Great Bear Wilderness We get to carry each other

@Burke - as promised and if you have time! :)


When Osprey had lived in Blacktail deer plateau and wandered more often than she had now, an almost accurate map of the surrounding territories was kept in her memory and helped her more than once return home from particularly far and adventurous journeys. Now, however, as she traveled down South, taking a different, unknown route, with a vague sense of the direction and the big red "X" at the place she had to end up, she found herself a bit lost between the third and fourth day of her journey. 

On the upside - the weather was still pleasant and nights were warm, therefore hours spent on sniffing around, taking in the landmarks and doing some star-gazing in order to get back to the right track, weren't that bad. She tried to think positively about this - as a way to refresh her skills that had got a little rusty from lack of use. However, in the afternoon of the fourth day, when it was clear that she was still within the "terra incognita" and no idea, how to get either forward or turn back, she gave up and stopped to take a rest by a lake (Big Salmon lake on the map). ...............................................................

I might have squealed a little bit!

after meeting the curiously build female at the meadows Burke decided he wanted to go a bit further. The male was quite thirsty too, so once he male located the water it was his new direction. Burke would have to rest there, or maybe continue if he felt like it. The large male drank from the water once he reached it. The male also realized he hadn't been in water for a swim for a long time. The large male walked deeper into the water while drinking until he didn't even have to bend his neck. With a simple push of his back paws he was swimming. The last time he went swimming was maybe even before the harsh winter. Sure he had been a bit in the water to dabble with his paws but not swimming like this.

The male scanned on the horizon of the big lake as he swam. His eyes fell on a wolf further up ahead. His keen vision noted that it was a grey wolf. Instead of swimming all the way, which he would never be able to do, Burke made it back to the banks of the lake. He shook out his fur before checking out this wolf. Burke was instantly surprised when he saw Bullet. His pale eyes roamed over her and he let out a chuff in greeting. Last time he had greeted her with Osprey, a name he caught, and hoped it was a real name. But she had not even reacted so Burke decided to let it go. "Fancy running into you," he spoke with a grin on his maw. He had send out a spy to find her and the one time he was outside of his kingdom he ran into her. The fates played weird games.

Help comes to those, who... wait? Osprey was not sure, if the quote she had in mind even went like this, but it fit well to the occasion. She had dosed off in a dreamless sleep, though part of her mind was still aware of what was going on around her. A skill she had learned, while a lone wolf in the wilds. The only time, when she truly let her guard down, when she was sure that Dante was by her side. 

This time she woke up to the sound of the water splashing, moving and dripping, as if someone was getting out of the lake. Good thing it wasn't any of the sea-monsters she had been told about as a kid and thus large part of her childhood had been spent as far away from any large  from any big sources of water as possible. No. It was a wolf - wet to the core, but before she began to wonder, how much liquid the wolf's coat could soak up, she realized that this was a familiar face too. 

Burke, wasn't it? As always their rendezvous were unexpected and not planned. "I see you are running with the water rats, nowadays," she returned. "Can't say that pleasure is all mine," she teased him and chuckled, thus indicating quite the contrary.

Burke lifted his muzzle a bit. His docked tail might have been wagging a bit as he stepped closer to her. "But of course. Isn't that like the highest honor in life, being accepted by the water rats?," he spoke in return at her. He was obviously joking about that. His pale eyes returning back to her. Wondering how she was doing. After she had given advise to him about how to deal with the loss of his mate. Burke had never seen her after that again.

The large male wanted to ask how things were at her side but normally when he would ask such things he could get some other reply instead of what he wanted to her. Take her name for example. "So annoyed to meeting you here right now," he returned to her on the same tone she had used. Because from the inside, Burke was pretty..... happy that he was meeting her again.

"Awfully unfortunate, but - oh well - we will have to endure each other. For a while at least," Osprey finished their little round of introductions and courtesies and dipped her muzzle politely. She got to her feet then and stretched, figuring along the way that Burke must live somewhere nearby, since they kept running into each other in this area, and that he might be willing to help her out in getting back on the right track. She might be wrong, but Redhawk Caldera must ring a bell. 

"So rat of the rats - I believe that you not only dwell in water, but enjoy the mainland too," she asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Tell me, do you know, how far a certain pack is? Redhawk Caldera to be exact?"

