Firestone Hot Springs Is it getting any better

ooc: @Charon 

The knowledge of the fact that you have got a home with people that you hold dear waiting for you makes a big difference, when you are far away from it. Returning home should always be a happy thing no matter, what the circumstances have been, but Osprey did not feel that way. It was the third time now, when she had started anew within the ranks of the plateau and never before had she felt more defeated and confused about her place there. People were the same, but she had hard time finding that old Osprey. The cheerful one, the creative one, the one, who tried to make friends with everyone, the one, who was desparate for love and being loved in return. A week had passed and she still felt like an empty shell - breathing, eating, moving around, doing all of these little routine things that one's life consists off, but having no spirit in anything she did. 

No one had seemed to notice her diminished ability to see clearly and she had not mustered up a courage to tell this either. She was a mess and burden already, these kind of news would be like a cherry on top of a wobbly cake. Therefore rather than seeking people out, she reverted to her solitude and the hours that weren't spent sleeping, were spent wandering on her own. This felt familiar and safe after all. By the time she had reached the Firestone hot springs, she was tired once again, she lied down on the ground to rest. It was odd to think that her youth had left her in a matter of months, leaving an old and battered wolf behind.

It was one of the first times since finding Moonspear that Charon had left the pack lands. He still had lots to explore back there, but he decided to go for a walk outside of pack lands. He was content with how well the pack was doing; their numbers were beyond his imagining, and there was barely space for more should they want to join up. There was that thing with Nishu, but Charon paid it little mind for now. He was just a bitter, jealous old fool who was cynical about the world because he no longer thought himself worthy a knight. Well, he'd probably never been one to start with. Not like Sir Knight Starchaser Charon, anyway.

The young Alpha looked around the pools he found here at the Hotsprings, almost as though hoping he'd find Casmir in one of them. It had been some time since the pair of them had met, and so much had happened — including something that made sure Charon hadn't visited Casmir. He hoped to see the boy again, because their last and only meeting, though it'd started out poorly, had ended well.

While he glanced about the pools, unfortunately not finding Casmir, Charon noticed a heap of wolf a little while off. The wolf looked scruffy and like a loner, and Charon approached carefully. He couldn't tell if she was asleep or awake from where he stood, and his tail twitched tensely as he approached to find out.

While Osprey's sight was diminished, her other senses had become better at perceiving the presence of another living creature. It had become a crucial skill in order to survive during her days and months that were spent wandering around the wilds. And it had become almost her second nature to react aggressively at any creature that approached her, while she was asleep. 

The moment she heard the cautious steps coming her way and also the smell of a young male, the old she-wolf's eyes opened and she sprang to her feet swiftly. The fur along her back was bristled, ears drawn back and as her eyes locked on the offending person, her lips parted revealing the yellowing teeth and a menacing growl came from the depths of her chest. She wanted to make it clear that there would be only one warning.

As he came closer, Charon caught a whiff of Dante on the female and he felt the hairs in his neck rise. Just at that moment, the she-wolf jumped to her feet with surprising agility. She looked old and shambly, but quickly proved that she wasn't when she got to her feet. Instantly Charon looked around him, his vision concealed by the hot springs' misty damp hanging in the air, and he wondered if this was some sort of thing planned by Dante. It'd be crazy, but who knew what that idiot was capable of?

Tail curled up over Charon's back, the hairs along his neck and back rising tensely. His muscles tensed an adrenaline rushed through his body, suddenly ready for a fight. "If this is a fucking ambush, you can tell your coward-ass Alpha to come fight me man to man," he snarled through bared teeth. Ears flitted back and forth, almost as though he was waiting for wolves to pop out of everywhere like a bunch of ninjas and pummel him to the ground.

Though the voice had changed and the shape did not hold any of the childish features, Osprey recognized Charon immediately. She did not know that Dante and her young friend were at odds with each other and therefore the hostile words meant little to her. She stood there, with narrowed eyes studying the other's face and then she let the flame of aggression die down and her posture became neutral. 

"Charon, is that you?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and wagging her tail - there was a hint of her being uncertain, where they stood, in her voice, but the tone was friendly, almost apologetic. "Is that really you?" she repeated, now taking her turn in approaching the young fellow, slowly and carefully.

