Broken Antler Fen Between two points.

She didn't like to leave @Fennec's side for long, though there was good reason for straying today: she was on the trail of something juicy. Surely her daughter would appreciate a fresh, hot meal, even if Towhee wasn't entirely sure what she was tracking. It didn't smell like anything she recognized.

Her tracking led her over the river and through the woods, to grandmother's @Wraen's house we go. When the scents of wolves overwhelmed the one she was following, she stopped short and blinked into the nearby fen. Of course she wouldn't trespass, though maybe someone on the inside would want to pursue this mysterious prey with her.

Wraen had not returned to caldera ever since she and Maia had found the fen, which was nearly a month now. Time from time again she had thought - oh, I shold visit Redhawks - but then, as it always tend to happen, something came up and she postponed her visit again and again, and again. But Phox had stopped by not too long ago, nothing much had happened there by then and she pacified her guilty conscience with the fact that - if there really had been something very important going on, where her presence and knowledge of affairs had been necessary, she would have heard the call.

So it was a pleasant surprise and very convenient too that she happened to catch sight of Towhee, while on her patrol along the border. Guardianship was not something she aspired to pursue in her advancing years, but with their numbers still small everyone had to do everything. Her first instinct was to call out, then she remembered it was a total waste of voice, and approched instead and in such a way that she managed to catch the deaf wolves attention and thus not startle her. "Hey," she greeted. "Welcome to the Enchanted forest. Take a step further, if you dare to do so," she told her playfully.

A silver sylph soon appeared and greeted her, earning an easy smile from Towhee. "Heya," she called, probably overly loudly, snorting playfully in retort to Wraen's remark. With a theatrical flair, she took a step forward even as she said, "Are you aware you're harboring some sort of magical, mystical prey in here? At least, I assume it's from, like... the fairy realm or something, which would explain why I don't know the scent."

Her friend was a sight for sore eyes, a thought which made the smile slip from her face a little. "I'm hunting for Fennec. Have you heard...?"

"Be careful - they may appear appealing and easy to catch, but they will lure you on and on and on, until you will no longe know your way out of the forest," Wraen warned Towhee, referring to the legends about the white deer with golden prongs and how many a prince or a king had gone after it never to be seen again. 

She had not heard the latest news and misunderstood her friend's question entirely: "Has she disappeared?" Brow furrowed, eyes studying the other's face, trying to understand, what was going on. "We've not seen her here, if that's, what you want to know." 

It didn't escape Towhee's notice that the knee-jerk assumption about Fennec was that she'd disappeared. Well, she was a little flighty, though currently she was a bird with a broken wing. She frowned and shook her head, sort of wishing that was the problem. Of course, the Sovereign loved having her daughter nearby but not in her current state and not against her own free will...

"No, she's at the caldera. She's badly injured but recovering," Towhee divulged. That made her think of Maia and, since there wasn't much more to say in Fen's case, she asked, "Is Maia back to full fairy power yet? How're things going here?"

"Tough luck, huh..." Wraen say and did not have anything better to add. Other than: "What exactly happened to her - did she get attacked by the same freak that went for Maia?" But then, if it had been, then she supposed they should have been the first to hear about it. 

"Maia's fine - she is going back and forth to Caldera frequently," she said, not delving much in the details of her sister's love life. "Wanna come in?" she took a step to the side, inviting Towhee to legally trespass. "With a resident guide there are no chances that fairies will kidnap you," she said. "Though I can't give my word that kelpies won't make a pass at you - there is plenty of water around, plenty of water dwelling supernatural beasts."

"No, she wasn't attacked. She took a fall, hurt her ribs," Towhee answered. "As far as I can tell, breathing is a bitch for her. She can barely move. We're taking good care of her though, Maia's boyfriend especially." Even though the talk of Fennec's situation weighed on her, she managed a playful wink.

Wraen invited her into the fen and as Towhee took the first few steps and peered around curiously, she naturally wanted to know, "What the dump is a kelpie?"

"Oooh - that is very unfortunate. I hope she recovers soon," Wraen replied, not liking the sound of it at all. But if Towhee did not seem too worried, she trusted that the case was handled in the best way possible. When asked about kelpies, the story-teller was very much inclined to explain this in the manner of encyclopedia: A kelpie, or water kelpie, is a shape-shifting spirit inhabiting lakes in Scottish folklore... But then she thought some more. And "scottish" would be simply another "WTF word" to her dear cousin.

She decided to elaborate in terms that Towhee would understand best: "Well, let's say it's your season, you are lust-high, ready to hump a tree, if nothing better comes your way. And - suddenly - it does. The most gorgeous, sexiest baby-daddy comes your way, tells you: "Hey, come and hang out at my place!", wiggles his eyebrows, gives you a charming smile, body laced with double and triple meanings. And you follow him back home and... at the height of the moment you... drown. And he's like - buh-bye, sucker! - and shifts into a different creature and goes on about his business again. And that's a kelpie for you." 

