Firefly Glen for what it’s worth

March 15?

Currently, Ying's priority was servicing Moonspear. She didn't know many details, but based on what @Arcturus had mentioned, there was a threat looming about. The guardian took up residence in the Glen, digging a small den to use during her stay. This morning, and for each that followed, she planned to perform small patrols, with or without company.

they were instructed not to leave moonspear alone -- arcturus took one last glance back at the eminent rise that was his home, and did so anyway.

his reason was simple: while patrolling, he had caught wind of ying's scent. she was nearby, and once he was alongside her, he would not be alone, would he?

a low call split through the fen as arcturus nosed her tracks, surprised to find them leading to a makeshift den made by ying's own hand. "you've made yourself at home." the mountaineer cracked dryly, a wave of his tail given in easy greeting.

Arcturus's arrival was unexpected, but not unwelcome. She had come to enjoy his company; he was attractive, like Revui, but with a less overwhelming presence. He was greeted with a cheerful bark and playful tail-wag. 

I am here a lot, Ying explained, It is like, maybe, a second den. Her first home was on the island, in the small ditch she'd found with Ruo. It would have been more comfortable were it not for the constant sting of saltwater.

Turning toward their recent path, she asked, Want to walk? They could complete another patrol, and if she was lucky, have another insightful conversation.

ying's bark and tail-wag were met in turn with a fold of his ears and a jocund smile; it seemed these days his hours were dark, but when ying was around, she made his life just a little brighter.

he fell in step alongside her, pleased she had read his mind. their patrol would take them away from the den towards the northern expanse of moonspear. this segment arcturus did not frequent as much as he would wish -- it was full of rocks tumbled down from the mountain and was dry and desolate country.

"where do you live, ying?" arcturus broke the silence with an eventual question, one ear turned to receive her answer.

By the sea. Technically, she had more than one home. The island was the territory which she most frequented, but Ying considered the territories surrounding it to be claimed, along with the bay which sat down the coastline. Telling Arcturus that the entire coast was hers seemed too ambitious.

Ying stopped for a moment to investigate an unfamiliar smell, but decided that it was likely harmless. The Glen was rife with prey; it was more likely to be a deer than another wolf. Do you always live on the mountain? she asked, turning her attention back to Arc, It is very pretty there.

"i've always wanted to live by the sea." arcturus confided in response, feeling the duality of his being tear implicitly apart. he was moonspearian -- the mountaineer -- and yet, the thrum of the waves enthralled him.

he had visited it only once, as a child with his father. the memory caused a flit of pain across his features, and he quickly recomposed. "you say the mountain is beautiful - i say the sea is beautiful." the grass is always greener, wasn't it? "maybe, it is that we are viewing strange things with fresh eyes -- and that makes them seem prettier." he found only the tallest spire of the spear beautiful - and it was the sky, not the stones, that held his attention. "i've always lived there. i was born on the mountain. were you born by the sea?"

I've always wanted to live by the sea. She was curious to know more, but withheld further questions. Instead, Ying proposed, Maybe, we switch. For a small time, I come climb the mountain and you go swim. Arcturus was a hefty man with a build not unlike her own. If that was any indication of his skill, then, Be careful to not sink.

Many of the benefits to coastal living had been devalued with time. Ying no longer enjoyed the solitude, nor did she take pleasure in the unique scenery. It felt strange being there, almost foreign.

It smells so bad there, she warned him, I stink a lot, probably because of how long I am there. Bane's comment on her odor had struck a cord which, since their conversation, she had not been able to quiet. Ying hoped that Arc hadn't been offended by her stench.

ying's suggest was not without merit. arcturus lifted his head from a patch of grass he'd been inspecting, considering it lengthily. it seemed... doable. he felt ying was capable -- more capable possibly, than he -- at fulfilling his role at the spear.. if their roles were reversed..

except for one hang-up. "i do not know how to swim." arcturus mentioned with a tone of shame. there were no deep pools at the spear, only streams and rivers -- he had never forded anything more than a trickle of water. the ocean had seemed terrifying to him.

ying mentioned the smell; arcturus was taken back to that day he had encountered piper. the rush of waves, the roar of sand and water -- the wind.. the brine..

he had loved it. he inhaled deeply, wishing now his nostrils were full of that briny air and not the stifling scent of damp pines and earth.. "i love that smell."

Laughing, she confessed: I don't know, too. She was short and stocky, neither of which contributed to her swimming lessons. Sometimes, she felt left out; while her cousins and siblings enjoyed the oceans, Ying was often stricken with anxiety to even be at its side. She smiled, remembering her evening with Astaroth.

Aningan, Astaroth, and now Arcturus. Was it happening again? She looked up at him, awe-stricken by the illicit kindness of his response. Ying couldn't help but wonder about his intentions; why wasn't he being cruel? She had become so accustomed to oppression that now, she was unsure of how to react.

A moment after realizing that she'd been staring, Ying turned back to the path ahead. She allowed a rabbit to serve as a quick distraction, though it scurried too quickly away for the huntress to attack. She sucked her teeth — Oh, man. — and turned back to Arc.

arcturus was in disbelief; ying truly did not know how to swim?

he met her gaze deadpan, for a moment lost in the strange tension that lingered in her eyes. unequivocally, it was evident she was telling the truth. yet still...

he answered with a snort, long at last breaking the lull of disconnection that had slipped unseemingly into their conversation. what had happened? had he said something perturbing or off?

at last ying moved after the fleeing form of a rabbit, quick to relent once it was clear there would be no meal between her teeth. arcturus caught up to her besides the trail, his tail waving loosely behind his hips. "not the kind of intruder we're looking for," arcturus attempted in light joke, glancing down the slope where moonspear and the fen met. "i hope we're better guardians than hunters."

Hey! she barked, You are the bad hunter. The need for humor was understood; becoming too immersed in the world's evils was not good for the psyche, and she had seen how taxing that road could become. Ying sighed and continued onward, reorienting herself along the Glen's perimeter.

Each step was partnered with slight apprehension. Ying had become incredibly self-aware, noticing each of her mistakes during their walk. It was an uncomfortable state of being, so to distract herself, she asked, Do you think, one day, you will be good at hunting? Do you hope?

arcturus glanced after the hare wistfully. seeing it had roused his hunger, but their duty was to patrol.. and it was best to conserve their energy for better endeavors.

he could always hit the cache later.

speaking of poor hunting, the cache was something arcturus relied on more often than not -- ying was correct, he was not a great hunter. most of his successes had either been pure flukes, or wild collisions of good luck. "well, i won't get better if i hang around you." arcturus quipped back, poking his tongue out ever so slightly in a i'm-not-serious-tho expression. he thought that the tension had dissipated a little by now, and rounded his shoulders out in a loose shrug.

fade?

Ying rolled her eyes and scoffed, shaking her head in obvious disagreement. She thought herself to be a much more competent hunter than was truly the case. Her knowledge had been learned through a series of losses, each one more embarrassing than the last.

She pushed onward, saying nothing more.

arcturus chuckled under his breath at ying's scoff - he liked that she had such a healthy dose of self-importance. it was a valuable trait, the ostrega believed -- after all, did he not come from a bloodline of extremely haughty and self-involved wolves?

a comfortable quiet slipped between them. between busying themselves with inspecting the path, and looping back and forth, there was not much need for more conversation. arcturus found himself patrolling with ying until sunset, in which he bitterly made his leave and headed back to the colder climes of the spear.