Sunspire Mountains Waiting for a friend

@Birk

Gwen trotted through the Sunspire Mountains, hoping to see Knew. She longed to chat to him and laugh, and have a good time. Last time was fun, so why wouldn't the next be? She hadn't opened up to anyone but him in the Teekon Wilds. It could be a lonely place at times, though obviously it didn't look that way. She continued with a smile on her face, eyes bright and cheerful. She came to a halt at a clearing and sat down. This was exactly where she had met Knew. He'd come here if anything, right?

She waited and waited, the smile never disapearing, but she didn't know that her friend wouldn't be coming today.

ooc: thanks for starting! :)

Birk had not intended to stay in the Sunspire area for this long, neither had he intended to try and climb any of those big masses of rocks that stood like a solid border between this part of the valley and the other. Yet fate is fate and after another vain chase of a mountain goat, who proved itself to be more agile and quick than it's pursuer, he found himself on a rocky ledge, where the ground seemed just a bit too far down for him to attempt to jump. Therefore the only possible choice for him was to get on a path in hopes that it would somehow at some point would lead him down.

Somewhere along the way he caught scent of another wolf - a fresh one too - and his excitement to meet another soul in this otherwise barren environment grew to the point, where his steady walk changed into a fast trot. Eventually he found the "prey" he had been tracking - it was a beautiful she-wolf sitting quite alone in a clearing. Birk was just cheeky enough to assume that, whatever gods were there, had put her in his way on purpose. And that the only right way was to approach and talk. 

He did - with confidence, with friendliness radiating from every pore of his body, with a good-natured smile and steady "How you doin'?" he closed the distance between them.

No problem!

Gwen had sat, beginning to frown, for a long time. It took her a while before she realised that maybe Knew was busy today. A sigh escaped her muzzle. Oh well, I'll see him again another time, she mumbled to herself. Though she knew it was pointless to deny that she was disappointed. The white wolf was so focused on the land around her, and the silence of the mountains, that she had no idea another wolf was behind her. The voice made her jump, and she whipped around. Her hackles already risen, she blinked at the stranger in suprise.

[i]"How you doin'"

She remained frozen for a moment, before trying to calm down. She relaxed and her hackles retreated again. "Uh.. who are you?" was her quiet response. She hadn't expected to encounter any other wolves besides the one she had originally come to see. Hopefully this one wasn't aggressive, but he didn't seem like it so far. He was, though she'd never admit it, handsome, and his fur was very similar to Gwen's own. She eyed him curiously. What did he want?[/i]

How stupid of me... Birk thought to himself, when he realized that he had scared the girl by his sudden approach. For a moment the mask of the confident ladies-man shattered, revealing a startled, surprised and slightly disappointed expression. Yet he was able to collect himself quickly and the fact that the girl seemed to relax also helped him a great deal.

He settled down and directed his gaze politely away from the she-wolf's dark blue eyes to a point that was located somewhere between her cheek and chin. Maybe the calming signal would help her to ease up more. The last thing he wanted was to be attacked by a fear-stricken valkyrie or cause such panic in the lass that she would dash madly off the trail and go down-hill. The path could be dangerous after all. "A friendly stranger. My name is Birk. May I know your name?" it took him all his strength to stay simple in his introduction, though he would have loved to add "polar beauty", "snow-queen", "enchanted by your dazzling looks" and "faithful servant", but he reasoned that this kind of eloquent matter would rather put the girl off than encourage her to talk to him.

Gwen listened to him, giving a rather distinct expression of peacefulness. His words gave her comfort - he didn't seem like the kind of wolf to attack her, so in return she'd be polite and respectful. "Oh.. Nice to meet you?" she said with a tilt of her head, adding "My name is Gwen."

Where this wolf actually came from, she had no idea. She must have been engrossed in the surroundings. He didn't meet her eyes, and she was thankful for the politeness, but it was uneccessary. "You don't have to do that," she spoke, her gentle voice barely noticeable.

"That's a w... nice name," yet again Birk had to stop his inner verbal volcano and not get too carried away in describing all of Gwen's virtues. Some girls liked to be flattered, but he was yet unsure, how compliment thirsty was this fine specimen in front of him. Plus, he did not want to appear either crazy or desperate.

"So, Gwen, what are you doing here alone in the mountains, hm?" he asked, now letting his eyes admire the enchanting gaze of his companion for a while and then have them wander casually over her frame. She was good-looking - no doubt about that.