Her brows raised when Wraen began to describe a kelpie's nature. She couldn't help but think of the prior mating season, when Wraen herself had behaved like... well, the opposite of a kelpie, save for the attempted murder. Towhee snickered at the memory, her mind then skipping ahead to the coming spring. But she reminded herself to stay focused, not get lost in her thoughts.

"Sounds kinda like me, maybe minus the drowning..." the Sovereign quipped. That made her think and she blurted, "They kinda sound like inky buses. I think that's what they're called? The females are called sucky buses. I have no idea where I got any of that from though, so don't ask." She laughed and flapped a foreleg dismissively.

"Will you show me your favorite place in the fen?" she requested in the next breath.

"Do me a favour - don't fall for handsome guys you meet by large masses of water," Wraen asked, laughing merrily and feeling very much at ease in Towhee's company. Save for Maia in her cousin's company she could swap rude jokes and not be the least worried that the receiving end might feel offended. Or that they might change their opinion about her general "old and proper wise woman" appearance. Why should she after all - the reigning Sovereign had witnessed her former leader at her worst. 

It took Wraen and her narrator a short while to decipher, what had been meant by "icky busses" and "sunky busses", but the more she repeated the words in the correct order, the more she realized - hey, I know these! Wikipedia for that matter has very interesting passages about Talmudic mythology, it would have proved interesting for the storyteller too, had she known of such a source. Since she did not - her mind and memory was her Wiki, she knew "succubus" and "incubus". "Succubus - a demonic enchantress, who seduces men - I think that there has not been a more appropriate description to you," she grinned. 

"Well, we can make it even better - we can find your favourite place at the Fen," she offered, smiling. "So, that, when stuff gets too boring or too stressful at Redhawks you can come here and chill."

Perhaps that's where she'd gotten it from: she was one! She smirked at her friend. Towhee couldn't argue and didn't want to. She enjoyed being described as both "demonic" and an "enchantress," though the former was arguably a lot more accurate much of the time.

Her smile turned soft when Wraen countered by offering to find her a favorite spot, a respite from goings-on at the caldera. She appreciated the sentiment and wondered if she should return it. The caldera had already become something of a refuge, so why not...

But then another thought crossed her mind, her face shifting again into a more serious expression. "Would you be up for a hunt? We could move it outside the territory if you'd prefer. I want to take something back for Fen to eat."

"That would be great," Wraen happily agreed to the offer. Fen's needs were a priority, of course, but she felt hunge tugging at her belly too. "The territory's huge, I am sure we can find a good spot here too," she said, not understanding at first, why would Towhee want to go outside, if... and then she remembered that they no longer belonged to the same faction. Silly, really. 

"And if it is a good one - we will name it in your honour," she added, winking playfully at her friend, then beckoned her to follow to a more remote and densily forested area for them to explore. "Not too long ago we - Maia and I - created memorial places for our siblings and parents," she told. "We learned that Terance - my brother and littermate - has been killed a while ago and the other sister - Sarah - has disappeared without a trace. And, while there are no graves to mourn and remember them at... we found landmarks that felt most fitting to, what they had been during life," the concept was beautiful in her mind's eye, but she was not sure, if it came out as such, when she put it into words.

"Not that I am planning to bury you somewhere here or anything - but it makes me feel more at home, when I name places. You feel closer to that person, even if they are not there at present," or would ever be.

Only as she pondered about leaving the fen to hunt for Fen did Towhee realize they shared a nickname. She chuckled quietly to herself, though the sound cut off as she refocused her attention on what Wraen was saying as she led her guest toward some woods over yonder. She didn't quite know where she was going with this naming business, though the tale quickly grew somber when she mentioned the fates of her siblings. Wraen didn't seem particularly melancholy as she imparted this information, though Towhee's lips couldn't help but slide into a slight frown.

A moment later, she surprised herself with another chuckle, louder this time, at her friend's off the cuff remark. "I, uh, appreciate that," Towhee quipped in reply before adding, a little more soberly, "And I think that's a great sentiment, about naming landmarks after loved ones. We've done that in the past as well," though of course they'd left a lot of those makeshift monuments behind in old territories. She would have to think whether she knew of any memorials at the caldera, from back in the day.

"I'm sorry to hear about your brother and sister. Do you know what happened to Terance?" Towhee asked quietly. She might not have asked if Wraen seemed particularly wretched about it but she didn't, so she gave in to her curiosity. Of course, if her friend didn't want to linger on the sad topic, Towhee would gladly redirect their attention back to their hunt.

"Sarah has disappeared without a trace some time early this year. She ran with my brother's pack and then left, was never seen again," Wraen explained, though it might be that she had assumed more details than she had been initially given. "And Terance died, while fighting off a cougar with his son. Maia visited his last mate recently and brought the news back," she said. 

"He had a good life," she added and shrugged, wishing there was more sympathy in her voice, more sorrow in her heart, but one cannot will, what's not there already. "It is odd, however, to think that my generation are passing away one by one," she looked in the distance, brow furrowed, silent. Deep in thought about something. "Who knows - maybe next year it's my turn to join them," she said, turning to Towhee.

