of what to expect when faced with their youngest litter. Amekaze had good faith in him that he could figure and knew that at least Jarilo could easily benefit from him in some way. The girls, probably much the same, but they were more difficult for her to judge. They all had a pretty good foundation on them by now though, she had seen to that, and it was coming time to help hone them into something even better. "Yes, go ahead," she nodded. "He has had basics explained, and has a general sense of it, but no actual application yet," she detailed before she'd send him off with the boy. This was mainly because patrol for her was no puppy time.. but he was right, it would give Rannoch a good chance to get to know him and give Jarilo something good (and useful) to focus on.

As for her pale daughters, Amekaze would let that one fall into Charon's jurisdiction. She liked Rannoch's approach well enough, but most of her own sister constellation stories entailed less than happy endings, or if they did, at some dire or bizarre cost.. so really not the wholesome message they were looking to get across here without significant revision. She would be keeping her mouth shut for this one where her mate had more to provide anyway. He was a little more close to the girls than she could be sometimes, but it was through no fault of their own. She did want their bonds to improve, though, because she knew personally how badly it could go south when sisters clashed.

Charon nodded at Rannoch's plans for Jarilo. The boy hadn't been at the borders much yet aside from a few trips with Amekaze, he was pretty sure, so it would be good to have him see the borders more. As for Vela and Galaxy, Rannoch had an idea but of course the thinking had to be left to Charon. He frowned thoughtfully as he tried to think of something. He knew there were the Gemini twin stars but he was pretty sure that those weren't really for two girls that were sisters. Then again, did it really need to be the true story?

"Yeah, there's the Gemini twin stars," said Charon. "The real story isn't about two sisters, but I'm sure you can make up some story that they can relate to to go with it." He looked to Rannoch to see if he appreciated that idea, not sure how good Rannoch was at making up bullshit stories for the occasion. Anyway; "I can show you the constellation tonight." Then Rannoch knew what to refer to when he told his beautiful story about two girls who didn't get along and then did... Or whatever.

As Amekaze spoke to Jarilo's experience, Rannoch looked to the leader thoughtfully with a smile. She had given him all the information he had needed in regards to her son, and he was already calculating a plan in regards to what could be taught. "I'll make sure that he gets some utilization for sparring and patrolling. Thanks, Amekaze," he promised. 

With Jarilo taken care of, Rannoch turned his attention to Charon and the subject of Vela and Galaxy. Though he hadn't provided the detail that Amekaze did, it still gave Rannoch a sufficient amount of information to work off of. "I'll think of some story to tell them about Gemini," he said, not needing any further elaboration in regards to having to make up a story for the sisters. 

"That would be really appreciated, Charon, thank you," he thanked with a polite dip of his head. "Where would you like to meet for that?" 

possibly my last in here unless she's addressed bc i am a holdup <3

To his thanks, she nodded deeply, and hoped that Jarilo would make good use of time with Rannoch. The boy had much to gain from good influences, especially from wolves like him who had much to offer. She had to trust that she had sharpened him enough already that he'd take to any new, extended teachings well, and that he'd be sensible enough to learn going forward; he was approaching an age where it would all be far more relevant as the world expanded for him and this was still only the beginning. The same could be said for the girls, too, but they were a different matter entirely.

She eased into silence, listening, and considering where to go from here once this was all said and done. For now, though, she was quite content where she was and volleyed a glance between the two as the conversation wove on.

Charon nodded as Rannoch said the things he would do to teach their children. He shrugged at the next question. "You can call for me when it's dark or try find me at the rendezvous site." Charon was usually busy and out and about, but the rendezvous-site was, generally speaking, the safest bet when it came to looking for him. The borders were the next safest bet. Especially with winter so close, Charon didn't go out of the territory quite as often anymore anyway.

"Anything else we can help you with right now?" he asked, drawing towards the conclusion of the meeting.

"No, no right now," Rannoch replied to Charon's question, sensing that their conversation was nearing its end. With this inkling, the Delta regarded the pair with a bow of his head. "Thank you both for the insight, and, Charon," he turned to the Alpha Male, "I'll see you tonight." 

When the conversation ended, Rannoch retreated from where the Alpha pair lived. With ideas buzzing in his mind, he sought out Liffey directly from the meeting so that he could bounce some ideas off of her before his meeting with Charon later that evening.