Bramblepoint starseed

Open for @Primrose and @Keres to chaperone ^^

This was a pretty big step for Mintaka. Sure, Keres was around here somewhere, but for the most part, this was an adventure on her own. Without her mother, at least. But she wasn't fully alone, so she couldn't get in trouble, and she wasn't in danger. Surely her mother wouldn't get too upset with her. 

Mintaka was kind of in awe of the forest she'd stumbled across. The colors were bright and beautiful, colorful leaves that she had only seen from atop the mountain but had never really been underneath them like she was now.

She squeezed underneath a particularly sharp bush, wincing slightly as the thorns caught on her fur. But what was a little pain in the face of adventure? There was far too much to see here to worry about being a little bit hurt. 

A small laugh pealed from her maw as she turned around, surveying the clearing in a full 360 degree circle. The sunlight filtered through the treetops and illuminated the undergrowth. She probably stuck out like a sore thumb with all the autumn browns and oranges, but that was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

Twisting an ear to the sound of light laughter, Primrose let his head follow. His bright brown eyes blinking owlishly as he popped his head up from the underbrush. Lately there had been all kind of visitors he encountered; 'There sure was a lot of wolves around here! Far more than at Firebirds.' Lifting a paw up, the boy gingerly tucked the top of a bush downwards to see more clearly at who the new stranger was.

Gasping at the sight, Primrose didn't expect to see a girl around his age, more or less one enjoying the bright colors of fall. "Um... Hi!" he sounded, voice a little warbled with excitement as he crawled his way out from his hiding place with a wagging tail.

Mintaka hadn't expected to have her reverie interrupted, but she certainly didn't mind. She spun around at the sound of another voice, and landed eyes on quite possibly the prettiest wolf she had ever seen in her entire life. A pup around her age - a girl, her mind supplied - coated in warm colors and brown eyes that matched the palette of the world around them.

Momentarily starstruck, it took about a half second for her to find her voice. "Hi!" she greeted, tail swaying happily behind her as she took several steps forward to meet the other girl. A girl who couldn't be anything less than royalty, in her mind. This had to be one of the princesses she'd heard about - that she'd spent hours and hours pretending to defend on her own. "You are... you're so beautiful! You look like the leaves changing colors." She belonged here, no doubt, to this colorful forest. "Is this your home? Your kingdom?" Because surely she ruled here, and Mintaka was a mere, humble peasant in her eyes.

Shaking his back paw free of the bush, Primrose approached the girl with a bright smile and a thundering heart—the apples of his cheeks warming rapidly as he was showered with instant attention. "Hi~" he repeated once more in a sing-song tone, albeit awkwardly upon her own greeting.

He gazed at her as she did him, his honey brown eyes taking in her coat color. It was tan—like willows or perhaps honeysuckle. Wagging his tail even faster, the small boy giggled at her compliments, reveling in the feeling. His mother had always complimented him, but never was he referred to as living in a kingdom. "You too! You're so pretty, like—like, flowers! Honeysuckle, and the moss that hangs from willow trees!"

"Yes, I live here with my pack! What is your name?" he questioned, his paws doing a little dance of excitement as he slowly turned in circles and pranced around her.

Never before had Mintaka been so absolutely enamored with an individual. Sky blue eyes widened when the princess laughed, heart thudding in her chest and face heating up beneath her fur. And not only that, but Mintaka was pretty, too? 

"Thank you," she responded - had she ever been called pretty before? she wondered, before shaking off the thought and listening to what the other pup had to say. 

The dancing was contagious, though, and she found her own paws tapping on the ground as she mimicked the girl's movements. Of course she lived here - she had a pack. One that she no doubt ruled over, or at least would rule someday. "I'm Mintaka, or Minty. I'm from the mountain," she replied, tail swishing quickly behind her. "What's your name?" Because that was more important, really.

Primrose batted his eyelashes as the girl giggled and danced along with him. Their laughter intertwining and ringing through the small glade. Primrose was sure he saw leaves flying too, it felt so magical! So wonderful!

"Mintaka?" he parroted, tasting the word on his tongue as he gasped. "That's such a pretty name! Like mint!" Her mother surely must have been just as beautiful and well named as her. Primrose wanted to meet them desperately even more. "I'm Primrose! Primrose Redhawk, son of Niamh and Phox. I just moved here from the Hinterlands—wayyyy beyond the mountain!" He couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he had passed Mintaka's own pack.

"What kingdom are you from?"

Mintaka twirled around the other pup, letting herself become enchanted by this beautiful stranger. And from the way she was reacting, Mintaka thought maybe she was enchanted in return. 

Except... this was not a she. 

Son of Niamh and Phox. So... a prince, then. The gender was inconsequential - Mintaka found swiftly that she did not mind the perceived change one little bit. She could protect a prince just as well as she could protect a princess. Better, even. 

"Primrose is a beautiful name too! You're named after flowers. Prince Primrose," she gushed, dropping momentarily to her chest in a sort of play bow before getting back up and continuing her little prance. Except she paused, tail wagging even harder when he asked her of her own kingdom. The girl puffed out her chest. "I come from Moonspear - Hydra and Dirge are my parents. I'm... I'm a knight, there! I protect the borders." There was pride in her voice, and even though she hadn't done much protecting yet, she was sure she could if it was necessary. 

Mintaka blinked, blue eyes round in wonder as she regarded her new companion. "Do you have your own knights to protect you?" she inquired then, tipping her head to the side.

The boy, unaware to the discovery that Mintaka had revered, continued to dance about and frolic. His paws drifting effortlessly through the grass and leaves as he circled around the other in a silent tune. "Thank you!" He sounded, smiling brightly with closed eyes—the edges crinkling upwards as heat rose through the apples of his cheeks.

"Moonspear!?" he suddenly gasped, stopping in his tracks to stare at the other with a twinkling gaze. "My sibling is at Moonspear—Meerkat is her name! My Towma is also best friends with Hydra!" How could he not have known about Mintaka? Firebirds and Moonspear were practically best friends in his mind! Oh this was so grand, so great!

"Youre a knight? Like a really real one? Thats so cool!" Primrose continued to jump and dance with glee around the girl. "I've never had a knight to protect me, only my pup sitter..."

Oh, Mintaka knew Meerkat in passing. That was so cool! "Towma? Is Towma Towhee? Because I know Towhee, too," she enthused, tail swishing frantically back and forth behind her. This was probably the best day ever - surely she and Primrose were allowed to be friends!

"Yeah," she responded. "I'm a really real knight. Or, I will be really real in the future. Right now I'm just in training." Kind of, in her own way. She went on lots of little patrols these days. 

And he didn't have knights to protect him? That was a travesty. "I can be a knight for you, if you want," she offered freely, paws pattering on the ground in excitement.

Primrose probably looked as if he couldn't get any happier. "Yes, Towhee! I call her Towma because shes my mother.. kinda. Adopted mother!"  Others had said in passing that it was a bit weird but Primrose never paid any mind.

"Oh! This is great! Training must be hard work... is it hard work? I'd love to watch you some time, maybe I can visit Moonspear if Hydra and moms permit me." He silently wondered if he, too, could be a night. But he wasn't strong, and he wasn't really brave. Mintaka looked as if she could take on mountains with her hefty body. Primrose looked as if he was a twig—dainty and soft.

"My own knight?" He gasped. "I've never had one before..."