Blacktail Deer Plateau When the world turns ugly I just turn and look at you

Open for anyone! Feel free to jump in anytime, I need to get more into practice with him

Bam. Dante shot awake, breath coming hard and mind disoriented. He got to his feet, legs shaky, and tried to steady his racing heart.

The nightmares were back.

He didn't remember much about them after waking, just the scent and taste of blood. And the joy. That horrible, wonderful rush. He knew that it was the blood that made it rise within him, his sleeping self reveling in the death that surrounded his consciousness. It was a memory, a long ago fight, blood staining the grass about him as he walked. Whose, he did not know. He had never felt such joy in another's suffering, not even when he was younger. But in dreams he was the monster he feared that he had been, the one he thought perhaps he may become again.

"Shit," he cursed softly, the word stumbling off his tongue awkwardly. He was not one to speak so harshly, but holy hell he had thought they were done. Since his rise to Beta, though, once again his sleep was plagued. He had started putting off sleep most nights, trying to wear himself out as much as possible before resting so that he was too tired to think, let alone dream. Sometimes it worked. Some it did not.

One thing was for sure; he wasn't getting more rest tonight. There was still some darkness left, but he rose, starting at a slow walk towards where the trees thinned. Mayhaps he'd do some stargazing until the sun chased them away. That would help to ease him, for he still felt shaken, his legs trembling and senses on high alert.

For most part Osprey enjoyed sleeping a great deal and her dreams weren't troubled by nightmares from the past or possible horrible things that could happen in the future. She was content in the present time and had no worries. She could simply live and enjoy all the little joys life offered to her. A good and successful hunt, quality time with her brother, a new idea for a story to come up with.

However this night she had found it hard to fall asleep and enter the realm of dreams, therefore after several unsuccessful attempts to shut her working and buzzing mind down, she decided to leave her den and have a stroll in the night. It was still dark and quiet and she was overcome by this odd sense of safety, knowing that none of her kind was around. She looked up and saw a sea of millions and millions of shiny stars.

This reminded her of Crete, who she had not found in the end, Atticus, who had always known more about stars than her and her father, who had learned to read them so well and whose talent and knowledge had died with him. It was a little surprise that she soon stumbled upon another nightbird. This was one of the wolves that had recently ascended to the leadership, yet she had not spoken to him yet.

Osprey sniffed the air and felt his tension, this worried her a little, but since there was no seemingly obvious case of danger around, she decided that there might be something that was troubling the guy from within. "Good morning to the fellow early-bird," she approached him slowly and greeted politely.

A pleasant voice sounded behind him and he turned to see a pretty, familiar looking she-wolf approaching. "Good morning, Osprey," he replied pleasantly. It had only taken him a moment to recognize the girl as Peregrine's sister, remembering her reappearance at the pack meeting. The name was also easy... her niece did make an impression, after all. "I don't believe I've had the pleasure of introducing myself yet. Dante. What has you up with the stars?"

He was still troubled, but her presence soothed considerably, for it allowed the dream to fade back from the present and feel more, well, dreamlike. The cool night air, not yet replaced with the warmth of morning, was also doing wonders for clearing his head. Sometimes Dante was glad for the sleepless nights, for they allowed him to enjoy this beautiful time. Sleeping through the night caused one to miss out on a lot of the beauty of it, and while he would not become nocturnal (he liked the feel of the sun far too much), the night had it's own pleasures to be enjoyed. It was isolating, when you were the only one awake, but nice too.

"Well... it is pleasure to meet you, Dante," Osprey picked up his very polite tone, even though the mischievous glint in her eyes betrayed her inner amusement of official way she had been greeted. Of course - being a beta came with certain duties and attitudes - so in this manner Dante had not failed. Yet... it didn't cease her sudden urge to tease him a little. This is what happens, when an unmarried spinster finds herself alone with a good-looking, good-mannered fellow.

"There are two versions of the story," she said, looking up at the sky and smiled, because her reasons for having a stroll in the night were not related to stars at all. They just happened to be there. "Which one you want to hear it - the real one or improved one?" Osprey smiled and winked.

The glint in her eyes didn't go unnoticed to the Beta. In truth he could see the family resemblance within it. Seemed a humorous spirit ran in the Redleaf-DiSarinno blood. Dante didn't mind, quite the opposite really. He might not be the most forward, outwardly joking guy but he enjoyed a good laugh as much as anyone else. He just wasn't great at bringing them.

"Well, as long as you are offering," he said with a grin, "please, by all means, the improved one." He was always up for a tale, and didn't really mind too much not knowing the truth. Probably just sleeplessness, though hopefully for a more benign reason than his own. He wouldn't wish nightmares on his worst enemy, let alone this happy creature in front of him.

