Sun Mote Copse Autumn Days

SETTING: A beautiful little hill covered by rapidly changing orange leaves that overlooks a small hollow.
Weather:Light Rain
cool
Midday
TERRITORY: Sun Mote Copse

TAGS: N/A

The boy sits perched at the top of the hollow, the candy colored leaves falling around him having formed a nest where he happily plays with the batting of his paws, tearing through them with rough claws and sharp teeth.

He's making up the story as he goes—narrating about a prince having gone missing with a small whispered voice. There's another boy involved, looking for his friend, "desperate to find true love...", but oh-so sad and lost. Theres also a hurricane—no, a thunder storm! With scary lightning!

Prim almost cries at how sad his story is, too engrossed within his own little world as he plays alone.

rasalas, despite having been here for a few days now ( or a week, torvi can’t remember ), is still weary. he’s the new kid and though niamh’s appeared to have taken to him rasalas isn’t so sure that her biological children will accept him into their fold. his interaction with other children beyond his twinshine was …poor; caerus hadn’t ever been kind to him as far as rasalas cared to remember. so, rasalas hangs back in the shadows, warring with himself as he watches the other child play, ears cupped forth to hear the story the other boy whispers.

rasalas studies him with mis-matched gaze, noting how he looks strong and healthy. nothing like whatever frankenstein creation rasalas currently resembles with protruding ribs and ugly, torn-up face covered in some type of salve or another. does… does the boy find the prince? rasalas asks softly, announcing his presence moments before he ghosts forward a few steps, still leaving ample distance between them.

The orange boy doesn't notice the other. Not till they speak.

Whipping his head around, bright almond eyes clash with a mismatched pair in confusion and fear.  He had never seen the other before, though to be fair, Primrose hadn't really been outgoing and venturing outside of the den much. But the other looked so different than the other wolves he sees. Theres no orange, no red. Just grey and white. He also very skinny and has funny stuff on his face.

"Ummm...." Primrose sounds whilst looking confused as he thinks, pondering the question. "Yes! But-but... Theyre both really really badly hurt!" Primrose stands in exclamation before patting the ground next to him, eager for the other to join him in his story.

the boy colored a lot like niamh — as far as rasalas could see, anyway — starts as rasalas reveals himself and the moonlight dappled boy hesitates. acclimating to his new home and remembering too keenly the thieves leaves rasalas wanting to peer down from the safety of his fortified tower. still, he is a child and with the prospect of a fairytale ending, he is curious as to how the other boy’s story will end. rasalas takes a hesitant step and then another at primrose’s invitation. oh, rasalas breathes as it’s shared that the prince and boy are both badly hurt.

he knew what that was like.

immediately, he is able to draw a connection; to relate to the story, even if it was just a little bit. do they find a healer? rasalas asks, unable to see how the prince and the boy would survive otherwise.

The rainfall stayed light, yet it stressed her all the same. They had been tirelessly rebuilding since the end of the deluge and their return to the copse, essentially starting from scratch to mark the borders and establish stockpiles. They were making great progress and almost certainly, it wouldn't rain hard or long enough to undo any of it. All the same, the Sovereign felt particularly cagey as she wrapped up her patrol and headed deeper into the territory.

Too anxious to eat and too on edge to seek company, Towhee sought out someplace to sit and think. The new moon would be here soon, would @Bronco and Meerkat pay a visit as planned? That thought gave her some peace, even a little excitement, and she was in a slightly better mood when she stumbled across Primrose and their newest recruit, whose name she couldn't presently recall.

-"Hey, guys,"- she greeted, approaching. Her eyes smiled at Prim before flicking curiously to the newcomer. Niamh had told her about the youth with the terrible facial wounds. Towhee's gaze lingered on them for a heartbeat before she slowly waved her tail. -"Remind me of your name, kiddo? I'm Towhee."-

The stranger doesn't take long to join him, and Prim, brimming with happiness and a bright smile, wags his tail at a rapid pace. He doesn't notice the latent breath of the other, or at least what it means. He just takes it as excitement. Surely the other boy is just as happy as him!

