Heron Lake Plateau Sunburns

Nevouku had been quietly settling himself into the new territory. With Sebastian having not appeared, he was beginning ot worry. Had he truly upset the other so, so much that he had left? Nev had been feeling rather panicked thinking this, thinking that Seb had had somehow gotten hurt. Where was he?

Perhaps @Towhee would know...So he sought her out, hoping that she could at least give him an answer. But no matter the answer he would no doubt stay, for he had an obligation to.

Whatever the outcome of her conversation with her godparents, Towhee decided the best use of her time right now was marking and patrolling the borders. She was roving along the foot of the plateau, headed toward the thicket to climb up into the territory proper, when she saw a familiar silhouette in the sky ahead, headed toward the treetops.

"X!" she shouted before she could think better of it. But if it was him, he either didn't hear her, or he ignored her. The bird kept moving, skimming away along the canopy and quickly disappearing into the distance.

Not sure what to think—and honestly trying to convince herself it hadn't been X at all—the yearling ascended into the main territory and began heading toward the lake for a drink. En route, she stumbled across Nevouku. He looked a little lost, his hoary features creased with concern. Towhee didn't blame him. The plateau was rather large and it was entirely possibly he'd lost his way.

"Nev," she greeted him, walking closer, "looking for something? Someone?"

Nevouku heard someone, and saw that Towhee had found him first. "Y-Yes, I am-" he paused his speech, recalling how it was difficult to speak with his stutter to Towhee. So he tried speaking slowly. "Yes...I was looking for...for Sebastian" he managed to get out. "I'm w-worried for him, and wh-where he's gone, and...and..." He hadn't meant for all the words to suddenly spill out.

Putting all of her concentration into reading Nevouku's lips was a welcome respite from all the thoughts and feelings plaguing her lately. But as soon as she figured out what he was asking, a dose of confusion was added into the mix. Towhee hadn't been there personally but she knew Sebastian had informed her godparents of his intent to stay behind and make his own way versus come along for the move.

"Sebastian isn't here. He didn't come with us. I'm not really sure where he went, but..." She shrugged. "You can find my Uncle Elwood or Aunt Finley, they can tell you more. Or you should find his son, Ben." She was surprised that he even came to mind, since Towhee hardly knew him except in passing (something she should perhaps remedy). "I thought he was your stair-brother or whatever? He didn't say goodbye to you?"

Nevouku felt rather sad about that. So...he didn't come along then. Had Nev returning sent him away? Or was it something else? Nev just could not stop blaming himself now, thinking that coming back after all this time made something snap. 

His ears perked...Son? Sebastian...he had a son? "It...it got complicated" he answered, trying not to nervously stutter.

She couldn't help it, she snorted (loudly) at the word "complicated." "I know that feel," she murmured, then shook her head. This conversation wasn't about her and she didn't want it to go that direction either. She needed a respite from the burdens she bore lately.

"Sorry about that," she said rather generically, then offered, "Why don't we get your mind off it with some sightseeing? I'm sure there's all sorts of cool stuff to discover about this place." By now, she was already familiar with the peripheries. But Towhee needed to spend more time exploring the inner depths of the plateau territory.

Nev glanced at Towhee as she snorted suddenly. Then tipped his head slightly as Towhee apologized for it. "Y-Yeah, we can...we can go do that" the nervous wolf answered back to her. It would make for something to take his mind off away from the sadness and guilt he was feeling, believing that it was his fault. "Whe-where first?"

Towhee ran her tongue over her teeth as she contemplated where to head. After a moment, she came up with an idea. Wordlessly, she motioned for him to follow and began trotting toward the territory's namesake: Heron Lake. She still needed that drink, plus she now had a little adventure in mind.

"How do you feel about swimming?" she asked him upon reaching the bank.

He glanced over at Towhee upon hearing her question to him. He had done swimming before. His face fell a little upon when he learned to swim...

