Firefly Glen caesar cannot be a fool

Charon had always been protective of Dhole. She was kind of small and a shit fighter, so he naturally felt the urge to protect her, because she needed it. And because he liked her, of course; she was his friend and was such an essential part of Moonspear and his life nowadays. Charon considered where to go, thinking of where this Goober dude might live. Redhawk Caldera was where Dhole was from, and he didn't want to risk spilling the beans to them. He could imagine she didn't want the whole world to know. Maybe Fitz or Mason knew something at Silvertip. Donnelaith wasn't a great idea, though it wouldn't surprise Charon if Dante was harbouring wolves that harmed Moonspear's members just to be a dick. Then there was Neverwinter Forest, which was new and therefore a real possibility.

And there was that coastal pack that he'd been told about, which was another possibility. Since Neverwinter was the closest, Charon considered going there first. It go one of two ways — either they knew nothing and everything'd remain the same, or they would know him. Actually, there were three splits in that road; they could, if they knew him, either protect him or hand him over. Each would determine so much in how Charon viewed them, since though he really liked Eshe he didn't care for Scimitar or the rest of the Frostfur family much. Especially if Jorunn would be living with them, like Flóki suggested.

A wolf on a mission, Charon wandered through Firefly Glen at night. He figured he'd reach Neverwinter around morning and he could skirt right around to Silvertip, assuming they didn't know anything (truthfully, Charon realised how very small odds were that anyone at all knew a wolf named Goober with no physical description or location, but at least wandering around searching for him made Charon feel like he was doing something to help). While he walked, Charon admired the stars, which were surprisingly visible tonight. It was a shame such a beautiful night was marred with the stains of such an ugly deed. Hopefully they would have their revenge soon.

Potema reached a glen, thick with life with the coming of spring. She had arrived just in time to harvest the new bounty that was flourishing in the Wilds. As soon as she came home, she would take Cicero with her to gather herbs — perhaps Damien too, if she could convince him. Had Inigo been with her, she would have commented on the smell of newly born plants in the night air, but the Mexican assassin had disappeared in the Hinterlands. A pang of loss struck her for a moment, but she tossed it aside. He would find her or go back home. Either way, he would be fine.

She continued forth into the foliage, the pelvis and its goods still tucked firmly in her jaws. The canopy was thick, like her home forest, but it was not dark and oppressive. Potema missed that, along with the harsh calls of ravens and crows as they flew above her. But, as the canopy was broken to reveal the stars above, Potema banished all thoughts of home for a brief moment. An admiration of the beauty above her took its place. She placed the pelvis down tenderly, then tipped her head back up towards the sky. Mother once said that the stars above were all of the souls that had escaped the Dark Brotherhood's grasp, laughing down at us, but that did not detract from their beauty.

Her ears cocked, she heard the sounds of movement nearby and turned her head towards it. In the distance she could see a wolf-shaped silhouette, but that was all. She could not recognize her childhood acquaintance from here. A memory of Inigo's mocking laughter — Ay yai yai, mami, you should open up more! — stung in her head and she called the wolf out of the shadows and into the light where she could see them. Hey, you! Blunt, but effective.

Alert because of the nature of his mission, Charon gruffly turned his head when he heard someone call out to him. Stepping into the moonlight, he was quick to get down to business: "Hey, do you know a wolf named Goober? He —" He looked at Potema and blinked then, remembering her face, but it took a second or two for the name to click. A smile took the place of the grouchy business-like expression on Charon's face as he recognised his friend. Though it was night, there was no mistaking her; the scarred eye giving her away as well as her white pelt.

His tail wagged lightly and his posture relaxed as he said, "Potema? That you? Man, it feels like forever since we've seen each other!" He remembered that he had just been crowned Beta when he had first met her. It felt like forever ago now, and since then he had been doing great. Charon idly wondered if the same went for his friend.

The wolf answered her call with questions. Potema, flustered by the sudden interrogation, felt her ears press back slightly as she opened her mouth to retort but was caught off guard. A familiar white and gray-speckled face smiled at her and after a brief moment, Potema let a smile cross her face. Charon. He was her only friend outside of Blackfeather Woods — her link to a world that wasn't filled with darkness, murder and deceit. Though Potema wouldn't have her life any other way, it helped to have a smile that she didn't have to pry through to find the malice hidden deep inside.

It has, hasn't it? Potema stepped forward, closing the distance, her eye flickering back towards the bone that lay behind her. She was fiercely protective of it even in the company of her friend. How have you been?