"The improved one..." Osprey said and sat down, casting quick side glances up and around, gathering snippets of her surroundings to fuel her imagination. "I was lured by singing," she began. "Maybe you have heard about the sweet voices of the night?" Osprey raised her eyebrows and then went on. "They belong to invisible creatures, which love to trick people. They sing the most beautiful melody in the world - irresistible to the one they have decided to lure and it is quite often that no one else hears it."

"So... this happened to me, except I didn't hear them singing, rather talking and laughing, having fun. I followed them and god knows, where I would end up in the morning, if I didn't run across you," she concluded.

"Why are you out so early? Surely Peregrine doesn't ask his second-in-hands to work, while he himself is sound asleep?"

Dante listened as she told her story, his mood lightening as she spoke of fay creatures who sang in the night. It sounded as the sirens of myth, but those were creatures with malign purpose, and he liked to think that these spirits were of the benign sort. "Perhaps I have prevented you from having the adventure of a lifetime. What a terrible thing for me to do." He sighed theatrically. "Perhaps if you hurry you can catch them!"

Her question was expected, but he didn't have the flair for storytelling that she did. "I suppose the creatures visited dreams on me, though of the less kindly sort. So I came out here to look to the stars." He looked up to where Pegasus rode overhead. "I think they knew that I am far too much a homebody for such adventures, so decided to taunt me instead."

"That would be great, if you could always be sure about that," Osprey retorted with a smile. She knew tales about kelpies and jack-o-lanterns and other creatures that did their stuff out of pure evil desires, but her "tingling voices" were more complicated. They just sang, they didn't have an intention and the choice was always yours. If you decided to follow them, you could get in an adventure of a lifetime or quite the opposite - end up as a dinner for someone else. "Besides - I have had enough adventures in the world for now. Not with the winter coming," she said and mused of how grown up and boring she sounded. Two years ago nothing would have stopped her to take another challenge.

"Or maybe they were voices of a different sort," she added, following his gaze, but not seeing the constellation he did. "I mean - there are voices that call us from outside, yet there are so many that live within us and we hear them, when our mind is the most vulnerable and open," few months ago, while sick and unhappy about Crete's disappearance, she had had plenty of nightmares. Yet she knew that they all stemmed from her mind and unrealized ideas. Getting away from the place had cured her, yet it seemed that this didn't work for everybody. "Do you know the stars well?" she asked, deciding to steer the conversation in a different direction.

Dante internally agreed that winter was more than enough to make any adventure hell. Heck, it made normal life hell. "Isn't the not knowing supposed to be part of the charm? Not that I understand that now." He'd had more than enough adventure growing up and out on his own. Now that he was safe in a pack to call home, he hardly wanted to go wandering after will-of-the-wisps. True it was likely such things did not exist, but it was his belief that all stories did hold some measure of truth. The urge to wander was strong in some.

Her astute observation took him by surprise, but it was completely accurate. A little too much so, and thus he was glad for her change in topic. He was well aware that these particular demons that haunted his sleep were purely his own to deal with. No outside voices were necessary to whisper violence in his thoughts.

"I do know some, though not to any true extent. Pegasus soars overhead, and over there is Aquarius, the water-bearer." He indicated the cluster of stars. "Supposedly he was Ganymede, a young man so attractive that Jupiter, king of the gods, swooped down and carried him off into the heavens. Jupiter didn't have much regard for gender when it came to physical beauty." Dante chuckled. The tales were countless. If any could understand the blindness of love, though, it would be this pack. After all, Osprey's own brother shared the love of both.

"Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't," Osprey had her own opinion about this matter. She agreed that "going into the unknown" was tempting, while you sat at your safe home and dreamed about it. However, in her experience a journey or any kind of adventure must be started with some kind of purpose or goal in mind, as well as planning. You couldn't go on a journey in the middle of winter, unless you wanted to die from starvation. Leaving a pack in autumn wasn't a wise thing to do either. Besides - you had to have at least some sort of direction in mind and knowing of the landmarks. In case you failed, you could find your way back home again, at least. Funny, how it was - the younger Osprey would never have agreed to that.

She followed his gaze, when he told her about the constellations, but where he saw images, there she saw only shining dots. While he imagination could fill almost every aspect of her life, yet it didn't work, unless someone showed her. When he mentioned names Jupiter, Ganymede, they sounded familiar to her and she stood silent for a moment, trying to remember, why did they seem important to her. "Are your ancestors Romans?" she asked. "My father - Aether - used to tell a lot of tales about the Ancients. Gods included. There was this one guy - can't remember his name - who had more lovers and children than any other. And some were born in a very odd way," she tried to recollect bits and pieces of what she had heard as a kid.

