Flycatcher Downs well, everything has changed

Pinch him again - was this really happening? He felt like he'd practically soared the distance they'd covered, what with the giddiness that seemed to set every step alight. Kaito could not have asked for anything more. The sun shone on, uninterrupted by any cloud in the sky, little spring flowers sprung from the patchy grounds of the Downs, but he might as well have been lost in some murky old wood, what with the fairness of @Arlette, eclipsing these thing with the simple loveliness of herself. He'd screwed up a lot these past couple months, he was well too aware, and he hadn't expected her to so much as want to be in his presence after how he'd taken to avoid her... but her forgiveness refreshed him -- her grace, and second chance...

I mean sure, she was pretty, but there were lots of pretty girls out there. Pretty hearts were much harder to find, but he was certain he found one in her.

"That's the mountain up ahead!" he chirruped through a smile, "It looks pretty close right now, but it'll take us at least another night and day to get there. So what'd'you think so far? D'you like it out here?"

Arlette couldn't believe that she was actually doing this! She had traveled before but now she was going to travel far from home. The girl was excited and scared at the same time. She felt more of an adult as she ever did. No mom or dad to help her or be there for her. Luckily, she did have Kaito. She would have never done this alone. She still couldn't believe that she was going to be alone with him during their travels. She never wandered too far from him, even if she did want to see something up ahead or to the side she would never go too far.

"Really?," she beamed, she had never been here before. She had taken a different road through the mountains and gotten lost, terribly lost. She looked behind her, only seeing the peaks of the mountains by Bearclaw Valley, she sucked in a deep breath before quickly catching up with Kaito. Her red eyes fixing on the mountain, it was so high. "Do we go all the way to the top?," she asked curiously. Perhaps that was a stupid question, it wouldn't make sense to go all the way to the top. She bit the inside of her cheek.

The girl nodded. "Yeah. It is exciting and scary at the same time," she admitted, Arlette couldn't really lie about her feelings. "I did travel the neighboring territories to explore them but this, this is different. Now I won't be back for some time." Her body felt weird too, but she thought that that was just the nerves rushing through her body. She felt waves of heat spike through her, she blamed her winter coat that was heavily shedding. And she just felt butterflies and tickles through deep in her belly, she blame Kaito for that.

Arlette did her best to not slow Kaito down, she made sure to keep his pace. "What about you? Do you like it?," she asked. She was worried Kaito would like traveling better than being in Easthollow. That would be a hard blow to take if the male decided to leave. Her father probably hadn't helped with making him feel welcome.

Only if we want to, he said with a grin, the cave I found is only a little ways up, far enough to be protected from floodwaters, low enough we won't get lightheaded or dizzy from the altitude change. Little Goat Mountain was really quite pastoral, and reminded him, in many ways, of the stories of the first wolves, who had lived within the idyllic ranges of a garden free from evil, back when the world was perfect, and no one had to worry about things that killed, like famines, or sickness, or floods.

Kaito had never been much afraid of the unknown, but he admired Arlette's honesty, and her bravery for coming with him. There was something to be said about a wolf who was afraid  yet did not let those frightening things stop her from living her life, and enjoying the blessings of friendship and beauty the One blessed His creation to see. His smile remained steady, and flickered with life when she confided these thoughts to him.

I suppose this is a little bit different, he agreed, and was himself caught off-guard when she spun the question back on him, as any a good question asker always is. Me? and he glanced at the sky in quiet thought, Yeah, I've always loved places like this, he smiled, and by places like this, I mean just about anywhere and everywhere I can put my paws down. My packmates always told me I'm a lot like my dad, though, so if he liked travelling too then maybe I come by it honestly, he laughed, and gave a shrug, I really like having a place to call home, though. And it's nice to have someone to travel with again.

Arlette looked to the top and then to Kaito. She shook her head at the male. "I don't think that will be necessary," she admitted. It looked really high and a really long travel all the way to the top. Arlette's head snapped to Kaito when he spoke about the air changing. She looked baffled. "The air is different the higher you go? Is it safe to cross the mountains if they are going to make us dizzy?," she asked curious. How did other wolves do this? She never heard about the air being different before. She completely missed the whole cave thing, since she was so amazed by the casual fact Kaito just dropped.

