Stone Circle I will find any way to your wild heart

Kaito let up a call for @Arlette, and paced along the side of Easthollow that bordered the valley out to Flycatcher Downs. He knew the way from here to Little Goat Mountain, knew the length of the trip. Less than a week, there and back - and maybe there was someone better to invite along, but his pale friend was the only one in Easthollow who had seemed even remotely interested in the art of healing. This, he reasoned, would be good practice for her. Besides, her mother seemed to agree. She had given him the permission to ask Arlette along, after all.

But would she even be interested in coming at all. He knew he hadn't been unfriendly recently, but he had built a wall around their friendship and his feelings following Vespera's exile, and that had already been two good months ago.

Oh well. He, at least, was quite tired of the distance he'd set with her. Hopefully she wouldn't tell him off... hopefully, spending some time away from Easthollow together would give them time to talk away from her father's prying eyes, and give them space to smooth out whatever rift he'd wedged between them...

Arlette heard the howl, and frankly she was surprised that he even called for her. Kaito had been distant to her for the last few months. It really made her quite sad. She really liked Kaito and had a big crush on him, but she had not liked how he just ghosted. it wasn't really great for her self esteem either.

She felt stupid for even responded to his howl, but she was being sour about it. She could understand that he didn't like her, it would be unfair to hold a grudge for it. The female trotted to him tentatively. He probably wanted to give another lesson for which she was grateful. The female dipped her head in greeting. Her ears held back submissively, wondering what he was going to ask of her.

He found his heart fell at the way she approached him. Apprehensive, and submissive, more like a timid underling than a friend before an equal. Kaito's ears swivelled back, but just as quickly, he perked them forward, and lighted his feet to cover the final steps toward her.

"Arlette!" he greeted, with a cheerful grin, but stopped short of giving that friendly bump on the shoulder he might've offered, if she didn't seem so uncertain, and if he didn't feel the same, and if their circumstances were somehow so much different.

"Have you ever gone to the mountains before?" and he clarified, "Like, the far mountains that you can see when you're at the edge of Fox's Glade, and you stare out across the meadow, toward the forest on it's southern side?" He found himself both prepared and utterly at a loss on how to broach this question. Was it best to beat around a while? Ask straight up? Rip the bandaid off and deal with the pain at once? Probably that, but he gave pause, so he might gauge her response.

Arlette looked a bit surprised when Kaito greeted her so cheerfully. Her ears perked up a bit curiously. She was kind of confused by all the moods that Kaito was showing her. First, it seemed like he didn't want anything to do with her and now, here he was back to being kind and charming. Arlette nodded slowly. "Yes, but I got lost," she admitted softly. Not one of her proudest moments. Plus it had been rather scary because she was all alone.

"Uhh well, not really that far then. I was planning on going to the other side to visit Aunt Ira at Kaistleoki but I never reached the other side." As she said it she was feeling stupid because why did she have to be so honest and come across like a total loser!? She wondered why he started about this subject. "Why are you asking?," she wondered.

She really hadn't gone far at all -- not that Kaito had expected anything different, after Valette had told him as much, but by her age he'd already been... well, everywhere, since as far as he knew their ages were largely the same. Arlette's ignorance to the Wilds excited him more than anything, because just think about it: if she had only been in Easthollow, there weren't many places he could take her here to impress her at all (and really, she'd been the one to impress him with every new sight so far). But he had the okay from her mother to "take her out" (and take that as you will), and that meant he had the world to impress her with -- a world that, between the two of them, had long only belonged to him.

If she didn't say no, anyway.

"I've gotta make a trip down South to collect some things, and I thought it might be nice if, y'know... if you came along with me. It's, uh... safer to travel in pairs, anyway, and I thought y'might like to learn how to carry dried herbs over long distances, since that's what I'll be getting," he drew his paw over the ground, "plus, I, uh... I'd like to spend more time with you." Somewhere not Easthollow. "And if it's anything, I um, I asked your mum, and she's cool if you came."

Arlette had not gone far from Easthollow, and when she did, the female gotten lost. The thought of traveling made her a bit uneasy, especially alone. She didn't want to get lost again. Arlette listened curiously to the male. He had to travel south, that sounded far. So it was a lesson. A super long lesson. Arlette instantly thought that she should definitely ask her mother if that was okay. Was she okay with being alone with Kaito, yeah no, she would be okay with that!

Her mouth opened slightly when he said that he wanted to spend more time with her. "Really?," came from her mouth before she could stop it. It was clear disbelieve that could be heard in her voice. She instantly flushed. Arlette felt not confident enough to address that yet. She cleared her throat. "Really? My mom agreed?" she quickly tried to save herself. "Does she know we will be away for a while then?" she asked curiously. She looked over her shoulder to the stones and then felt her heart flutter. She used to love exploring with Nuna. She had been fearless then, not afraid to get lost. But now... She didn't want to abandon her family.

Arlette battered her red eyes at Kaito. "I'd like to go," she then admitted with an excited smile she tried to contain. It was probably better to be away for a bit. Her mother did not have her heat yet, and she knew she wanted another litter. It was probably best for Kaito not to be in Easthollow when her mother was in heat because Greyback would be even more intense than normal. That said, perhaps her mother would go in heat once they came back. That was another worry for later.

I didn't proof read any of this, hopefully it all makes sense hahaha

Yeah, really! he insisted, for he'd meant every word, and it was about time he start owning up and acting on these things that were really quite good -- like wanting to know her, wanting to be her friend -- in light of Greyback's misgivings, with the hope that he might prove him wrong. But oh - wait - that wasn't what she was talking about. His ears grew warm, he simply kept smiling, and nodded on, Yeah, I asked her the other day, and I told her it'd be a longer trip, five days, give or take. She's down for us to go, as long as you're cool with the idea, too.

Which she definitely was, alright! The way she looked up at him through those soft eyes of hers, sometimes like the sunset, sometimes like roses, today like the sweetest of the summer berries. His heart fluttered in his chest, and he recouperated with a laugh. Kaito could see her excitement eeking through the shyness she hid behind... gosh, she was beautiful.

How d'you feel if we leave tomorrow, then? Just before dawn. That'll give us a good day's worth of travel. And we can tell your mom now -- er, would that be weird? He doubled back, with a side glance, and a chuckle -- well, I mean we, as in, you, or me, or both of us, y'know, whatever's probably better, I mean I guess you'd know better.

Arlette felt charmed that he already went to her mother to ask permission. It was clearly something he had thought about then. That excited her to think about, because well, she had a big crush on the male and she had hoped that he wanted to do things with her, even though, lately it had not really seen that way. "Yes, I'd like to learn more about carrying herbs and plants," Arlette spoke.

The female nodded once more with wide eyes. They would leave tomorrow! "Do I need to bring anything? Or I should probably have a full stomach before going, right?" she questioned. The female smiled softly when Kaito seemed to stumble over his words. It was very cute. "Uh yeah, we can go see her. I want to say goodbye, or well, not goodbye as in forever," she stated. "You can join me, if you want," she offered.