Blackfeather Woods 'Cause out of sight is out of mind

had a sudden burst of muse AND this song came on... it's beautiful and weirdly perfect

Timeline flexible, I can adjust this however needed!

As @Bronco had said, they stayed long enough to sort a few things out before leaving. To Fennec's silent dismay, @Killdeer chose to follow Caracal, but she wouldn't stop him. Separating was just as hard as she'd known it would be but she'd prepared for it. He would be fine with his uncle and as soon as they found a place, they'd let him know. This whole feeling, though, of having no clue in hell if she was doing the right thing? She wasn't a fan.

And that was two questionable calls she'd made, the second being - she'd asked Bronco if they could keep the new pack a secret. She knew she should have had a talk with @Towhee about it, but she'd chosen to lie instead. At least she'd been honest with Bronco; she didn't want to risk Towhee wanting to sign on and help. She didn't trust that she could convince her mom not to and things were just way, way simpler this way. Easier too.

Funny wording, Fennec thought as her pace slowed considerably. The terrain beneath her paws had shifted from hard packed earth to a softer loam, and she could hear the creak of trees around them. They'd officially passed beyond her radar of "known", a boundary she hasn't crossed in a while (and almost never did alone). If she wasn't careful she'd be tripping and eating shit every other step.

She could hear Bronco nearby and, up until now, had been fairly matched with his pace. As she slowed, she spoke up to hopefully cover for herself a bit. If you could have any one thing in a place, what would it be? She hadn't even tried to face him as she asked it, and her ears were working overtime. But she was interested in the answer too. She wouldn't have a clue what to say if he turned it back on her.

She always forgot how hard this was. She'd known just about every inch of the Caldera - the textures of the terrain, the way it dipped to invite her, and the shifts to forest and softer lakeshore as you crossed the borders. There was an entire map of scents, feels, and physical landmarks that they'd just rendered entirely useless by leaving. She was absolutely enjoying herself! But "exhilarating" and "exhausting" were so often one and the same.

The trees here tasted a little different than the ones she frequented within the bramblepoint. She did feel a small pang of regret as she thought of the gardens that she'd left, the witch's hideaway that would go unused now. The air was slightly heavier here, a slightly wetter scent pervading. She did like the tingle it sent up her spine though, like something was creeping just over her shoulder.

One of these days I'm just gonna need you to take my phone and just make a bunch of playlists for me, heh! Ugh, I love it :) Loves me a good P!nk duet. 

It seemed to Bronco to be the kinder option, choosing to keep their secret from Towhee. Like Fennec, he wanted to start over, in a place where they could truly be themselves...They needed to, wanted to stumble through it on their own, without guidance. He was excited to make decisions, settle disputes, grow something, and he wanted it to be theirs. 

Once they were settled, he did hope they found somewhere close enough to wherever Towhee went so that they could visit. She was the last of his parental figures left, since Colt and Niamh had both passed away. He didn't want to lose the opportunity to spend more time with her. He'd learned too young how unfair life could be, and that he shouldn't take his time with anyone for granted. 

He reflected as they travelled, about his other friends. Sugar Glider, who had been his best friend as a kid. Osiris, Atlas and Antares, who had been so ambitious, like him. His siblings, bold, sweet and...Scattered to the winds. And now here he was, going his own way too. 

He moved a step closer when Fennec spoke. Her step had changed, and he realized that by now, she was outside of the area she'd normally know the feel of. The flatlands were relatively merciful, but few terrains were truly flat enough to be really easy. Perhaps a stretch of sand along the beach might come closest to being the easiest place for Fennec to break into a full run without having to worry about tripping over anything. 

"Aside from the obvious," He started. Of course, he wanted Fennec there. He also wanted Kildeer; but he figured she meant more along the lines of the land's shape and flora. "I think...Something kinda secluded, or naturally protected on one side like...The Caldera had its slopes to sort of give us an advantage over strangers or trespassers. The Glen had Moonspear and mountains at its back. I think I like the idea of having something...whether it's a plateau or a mountain or something, I dunno, to be kind of...like a fortress." He said. That idea made him happy. "What about you? What would you wanna have? Probably a good place that grows herbs, or something along those lines?" He asked.

I would have far too much fun with that XD

He moved closer and she took the help gratefully but without any verbal or visual acknowledgement. She was struck, suddenly, with thoughts of her brother, and for a moment she wondered where he was. Still with the Frosthawks?

