The Sunspire for those who've slept

thread

she wakes to the sound of coyotes, their odd yipping calls dim and distant. the girl yawns, sliding salmon tongue over lips and rising stiffly, extending each limb in a tired stretch before gathering them all beneath her once more, offering a stiff shake of her pelt. she'd forgotten how much progress she'd made the night previously, and is pleasantly surprised to see so much of the range spread out before her, and a great valley beyond that. 

she steps toward the edge of the small plateau, oblivious to the fact that her mother had once stood here, long ago, when she'd run with a different pack. the coyotes fade into silence, and when it comes, it seems unbreakable. alone, so far removed from the flatlands, she feels an odd sense of contentedness.

and then she looks up, and traces all the lights with a detached sense of wonder. there had been no reason to look up to the skies in the haunted wood, nor blackfeather before that. the canopy obscured much of it, besides, and she had never had a reason to examine the night sky any more than she had. but here, it felt so much closer, and she wondered in reverant silence at the great canvas spread out all around.

she had to give credit where it was due; as much as she yearned for the protective woods of blackfeather, nothing could truly compare to the sight of the night sky from here. she felt emboldened by the earth's brazen reach towards the freedom of the expanse above and by riding on its back, she found she too could marvel at the luminescent orbs twinkling with an intimacy one could not reach back in the earth's confining grasp. up here, each breath of such sharp air charged you with a completely different energy that buzzed even in the deepest parts of ones being. 

nothing compared to a night like this; her gaze did not feel worthy of experiencing such an ethereal beauty. the inky darkness stretched forth as far as the eye could see and in magnificent, sprinkled patterns were the stars. twinkling mockingly down on those who wondered at their ability to exist in both such a diaphanous and stark nature. the air was so sharp that it stung to breathe in its purity, nothing but untained air and it shifted free from jaws in visible, dancing clouds to rejoin the skies. the beauty was not confined to the sky either, shadows prowled under every nook and cranny whilst the vivid snow blanketing their surroundings appeared lustrous in the silvered lights. 

it was only up here, gazing upon this that tundra came closest to ever finding true solace. in this moment she could believe that no matter what happened in her life, it was worth living to exist in these very moments. yet even in her reverie she becomes aware of the presence of another and dark eyes shift slightly to fall upon another feminine form a little ways away. the chill hugs each curve of her small frame as she shifts stiff muscles to peer over to the earthen girl. a twitch of her leathery nose brings a heightened cursiosity upon recognizing the nightwalkers' tang. something else seems vaguely familiar about her and it takes a few moments before- of course!

she recalls the conversation with the wiry shadowed man, he'd asked her did she know a 'hela' and she'd said no despite its familiarity yet now she remembers the incident with her and rowan and the ravine. yet when dainty steps weave her serpentine form forth, the words she simply opts to murmur whilst her slender muzzle points to the skies are: "they're something else aren't they"

she's not alone long, as seems to be the default in the wilds. hela twists to regard the silvered stranger that has come to interfere in her quiet solitude. hackles prick instinctively, and her stare grows hard. but once again there is that spark of familiarity, and then the memories that come at it's heels. this woman is no threat, she knows this clearly, and so deflates, though her attention remains firmly on her. 

a name does not come to mind, but merely the knowledge that she was once a comrade of her mother is enough for the fiery girl. the woman speaks, and her first instinct is to deny it. they're uninteresting, unimportant, and she has better things to do than stare at the heavens; she is a warrior, earth-bound and hard. but another memory comes to find, tinged with warmth and lighter things, and she swallows her pride. "yes." 

silence, then, as she carefully peels her gaze away and back to the sky, ever wary. "I knew about them once, I think. stories. I've forgotten." she does not know exactly why she volunteers this; only that it has been a long while since she'd been reminded of better things past, and does not want to lose the warmth the memory offers.

sorry for the wait! & thank you sm for the kudos<3

ruminative gaze trails the girl's transition from prickled defense only for it to face being pulverized into muted acceptance. she appears to have been spared a needled greeting by none other than that brief glimmer of recognition to spark across a coppered gaze. sympathy prowls tentatively about the fortress of her sporadic heart and yet it is held back by steeled soldiers, tundra may not know a lot about the seemingly fiery girl but it appears safe to assume that any displays of pity would be the exact kindling needed to nurture such a flame into a roaring fire, or perhaps just quench the little spark of life and send a hollowed wraith on its wearied way. she leaned more towards the former yet nevertheless....it is with an aloof glance that she draws away from the bewitching twinklings above to graze the ashen girl. there is something so peculiarly reminiscent about the most fragile of hitches to accompany the brief build up to that exhaled 'yes'. yet it is with a nonchalant flourish that she brushes it off; too bold of her to decidedly see something of herself in someone and let fondness blossom in place of that based off of a reproachful 'yes' in admitting these intricate beauties. 

perhaps it is just the nature of being at this particular location on this very night, the air seemed electrified and it could be just that that evoked such melancholic wonderings. the unease to dance tenderly from the girl is slightly more noticeable, more solid before she opts to speak again and still tundra is so careful not to let her gaze appear prying in nature as she follows her look to fall upon the wondrous expanse above. cassiopeia..her mother was after all, named after the stars themselves and is bittersweetly that she recalls murmuring such facts to moonshadow under the exact same sky yet under circumstances oh so different. both that chapter of her life and the woman she'd spoken of, hela's mother, were gone forever. nodding slowly, the spectre hums soft agreement whilst recalling her own fragmented memories of such stories. faolon with his hushed whispers so filled with hope and excitement, it is difficult to keep the resulting wince so inward. "many stories have blossomed into existence because of the stars..which i suppose makes sense because as small as we are in comparison, we will never be bestowed true facts about their nature. in an effort to satisfy ourselves we conjure up such stories, i guess it gives some a sense of stability. thinking too hard on the fact that they could be and mean anything can be hard to handle for some"

eyes cast down to focus on the young girl once more, from wishes to inform her of the constellations and how her mother's name also belonged to those very stars to curious queries on her life at nightwalkers, they all clamour to be heard yet right now she simply murmurs; "do you recall any fragments? i do be curious to see how many stories have grown so close to fact that most wolves pass them on as so"