Duck Lake The Tingler

Engel came to the lake, and dipped his head down for a drink. He had been spending more and more time around this area. Perhaps in hopes he would run into Murdock a third time, he enjoyed every moment of both encounters. Perhaps he was stricken with the love bug. Or perhaps Mur was just good at what he did. Engel did not know yet.

@Phocion

It was early evening, and the stars were beginning to rise. He normally would sleep, as he'd been up all day, but rest eluded him. Perhaps his spirit was trying to adjust his sleep schedule, so the ivory priest could once more live his life through the night, and not so during the day.

The small lake called out to him--he was quite thirsty--and he strode forward purposefully, not noticing the other until he was almost upon him. Flicking an ear, Phocion drew close to the surface of the water, taking a long drink before looking up, pink tongue swiping once or twice over his muzzle, where little icy droplets had collected.

"Kalnee," he greeted without thinking. It was the tribe's evening 'hello,' used to greet any son or daughter of Fengari when the stars were out. The man was older and russet, with beautiful, expressive eyes. He hoped he wasn't bothering him, if he were alone with his thoughts.

Engel brought his head up one he heard someone greet him. He hadn't even seen them in his peripheral vision. Then they said something in a language he didn't know, so he responded the only Engel way he could.

"Uh....yes" he answered back, then awkwardly went back to drinking. Occasionally glancing over to them.

He let out a ragged sigh. He forgot so often that he wasn't south, with his tribe, and let loose these phrases. Kalnee. Fengari. Iliana. No one here knew all this. That's why he had come, right? Still, it never ceased to give him a pang of homesickness, to speak and get no reply.

"It means 'good evening,'" Phocion explained, feeling sheepish. "Sorry."

They stood in silence for a while, Phocion trying his hardest not to be too terribly awkward. He was usually quite glib, but the non-answer had thrown him off. He had always been quick to wallow, and he wallowed now for a long moment, thinking about how easy it would be to run back home.

"Do you live around here, or just passing through?" he asked, if only to break the quiet.

Engel rose his head again, and this time they spoke english, which he understood. "Ohh...Good evening to you as well" he answered back, now keeping his head up. He looked them over, front to back from where he stood. Another handsome looker. 

"Passing through" he answered, not setting his eyes upon the wolf's face. "You, mister...?" he asked, wondering the wolf's name. He hoped it was another to rhyme with.

"Phocion," he finished the other's sentence, smiling. "And you don't have to call me 'mister.'" His icy gaze was level as he stared, wondering if the other man would introduce himself or if he would have to pry a name from him.

Passing through, apparently, though pack-scent did cling to his pelt. It was faded, slightly, but still strong enough to signify he had been with a group in the last moon. Where did he come from? Could he be a scout, navigating the land? Or a hunter, running down prey for his family?

"I don't mean to pry, mister. . ." He trailed off delicately in an echo of the man's last words, one corner of his mouth lifting in a wry grin. "Where are you from? How long will you stay in this area?"

"Engel...it rhymes with ang-" He stopped, catching himself in that icy gaze. What a gaze it was, those eyes. He liked all eye colors, and sometimes he like one more than others. He shook his head to clear his mind for a moment. 

He caught the grin and the play on the last word, laughing a little. "I'm moving about, here and there. Doing stuff, meeting others..." He trailed off, but the hinting grin would perhaps be a giveaway.

He snorted at the line, obviously dropped several times before, though the sentiment was cut off as this Engel stopped and stared. Phocion blinked, not at all taken aback. He knew that without size or strength, his eyes were his most alluring feature, and he used them to his benefit whenever possible.

Engel continued to talk, but Phocion had now started to make sense of the jumbled scents layering his pelt. The plateau. . .and Grayday! Was this a Morningside wolf, just passing through? Perhaps on his way to Easthollow?

"I smell an old friend on your fur," Phocion responded, paying no heed to Engel's coquettish answer. "Grayday. Are you a member of his pack, out scouting?" He was happy to have the opportunity to send a hello to his Silvertip pal, on the other side of the mountains.

Engel gulped as soon as he heard that. Had he mated with this wolf's old friend without realizing? Then, he sighed...then gulped when realization came. Grayday's friend. He was running into more and more wolves that knew the infamous Grayday.

"Uh...." He didn't want to lie, but he also could not tell the truth, knowing this wolf could mention him. "I know of his pack, stayed there a bit...I'm just going about really."