The female felt that this trip was going to be one to remember, especially if she kept learning things like this from the male. She hoped that he didn't think of her as stupid, it just something that never came up in her life that she learned such things. She had been pretty sheltered by staying in Raising Sun Valley all her life. She was glad to return the question to Kaito, since it gave her some insight. At first it wasn't the answer she hoped for. Kaito said that he loved traveling. She was about to ask how he felt being in Easthollow, but he answered that for her. "So you you don't get bored staying with us on Easthollow grounds?," she asked curiously.

Arlette was curious about Kaito and his family. She felt that the male knew far more about her and her family, which was logical since he lived with them, than she did about him. "Can you tell me about your dad?," she asked curiously. "And about your family? How did you come to be here? Isn't it weird to be away from your family?," the questions just followed out of her. She was starting to relax a bit more around him, not questioning herself so much as that was something exhausting to keep up with.

Ah, a most excellent question. That's where the knowings of a great mountaineer come in, and he fluffed up his chest in boastful jest, we do not so much as climb over the mountains, but rather, find good passage through 'em. Tunnels, valleys, every pass inbetween. You name it, we find it, safety ensured (as much as you can with any kind of mountain travel), and dizziness, mmm... more or less avoided.

None of Arlette's inquiries really surprised him. After all, she'd spent all her life living in Easthollow, where they could barely call the hills there even that. Had she ever wondered what wonders she was missing in never leaving? And if the One hadn't intertwined their paths, would she have ever seen them herself? But he also understood what had kept her so grounded. Family had a way like that, didn't they? Only sometimes, usually just when I'm alone for too long, he finally settled on.

His smile grew as she rapid fired him with questions. There was something endearing in the openness of her curiosity; he himself felt more comfortable with her, and maybe she felt that, too. Yeah, of course, Kaito said with a nod. Easy to just start from the beginning, no? I never actually met my dad, just heard a bunch of stories about him when I was a kid. He died saving my mum from drowning in the ocean -- so in a way, I guess he saved me, too, since mum was pregnant with me and my siblings when all that happened, and if he hadn't been there, well... he gave a short laugh, though there was nothing much funny about anything he'd said. Dad was gone, but it was still strange to speak as though he was gone forever. He had used such language with Valette, too, but Kaito knew he still held something of a hope that dad had washed up ashore somewhere... somewhere mum, and his family, hadn't been able to reach... that even now he had found his way home.

My family was great, and mum raised us well, he carried on, and kept his thoughts withdrawn, The whole pack did. I think that's why I like Easthollow -- he glanced at Arlette, and grinned, you... kind of remind me of them, in a way, there were differences, of course, but the similarities astounded him. That he could find such common ties, in a place so different than his home. There are a lot of things I know I'm missing out on in being away from them, that I know I'll never have out here, the fasts, the feasts, the common they shared faith. I do miss them. But missing someone isn't always so bad... my Feter used to say that missing someone is simply a way you come understand just how much you really loved them.

He gave the breath of another laugh at the memory of his kin, and a look to his friend - gentle, thoughful... and perhaps, inperceptable, in just what that reminder drove him to ponder.

Arlette looked up with some surprise shown. She had not expected the compliment, nor that she was thinking like a mountaineer. She found some wisdom in his words. That was really what attracted her to Kaito the most. The male was really knowledgeable on so many subjects. She wished she had that much knowledge. It was admiring how he could always tell her about anything she had a question about. Arlette dipped her head to let him know she understood. She wanted to avoid any dizziness or nausea.

"Then you will have to make sure you don't isolate yourself," she commented. If he disliked being in Easthollow when he was alone, then why didn't he hang out with her? That might have solved him feeling alone. She didn't understand, it felt contradicting. At least... that was if he did want to hang out with her, perhaps he had grown bored with her and teaching her all these things that he had not wanted to hang out with her. That might be a possibility as well, as much as she disliked that thought.

