Moonsong Glacier in the light of the sun

For @Fallen Sun, but All Welcome!

After returning from Moontide, the panther felt bereft. Tired.

Lonely.

He howled to let the others know that he had returned in good time, and then trudged deeper into the territory on heavy paws. The foothills have never given him such trouble as they did today, with his flank still sore and stinging. He was tempted to feel irritated by this, but his weariness of the situation was too great.

He turned his mind instead to finding company, traveling at a slow clip through weak morning sunlight.

The first yawning rays of morning's light seemed to dull Fallen Sun's pelt, not quite in its full red glory. He wished he could tell Silver Shadow that all had gone smoothly during his time away, and no one was injured. In fact, he was proud to, upon spotting his friend, bark Hi! as if it were the only thing he was able to communicate fluently, full of excitement.

He'd been practicing. And he wanted to share all of the words he knew with his friend, his tail a feathery blur as he bounced around him. 

Tuh-rhee! tree. Buhee! bee. Skhuy. sky. Deutcha. it was supposed to be ditch, as he kept thinking about what Silver Shadow or Evening Rose might call the thing. 

More words, simple words a pup would know, but he kept barking them out as excitedly as one. Was he getting better, his head tilted. Did his words make sense? Did Silver Shadow like them?

It was impossible to mistake the red figure that streaked toward him, even in poor lighting. The panther rallied, soothed to see the familiar face of his quiet friend.

"Hi," Dutch parroted, duly impressed. A smile grew on his face as the man gave several more words, all seemingly unrelated — at least they seemed to be, if Dutch understood him at all. "You have been practicing," he praised, and as had been his practice before his departure, Dutch signed these words to Fallen Sun in ptero as well as speaking aloud.

He came forward to press his forehead to the other man's in familiar greeting.

"I missed you while I was away," he said, not knowing whether these words would mean anything to Fallen Sun. He hoped that his tone expressed his gladness and his prior heartache.

The red man's tail wagged happily, pressing his forehead into the other's, seemingly shaking with effort. 

rhok. he pawed at a rock. wahtur. the rock skittered into a small puddle. yuh. he pawed lightly at Silver Shadow's feet.

sahdough. Shadow. The closest he got to saying the very special name he picked out all wonderfully for his friend!

He still didn't know the 'silver' bit, nor did he know how the words had entered his head. For all he knew, a bird pecked at his noggin until they appeared there. But there he went, excitedly barking out sahdowh again, running in circles. 

Fallen Sun was going on three but still mentally a puppy, or at least... a man who got easily excited about communication noises.

"He speaks!" Dutch cheered, laughing as Fallen Sun showed off more of his budding vocabulary. He was not sure who should be thanked for this progress, and for a moment, his heart fell. Perhaps he did know — and perhaps that resource was no longer available to them.

But Fallen Sun's enthusiasm was enough to warm him. The panther felt for the first time since returning that he'd truly come home. These could still be his people, even if some had gone away. Even if some were still a little unfamiliar to him, this man was not.

Enticed, Dutch romped after the other man, ignoring his injury. He made little snaps for those sun-colored paws, or for that whippy tail as it flew past. His own wheeled in easy amusement.

"Slow down!" Dutch chided him eventually, a laugh in his voice. "I'm an injured man!"

Seeing an opportunity, Dutch gestured forcefully to his hip, and he signed along in ptero as he spoke, "I am hurt," each word carefully enunciated.

Unfortuntely, Fallen Sun had never come across that sentence, and whatever woodpecker pecked upon his skull earlier that morning did not do it hard enough to jog loose the phrase 'I am hurt'. Nor did he have anyone to teach him the complicated art of whatever paw movements made the Quiet Sounds that Make Sense to some wolves. 

But he did know body language quite well, so the hip gesture made a lot more sense. He went over to it and gave it a lick. A fuzzy memory of his Ma licking his hurts better flashed in his mind. His head tilted. Did that help?

The panther tensed just a little when Fallen Sun turned his attention to the injury — but he needed no instruction to be gentle, unlike Sulukinak. Dutch huffed another laugh, his tail wagging in thanks. It didn't feel any better physically, but sometimes it was nice to be fussed over.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, even though he doubted the sunset man could understand him. "You bring joy to my heart. I hope I can return this to you, one day."

And Dutch had plans.

I am intrigued! Gimme the tea, please?

Another head tilt. 

A gentle wuff.

A blissfully ignorant man of reddened hues and a wagging tail. What were plans, anyway? He didn't know, nor did he particularly care for what was unknown to him.

One day at a time! Live in the present, never the past or future.

He raced off with a bark, only to return... with a rabbit in his jaws, set nicely at the paws of his friend. Rahbit.

When the sunset man disappeared, Dutch followed at a more sedate pace. The glacier seemed peaceful instead of lonely in his wake, and the man soon returned with something hanging from his jaws.

"Rabbit indeed," Dutch replied, placing his paw lightly on the carcass. But he had to ask — "For me?"

Yah! a cheerful wuff, the man sitting with a tongue lolling off a smile and a wagging tail.

Take it! Take it! Oh, it was simply fantastic! 

You know, he was called Rabbit, once. He thought! He was called a great many things!

He really didn't care what others called him.

For you!