He flicked his tail, dismissing the nervousness in Engel's voice. It sounded as if there was no love lost between Grayday and this man, but it was their business, not Phocion's. Besides, had he not once left his pack for greener pastures? He could not judge.

"That's nice," he remarked casually. "It's good to explore. See what's out there." His nose dipped toward the Valley, its walls foreboding on the dark horizon. "If you need a place to stay, I live over there. My alpha is stern but fair."

Phocion looked up at the stars, so bright tonight without the moonlight to diminish their glow. It was when Fengari was weak that his daughters were strong; they had to be. Someone had to be.

"Triusore," he murmured, flashing his gaze at Engel before nodding up at the mountains just to the south. "The Three Sisters. See them in a row, rising just over the mountain?" They winked back at him as he spoke, a solid trio against the black of night. "They were born triplets, and were so close that they've stuck together for life. They guide our way south, in the midst of winter."

 

he means Orion's Belt. Triusore is pronounced "TREE-u-SO-rray"

Engel had forgotten to look in the direction pointed, for he was just enamored by Phocion's eyes, and how blue they were. He just nodded along, until Phocion's gaze was broken, when he looked up to the stars. 

He turned his head, unsure what he meant by Triusore. "Yes, I see them" he said, seeing the stars he spoke of. He followed them, and was glad he finally had a way to tell where south was. "So, south...that way...good to know, good to know..." he said, turning back to Phocion.

He just had to say it, while he still could. "Anyone told you how your eyes shine in the night? It's just...well, they are...nice looking."

Irritation mixed with amusement flowed through him at Engel's inattention to the stars, growing further into the latter state as the man commented on his eyes. Seemed to him like someone was developing a little crush. Well, he could use a bit of flattery, here and there.

"I am a priest of the stars, after all," he said coolly, giving Engel another half-smile. "I'm in my element. The night lives in my eyes. But thanks," Phocion added. "Yours aren't so bad, either."

The fanatic rose within him, urging him to teach, to preach, to overwhelm this man with knowledge. But he held back, merely looking back down and giving Engel a level look.

"Did you know it used to be night, all the time? When wolves reigned supreme over all other beings, guided by the moons and stars?"

Engel tried to pay attention to all the information, but he couldn't help to keep looking at those eyes. "The night does seem to suit you" he mumbled. He shook his head while still looking at Phocion, he had not known that.

"I do not know much of the past...would you care to teach me more?" he asked over to pale wolf.

Ignoring the man's obvious crush, he went on, having been given the go-ahead. His pupils seemed to dilate, and he grew quiet, speaking only after a beat of silence.

"Once, there were two moons in an eternal night. Two twin lights, guiding our way. And wolves ruled the world." Phocion paused, turning his eyes skyward. "Fengari and Erastia. They were married for eternity. And they had many children, that we call asteria--the stars."

Those daughters twinkled above, reflecting in the icy pools of Phocion's eyes. His voice became mournful as he continued. "The biggest and most beautiful of all their daughters, Ileana, was jealous of her mother's radiance. So she swallowed her up, took her light for her own. Ileana became the sun."

Looking back down at Engel, he murmured, "With the first daybreak, wolves grew less and less powerful. Other animals began to flourish. And Fengari was cast into mourning. From that first day forward, he chased his daughter across the sky, hoping to rescue his wife from her clutches."

He glanced at the moon. "That's why sometimes we see Fengari, and sometimes Ileana. Fengari is engaged in perpetual pursuit of Ileana, and we will not see peace until he catches up."

Engel knew this couldn't go well as soon as Phocion began and said 'married'. In his mind, marriage never ended well. He had always been told it did. His didn't...and every attempt to try again never worked either. He grew sad, and it showed as he thought of this. Though of how he lost her, and all others along the way to here.

"Wait...ate her?" That was a scary thought. That was quite a way to think about it .

"Well, that....that is quite the story then...wonder what back then would have been like" he wondered aloud.

Phocion nodded gravely at Engel's question, sadness washing over him like a wave over the western shore. "Swallowed her up," he murmured. "No one could stop her. No one still can."

He raised his nose toward the moon once more, its light reflected in his crystalline eyes. "It was perfect, once. And it can be so, again. We have to keep praying. Keep Fengari in our mind, give him our strength. Only then will he catch Ileana, and everything will be in its right place."