She listened to him, amazed that he had never met his dad. She had the same thing! Only for her Greyback stepped in. She dipped her head that she understood. "I never met my dad either, my real dad," she spoke once Kaito was done speaking. It might come as a shock to Kaito since well, she did tell him Greyback was her dad. He was... but not her real dad. "Greyback did become my father as I was growing up." He was as protective of her as his own child. Arlette staled a glance at Kaito. "Your father sounds like wonderful man," she admitted. He died for his wife, and even though it was sad to think that Kaito never met his dad, at least he died for the right reasons. Her father just abandoned her.

"Really? What sorts of things? Maybe we can try them at Easthollow as well to make you feel more at home," she offered with a smile. She would like to try other traditions. "And what does 'feter' mean?," she quirked asked as well. She blushed a bit not wanting to bombard Kaito with questions again. It was just really interesting to hear about other packs.

Oof. For someone so soft, man could that tongue ever bite! But he deserved every sting of her reprimand. She hadn't deserved his silence, and had done nothing to warrant his dismissal. Kaito slicked his ears in bashful knowing. Yeah... that was stupid... he'd tried to focus on the rest of the pack, but he'd ended up largely alone, which... probably accounted for his restlessness, and his slipping out of pack territory from time to time to find any distraction he could clamber a hold of, anything to spare him from the stress he felt when he thought of Greyback, and by extension, Easthollow.

And speaking of the Patriarch -- Kaito blinked in surprise at Arlette's revelation, and faced her with a lift of his brow. I didn't know that, he said, with genuine curiosity at what he'd just learned. Further still, this shed light on why Greyback seemed so overprotective of Arlette. Hadn't his pack been the same to him and his siblings? He quirked his lips in a smile of gratitude for his friend's assessment of his father. I know. I wish I'd met him, he sighed, shrugged, and asked, do... you know what happened to your real dad? tentative, as he was, in his delivery. Unsure if she'd be as open to share, because everyone was different, after all.

Oh - yeah, Feter just means uncle, he said with a laugh. No-one had yet asked him of these deeper things of his heritage, his faith which had led him here in the first place. Nor did Kaito know how well he could express the sacredness of what these practices meant to him, but he would try. His smile warmed. Well, our lives are actually quite shaped by our faith, he began, an easy segue into some of what he would share with her now, but one thing we observe weekly is what we call the shabbat. It's a day we set aside to rest from work, and to commemorate our God's activity when He created the world. He worked six days, and rested on the seventh, so we rest from work on the seventh, too. They tracked their days by the moon -- every full, quarter, and new. I saw your mother praying by the Stones, he admitted to her then, and wondered what new ground he was encroaching by asking so, is your family a people of faith?

Arlette wanted to ask more about it when Kaito admitted that his isolation had been stupid. What did that mean, that he regretted taking his distance? The questions were on the tip of her tongue but she was not brave enough to question him. While sometimes she could come off as sharp it was often her just stating the truth instead of wanting to be sharp and witty. Perhaps a few days in the travel she could ask why he went in isolation. Maybe it was just because he missed his family and had a hard time adjusting to hers. Still, she could only assume if she didn't ask.

Arlette offered him a soft smile. "I thought so," she commented with a nod. Kaito continued that he wished he met his father. She could imagine that he wanted that. "Perhaps he didn't drown? Maybe he washed up somewhere," she tried to be hopeful. Maybe it was not something Kaito liked to think about. She worried her bottom lip for a moment. The topic shifted to her father, her real father. Though in her mind Greyback had been her real father. She even called him dad now. "Oh yeah. His name was Stark. He became ill when we were little so mom took care of me and my siblings and him. He had been ill for months, and we weren't allowed to see him. Then one day when I was a few months old, he just vanished. No marks, no scents. He was just gone. Mom never got any closure. After caring for him we don't know if he left to die, or if he just left or if someone took him. It still a crazy story when I think about it," she admitted. She had not needed any closure since she never knew him.