Charon's tail wagged a cheery beat at Potema, glad to be reunited with his old friend. He'd actually sent someone to Blackfeather Woods at some point — wasn't it Lex? — but Charon had never heard anything back about it. He wondered if she'd been holed up at her pack all this time, or if she had actually been gone and that was why he had not seen her all this time.

He did notice that she looked back at something, and it caught his interest; yet he quickly assessed it was just some bone or the other and quickly lost his interest. Focussing on the question, Charon answered with a confident smile, "Things've been great! I started that pack I told you about at Moonspear, that mountain back there." He looked over his shoulder at Moonspear's towering form and with a broad grin he added, "That one, the biggest one. The pack's been flourishing all winter." Though numbers were a bit low presently, at least they'd been high throughout the winter and they had easily survived because of his clever merger plan.

"Right now I'm looking for some guy named Goober, though. He attacked one of my wolves, so... If you ever run into him, don't get too close and come tell me where you saw him." Her lack of reaction to his initial question made Charon think that she hadn't met him so far, at least. "But how've you been?" Charon was not often genuinely interested in other wolves beside himself, but this was one of those rare occasions that he was.

A new pack, eh? Well, if they've been around for as long as Potema has been gone, their presence would have already been noticed by Burke and the Dark Brotherhood. Besides, Potema was not interested in gaining any information for the Brotherhood. For once, she smiled because she was happy for her friend. I'm glad to hear it She said, legitimately happy for Charon. Managing a pack through winter was tough; managing one as a child was even tougher. Potema looked over Charon's shoulder to the mountain, her single eye straining in the darkness to see the towering spire in the distance. Don't you get cold up there? And your paws must be aching. She teased. She couldn't imagine living on a mountain, but then again, most people couldn't imagine living in eternal darkness.

Hah, Goober? Interesting name, but I haven't met anyone bearing it. I would have remembered. She would have remembered laughing in his face, that's for sure. But I'll contact you if I catch wind of him. Potema would make sure of that. Unless Goober was a new Blackfeather wolf. Then she would have to reconsider. But until then, she would keep that a promise.

Me? Well, my mother passed over the winter. It was a blood sickness — I'm not sure if it was from her pregnancy or something else. But ever since they I've been travelling. It was hard to stay at home. Potema felt a pleased stirring in her brain and she relished the pride her goddess had with her now. It wasn't that far from the truth, but it hid it as well. Now I'm back.

Charon shrugged off Potema's talk of his mountain with a grin. Soon the subject switched to Goober, and Charon nodded. "Thanks," he said, hoping that she would find him and bring him to him. He did not tell her the nature of the attack, because he didn't want the world to know he'd let one of his wolves to be raped by a weirdo named 'Goober' of all names.

He listened to Potema as she spoke about her mother and said she had been gone. So that was why he hadn't run into her at all over the past half year; she had gone. "Sucks about your mom," he said, knowing full well the suckiness of losing a parent. "But I'm glad you came back. Are you... going to go back to your old pack? I mean, if you wanted to, you'd be welcome to join Moonspear." The pack had been very full through winter, but now they had some open spaces and Charon would love to fill them with a friend like Potema.

Glancing up at the stars, Charon said, "So... Are you just travelling and exploring, or did you come here to look at the stars? This is such a beautiful place at night, isn't it?" He wondered if he could entice her to stay around and watch the stars for a little bit. He could use a short pause before he'd go on his journey towards Silvertip and Neverwinter.

Death was a hard thing to deal with, even for those who deal death. Potema, while she had long finished openly grieving, flinched at the condolences Charon gave to her. Something about it annoyed her, but she let it alone. He meant it, didn't he? That was all that mattered...

Potema didn't know how Burke or her brothers would react to the thought of her defecting to another pack. Perhaps it was all within a plan that her stepfather had, but she wanted to go home first. Back to the darkness she had long missed since she left in the winter. No, I'm sorry Charon, She began, sitting back on her haunches as she gave her whole spiel. I haven't seen my family since winter. I want to know how they're doing. Maybe, if I can convince my dad I can come back, but I doubt he would let me go so easily after leaving for so long. I can visit whenever I can, though. She wondered how they are were doing, especially her brothers. What sort of madness had Cicero and Damien been up to without her? Potema hoped to re-bond with her elder brothers — it seemed like they had drifted apart as her training with her mother continued, and now that she had left, it felt almost nonexistent. It is, She agreed, looking through the darkness at the budding plants. I can't believe I met you here, of all places, at this time at night! I'm glad to see you.

