Frostfire Ridge Lands that call my name

Tveir pawstepped through the the land. He remembered these areas. Each step brought the memories closer. Saena, Junior, Mercury. So many, though he scented nothing of them anymore. Though would he even be able to tell their scent years later now. He remembered the babies he had left at his mother's breast, he had loved them, but he had left them. Perhaps Mercury had been right all those years ago, perhaps he was as selfish and cowardly as them all. Leaving his mother to fend for herself, the babies. But those were the regrets of a young man, he had grown into peace with his choices, despite that they had affected more than he.

He was old, but not yet tired. His time would come and he'd disappear into the mist, hunt in the halls if Valhalla if his father was to be believed.

they danced, they moved.

no weight of their misery clung to them anymore in the wilds. misery had brought them good things, free things. the soft scars would show forever the price they paid for finer things.

like this man. old, blessed by time, but certainly handsome — in a way they would never admit! they felt hot in the face. they felt heavy in heart.

they cooed out to him and weaved across the land. closer and closer.

Gunnar was thrown from his thrice dark thoughts, and plopped back to the land of the living, made safe to the sea and mountains. Where once youthful paws had traced, and ran. When his tongue had lolled and hung as he used his legs, his back and chased.

The small wolf, came upon him, and with eyes born from years of living, he traced over their scars, eyes the color of the sea. The sea always seemed to find him, perhaps that had been his cross to bear, born to the sea, return to the sea. He lowered his large body closer to the ground, curled his tail about his paws, though he kept his head above his shoulders. Black tipped ears shifted, lay flat and he waited.

They stalked him like a wayward creature, though not one to attack, no this one simply observed, they seemed to watch with wary happiness. 

"Sea wolf. What brings you towards this old man?" His voice quiet, demure, he hadn't meant a cruelty, no just asking after the wolf near him, who they were, what they were doing.

low, low, lower.

they watched him intently, noticed how he seemed to differ to them. aravae felt power for the first time. a finebone, willowy wanderer had brought the man down.

david and the goliath.

your soul is not old, they dared to tell him. twinkling sea glass for eyes looking upon him. i have seen the old and frail, i have seen those at the end.

they had seen more than they cared for.

Gunnar, was a kind wolf in most manners, but he had been born a fighter. He had learned to battle at the knees of his father, and even now though his was pawsore and weary, were he to have to chance a battle even with the young, he could give his own. 

Were he to have privy to the others thoughts, he would have laughed. For he had often thought of himself as a david against a goliath, a son of Ragnar, a beast.

"Perhaps my soul isn't old, but my body is. I have wintered and wandered for most of my life. I am no longer blessed with the body of a youth."

The smaller wolf studied him with their sea eyes, it made Gunnar think of the pool she had splashed in as a pup. The pools where his mother had taught him to fish, where his father had taught him to fight. Always the sea, deep and fathomless.

"Are you a healer? My mother was a healer, she helped many when their bodies were to frail to hold their soul."

they laughed. warm and mirthful. humored by his assumption of them as a healer, but it was a good guess, no?

no, they corrected softly, a tilt upward of their head. peering down a narrow face. they were switched, they believed. him old with a youthful soul. them young with a soul much too aged for this body — or so they had been told, time and time again.

i am nothing,

this said with a sense of relief and air of lightness.

what are you?

Gunnar's ears perked forward at the gentle peal of laughter that flowed from the willowy wolf like sea air. Answering his question, before they even said no.

Gunnar wagged his tail once, well it was more of a thump along the ground.  He felt his soul was old, as his body. Had always thought he was older than he seemed. It was why he had left, why he had hurt those he loved, because he thought he was older, knew better. 

"We are all something, whether we think we are or not."

The next question drew him pause, what was he. Could he even answer that question anymore? At a time he would have said, a son, a brother, a fighter, but did he deserve those titles anymore?