It was entirely possible Sarah's story had a happy ending, if mysterious to everyone she'd left behind. But there was no such thing for Terance. Towhee's ears fell back as Wraen described a cougar attack. Apparently he'd left behind a mate too. That sucks, she thought eloquently, even if he had a good life...

"H'okay, Ms Morbid, let's not think like that," Towhee replied without missing a beat, shooting Wraen a look to imply that was ridiculous. She shoved away thoughts about the wasps' nest which tried to invade her brain (kinda like the wasps themselves). "Instead of our deaths, let's focus on the death of something edible, yeah? But just for the record, I'll totally name a landmark after you if you kick the bucket first," she added with a wink.

"Oh, don't worry - if I kick the bucket first, I will return to haunt you... until the end of your days. Afterlife will not be half as cool, if you are not in it," Wraen winked and took the suggestion of focussing on someone else's murder instead. They were walking past the wasteland area - the pool of water that had once killed a considerable bunch of trees during flood and never receded - and headed towards the area of the forest where trees were more sparse and gave them good ground for running after, if such prey occurred. 

"How's Niamh doing - I haven't spoken to her in... ages and I kind of feel guilty about. Since our last stint in the swamp, we haven't had any girls-night-out moments since," she mused.

That was probably one of the weirdest compliments she'd ever received and also one of the best. "I'm gonna hold you to that, you know," Towhee rejoined, her eyes cutting away momentarily to survey their surroundings thoughtfully as they continued padding through the fen in search of a game trail.

She faced Wraen again in time to catch her query about Niamh. When she followed up her question with a mention of their girls' day, Towhee's mind instantly went to her recent inappropriate conversation with her sister-in-law. Lips twitching, she answered, "She's doing pretty well. We've been talking about litters in the spring." And singing terrible verses about dongs, though she didn't mention that.

Towhee was just about to suggest they reconvene sometime, the three of them, but movement snared her attention. "Whassat?" she blurted, orange eyes squinting.

"Where?" Wraen snapped right out of her contemplation about warm summer evenings and the self-proclaimed coven splashing around in the swamp. Niamh had not felt enthused and Towhee probably had played along with then Sovereign's whims. They say that you have to be calm and compliant with crazy people, don't they? 

It was hard to see at first the animal moving against the white backdrop, but, when she realized, what it was, her eyes grew wide in wonder and even her mouth was agape, while she took in the sight. "An albino moose - who would have guessed," she said to herself. "Well, that guy is a bit out of our league - besides I think that this extraordinary mug must come with a curse or something," she turned to Towhee.

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9WnLz26Bwc !

SPOOKY BOY

She needn't have screwed up her eyes like that, since the animal that moved into their sight line was massive. Accordingly, Towhee's eyes went wide as she beheld the majestic—and shockingly pale—creature striding into full view. She even stopped and backed up half a step, missing Wraen's astute remarks entirely as her gaze remained riveted on the beast.

Those deer lovers would have a field day with this, the Sovereign thought a little crazily, rigidly staring until the moose swept the pair of she-wolves with his gaze and, apparently disinterested, began moving away. Towhee, of course, made no move to pursue him, in agreement with her friend's assessment though it had gone unheard.

"Dude," she hisspered when the moose was far enough away that she felt it safe to speak, finally looking at Wraen, "I thought you were joking about the enchanted forest. But you have the fucking king of the forest spirits living here, what the fuck!!!" As she exclaimed, her eyes were bright and she began to laugh loudly.

"Don't attempt to eat him though - who knows, what kind of crazy mumbo jumbo would happen to you then," Wraen remarked, following the grand thing with her gaze and thinking that it was a miracle it had survived here as long as it had. During summers this guy had to be an easy target for anyone in several mile radius. The only thing that spared him from a quick and sad fate, was its immense size. 

"And he was so kind to plough a path for us," she observed the trail in the snow that the moose had left behind. "We might as well follow this one and see - maybe there are more, where he came from," she suggested lightheartedly, sniffing the snow and sneezing, when something got in her nose. "You know - we - that's us and Redhawks - could join forces for a big hunt. We have elk here too," Wraen suggested, looking up to see, what Towhee thought of this idea. 

If you want, we can fade this out, once they spot something that they could actually take down. I am not a big fan of writing out prolonged hunting descriptions. :)

I'll fade here and we should have another soon!

"I wouldn't dare," Towhee murmured after catching Wraen's joking remark. Even if she'd had the entire pack with her, she didn't think she'd go after such a majestic creature. She imagined it would probably taste exactly the same as its standard-colored brethren—and she didn't actually believe there was any magic involved—but it seemed profane to even consider killing and eating such an extraordinary animal.

Next, Wraen spoke of a joint hunt and the Sovereign blinked at the thought. The idea of hunting with wolves outside the pack struck her as a little strange. But hadn't she mused about a feast in Bramblepoint? They were allies too, even unofficially, so it really wasn't that weird.

"Could be fun," she commented, "but what do you say we pick on something our own size? Better yet, significantly smaller. Like a harmless bunny rabbit." Towhee's voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Like that harmless bunny rabbit." She pointed at a hare off in the distance, exchanging a grin with Wraen before darting forward with a hungry Fennec in mind.