He lowered his head, giving Engel a cheeky grin. He hoped the older man had taken the tale to heart. He couldn't bear living in a land with so many non-believers for much longer. "Now you know."

Well...that was a scary thought. Being swallowed...then again, they were stars and not wolves. Then Engel saw that this wolf was very into his religion. "Pray...wish I did that more" he muttered lowly. Maybe he and Heartha would still be together.

"Yes...yes I certainly do know now..." And he most likely would forget it sometime soon, as he was no man of religion.

Phocion raised his eyebrows, surveying Engel with a gaze that could have been icy, had his natural warmth not bled through. "You should," he urged gently, smiling. He gave a quick nod up to the stars. "They're always listening, though you might not see them all the time. In the day, they sleep. As should we."

He shrugged, feeling despondent all of a sudden. Even though he had once very much been a wolf of the day, the culture down south had groomed him to be the opposite. He found it very much displeasing to go back to his old ways, and he wished he could find someone who kept the same schedule.

"The wolves here are. . .diurnal," he said, a little uncertain on the last word. He had heard it somewhere, and had a general sense of what it meant by context, but wasn't sure if he was using it properly. "They walk in sunlight and sleep under the moon. My patterns are very much the opposite."

Phocion gave Engel a measured look. "And you?" he asked, his tone bordering on an interrogation. "You're up late. Do you keep to the sun, or hunt with the stars?"

Engel wondered if maybe he should start...perhaps he would. He glanced to Phocion, unsure of how he would. "I...um...could you...could you show me? How to pray, I mean." He had a lot on him, and perhaps, maybe, just maybe, praying would get some of that off his chest.

"Uh...the sun...I don't see too well at dark." And who knows what he could trip upon. A cliff, a root, another wolf, a bear even.

The white priest smiled at Engel. "We don't have any formal prayers," he explained. "Well, lykosi--those are non-priests--don't. Just pick a star, any star, and talk to her." He lifted his eyes to the sky. "Tell her your dreams, your desires, your fears. She'll listen."

He sat on his haunches for a moment, thinking. It had been a while since he had prayed in this fashion. Since become kyrios-filos, he had stuck strictly to ritual, finding his greatest power rested in words passed down for generations. But before that? He had just been Phocion, powerless, save he could always open his mouth to speak frankly to the stars.

"My star was Filos." Phocion gestured with his nose to the horizon, toward the bright point of light, omnipresent in the sky despite the season. "She is our guide, our friend, through thick and thin. For a long time, I lacked direction. Filos helped me find a way.

"Perhaps she can help you, too," he continued, looking back at Engel. He shrugged, the trance leaving his eyes. "You don't have to, right now. Just anytime, when the mood strikes you. Anytime you need to talk. . .talk to her. Talk to them," he added, sweeping his muzzle across the sky. "They'll listen."

ooof sorry for the wait on this

Engel sat down as Phocion sat down him self. Pick a star, pick a star... "Just...any star?" He looked about. Had this been about a year ago, Engel would have been rolling his eyes at this, but Engel now, he had been hurt. He needed faith, to believe it would all be okay. As he looked, he soon found one.

He shifted so he was facing fully to it. He glanced over at Phocion, feeling a little awkward. He wasn't sure if this was something to say aloud, or in his head.

"So...do..do I just say it out loud? Or in my head?" He had to think a bit of what he would even say in his prayer. "Cause uh, there's some things that...I wouldn't want others to exactly hear."

"Any star," he confirmed, though Engel was already looking for a star before he had said it. It seemed that the russet man finally settled on one--Phocion couldn't pick out which; it was a bright, starry night--and the priest nodded.

"You can say it however you like," Phocion murmured. His head swiveled south, toward the valley. "And it's about time I head home, anyway. I will not bear witness to your prayers."

He dipped his nose to Engel in a small bow, smiling. His crystalline gaze, apparently so beguiling to the man, sparkled with good humor as he spoke next. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Engel. I wish you good luck with your travels."

With slow but deliberate strides, he padded away from Engel, leaving the man alone with the thoughts he didn't want anyone else to hear.

Engel looked back to the star after Phocion answered towards him. He remained still as the other continued to speak. He was glad to have the privacy to maker prayer alone, but still somewhat wanted someone around. But, he would not keep him so he gave a small bow of the head back towards Phocion. 

"The same to you, Phocion." Then there he remained for quite a bit, silently praying for the sins he had made. His name may have meant angel...but he was no angel.