I don't know if I am anything as I was. There was a time I was a younger brother and an older brother, a viking son, and a healer son. I was an outrider, a rover, a silver tongued devil. I was inflicted and I was broken. I have been many things in my 8 rotations of seasons, many things."

he spoke, he dealt many titles, some of them they cared for more than others.

viking son, outrider, silver tongued devil.

they swished their tail slowly. they dropped into a crouch, crept close enough to be touched as their belly brushed against the ground. yet they made no move for contact.

what are you now? in this very moment?

Gunnar once Tveir briefly though of his father Ragnar, the burly man with a different moral compass than most. He had been savage, and wild, but he had loved his mother so, had loved Tveir so even though he wasn't even  his.

Gunnar was surprised at the youth, as they moved closer, though he didn't mind. It was nice to share his own space for a time. The question again caught him off guard and he allowed his tongue to gently loll as he thought of an answer. 

"Now, I'm an old body with a young soul, a man that can speak two languages and has his feet in two ways. I am a son of the sea. What about you? What are you, right at this moment in time, and I won't accept nothing."

i am a wild spirit,

this said in a hush whispered tone. his ears only. they let seaglass eyes look into the moons of his own.

come to guide you on these paths you have set yourself upon. they offered. mystery intentional, always. intentions mysterious too. they did not shy away from looking at him.

i am everything and nothing.

A smile lit the face of the older man. I am a wild spirit The words resounded about the air, quiet and hushed demure. He blinked at their eyes and slowly curled an ear forward.

The gods would like you Sea Sprite. Especially Odin, he always like those with a little wild in them.

I am everything and nothing. He hadn't heard such a thing in many years. It brought to mind his father and all the stories of the gods that he had whispered in his youth.

What journey would you like me to go on? I'm not sure if i'm up for a long one. It was long and arduous getting here.

you are of the sea,

they breathes, heart thrummed wildly in their chest.

you will return, won't you?

their eyes wide as saucers, a questioning look painted on their face. they knew he would say yes, even if only because he seemed so...agreeable. why would he turn their suggest away?

sorry for shortness! mobile bound at work

No worries, :)

He blinked and smiled. Yes I am from the sea, born and raised there, though I left for a time, but yes I came back.

The question was a strange one, but yes one day he would return to the sea, probably let himself lay and die in the warm sands, let the sea take him to the sharks and the other such sea creatures that made up their life there.

Someday, yes I will return there. When my soul is finally done, and my body can no longer move. I will return to the sea, don't all sea folk though?

their eyes looked away for the first time in a few minutes.

out towards the wilds, the expansive land that laid before the both of them. one that called to their heart.

they did not look towards him again.

no, this said with certainty. some find mountains, trees, rivers. they find peace away from the sea. they never return, even in the twilight of life.

finally their eyes return, something harder within them now.

Gunnar noted the change, but didn't move. This wolf was an unusual one, though it had been nice to pass the time. Gunnar looked further out to the lands and chuffed.'

"For what it's worth I have found all those things, and none called me back quite like the sea. That is why I am here. I have come home. I will traipse among the places of bygone days, and then I will settle by the sea, until I am ready to take that last grand adventure."

Gunnar shifted and stood slowly, he stretched and moved his limbs forward. It had hurt to stay in one place too long. His body was old, and tired. Not dead yet, but old.

he shifted.

they peeled away from the closeness they had created. tail wavering some, a slight tremble to their legs. emotional, flighty, struck by their youth.

i will see you again,

this they felt sure of, eyes heavy upon him.

i will see the path you take.

then they sought to leave, if not stopped, heading off into the wilds as a wispy figure.

[size=small]
Gunnar gave a soft chuff. "You will absolutely see me again, sea sprite."[/size]

[size=small]Gunnar felt the trace of eyes, atop his fur, had his bones not ached so he would have been fine to stay and stir up more air with their musings. Gunnar waved his plume behind him and dipped his head in a silent good bye. He'd see the willowy wisp again, he was certain, but for now it was time for a place to lay his head. [/size]

[size=small]

Thank you so much for the thread.

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