"Oh uhhmmmmm...." Primrose thinks once more, bringing a paw up to rub at his temple in earnest. He doesn't want the story to be sad, he couldn't handle crying right now in front of his new friend. "I think so..? Yeah! That sounds good—the find a healer! And..and... they get better with time! But the boy has lost an eye, and when the moon is high they talk of their adventures and love blooms between them!" Prim exclaims happily, his voice full of wonder as he talked about love. "The prince doesn't care tho.. He still loves his friend; He even says that... uh... hmm.. Oh! "

A noise of a pawstep grabs his attention, dragging him away from the fairytale; and with a turn of his bright face Primrose is met with the figure of Towhee. "Towma!" He giggles, immediately bounding up to her with tail high and bubbles of laughter. "Towma this is my new friend!"

the story continues; they found a healer and presumably get better though it comes at the cost of the boy whom has lost an eye. his own wounds, beneath the thick, gooey salve sting in sympathy. rasalas’ lips twitch as he considers it, remembering what niamh said about scars being ‘badass’. i heard that scars are badass. a soft giggle, born of a child knowing they shouldn’t swear but find joy in the small act of rebellion, leaves his lips; warmed that the prince still loves the boy despite the ugly marring that accompanies the loss of an eye. rasalas hasn’t lost his eye but eljay’s lack of confidence that his wounds would heal without heavy scarring stir the beginnings of self-consciousness.

the story is interrupted by the presence of another; a woman. the boy greets her with enthusiasm and rasalas watches the way she moves, unable to understand the significance of it and instead focuses upon her words. rasalas. the lost boy offers shyly, the story temporarily forgotten about with her appearance.

"Rasalas," she repeated. If he were older, she might've asked him how he was settling in and, more importantly, whether he was making himself useful. But he was still fairly young, so instead she inquired, -"What're you guys up to?"- even as she flopped down nearby, positioning herself so that she could see both pups with a simple sideways sweep of her snout.

The grass was wet but, fortunately, the rain seemed to have cleared for the moment. The sun even began to peek out from the cloud cover, giving Towhee hope that it would lend some warmth to the air's chill. She heaved an inward sigh of relief, glad for the mild turn in the weather. She really couldn't stomach any more rain.

sorry for the late reply!!

Towhee didn't seem to pay him much mind as she sat down rather ungracefully, but Primrose, ever so keen on giving love, sent a high pitched bark her way before chewing his way towards one of her ears. His paws, big and clumsy, pattered against her shoulder as he reached up in earnest. When it doubt always go for the ears! That was a sure way to make sure his Towma gave him attention.

"We're telling a story!" he gasped, still giggling. "But shhh don't tell anyone—it's a secret~" The boy made sure to look around and back over his shoulder at Rasalas, making sure that the boy also was making sure not to say anything... just to be sure. "Rasalas is just as good as me!"

rasalas' eyes divert at the obvious affection freely given between the two. for a moment, he allows the ache in his chest to fester, blossoming into something that careens towards envy before he clamps down on it and chases it off. it is his own fault, he knows; but still, the moment makes him feel awkward. as the outsider. his ears perk as primrose informs them both that it's a secret and though the lost boy desires to ask why something so good should be a secret he doesn't.

n-no, no. i'm not. he says a bit flatly, outwardly uncomfortable with the praise even if his tail gives a small wag betraying him.

"Hey, geroff," Towhee admonished Primrose without heat, gently pushing him away, "I still need those, even if they don't work properly." She grinned and chucked him under the chin, before sitting back and acknowledging the small boys' quick exchange.

"I was thinking of napping. Will you tell me a bedtime story?" Towhee requested with a cheeky smile, wondering if Primrose would understand that the moment she shut her eyes, she wouldn't be able to hear it. "Come on, what do you say?"

She stretched out in the damp grass, the sun stroking her dark fur and offsetting any chill. She rolled onto her side, then partially onto her back, kicking out a foreleg to bat playfully at Prim. Towhee also made a point to shoot an upside-down smile of encouragement at Rasalas, if he wanted to collaborate too.

Heeding Towhee's command, the boy detached himself from her with a huff, tail still wagging. "You SO don't need them!" He bantered back with a giggle, nudging her once more before settling down at her side, paws tucked over eachother and tail laid at his side. In this position he looked almost like a rock—an orange rock against her side.

"A story??" He gasped, "Of course!," He doesn't know what to say to Rasalas except for a shake of his head and an affirmation once more that the boy isn't a bad story teller.

"Lets see... Oh! I got a good one," He begins, looking over at Towhee and Rasalas before patting the ground next to him. They can all snuggle  together as he tells a story! "Once upon time there was a pack far, far, far to the east. They were a nice pack! Full of family and friends. But despite that they grew lonely and longed for more companions and..um... friends..."

"So one day they placed a stone in the meadow and every night they would sing and dance around it; Telling stories and eating!! But one night as they went to sleep the stone began to grow, fed by the packs love and friendship. Of course the wolves didn't notice at first, but through time it got bigger and bigger..."

A yawn wormed its way through the young boy's mouth during the middle of his story.

"They say now that more stones have been placed, growing taller and taller and forming a circle around the family! They say that now the stones provide protection as much as it does company. And it also makes lost wolves find their way to the pack..."

Slumping towards his Towma, the boy snuggles into her warm fur before slowly, softly drifting into sleep. Story telling was tiring!