Big Salmon Lake i threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell

For Phox.

He had learned so much in crossing from Ad Astra to this place of old trees, with swatches of every color he knew painted over the leaves. He learned how to feel the depth and age of a place based on the light that was allowed to filter through the branches in a forest. He knew now what it meant to see the confluence of predator territories and the barren stretches of land which housed none. The true breadth of the migration that a flock of birds could take was far beyond his imagination – how did their wings not tire? Even as muscular as his limbs had become, they still tired.

Above all else, what Ira had learned was that there was so much he did not know.

Stalking slowly through these woods was the first time in a few weeks now that he had entered a territory inhabited by wolves again. Despite how firm packs seemed to be at controlling their hunting grounds, he found it amusing that they all seemed to exist in clumps. That was how it had been near the mountains and valleys of the Snake River, and it had proved true over and over again since. Though he and his son hadn’t encountered too many individuals directly on their way northwest, it was easy to tell when they crossed through a land run by wolves, and there were always big stretches of nothingness before you got to a grouping of them again.

He walked, therefore, with a gentle quietness and calm demeanor, not sure if this place was more or less diplomatic than others, not sure what differences existed here, and yet somehow he was not concerned. Based on his starmapping, he knew he was closer now than he had ever been to where his Astoria ancestors had come from. It was a comforting thought, steering him onward through the game trails that he was now beginning to see led to the rim of a brilliant lake. It reflected the patches of clouds and stars in the night sky above them, rippling slowly. He breathed a contented sigh, and continued toward it, ears flicking every so often.

I'm so excited to be writing with you again! ^_^

After Towhee's scare, Phox had no problem wandering away from Redhawk Caldera. Maybe he should have been frightened. Maybe he should have been talking to the interlopers that Towhee was so worried about. But honestly, none of that appealed to him. He was stuck on the stars and his herd, and those were the two only important things in the world to him aside from his sister. Orca was, of course, also important. So were his other family members. But none had the bond as strong as he did with Towhee. They went their separate ways often, but they always came back together.

It wasn't unusual for Phox to leave, especially during the later hours when he awoke, and travel to a nearby territory. Capricorn, the stealthy rabbit, was in view in the south and the cloud above him. The Zodiac characters had become good friends to Phox, as he spent much of his time with his neck crooked toward the sky. He often thought about his parents being somewhere up there, too. He wanted to make them proud, and his way of doing that was ensuring that Towhee was safe and that he was contributing to the pack via hunting and watching the stars.

A rustling caused Phox to look away from Aquarius and he watched as another wolf broke free from the trees and onto the coast of the lake. A brief moment of panic welled up in his stomach, but he reminded himself that he'd met plenty of wolves out here, and none had done him harm. "Hi there," he said, hoping that he wouldn't startle the stranger. He did blend in with the night a little too well sometimes.

Same!!

Though it had been challenging for Ira not to rush head-on toward the sea after sighting it on the plateau those few days ago, the appearance of the lake uplifted him some. Patience was a key fixture on which Ira was fixating in his personal evolution, and by sweeping through the lands for more information he was bound to become safer and more in tune with this place. And yet, the burning sensation to spearhead into adventure was quite difficult to overcome. He shook his coat slightly to shrug off the feeling, and drink in the beauty of this smaller body of water.
 
Jupiter in Scorpio wants to help you find home, he reminded himself. What would that look like? Was his home a place? Other wolves? A feeling? Something wholly unknown to him? The question jumped to the forefront of his mind as his eyes switched from the mirror-glass water to the shape of a wolf, to which the disembodied voice that had jarred him out of his reverie belonged to. His body stiffened and he rocked just slightly from the pads of his feet to his toes, calculating the countenance of the other. There was no overtly threatening posture to him, and so he flicked his tail a couple of times. "Hello," he responded, voice loud enough to carry to the other wolf but not much further. "Is this your lake?" He asked. He hadn't thought he'd trespassed into someone's territory, but it was not out of the question that this spot – clearly ideal for hunting as game came to get a drink – was part of someone's range.

