Stone Circle c

five years later and I’m finally here big yikes. we can wrap this up with the next post or two since it’s old and dusty?

As Valette further described the territory, he wondered to himself if he might ever grow accustomed to it. Up until recently, and even in his youth, he’d always lived within a forest. To trade the safety of the trees for the open plains was troubling, to say the least, but not something that he wasn’t willing to try and get used to. Besides, even though the majority of the land was open to the skies above, there was still a wooded area within. Perhaps, should he ever find himself uneasy being exposed, he would retire to the birch trees.

When she spoke of their hunts, he smiled: it had been quite some time since he’d last assisted during a pack hunt. Whilst he’d never partaken in a bison hunt before, he was curious to see how it differed from deer—although, he did wonder if his body would even allow such a taxing activity at this point. Either way, he decided, he would assist in any way that he could; the idea of being sore for a few days in exchange for joining a hunt seemed hardly a price to pay when he really took the time to think about it. All thoughts in regards to the hunts soon faded from his conscious mind when she mentioned her mate, however. He maintained his smile—more so for Arlette than out of true joy—and had to remind himself where exactly he stood; the male that he was apparently to meet had, currently, a better standing with his daughter than he did, and he’d be wise to keep that at the forefront of his thoughts.

Just as he was about to try and change her mind, for the plan to be altered to them meeting on a different day, his granddaughter spoke up and his attention shifted. “No, no,” he answered, shaking his head. “You keep your den. I’m sure you worked hard finding it, I wouldn’t want to take it. Truthfully, I’m not too used to sleeping within a den. I much prefer being out beneath the moon.” He used to alternate between sleeping out in the open and within a den. It wasn’t until recently that he’d really abandoned the idea of dens altogether, as he no longer felt comfortable within them; oftentimes they were far too cramped for his liking, and he just didn’t have the energy to expand them.

Before long, another wolf arrived—a male, who he assumed was the mate his daughter had spoken of. Despite the posture taken with his approach, Kove’s own body remained relaxed; he neither submitted nor made a play at challenging the other male, but instead focused on maintaining his composure. And even though the question was not asked of him, the Inuk answered: “My name is Kove Apaata, her father.”