The female dipped her head into a nod when the other explained what feter meant. It meant uncle. Interesting. Arlette listened with curiosity as the male explained about his faith. A day of rest? Her mother would probably not hear of that. She was always working and maintaining something pack related. She admired her mother for doing so. She was not sure if she would be able to do all the things she did. "I wish we had days of rest," she joked. "What did you do all day? Just nap and sleep?" she asked curiously. Arlette wasn't sure if they really had faith, with a god Kaito talked about. Arlette thought for a moment when he asked her that question. "I don't know. We do not pray to a god, as you do. Our loved ones are buried at the stones, wolves before us. I think mom came up with it when her first mate died. Also long story, my mom was a bit unlucky with mates until Greyback," she quickly added. "Anyhow. Each stone represents that past wolf and what they stood for. Not all stones have meaning yet. But the biggest one is the father stone, and next to it is the mother stone. You can ask wisdom or pray to the mother for healthy pups or to have a mother watch over you. With the father, it is more about protection I believe, and... judgment," she tried to summarize from the top of her head.

Arlette licked her lips and took a moment to pause. "There is the Father Stone, The Mother, The Warrior, The Maiden, and the Stone of Lost souls. That last one has no wolf, as it is to remind us of the loved ones we lost. That one also has a little trail of small stones all the way to the border as a guide for lost ones to follow back to the heart of the circle. I think mother is thinking of expanding it," she chatted as she continued to walk. "Really she knows more about this. I haven't really prayed to the stones that much if I am really honest." It felt like her biggest confession yet.

He couldn't help but let a smile spread over his nodding face when Arlette voiced the very hopes he had toyed with for so very long. "That's actually part of the reason I left home -- to see if I could find him," and his smile shifted then, as he confided, "I kind of like to imagine that he's found his way back home now, and that he's back with my mum." Who was to say if he would ever find that out? In these things, he didn't mind living in ignorance.

Kaito found the story of Stark a sadder one than the tale of his own father. The only parallels he could see was that both their dads had vanished, and that they had both grown up without them. There were only differences from there. Her words wearied his heart, and Kaito shifted his eyes aside. "That is crazy..." the words coupled with an anxious chuckle, a tic he wished right now would just up and leave him alone, "I'm so sorry... I can't imagine what that would've been like, for you or your mother."

As the conversation shifted, he let the easiness slip back into their engagement. Kaito offered a side grin at her inquiry into his faith -- he might've seen that question coming. "I bet some sects did that, but we were much less legalistic," his smile carried through, "We mostly used the day to enjoy each other's company, to tell stories, and to eat together. Kind of like... a celebration of the good blessings our God provides for us, without looking for more. A lot of us used the day for prayer as well. And, y'know," he teased her with another sideways glance, "sleeping and napping, too."

Kaito was happy that Arlette provided a much longer explanation of the Stones than her mother had, and her explanation made sense - in theory, more than practical belief. The stones were clearly important to the Matriarch, however, and as Arlette had confided, were tied to such a tender and vulnerable moment of her history. Perhaps he would have a chance to inquire more into these beliefs at a later time -- yet right now did not seem that time. Kaito simply decided he would need to be careful that he did not compromise his own faith while he walked with Easthollow.

He didn't comment on Arlette's confession, simply nodded to show that he heard, and understood. "Do you remember which wolves represent each stone?" Even if he did not believe the spirits of their predecessors could help them, Kaito remained genuinely curious to know the history of Easthollow, and of who had been what to them.

Arlette nodded, she could understand that Kaito would want to find his father. She had not felt like that, not after he left or was taken. He had not wanted to be found if Stark had survived, since he had never returned to their lands. Perhaps it was for the better. She was not sure what it would do to her mother. The female licked her lips, life was good now. She still had a dad, she didn't care that she wasn't of his blood. "Yeah she has been through a lot actually," Arlette admitted. Perhaps that was why the female was so attached to the stones.

Arlette looked amazed as she heard more about Kaito's religion. The female liked the idea of once a day sitting and chatting. She giggled softly at him when he admitted napping as well. "But what is 'God' then. I don't understand that part." And perhaps it was a very loaded and difficult question for the male to answer. She was just never exposed to God and things like that. However, she was interested in learning. Since she wanted to know more about Kaito and how he lived his life.

"Yes. The father stone is for Steady, that is how it all started. He was my mother's first mate," she explained. She licked her lips. Maybe it looked weird that her mother had so many mates. "The others... not all, but recently we buried Indra, which was a tough blow. She was nice but the earthquakes...," she sighed and then shook her head.