The girl noticed his gaze falling onto her, but she didn't seem to mind. She was still shy, of course, but it seemed she was in luck. So far she'd only met friendly males, Knew and now this one - Birk. "I'm just..... well I was.... waiting for a friend. But I don't think he'll be coming today."

She frowned slightly again but thought otherwise and politely smiled at him. He had amazing eyes, she'd give him that. They were golden, and though she'd met many with golden eyes, his were.... different. Though she had no clue what she meant by that. Studying him silently, she noticed that he had a medium build, similar to hers, yet she was thinner.

"Oh, that's unfortunate," Birk said with sympathy, even though he thought that in this situation he was the one, who benefitted. Had the friend come, he would not have had a chance to talk to her. And that would have been a loss, indeed. He hoped, that whoever the guy she had met had been, it would not show his snout here now. 

"I can be your friend, if you wish so?" he offered without much thinking. It was an impulse of a moment that he said so. What he meant - a friend for this particular moment - not the long-term commitment, that required hard work, mutual trust and understanding. He loved his freedom too much to form strong and permanent bonds with anyone here.

Gwen nodded "Indeed," though she didn't realise that he hadn't really meant it. As Birk mentioned the possibility of perhaps being a friend, Gwen raised an eyebrow (as much as a wolf could) but said simply [b]"Sure, why not."[b] Having friends was something new to her so she would gladly accept all the friendship she could get. It was just a matter of if they'd stick around.

"Wonderful," Birk exclaimed, making a little jump on the spot too, because he was happy that Gwen had accepted his offer to become a friend. Even if it was for the next hour and they would never run into each other again. She seemed like a decent girl - from what the white wolf could tell after their brief interaction so far.

"Okay... so, friends start by getting to know each other right? A-a-a-and they have to have something in common," he regarded her with a quizzical look and then went on. "We are both white - so that counts. And we are wolves - score! What else? Your favorite color, perhaps?"

Gwen chuckled slightly at his jump on the spot. "Right...," She managed, then hesitated. She was trying to think what to say when Birk decided to take over with questions. A little like Knew she thought, then pushed that to the back of her mind. Knew wasn't here right now. Only this charming wolf na med Birk. "My favourite colour?" she blinked. "Blue, I guess." She'd never really thought about a favourite colour. But she liked blue.

"I could lie and say that it is the same for me too, but that would not be very honest, would it?" Birk mused out loud, tilting his head to the side thinking about the question himself. He did not particularly care for colors, but... "Mine - white, probably. I have seen it for the most part of my life. You know - Ice fields, snow. Everywhere."

"Let's carry on," he was eager to continue the question game. "What would you do IF you somehow ended up alone on the moon?" Birk shot the most impossible thing that came to his mind. He had seen super-moon not too long ago after all.

White - what an interesting colour choice. His fur was white, though, and maybe he was proud of that. But mine is white too.... Just a coincidence. She almost chuckled at herself, but he threw a question at her. She just blinked for a few moments, trying to take in the question. What am I supposed to say to that?  "Uhmmm....." she said, then replied "I don't know... I guess I'd try to look for someone else... then try and find food... and if I couldn't then I guess I'd die." she finished, in a rather amusing tone.

"Oh... wow... you are quite realistic about your prospects on that barren land," Birk nodded, while he himself tried to think of a more fun way to... die? "You know, from that perspective I think I would not stand much chances either. So - I guess we would have a common fate there," he closed the topic, leaving out the possibility of finding the edge of the moon and falling back to the Earth.

"I think it would be fair, if you asked a question to me. I have had my fair share of them already," he tossed the ball to Gwen's side of the field and was curious to see, what was she going to do about it.

Gwen chuckled slightly "I don't think there are many other options up there." She wagged her tail slightly. It was an odd conversation they were having, but it was enjoyable. She'd never been asked so many questions in such a short space of time. Especially such an odd one.

A question. What did she want to know about him? She would have liked to ask a humerous one, but she decided that she should probably ask something else. "Where did you come from?" She asked on instinct. She'd always been asked that question, and perhaps it was time to ask someone else. Plus, she was curious. Where had he come from?

"Me - that's a simple one. From far-far-away in North, Ice fields for most, kingdom of Ice giants or Jötunn for people, who reside there," Birk explained. He had been asked this question before and never grew tired of it, because, though life at his home had been quite harsh and all about survival, it still held a dear place in his heart. Snow and ice and bears included.

"That's about it in regards of the exciting stuff about my former home. Everything else is plain boring and dull," the excitement about the Ice field lasted as long as you were not hungry or were not suffering from the awful pains of frostbitten fingers and balls. "What about you - though you look related to my kind, I feel that your story is different."