Truthfully, Charon hadn't really expected Potema to say 'yeah, I'll join your pack' — though he was destined for greatness and there was something about their paths that kept them intertwined over time, he knew she had a family to go home to. Doubtlessly she would wish to join her own family. Perhaps time would bring them together in one pack at some point, but nothing but time could tell if they would. "I understand," he said. "You are always welcome to visit, or come to us when the time is right." Well, maybe she could not visit on the mountain until she joined, if she ever did, but at its borders and the nearby neutral areas they could always hang out some other time.

It didn't surprise Charon much that they should be reunited underneath the stars, of all places; the stars were his guidance and they, to him, represented the gods and whatever else was out there. The stars' greatness could not be underestimated and such a meeting underneath them seemed almost like a stroke of fate.

"Yes. You were a Naturalist too, weren't you?" he asked, vaguely remembering exploring Ouroboros Spine with her at some point after the fires had raged there. "Care to join me to try and decipher the stars some?" He glanced up at the skies; the night was fairly clear and though the view was not as good as it was atop Moonspear, it would do for now.

She was certain that she would return and see Charon when she could — Charon was her only childhood friend outside of her brothers and there was a bond that she had to the pale freckled male that she couldn't shake a stick at. I will, She promised, fully intending to complete that promise.

Outside of Teekon Wilds Potema hadn't pursued her trades like she had when she was here. She had backslid, her attention more on her priestly duties than that of a normal naturalist. But still she looked to the stars, despite the negative tales she heard about them from the dark witches and priests. There was something about their aloofness that she liked to admire and exonerate. She loved how their tone changed with the seasons — cold and uncaring in the winter, warm and bright in the summer. Potema smiled slightly. Sure. It would mean making her trip a bit longer than she had intended, but that didn't matter all that much. Of course she would spend a while watching the stars with her old friend. Who could ask for anything more?

Charon was pleased to hear that Potema wanted to join him in watching the stars. He looked up as she agreed, a smile on his face at the agreement, while he wondered aloud, "What do you know about them?" He knew a thing or two about them himself, of course, but he was curious what she knew nonetheless. Maybe it would be similar to his own knowledge, or maybe it would be totally different.

Potema made herself comfortable, laying flat on her stomach. Her tail curled back towards the pelvis, wrapping around it slightly in an unconscious gesture of protectiveness. Her single eye looked up towards the stars; it was a clear night, perfect for star-gazing. The white witch hummed thoughtfully. I do know that the constellations change through the seasons; there are winter constellations, summer ones... Though I don't know all of their names. Potema scanned through the stars wondering which she could recognize. She only knew a few and not even all of their names. Do you know any?

Charon looked up at the stars as Potema mentioned the difference between different constellations. He knew the stars shifted, though because he was only one and half a year old he hadn't actually heard that they differed per season. He wasn't around long enough to note this himself and Charon hadn't had a lot of mentors in his life; at least none that stuck around long enough to teach him more than the bare basics and a constellation here and there.

"I know the little dipper and big dipper. I don't think they retire in any season, well... That I've noticed so far." Charon searched around the sky for a while until he eventually found them. "Over there!" he said, though of course pointing with his nose was rather inacurate. He didn't realise this, however, nor did he realise that he hadn't even explained to Potema how they looked, making it pretty impossible for her to find them.

It seemed that neither of them were very adept in cosmetology, and that was fine with Potema. They would learn together then. She looked over the sky, searching for the Big and Little Dipper. I think they're part of a larger constellation, right? Something about a bear, right? She needed someone to teach her this crap.

Her head jerked in the vague direction Charon gestured towards, her eye widened. Was there a shooting star or something? He really didn't specify. Where?

sorry for my delay :) hope you don't mind a fade since it's been a while and i'd like to get some new bwp threads going ^^;

"Yeah," Charon answered, though truthfully he couldn't think of what constellation that was. If she'd ask, he would just gloss over it or start talking about other new constellations or something like that. When she asked where the constellations were that he was trying to point out without actually pointing anything out, Charon said, "Oh. There!" And he pointed a paw towards the sky to point out the approximate location. It was always hard to point out something as far away as the stars — maybe some day he would find out whether there was a mountain around where one could touch the stars real life. That would surely make it a lot easier.

The pair of them watched the stars for a good while before eventually each of them went their own way again. Charon was glad that he had seen his friend again and he hoped that their paths would cross again in the future.