She astutely picked out his heritage (not that his stories were exactly subtle), and he nodded in confirmation to her query. "Indeed, though so far back it is well beyond memory. Most of the ways were lost on my father's pack, but the stories remain, as they tend to do." Their pack carried little of the culture of their homeland, the split and departure from their homelands having seemingly cost them such traditions. Happily though their mythos had followed through the generations as tales told to young and old alike.

"Did he?" That surprised Dante. From his impression of Peregrine's family, he hadn't thought them to be particularly tied up in gods and myths. Perhaps he was mistaken, for such assumptions could often be completely off base and should rarely be given any sort of precedence. Or perhaps they simply enjoyed them for the stories they were. He wondered where the man would have come across these tales. "That would be Jupiter," he said with a smile. The tales of the king of the gods were always amusing. "Renowned for being liberal in love, and his wife Juno for making those he chose pay for his dalliances." He shook his head. "A strong, vindictive woman that one. Cruel at times, but I suppose one could hardly fault her considering her husband's nature." One would think she'd have learned before pairing up with him though and gotten the hell away. That part he had never understood. "His daughter, Minerva, was indeed born in an odd way. He complained of a headache and she sprang from his skull, a warrior to rival Mars himself."

Dante only believed half the myths of his home. Some, like that one, were simply too outlandish to be given any sort of validation. But others he saw half-truth in. All stories had to be based in a little bit of fact, otherwise where did they come from?

"My father - Aether - was very fond of his heritage, my mother probably was someone you would count as heathen," Osprey cracked a grin, just thinking of the very idea that MO would get involved in any kind of religious stuff. "They were tolerant about each other, therefore they didn't put any pressure on us kids either. We could pick up, whatever we liked about the legends and ways of life," she shrugged. Some had been more eager, some hadn't paid any attention and then there were those inbetween - like her - who enjoyed the idea that her ancestors have done wondrous things and belonged to a very rich culture.

"I recall the stories, but I believe that names were a little different," Osprey had listened to Dante's speech and then had dug deep in her memories, trying to recall, what had her father's exact words been. Unfortunately for her - she hit dead ends and the tales remained in the shadows of the furthest corners of her mind. "Wicked," she winced after Dante told, how Minerva had been born. "I mean, I sometimes wonder, how people come up with that kind of things," she mused, casting a questioning glance first at her companion and then at the starry sky. "Do tell, what else you see there," she asked him, beckoning to the stars.

It sounded a liberating childhood, being able to make one's own decisions like that. To hear all sides objectively... he would have liked that a lot. His had been much more biased, but a pack built on a single credo didn't offer much flexibility in philosophy.

Dante personally didn't see much besides the stories in his own heritage to be proud of, so Osprey's father must not have been from the same background as he despite their similar tales. "Sounds like some good parenting," he said with a smile.

Perhaps he had been... what had Blue Willow called it? Greek? That was it. Apparently the tales were similar, though he would not profess to know. "Very wicked." He laughed. "Honestly I don't think my first reaction to a headache would be to have my brother split my head open, though I guess I've never had a Jupiter-style migraine." The tale was ridiculous to say the least. "Ah well, if they were all believable, then they would hardly be stories and that much less interesting." Sometimes stories that were true to life were good, but many times the entire point of a good tale was to leave reality behind for the moment.

He looked back up, then chuckled in a mildly embarassed fashion. "That's about the extent of my knowledge. I know enough to navigate by night, but no more. Sadly the talents of the naturalist were lost upon my birth pack." Possibly the only thing more useless than a healer. He'd had no clue what they or counselors were when he arrived here, having never heard a word about the two.

He was curious about something, but made sure to make it clear that she had complete rights to withhold if she so chose. "You are recently come back, correct? If I may ask, what caused you to leave the Plateau?" It seemed an odd move, especially since it seemed all of her family remained here. Wanderlust, or something more? "You can tell me to keep my nose out of it, of course. I won't be offended."

"Ow... you can't imagine," Osprey chuckled, when Dante mentioned that she had had good parenting. It had been far from perfect, yet, if you compared hers to all of the tragic stories circulating around and the messed up kids that had grown up to be odd adults... Well, all things considered she had had a childhood that had been pretty decent. Then the image of March Owl swearing appeared before her eyes and she burst out in laughter.

"My father could tell the weather changes," she reminisced about Aether's knowledge of stars. "When I was little, I believed that my father could speak with stars, that he had some sort of secret, which he never revealed to us," Osprey smiled, feeling a little sorry that she had never learned, how exactly had he gained all of the information just by looking at the sky.

