Verdant Basin Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place

@Kota 

The drop of air temperature had been very sudden - in the afternoon Wraen had been skimming through snow, sniffing out hiding places of mice and looking for any other kind of food to fill her empty belly, it had been quite bearable, even sun had peeked through the clouds and nothing foretold of, what was coming. However, once the golden orb had disappeared behind the horizon, it became very, very cold. She quickly realized that, if she was to stay out in the open, the chances of her waking up next morning with all fingers intact were very slim, therefore with the thin, dark line of the forest in vision she left the basin were she had earlier tried to break the ice to have something to drink.

The grey male was heading back from Easthollow when he came across a female of who he did not recognize. "Hello?" He called out as he looked at her. She smelled of Moonspear. 'Why would she be this far from her territory' He pondered this question as he waited for her to respond.

When cold is gnawing around your fingertips and it feels that the air you have exhaled freezes the moment it leaves your nostrils, the last thing one has in mind, is exchanging pleasantries or even returning a greeting. However, Wraen stopped, squinted her eyes to locate the person, who had called out to her, all the while shifting from one foot to the other, to avoid freezing them to the ground. 

Eventually she caught sight of a dark figure in the vicinity - she turned to face him. "Hi!" she called back and waiting for him to approach.

She smelled of Moonspear, a pack which he had spoken to first and that made him wonder why she was out this far. "My name is Kota." He didn't want to appear rude so the male introduces himself to her, hoping to catch her name in the process as well.

From Kota's looks alone Wraen could tell that he was neither lost, nor desperate, nor cared for cold. And since she did not want to appear those things either and show weakness, she planted her feet in the ground and stood as tall and as proud as one can with an occasional waves of shivers running down and through her body. 

"I am Wraen," she replied. "It's nice to meet you. Where are you heading?" the girl asked next, wondering, if he was by any chance heading North and if he was, if he would not mind company?

Kota thought about the girls question and wondered for a moment. He didn't want to go back to his pack just yet. "At the moment I don't know, just wandering a bit before I go back to my pack. What about you?" He asked in return as he felt th wind flow slower

"So you are from Tindome?" Wraen thought she had guessed correctly, unless there was another pack in the area or the man was lying to her for whatever reasons. 

"Where do you come from? I mean - where did you wander already?" she asked, hopeful that, if it was anywhere from the sea side or even better - the other side of the mountain range, she could ask for more precise directions that would lead her home.

Kota sat down in the snow before he spoke. "I was actually coming from Moonspear." He had told a story to one of the wolves there. Kota wondered where she was headed but before he decided to ask, the wolf waits for Wraen to respond.

"That is the exact place I came from," Wraen replied, not believing her luck yet. If this place is accessible to the other side of the mountain-range and - judging by the way the wolf looked - the journey couldn't be that far or difficult, then she was not in such a pickle as she had earlier imagined. 

"And that is, where I am heading to," she continued. "Can you tell me the directions, landmarks along the way? I got lost during the snow-storm and I really, really would like to get back home."

He paced a bit before speaking. "Well, I'm kind of not good with directions, especially when it's daytime. It would probably be best if i showed you." He says simply. "Only if your okay with that I mean."

Wraen gave a bit suspicious glance towards the man, when he declared that he was not good with directions during daylight hours. How did that work, when for most people it was the direct opposite? She pondered, whether she should ask this or just trust the stranger. Since he had said that he came from Moonspear, it could also be possible that he could be of help at least for a while.

"You probably have traveled quite long and far, and I would hate to steal you away from your home, when you have come so close to it," Wraen said. "Maybe for a little bit? And you can tell me along the way - where have you been and what have you seen along the way to pass the time?"

The young wolf nodded. "Perhaps I could interest you in a story while we walk?" He decided to pop the question in their conversation since he was there anyway. "I am pursuing my storyteller trade." He informed her.

"A story-teller - and people say that there is no fairy gold at the end of the rainbow," Wraen said more to herself than to the other party. "That would be lovely," she told the man and smiled at him. "And I can tell you a story in return. So that it is a fair trade."

Kota nodded his head in agreement. "Well, I came from this way." The male pointed north and started walking at a slow gait. He glanced back to see if she was still following. "The reason I said I wasn't good at directions in the daytime was that I follow the stars." It was true, usually Kota does all his traveling at night.

"Navigating by stars - interesting," Wraen commented. She had never been good at reading stars, though she had tried at some point, but after learning two or three constellations, she had grown bored and turned her attention to other activities. 

"So - is this story going to be about stars?" she asked, remembering, how her mother - who had also failed at stargazing - had had a knack of inventing star formations of her own and telling "true stories" of how they had come to be.

Sorry it's short

Kota thought for a brief moment. "Well if you want it could be." He said. It was really entirely up to her. Luckily the male had many stories in his mind that he was very eager to share with her.

"Go on then," Wraen encouraged the story-teller, while keeping her eyes on the path ahead. Here and there she spotted footprints of other animals - a "highway" for deer, the winding tracks of a fox and some older wolf pawprints as well.

He thought of his best story about the stars and began to speak. "At night there are three stars that lye directly in a row. The constellation is called Orion's belt. Now Orion was one of Artemis's favorable hunters and Artemis loved him dearly. Her brother, however, did not like Orion and one day when the hunter was swimming, Apollo bets his sister that she couldn't hit the object in the water. Not knowing that the object was Orion she shot an arrow towards it. When she realized what she had done, the goddess placed the constellation in the sky so that she may honor him." Kota enjoyed that story because despite the sad outcome it had a very happy ending of sorts.

Wraen was a little familiar with the Greek and Roman legends, therefore the names Apollo and Artemis weren't foreign to her. The story - on the other hand - was a new one, although a bit too short for her taste. She would have presented it as heavily decorated and ready to burst from all the fancy descriptions and sideplots. Then she also knew that it took a great skill to tell the most important things in few well-chosen words. And it seemed that Kota belonged to the second kind. 

"For a goddess of hunters Artemis seems a little near-sighted in this story," Wraen commented.

Kota took her thoughts into consideration. ¨Perhaps I need to reread that story when I get back home.¨ He tried his best to interpret the story to the best of his ability but he noticed that it was getting harder to remember things from his past. He felt as though something or someone was missing

"Oh, I am not doubting you," Wraen replied with a light-hearted laugh, "it is nice in a way to portray gods as not so different from us. That they are capable of making honest mistakes too." This was the deal with most of the Greek and Roman legends - Gods were great and almighty, but they had human flaws as well. Though she could not relate to the - oh-so-often - sleeping around and having so many offspring as a result. She had once tried to make a family tree, but got confused by Zeus's/Jupiter's tenth or eleventh relative, which in one tale was portrayed as his illegitimate son, in other - as his half-brother. 

"Do you know any other tales about Artemis? She is our guardian after all," she asked.

Kota thought for a considerable amount of time before answering. "Well I know a few more." He mentions to her as he continues at a steady pace and speed.

"I am very keen to hear some more," Wraen said, keeping up with his steady pace and wondering, what he would tell her next and whether that story would be something she would know about already or something entirely new. 

Fade out in your next post? I am cleaning up my threadlog and would like to archive older threads.

Kota wanted to continue chatting all day but he knew that he had to get back eventually. He gazes into the distance ahead. They way was clearer now than it was, surely she would have no trouble getting home from here. ¨Perhaps another time. I have to get back to Tindome now. Possibly our paths will cross again.¨ She was an interesting wolf and he hoped that they might meet again. Kota said goodbye and headed on his way back home after saying goodbye.