Suddenly the female dropped her guard, her aggression dying down. Charon didn't understand what was happening, which was shown by an uncertain look on his face and ears splaying to the side uncertainly. The female then mentioned his name, and her voice was familiar, but Charon couldn't quite place it. After all, to him the last time he had seen Osprey was nearly half a lifetime ago. He could sense the voice was familiar, but when he looked at the wolf in front of him all he saw was a pathetic old wolf that looked like shit. She definitely didn't look like anyone he knew. But then why was her voice so familiar?

"Yeah, I'm Charon," he said, eyes squinting in suspicion as he drew a little closer and studied her features. "Who wants to know?" Even as he looked at her face, Charon still didn't see it. He really did want to, but he couldn't find anything familiar to anyone he'd ever known in this wolf's body and face.

Osprey stopped in her tracks and looked confused for a bit. Sure she was aware that she was looking different from what she had been months before, but was it really that bad? Then she reminded herself that even Dante - one of her closest friends - had had difficulties to recognize her. Just the same way she had not realized it was him standing before her few days ago. 

She was seeking for an answer - a long time ago they had played a game. About knights, magic, dragons... there had been a Lauren too. But try as she might the names did not come back to her, therefore a witty introduction was spared. She also recalled that the last time she had met the boy, he had been too grown up for the childish games. So plain and simple it was going to be. 

"I... was your friend once," she said. "Osprey."

Ears remained splayed to the side uncertainly as the wolf introduced herself. His eyes widened a moment, and he sought the female's eyes, as though searching for confirmation that it was really his friend. He didn't recognise her at all, and try as he might, he hadn't seen any resemblance to the Osprey he remembered when he looked at her body, even her face. Only after he had a name to search along with and looked into her eyes did Charon realise that it was really her who stood in front of him. It was like a ghost returning from the grave.

"Lady Firecomet?" he asked childishly, perhaps because he was not a hundred percent sure yet or because he just wanted the confirmation, had to know for sure, needed to see the recognition dawn on her face when she heard the nickname they'd once made up for a game.

"That is the name," Osprey nodded and mustered up a smile, though in her current state and worn looks it might not have looked as friendly and cheerful is it was intended. "And you were. Sir... Knight Starchaser, if I am correct?" she was not 100% sure, because it felt like there was something missing. Therefore she lifted her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side, waiting for Charon to fill in the gaps in her knowledge. 

The very fact that he had remembered their hero-names from playing adventures together was heart-warming and for a moment she felt like a young wolf again, giddy to begin a game, do silly, foolish and a bit reckless things for the sake of having fun and not to worry about anything in the world.

His mouth felt dry as he looked at Osprey, still unable to believe that it was really her. This shadow of a wolf looked nothing like her, but the recognition he saw on her face when he mentioned her adventure game name was enough proof that it was really her. His tail wagged uncertainly, a strangely undecided look on the impulsive boy's face; torn between being happy that his friend was alive and back, or sad that she was in her current shape.

"Shit, it's really you," Charon said, and a smile started to spread across his face, tail wagging in excitement as he decided to put the sadder bits of their meeting apart for now. "I looked for you like, everywhere with my uncle Mordecai." Charon breached the gap between them and pressed his nose in the gap underneath Osprey's chin, pressing his head against the wiry, white fur of her chest, the fur of her shoulder tickling the scarred tears of naked, ugly skin on his shoulder and back.

"Why'd you return to Dante?" Charon asked, the distaste for Dante dripping through in his voice, and the next moment the excited thought boiled up in him that she could come live with him at Moonspear. They were super full, but it was Osprey.

It was nice to know that, when Osprey had disappeared, she had not been presumed dead right away. That there had been people, who had cared, who had not given up a hope, who had looked for her... It makes a big difference, if you know that you have made enough friends not to be forgotten that easily. And briefly she wondered, if Peregrine had been worried too. Or...had he known this at all. Given the strained relationship between the plateau and Caldera - it was very likely that he did not have a clue. 

Anyway her brother did not matter that much now as the fact that she had rekindled an old friendship - Charon's wolfish hug was very much welcomed and she returned the affection by giving a friendly nibble on her friend's ear. His next question - or much rather the way he said it - confused Osprey a great deal. "I don't think I understand, what you mean?" Dante was a dear friend of hers. Why would her return to the plateau would be such of an issue now.