"That's true," Osprey replied to Dante's next inquiry. It was no secret that Peregrine rarely welcomed back those, who had left the pack once, but his sister was a special exception. "I had to seek a way back to myself," she said cryptically. "I was really upset, when my brother Crete disappeared, and I felt out of place for a very long time. It seemed best to leave to recover and then come back again."

She did not know the truth of her words when she said that he could not imagine, and he did not respond any more than to give a laugh of agreement. He had told her brother of his upbringing, but saw no need to divulge it with others, for it really had no bearing on the present. Her laughter made him happy, though, and he was truly glad that she could look back and get such amusement. Her parents must have been great.

"Perhaps he could. Imagine the stories the stars could tell." He looked up at them again. "After all, they see everything. Bet that would be heaven for an accomplished story weaver like yourself." Blue had mentioned her affinity for tales and he did not doubt it, especially after this meeting.

"I wasn't aware there was another. I am sorry." He hadn't known the three had another brother and hadn't meant to dredge up old wounds, though now that he thought back on the question, he wasn't sure what he had expected. "That was rude of me to ask, I apologize." Distance really could do the heart some good when such doubts were being had, and she seemed brighter than ever after her travels.

"Yeah, maybe..." Osprey mused, lifting her muzzle again to gaze at the billions of the tiny, shining dots on the dark blue blanket (or pelt - whatever one decided to call it). "It's probably exciting to see so many lives happening all at once," she said, trying to imagine herself being one of them, seeing and hearing everything, yet... unable to join in. "But I would not want to be one of them," Osprey now looked at Dante. "I love the process of living, being in my own story - so to say," she smiled, feeling confident that he would understand, what she had meant by it.

"Oh, no offence taken," Osprey brushed the subject away. "I mean, hadn't I wanted to tell, you wouldn't have heard anything," there was no disappointment or hurt for Crete left in her heart. He belonged to the past and she had decided not to return to it. "Do you have a special someone here?" she asked him after a moment of silence.

"That is true. Watching can only get you so far." They were hitting on one of the worries that plagued him at times, not often, but at times. He had always felt like a bit of an observer of life, not really taking an active role participating. Cautious, sometimes perhaps a little too much so. Guarded. He felt like that was changing a bit here, though, and was glad for it.

Not so much as to have a response for her last question, though. It took him completely by surprise, though he recovered well. "No, I don't." He smiled. "I don't even have the excuse of 'I haven't been here long' anymore. Guess I just haven't found the right one." When it came to affairs of the heart however Dante was extremely finnicky. He wasn't about to throw away his affections on something that wasn't going to last the long haul. Besides that, he was never really one to receive such attentions. He was steady and grounded, true, but wit and charm weren't really his thing normally.

Dante seemed surprised by her question, but didn't avoid it and replied to it as truthfully as one could about a very personal matter. Osprey knew that she had crossed the border of his comfort zone and that it wasn't very polite, but her intentions weren't to have a gossip about relationships and people in general. She was guided by an innocent curiosity to find out, what was this "love" that drove people crazy (especially one, brotherly individual) and made them do all kinds of things, really was. Part of her told that this was purely for her stories' sake - to make them more believable. The other - more dormant one told her that no matter of her past bad experiences with lust-crazy men and her own brother's love affairs, getting the feel of being love was something she craved for.

"No luck for me in that department either," she said in order to comfort him and let him know that he was not the only one in the plateau without a sweetheart. "I just want to know, what it does to change people," she mused, "I mean - Peregrine and I were very close as kids and for the most part of our adult lives, but then with Hawkeye and now with Fox - he seems different. I can't help the feeling that I am losing him."

Dante shook his head. "You and me both. Because I definitely don't get it either. But it definitely has that power." Dante could definitely relate to her feelings. "There are worse things that could change a person, though. And deep down, he's the same old Peregrine. Just with a dopey grin on his face all the time." Dante grinned sidelong at her, poking a bit of fun.

"Sometimes I still feel like I lost my sister to it. We found a pack, and while I couldn't stand to stay, she found a mate and made it her home. But if you are going to lose someone to something, let it at least be something that makes them happier." Dante didn't mind so much anymore, for he knew that she was likely somewhere raising nieces and nephews galore. Her mate was a decent fellow and he had never really seen her happier than when she was with him. "Besides, who knows? Maybe you can give him some of that worry back someday."