Phox shook his head, but then he (again) remembered that it was rather dark out, so he probably couldn't be seen anyway. "Nah, I live at Redhawk Caldera," he said, "I just come out here a lot to look at the stars." He had met a few wolves who seemed to be interested in the same thing, and he wondered if this was one of them. They seemed to be everywhere, really. The stars were fascinating, and while not a necessary tool for every wolf, Phox had become more and more attached to them as time went on. They were his friends, in a way.

"I learned a bunch of their names. Not, like, the individual stars, but the pictures they draw." It was kinda hard to explain without pointing them out, so he did just that. "There's one over there, he's Capricorn, a stealthy rabbit. He hides under a big ol' cloud called Aquarius." Little did Phox know that he was talking to a real live expert on the topic of Zodiac who was way more involved in it than he was.

Ira's eyes glinted. The stars? A smile willfully broke out on his features, although perhaps was not noticeable across the distance between himself and the stranger. A single ear flicked, as if searching for the location of Redhawk Caldera, but he put a pin in the idea to ask about it later. "We come for the same reason, it seems," he intoned warmly. The stranger was amiable enough to set him at ease, but it was with foolhardy trust that he came closer. One who watched the stars was immediately more favorable to him than one who did not, even if he held some form of machination or unsavory nature.

"The constellations," he affirmed as the other mentioned the shapes the stars created. "I am quite friendly with Capricorn, who has brought much guidance and strength to my family. Aquarius... perhaps less so," he stated, still smiling. "We are about to enter the season of Scorpio. Do you know it as well?"

His tail wagged hopefully behind him. It had been so long since he had met another wolf who had been taught stargazing. His interest was keenly piqued, although his mind had brushed right past the assignment of "rabbit" and "cloud" to the members of the Zodiac he knew. As something that didn't line up in his frame of reference, it was quite forgotten among his excitement to discuss the subject at all.

Phox's tail wagged excitedly when the other wolf explained that he did know a thing or two about the constellations. In fact, he hadn't come across a single other wolf aside from a couple at the caldera who knew about them. Sassafras and Raven had taught him almost everything that he knew about the stars, including the stories behind them, which made them easy to remember. Considering he only just started learning them this year, there were definitely gaps in his knowledge, which became apparent when he was asked about Scorpio. He was pretty sure he had heard that name come up at some point, but he couldn't say that he knew much about it.

"I think Sassafras mentioned it once when she was first teachin' me, but I never heard his story." In fact, Phox wasn't even sure if Scorpio was a "he" at all, though he did think it sounded like a boy's name. "Can you tell me?" Phox asked, eager to soak up any and all information he could about those strange patterns in the sky. "Oh, what's your name? I don't think I asked that yet. I'm Phox." While names weren't that important, Phox did find them useful when referring to others.

He couldn’t help it. Finding someone with even a moderate interest in the stars buoyed Ira in a way he had not felt in quite some time. Sure, there had been others on his journey west, but very few. His excitement moved into his body language as he relaxed and loosened his muscles, smiling warmly. He adopted a fatherly tone when he spoke again, although not at all a condescending one. "Nice to meet you, Phox. I’m Ira." He swished his tail.

His interest was further piqued by the mention of a Sassafras who had provided Phox’s initial tutelage in astrology, wondering if she were still around to meet, but he figured it would be impolite to shift the conversation away from the story that was asked of him. And, after all, he was excited to tell it. "Scorpio is perhaps an easy to guess creature: the scorpion. His shape in the sky has his venomous tail curled over the line of his back." He raised his head toward the sky. "See where the top of that pine" (he gestured with his paw) "points near two bright stars? Those make up the tip and middle of the tail. Travel your eye up and to the right, and you will be able to follow the line of the back."

He paused for a moment to allow Phox to sort out the constellation, providing further guidance if needed. "Usually we can see 13 stars in Scorpio. Right now… looks about 8. The sky is good, but not exceptional, this evening for gazing. Would you like to know the legend of Scorpio?" He did not want to rush into all the information that burgeoned within him, but certainly had much to say if the invitation were to be accepted.

Phox nodded eagerly when Ira offered to tell him the story of Scorpio. He leaned in, looking up at the constellation while his new temporary mentor explained the story and why the pointy-tailed creature was important. He soaked it up like a sponge, happy to add it to his collection of stories.