Burke dipped his muzzle too with a hint of a grin, after all, he did find it quite funny. Before it would actually have been like that, them enduring each other but now it was quite the opposite. The male listened to her inquiry and wondered what she wanted with the Caldera folks. Burke did know where the Caldera was and seeing that it was on his route back he could offer to sort of walk her there.

Burke let his pale eyes fall into her. "Few hour walk, if you walk it right. How about I will bring you in the right direction?," he grinned. Mostly because then they would be walking and not be standing still doing nothing. He could remember faintly that it had been the case before that this female had not wanted to sit still. Maybe he was mistaken but he wouldn't mind a stroll with the grey lady.

"That sounds just like about, what I need," Osprey retorted, trusting that the man knew, where and how to get there. And that hopefully he was not going to trick her. THough she was on friendly terms with this guy and he turned out to be a pretty decent one, once you got to know him better, he still had an aura of mischief - a jester by nature. He could be all nice and noble and helpful next-door guy and at the same time he could be a villain and get you in trouble, should he happened to wish so. 


"And you better not cheat," she added playfully, "because you know perfectly well, that if you mess with a hag, you might end up with not just a bunny tail, but with ears and teeth too. Let's go - lead the way!"

Burke grinned at her in that mischievous way. He saw it as one success that she even trusted him to bring her there, or at least in the right direction. The male raised his muzzle. "Why would I even want to trick such a fine lady like you?," he spoke, though there was a hint in his tone that he still could. Burke would see how things would go. He had his fair share of meetings with the female now and seeing that his last meeting with her had been surprisingly helpful Burke was not really planning on tricking her today.

He started walking, heading towards the Caldera, after all he had passed it several times, on top of having paid a visit twice? Maybe more. He could not remember really. "So how is life at the coast?," he asked, like he knew where she was living now. He only had a hint from Cicero that suspected they moved there, and he had spoke to the pale female before that he thought of being in the same pack at this female. She spoke about a move to the coast. He could always try.

"Yeah, why would you ever," Osprey smirked and bumped Burke lightly with her hip, hoping that he had learned from the last year and that he was not going to topple her over, by shoving her away by what he thought had been a light touch. 

She did not remember, if she had told him about the move and, where to exactly, therefore she did not ask, how would he know her whereabouts. Just the same way they kept running into each other at the most unexpected moments, she accepted that at some level this guy knew more things about her than she had revealed so far. 

"I don't know, how much you are interested in my marital status - but let me boast just for a second - I am married now," she told him and smiled. "And has any pretty lady caught your eye? I mean, you are old, but - I dare say - still a good pick in the market."

Burke disliked to hear about the fact that she was in fact mated now. He had the feeling she wouldn't be on the market long and if she had been single in the first place but she had. The male let out an over acted pout. "You just broke my heart," he let out dramatically, though there was some truth in it. He always had a strange connection with this female, she kept on interesting him, probably because she kept so much to herself unlike other females that kept on babbling. The large male kind of liked her in his own way, hence why he would exchange stories with her or bring her to the location she needed to be.

Damn. Though, if he was honest he would not have expected that she would ever come with him to his dark woods. "Nope, most are annoying and very unlike you," he admitted, plus in his pack were not any females that could ever replace Meldresi. She had been quite the woman. If he were to settle for someone then it would be for this grey female that interested him, but now he knew she had been taken. Still that did not mean he couldn't steal her away, but then there was the question if she even wanted that. "I don't think I even want a mate," he lied to himself. "Losing Meldresi was tough enough."

"Oh my..." Osprey played along and looked away shyly, therefore missing the opportunity to observe that although this was a joke there was more meaning behind it. Would someone ask her, where would she put this guy on the acquaintances-allies-friends-lovers-soul-mates scale, she would not be able to give a definite answer. Though not being particularly fond of him in the beginning, she had learned to like this guy and the simplicity of the relationship. Playful, not too serious and without any commitment to each other. They did not owe anything to each other, they didn't know much about each other's lives beyond these brief meetings, they could be themselves.

"Just don't do anything stupid," she warned him. "Jumping off a cliff is never an answer to problems." He then went on actually giving her a compliment - not-annoying person - which had to be the first in their shared history. "Don't give up on love - I talk from the perspective of the oblivious and insensitive fool that is still very much in love with her mate, of course," so you can take this as personally as you wish. "It will hit you and sweep you off your feet like a boulder falling from the hill," Osprey said smiling. "And either you will be squashed like a pancake or manage to scramble out alive. How's that?"