If you are going to lose someone to something, let it at least be something that makes them happier. There were millions of stories in the world. Some good, some not that much, some exciting and some edging on the "near death experience by boredom". Yet the mark of a truly good story was - whether there was one phrase that summarized and said it all. the one you remembered long after you had forgotten the details of the actual tale. Osprey had a feeling, as if she had found a precious gem, because Dante's words were so true and answered every question and doubt she had had about her and Peregrine's relationship during the last months.

"If he is not going to be busy raising a litter of kids," she said with a fond smile, remembering, how excited her brother had been before and after his children were born. Too bad that his life with Hawkeye hadn't turned out the way he had initially planned. Their parent's lives were a prime example of good mateship, even though they had had their fair share of romances before getting together. "Why did you leave?" Osprey wanted to know more about her packmate's history, of course, if he was willing to share.

Dante liked the thought of Peregrine surrounded by more children, for he had always seemed a terrific father. All four of the pups he had a hand in raising had turned out rather well in Dante's opinion, for though they had their quirks they had grown up individuals. This spoke of the love and freedom that their parents had shown them.

He had spoken of his past to no one aside from Peregrine. Not only had no one asked, but he rarely felt like sharing. The question was an honest one, though, and really that part of his story he didn't have many problems sharing.

"The Alpha was a bit of a tool," he replied, smiling a bit at the recollection of the blustery male. "He insisted that any in his pack pay homage to him regularly and, well, we didn't get along. Tarin was always better with that sort of stuff." He hadn't been able to stand the disrespect the leader treated his subordinates with, but Tarin had been able to look past it. Honestly he wondered if her presence hadn't improved the man by now with as long as she had likely lived there at this point. Or perhaps he had moved on and another stepped up. He'd likely never know.

"Your brother is the first leader I've ever had who actually treats his pack like a family. It's nice."

Dante's story in so few words sounded very much like the events that had taken place at Flightless Falcons after Tyrannus had become the leader. Becoming the king had changed her brother completely and even now after so much time had passed, it was hard for Osprey to come around the fact that that cold-hearted tyrant had once been a beloved and caring brother. She briefly wondered, what was happening in her former home now and hoped that things had resolved and her older brother had calmed down. She would probably never find out.

"My older brother became sort of a..." she paused looking for a proper swearword, but decided against it. She could let her tongue loose around her relatives, but not around strangers on whom you wanted to make an impression. "...blinded by power. He became very aggressive to all of the males in the pack and drove them out one by one," Osprey recollected events that had taken place last winter. "On one side - the pack had become pretty big by then, yet... it still hurts to think that he would handle his own brothers the cruel way he did," and even after all of this, part of her heart still held love and affection for Tyrannus. Despite his sins.

"We were one big family - Flightless Falcons," she told him. "I think that, when Peregrine lost his home and family all at once, without a chance to say goodbye - he wanted to find it here. And he did. And I am glad for it."

To become so blinded by power that you would drive away your own family... "He must have been terribly lonely," Dante said softly, almost to himself. It had been such a near thing, for had he chosen to stay, he would likely have done the same. Or worse. His father had, after all, killed his brother in his quest for leadership. Would he have been able to do so to Daes? Perhaps.

Now though, he knew that was no longer a danger. "As am I", he responded more clearly, "and that he was able to offer the chance for others to be a part of it. Aside from your brother's error in driving others out, Flightless Falcons must have been a wonderful place to grow up." He could see it in Peregrine's interactions, his dealings with both his children and his pack mates. He did not hold himself apart as Dante was inclined to do. Perhaps he could learn some of that in time here.

Osprey hadn't thought about Tyrannus in that way - she had watched his actions, tried to reason them, but never delved deeper. He had been nice to her, but kept his distance and she realized that she had never known, what exactly had been going on in his head. How he had felt - there had always been assumptions. No truth. For a moment her mind wandered back to her former home and she tried to imagine, what could be going on there now. Yet she couldn't find any familiar face. The place was empty.

"Peregrine is like my parents and yet his very own person. There is influence from our pack, but he has done a great job in creating something unique here," she said and yawned. The lengthy conversation had tired her and the sleepiness had crept back. "I think I will have to go now," she said, getting up to her feet and stretching. "Otherwise I will sleep and fall over here," she said with a grin. "But we should continue this some other time - it was nice to get to know you."

ooc: maybe you can fade this out in your next post and we can have another, more recent thread?

Sure thing!!! :D

"Sleep well," he responded, turning his head to watch her go before once more looking up at the sky. "It was nice to meet you too." He should probably follow, try to get some sleep. But even though this conversation had done much to ease the fear brought on by his troubled sleep, he knew it would be a while before he could shut his mind down enough to sleep. He wouldn't be good for much tomorrow, but he couldn't do much about that. For now he was just going to enjoy the peace of the night.