Gwen listened intently. Ice fields sounding really cool! She hesitated when he asked her in return. "I could go on about my story.... but I'm afraid it's rather long and boring - not to mention depressing.... But I'll tell you a little of it." She replied, nerves growing slightly. She despised telling her story, so she decided to recap a shrunken bit of it. Besides, it still hurt - even though it was such a long time ago. "I was born in Alaska - I don't remember the exact location. I fell in love with a wolf but he...ehem.... left me, so I decided to leave and go somewhere else. I continued to travel for around a year before coming to stay at the Teekon Wilds."

"Alaska - then we have almost been neighbours," Birk exclaimed, without realizing that the distance between them could have been measured in thousands and thousands of miles. The rest of the story, however, made him feel a little uncomfortable. While good at listening, he was not particularly good at giving advice or finding the right words to say to make the person in question feel a bit better.

"I think that the guy might have lost a very precious gem," he told her. First impressions could always be wrong, but since he probably was not going to see Gwen again or in a very long time at least, he was at liberty of making assumptions as false as they could be. "I don't see any reason, why anyone would leave you. You are good-looking, young, smart and nice. What else is there to look for?" 

"Would've been rather interesting to have met you then, haha," She chuckled. Though she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they had met then. Would they have had a similar conversation? She smiled and blushed slightly as he said his next words. Then sighed, "He left me for my sister - guess I wasn't enough for him." She said with gritted teeth and a hint of bitterness, which was rare from the ivory she-wolf. Then she shook her head and muttered "I'm sorry, I shouldn't bore you with that... situation."

Nah, you shouldn't - the Devil in Birk's mind smirked, but compared to him the actual man felt sympathy towards Gwen, because even with his limited understanding of the women's emotional world, he could see that this was a bitter topic. He hated the idea that someone had done her ill and that she was still hurting. 

"Alrighty... to make it even, I hope that you will never get dumped that way again. Fate owes you that," he said with a good-natured smile. "Let's go back to looking for things we have in common. What about your favorite food?"

She was glad for the change in topic, as it was beginning to make her anxious, though that was soon gone when Birk went back to asking questions. Gwen's tone was much more happy when she replied "Probably rabbit, though Elk is good too, when we actually take one down," She chuckled. "I'm actually trying to get the Hunter Trade, so small prey is kinda the only thing I can catch at the moment anyway." The space around the two was cold and frosty, with snow covering the ground like a white carpet. A beautiful one, though. According to her anyway. She knew that many wolves disliked snow.

"Rabbit, I guess, is just as good as a snow-shoe hare. A common thing - score again!" Birk yelled again, so that his voice reverberated against the cliff walls and the echoes could be heard far-off. The white wolf looked at the snowy ledges above them thoughtfully, then turned to Gwen and asked: "You don't think that there will be an avalanche, do you?" 

A moment passed, nothing happened and he was ready to go on with the game again. "Elk is good - I agree. But have your pack tried to deal with moose? They are scary as hell in the breeding and birthing season. Wouldn't want to meet one eye-to-eye then," he shuddered, recalling one such encounter that could have ended very, very badly. But didn't.

"Snow-shoe hare? That sounds... peculiar. I don't think I've tried that... I mean, I might have...," She said before looking up as he mentioned the possibility of an avalanche. The thought hadn't before occured to her. They were both silent for a moment, then Birk continued to talk about moose. "Moose? Ugh," she shuddered "Nothing scarier than an angry moose." She almost chuckled with agreement, though only a smile was given. Moose really were scary up close.

"Exactly! They are crazy-ass beasts," Birk nodded, happy that they were both in agreement with this topic. And the one about avalanche not happening. As romantically dramatic it could be to be burried under masses of snow with a lovely girl-survivor at your side - he did not wish that to happen. He still had other things to live for.

"But they are tasty though," he recalled the one time his pack had been able to take one down and they had feasted for a week or so. When food usually is scarce, then one, lengthy memorable meal stays in your mind forever. "You know, I always thought that nasty creatures have nasty taste, but the moose I ate did not. Maybe somewhere beneath the nasty and ugly there is some good too."

"I know right!" She exclaimed. She let out a small laugh and nodded. "I've only ever eaten one, but it was so good! I wish I could have had more, but they are just too difficult to take down. Besides, I don't think my pack would even be up for such a big hunt. We are a pretty small pack." She wagged her tail slightly before asking "Have you ever seen a baby moose learn to walk? It's a magical sight.... until you get chased by an angry adult that's spotted you," she crinkled up her nose.