Charon wondered where Osprey had been, but he didn't ask. He remembered when Atreyu had lost his leg, he had run, too. He'd run far away, and who knew where he had been in the time between; they had looked but somehow it hadn't made much of a difference. Maybe it was some kind of deeply rooted panic reaction, instinct, and it had obviously grabbed hold of Osprey too when she'd gotten lost in the fire. The important thing was that she was alive.

Osprey asked what he meant, and Charon unwrapped himself from Osprey's fur so he could look at her again. He sat down as he prepared to inform her of what she'd missed. "Dante didn't care at all when you were lost. He didn't look at all, and when I ran into him when I was out looking for you, I ran into him and he just went mad when I called him out on it." Charon frowned as he said the words, feeling a desire for revenge boil up inside of him, but he suppressed it, knowing it was easier and better to just avoid Dante.

Unbeknownst to Charon, by claiming that Dante had not cared about Osprey's disappearance, he had put his friend in a very tricky situation. Because she knew the plateau's alpha well enough to know that this was not true and at the same time she sensed that there was a tension between the two. For whatever reason. Taking a side would mean insulting the feelings of the young wolf and betraying the other, who had been in her life for a lot longer and meant a lot to her. 

"So - did you fight?" she asked, when she spotted the nasty scars on the youngster's flanks and shoulders. If that had been Dante's doing, then he either had more fire within than one would suspect. Or... he must have been very pissed off. She had never seen him losing control.

Osprey seemed to be in thoughts for a moment, after which she asked if he and Dante had fought. Charon noticed the way she looked at his scars, and he merely answered: "Yes." He didn't understand why Osprey wanted to be friends with Dante at all. Maybe she was just too sweet and thought that Dante did care, but Charon knew better. Maybe he had cared a little and what he'd said was exaggerated, but it would be better for Osprey to be away from someone like Dante. She deserved much better. If only she would see this herself, though. In his younger years Charon might have assumed she would, just because he saw it that way, but time and experience had taught him this was not always the case and so he waited with bated breath for her response.

Osprey did not know, what to say, though her first thought was that this kind of resolving conflicts was such a guy thing. Had Charon been her brother, she would have scolded him for this kind of silliness, but the young fellow and Dante had fought because of her, even if she did not fully understand all the reasoning. And this was... kind of flattering. A very girl thing to think. 

"So, I presume that you are not in each other's good books anymore," she said eventually. After all it must have happeend quite a while ago and maybe it was best to leave it there. "But I like you equally and love you both and I would hate to have to choose between you two," she smiled sincerely at the boy and then leaned towards him to give him a friendly kiss on his forehead.

Charon couldn't fathom why Osprey still wanted to be friends with Dante. He genuinely didn't understand where she was coming from; even after what she knew now she still wanted to be with him. "Do you love him?" Charon asked with clenched jaw, the frustration clear on his face. The question came as a surprise even to himself, but he didn't show that. He wasn't sure why he'd even asked.

"I'm an Alpha now," Charon shared, and he looked at Osprey imploringly as he asked: "Come live with me at Moonspear, Osprey. We'll take care of you." She looked terrible, which, to Charon, was just another sign that Dante was taking shit care of her, after never finding her in the first place. She deserved a superior home, like Moonspear, rather than living with Dante and his band of ragtag idiots (well, 'cept Casmir. Casmir was cool).

"As a friend - yes," Osprey replied hastily, not feeling quite comfortable with the sudden aggressive way Charon was addressing her. Whatever problems the young lad had with the leader of the plateau, she did not want to be involved. Ironically - she was the reason. No one had ever made her feel guilty or bad for having affection for somebody and she did not like that Charon thought her being a fool. 

"Your offer is very kind and I am proud of you for achieving so much, but I belong to the plateau wolves," she declined his offer in the most polite way possible, yet she somehow knew that Charon would take a "no" badly no matter, how well it was told. "Besides... I am an old wolf, but not that old yet," she tried to joke," there is not yet sand falling from me." To make her point she got to her feet, stepped back and shook her coat, hoping that it would be enough to even out the tension between them.

Part of Charon had expected Osprey to turn down his offer anyway, but he still felt resentment when she did. The careful way that she seemed to handle it made him feel only angrier, because it made him feel like she still saw him as just a kid. "I'm not a baby," Charon said, bristling, "You can treat me like the adult I am." If she had something to say, she could, rather than trying to smother the bad news in sweet words and compliments.