I totally forgot to reply to this! So sorry!

Burke battered his eyes to the side at her as she looked away like that. If only it would not be true. Yet his rational mind wondered, because this female was probably never going to be accepted in his pack, and he was not leaving his pack for her. It wouldn't have worked out even if there was a small side of him that might have wanted that. Maybe he was just selfish and he wanted someone in his den next to him.

To make matters worse she continued, giving him some advise that he should not give up on love. The large male let out a soft grunt, though he could vouch for her being oblivious and maybe even a bit insensitive, he himself had a bit of those traits too. "I'd rather skip love," he spoke to her skeptically. Besides he was probably not going to find anyone who would fit his pack or would be interesting enough for him.

"Yeah..." Osprey shook her head. "Doesn't sound like such a nice thing, once you describe it, does it? But it... will be ok." She brushed against his shoulder with her own. "That's probably the lamest thing to say, but it has proven to work one way or another." The subject was exhausted then and she fell silent, thinking about Dante and what was he doing at this very moment. As much as she enjoyed being on the road again, she felt the pull back home too. 

"I know that you are probably the last person to ask this," she began again, "but do you have any parenting advice?" From the bits and pieces Burke had let her know about his past, she knew that he had kids, even if he hadn't had a chance to play "dad". "I might be welcoming my own to the world in a while and I am just curious. Feel free not to answer, should you wish so."

Burke shook his head, because it really did not sound nice. And once you lost this love thing it felt even worse how she described it. Especially when the one you love dies and you have no power to stop it. No power to save the one that is close to you. The large male thought about that night and how Meldresi had grown so weak. He had been so oblivious. He thought she would make it with some rest, alas he was not a healer. Plus it seemed even the healer itself could not find a cure for what she had.

"Excuse you. I happen to be a very competent father now. I have two thriving young back at home," he stated to the female, acted like he was a bit offended, honestly he was glad for the topic change. "I do not have the point of view of a woman though, but what were you curious about? Just general advise or something more particular?," he returned to her with a question.

"Do you? That's lovely!" Osprey said and smiled at Burke. For some reason, knowing that he had kids and from what she could tell - was quite proud of them - made the his role of big bad wolf less scary. And - who knew - maybe in that tale, where a certain girl with a red cap and her granny got eaten - the villain also had kids at home, who waited for him to come with prey. "How old are they? Sons or daughters or both?"

"Well, I am not asking you the point of a woman - I think I will manage that part," she grinned. "I am more interested in the general stuff. Any wisdom to pass on? "Do"'s and "Don't"s? Random stuff?"

Burke nodded to confirm once again that he was in fact a father. A widower actually, but this female knew that his mate died. "A son and a daughter and they are around five months," he returned to her. In fact he had many many more and he had lost count to be honest, but he was not telling her that, it would be most likely that she would run into one so he was going to take that risk.

Burke thought for a moment, the do's and don'ts. Well, don't ignore them that was a good starter. But he doubted this female would ignore her young. "Don't be too restrictive or protective, they should be able to make their own mistakes. A most definitely do is to find a lot of babysitters or pack members with a caretaker trade. Not because you was some free time but because the socialization is important. It creates early pack bonds," he returned to her.

"Let them make their own mistakes - check!
Find babysitters - check!
Bond with other pack members - check!"

Osprey made a list in her mind with her eyes closed, but speaking loud enough for Burke to hear that everything was heard and would be remembered. In truth - these three things weren't anything new to her. Yet it was nice to hear that her theory had been proven to be right elsewhere too. 

"Five months is a challenging age - when I had to babysit my younger siblings, they began to annoy me around this age greatly. Not exactly kids anymore, nor adults. Inbetweeners, sort of," she chuckled, looking back at those times and thinking about her then-self, who had sworn not to have kids of her own. Ever. Yet here she was - actually looking forward to it. 

"So - what kind of dad are you?" 