"Y-Yes" he answered, nodding his head. "It's fine w-with me. I can deal with c-cold water..." Sometimes, at least he could. And as this area had a lake with it, he may as well get used to it as much as he could.

She studied his face for a beat, then decided to take his response at face value. "Good, 'cause we're headed there," Towhee replied, lifting a foreleg and thrusting it toward the small islet a few dozen yards offshore, "to see if there's anything interesting there."

After exchanging another quick glance with Nevouku, the Alpha led the way into the water, wading in until it reached her belly, which instinctively arched. She then held her breath and plunged into the depths, legs beginning their cyclical motion as she doggy-paddled toward the isolated chunk of land floating out there on the calm waters.

Nevouku followed, putting on a bit of a smile, albeit a bit false. More to hide his nervous feelings. They reached the water's edge, and he stood at the water's edge as Towhee began to paddle about. It reminded him of his first time swimming with...her...

He shook his head. He couldn't think back to that, not now. To take his mind off it, he dipped his paws slowly into the water, a bit chilly for him.

As soon as she hit the shallows and found solid ground beneath her feet, Towhee hoisted herself onto the shore, shook mightily and swiveled. Nevouku was still wading near the bank. She clucked at him to hurry up, then turned and scanned the small island with her sharp orange gaze. There wasn't much to it, though she strode toward what looked like a shady copse of trees clustered at its center.

Nevouku huffed quietly after Towhee clucked over at him. Well...here went nothing. He started back...then started to run towards the water before going right in, kicking about as he ignored the cold water. He kicked and kicked and kicked, not even realizing he was close to the small island.

She just assumed Nevouku would eventually reach the island and join her. It wasn't like they could lose track of one another on such a small parcel of land. She soon reached the shady thicket of trees and stepped inside. Towhee immediately felt calmer than usual as she peered around the sun-dappled clearing in the center. Oh, yeah, the Alpha thought to herself, this is totally gonna be my hangout.

Nevouku made it to the island, and there he was with Towhee. "Wh-what are we doing here again?" he asked nervously. Yes they were meant to find something interesting...or something like that. "It's...nice and small...but what exactly a-are we looking for?"

When Nevouku came to stand close to her, Towhee turned to read his lips. It always took her an extra few seconds to compute what he was saying, though she managed well enough.

"We're just having a look around our new home," she replied with a shrug. "Think I'm gonna stake a claim over this place. I like that it's a bit secluded." She paused, then made sure to add, "Not that I won't let anyone else here or anything. I just think it'll make a cool hangout, especially between patrols."

As if to give it a test drive, she scratched out a spot in a patch of sunshine and flopped to the ground. "Ah, yeah." She rolled onto her side, then partially onto her back. Towhee's eyes closed and, for the moment, she became rather insensate to the world.

Nevouku looked about the spot that they were at. It was certainly secluded, definitely. A spot to rest at...if one could get past the swim and no doubt he would not always do so. It was cold water, and he didn't like cold water. He just watched as she scratched at a spot, then laid down. 

The nervous Nevouku kept quiet, and instead just sat his rump down towards the ground.

With no way to see or hear his movements, Towhee didn't know what Nevouku was doing or if he was even still hanging out nearby. But when she cracked open an eye, she saw him hovering nervously. She rolled her eyes, a motion lost as she sat up and bit back a chuckle. She didn't dislike him or anything but he was very awkward.

"I'm gonna take a nap, I think. You're welcome to hang or head off, whatever you want to do," the Alpha said dismissively before flopping down again, shifting to get comfortable. As she began to drift, she found herself wishing she could show this place to X. Before she could so much as frown inwardly, she tumbled into the darkness of dreamless sleep.

Nevouku glanced away when she saw him just sitting there. "I-I might...just go over here" he said to Towhee, even though she wouldn't be able to hear his words and he went off a bit away, then laying on his belly. He huffed quietly against the dirt, and tried to get some sleep. But the constant state of being on his nerves prevented such good sleep so he remained awake.