"It's not just because of that that I want to take care of you," he said with a frown, calming down a little as he tried to explain. "I almost lost you — I mean, I did lose you. I just... I want you to be safe, I want to keep you safe." He looked at Osprey with an imploring expression on his face, silently begging her to accept his offer. It was obvious that shithead Dante couldn't guarantee her safety. He'd proven that much. Charon wanted control over Osprey's health.

Osprey did not see Charon bristling, but she heard his tone changing and, how the air around them got chillier. She did not find this very comfortable, especially in her current vulnerable condition, therefore with her ears drawn back she took a step away from the boy. Not that she really beleived that he would attack her in a fit of anger, but the last thing she wanted now was a conflict. It was inavoidable, because she could not give him, what he desired. 

"Charon... I am grateful for your care and I am not slighting you by declining your offer," she spoke in a calm voice, hoping to avoid losing a dear friend for silly reasons. "But - if I asked you to come with me to the plateau - would you do so? It's not just Dante, I have a family there and I leaving them would mean letting them down. And I am too old to start my life anew again."

Charon still thought Osprey was wrong, but he had enough respect for her not to call her out on it again. It would be of no use, anyway. He just answered her question witha whatever to indicate the subject was done with as far as he was concerned.

Instead he breached a new subject by suggesting: Why don't you tell me what happened with the fire and about where you've been? Hopefully it would lighten the mood between them, even if it wasn't a particularly cheery subject.

Osprey had expected Charon to dwell on the subject longer and, since she was not good at arguing and disliked the very process a lot, she was quite relieved that her friend dropped it and moved on to a different topic. It was not pleasant either, for if she had a chance to turn the time - she would make the fire not happen. And perhaps the life would have been a lot easier than it was now. 

"I don't remember much... I was very, very afraid and I recall running very fast. But that's about it. I blacked out and, when I returned to my senses - so to say - I had no idea, where I was. And... yeah... I kept looking for a way back and... here I am," she shrugged, finishing the story, which was neither colorful, nor adventurous. If she could, she would put it behind her and pretend that it never happened.

The story wasn't at all as Charon had expected. "Oh," he said, trying to hide his disappointment but failing miserably. He'd hoped that getting her to tell a story would make her seem more like the old, fun Osprey. He couldn't believe that she would still choose Dante over him, not realising the bigger picture much at all. If Osprey were to ask him to move it'd be way different, after all.

Charon looked contemplative then, as though he was trying to find something to say to fill the silence that fell between them then; he didn't really have a bigger answer than 'oh', nor could he think of any questions to ask. And playing a game was the last thing on his mind in that moment.

For some reason the disappointment in Charon's "oh" seemed so funny that Osprey began to laugh. All things considered this was not her best story - if you could call the description of her three month long wanderings even that. "I should have spiced up my tale, shouldn't I," she said, and nudged the young wolf on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Added some dragons, magic and evil hags..." she mused out loud, while an amused smile was tugging at the corners of her lips. "Perhaps... even giants and something just as crazy," she looked at Charon and tilted her head to the side. "What do you think?"

Charon smired wryly when Osprey said she should've spruced her tail up a bit. Well, yeah, but you didn't literally say those kind of things. You just... did 'em. Charon shook his head; no use dawdling on it now. "Nah, whatever, it's fine," he said casually, eager to move on from the subject. Maybe things just weren't the same, and maybe they never would be. Maybe it would've been better if Osprey'd stayed thought-to-be-dead, so Charon could remember her fondly always.

He sighed softly and looked away, finding himself ashamed of his own thoughts towards his friend. "Anyway, you probably got places to be..." he said off-handedly, "I'm glad you're still alive." It felt like a lie as it passed his lips, which caused the churning guilt to tug at his mind again. But it was better than saying 'I hate that things are different than they used to be'.

Regardless of the reassuring words, Osprey felt that something about her friend's tone was off and she did not like it. It could probably be that he was still disappointed about her declining his offer to join his pack, but she could not shake off the feeling that there was more. As frustrating it was not be able to pinpoint the reasons, she was more sad, because it appeared that another friend was slipping away. She considered Peregrine - who had been the center of her life for the major half of it - as a lost cause, and the very idea that she might lose Charon the same way, was heartbreaking. 

"You probably have a long way back home too, don't you," she got to her feet and stretched, wincing a bit, when an ache run through her body. "The pack is planning to move up North to the coast. So... if you at any point wish to visit... you are most welcome. I will be waiting for you," she said looking at the boy kindly, thinking - I don't want to lose you.