Burke listened to her repressing the most generic things he could come up with. He mostly just did what came natural to him, and that was be their protector and mentor. It was just easy for him seeing that he was already a guardian and mentor. The male nodded at her comments, though he did not have a lot of trouble with the both of them yet. "They are sort of in between, but they are both very driven and not that annoying at all. They really focus on their trades. My daughter already has her first trade actually. They want to do well and work with the pack. I did not have any difficulties so far," he returned to her.

Burke liked to be in control and he was pretty strict too. He did not treat his kids any differently. The large male smiled a bit at her question. "A strict one," he spoke like it was something obvious. The male quirked up his lips a bit more. "But I am very proud and supportive too. I give them boundaries. Though I do feel like these are more mellow and easy going. Maybe later when they are true teenagers they will give me even more grey hairs."

"Now you made me feel old," Osprey remarked, when Burke told that his five month old daughter had already claimed her first trade. "I haven't even had a patience to finish any of mine." Then she laughed at the irony. She was five years old already, for God's sake!

"Army discipline and all that stuff, I know..." she teased him a little, but was actually grateful for him sharing his experience in the life-long experiment called "Raising a decent child". "Will they?" she mused, looking Burke's almost monochrome gray coat up and down. "Pray, what color you were before then?"

Burke shrugged with a grin. "I think it depends on where you let your priorities lie. Kendra, my daughter, loves her plants. So it was only natural for her to play with them and learn from their uses," he explained. She had that from her mother after all so maybe it did came natural to her. Kendra was a good child. She was determined and never to lazy to do something.

Burke glanced at her with a hint of a smile. He did not run his pack like an army, but he let her believe that. "I can't look into the future, maybe they won't." He paused to think. "Not sure. I've been grey for a long time," implying that he had children from a 'young' age. Basically as soon as he could father them. Though it could also be implied differently.

"I guess, you are right. I didn't have intentions of pushing my children to something they would not enjoy or like," aside from the most crucial and basic survival stuff. Learning, how to hunt and scavange, how to run long distances and defend themselves - she knew that Dante would be adamant about aspect of education too. 

In response to Burke's statement that he had been gray for a very long time, Osprey gave him one long look with narrowed eys and finally said: "I think that green would sit well with you. Though I don't see, how this color can turn to gray over time. Without taking the phases of being yellow second and brown third. " Amused by her silly musings she began to laugh.

Burke could only nod in agreement. He lived in a dark pack but if his children were not dark then he could not force that on them. He would have to make them leave after they could take care of themselves. Burke trotted along side of her. Her statement reminded him of his own mother. She had a lighter grey fur, especially as she grew older, but she had green eyes. But maybe this female and her silly thoughts were thinking about his coat color being green.

Burke liked the sound of her laugh, he still did. "You sound happy at least," he commented to her in return. "I like the dark better but if I have to chose I think I like green too, or... blue." They always came to the most silliest topic's. He missed that.

"Happy, you say?" Osprey repeated his statement in a form of question, looked amused for a while and then nodded eagerly. "I guess I am. And if that makes you feel better and since I nearly ever give you praise - you are one of the reasons," a friendly banter, no double-meanings. It was always exciting to push and tease relentlessly this otherwise serious and business-like wolf to show his humorous side. 

"Blue is nice, but green is more practical - you can pretend to be grass at any time of the day, if you want to," she continued their silly conversation. "Though you have advantages in terms of camouflage already. You look like a big rock already!"

Burke nodded and glanced at her. Especially if he compared it to the last time she was pregnant. The large male looked at her with a skeptical gaze. He was about to comment on that when he realized that she spoke about him making her happy. He scrunched up his face. "Don't over exaggerate now," he stated with a bit of a grin.

As always they had to make their silly conversations. Burke actually liked it. "Perhaps it would, but it winter I would stand out. Deer might think I am a bush," he joked at quirked up his lips. "I think I like my grey color I am sporting now. Though that would be something. I know my daughter dyes the tip of her tail purple. Not sure what the thought behind that is."

"Cheer up, grumpy-face," Osprey responded, "you won't hear another compliment in a very, very, very long time, so savour it, before it goes stale." Though it was clear from Burke's expression that even he was not immune to a bit of honey poured in his ears - as silly as the saying sounds. 

"Well, you have to admit that she has got some style," the gray she-wolf found the piece of knowledge about Burke's daughters shenanigans amusing. "Just look, how cool her father is already," she cast a glance over her shoulder at Burke's bunny-tail.