She didn't actually know, immediately, what the obvious was that Bronco referred to. Funnily, other wolves weren't something Fennec had even considered as an option on the question, but she let it go without asking for clarification. Something like that. She answered as she used his path to skirt something that, apparently, lay to her right. Likely a tree. She smiled. I haven't thought that much about it, but maybe someplace that isn't too open. I always felt like the Caldera was a little too empty.

She couldn't entirely picture what he meant when he said fortress, but she got the gist of it. Her own preference came from a few places. For one - it was always nice to be able to hide herself away if she needed to. Another reason was the ability to hear others coming at any given time, and to feel the comforting presence of something other than open air around her. Despite the strangeness of this place, she still preferred it to the open meadow they'd already passed through.

There was a place a while back. It was definitely a fortress, but it was hard to navigate. And definitely not safe. She smirked remembering, but skipped the part where she could have mentioned it was where she'd disappeared to for a while. Maybe he'd figure that out himself. We'd probably want a happy medium on that. The place was cool but definitely sucked too. She'd know - she'd been stuck there long enough before Meerkat happened upon her.

Maybe if it was just the two of them she'd feel differently, but anyplace they found, she had Killdeer to consider. Fennec didn't make a habit of looking ahead in general, but it was impossible for her thoughts to not touch on post-winter and what the next year might bring as well.

They seemed to share the same want for security. In his mind he imagined a valley, surrounded by mountains with a pass that perhaps followed a river that ran through it. Herds might follow the river, and into their valley, and they would never get trapped. Nice, open plains rich with flora so that Fennec could garden, and wouldn't have to worry about navigating around a thicket of trees. Maybe some woodlands would dot the foothills, providing shelter, maybe a place to raise the kids. He could envision it- so he thought it couldn't be too hard to find. 

"Mm," He agreed. Though he had liked the fact that they'd been elevated...But apparently, other predators liked that too. Between the bear and the mountain lion, he felt that that place had drawn too much attention from other large predators. 

He snorted, amused with Fennec's description. "So a place that's hard to navigate and kinda dangerous, kinda cool but also sucks. FENN. That is a terrible way to sell me on that place haha," His laughter was short, but it was the first time he'd managed to laugh in too long. It felt odd. "We'll find somewhere. What do you want in a place?" He asked.

Sell you on it? No way. Being stuck there a week was hell enough. Despite the playful humor that was running through this conversation, the visceral reaction she had thinking of that place was very real. It had been a pretty cool spot but it would be a long time before she'd walk those cliffs again. That was the whole start of it, though, wasn't it? Before that she'd been convinced the life of a lone witch was her calling. And afterwards, every time she thought of picking things up with Killdeer and running, the promise she'd made herself was a hell of a lot easier to keep if she just remembered her time alone in that canyon.

Her expression transitioned into a really look when he asked her again, but she could play along. What, trees aren't enough for you? She asked, then huffed a small laugh. Fine. Ghosts. And not lame, metaphorical ones. I mean the real, creepy, hear them in the woods after dark kind. I always thought it'd be cool to live somewhere haunted. She shrugged.

I got pretty excited, hearing some called the woods near the Caldera that. Turns out it was just a name though. Not a single ghost worth knowing. She waited, wondering what he'd make of that little request. Bronco had always been pretty tolerant of her weirder pastimes, but he didn't strike her as the type to be fond of ghosts.

It was mostly tongue in cheek, but if they did snag a place with some cursed residents? You wouldn't hear her complaining.

Sometimes, it was a good thing that Fennec couldn't see Bronco's facial expressions- and this time, he managed to keep his face from making an ugly sound to match the look of NO that came onto his face. Flowed swiftly by the furrowing of his brow and tightening of his lips. Ghosts? And she was serious. She wasn't asking for the spirits of their deceased friends and family to be looking down on them and guiding them along. No, not Fennec. She wanted the deadass ones hanging around with something left to accomplish. 

She paused, as if waiting for a reaction. He sighed heavily, dramatically. "Some day, Fennec, you're gonna come at me, an' it's gonna be someone else's voice comin' outa your mouth, an' you're going to be possessed by some past-tense-Judy who wants me to help her take revenge on her skeezy ex-lover." He groaned. "And I'm gonna hafta do it, obviously. That's fine. But I just wanna make it clear that I'm not signing up for the kind of haunted that has y'know...Unfinished business involving murder. That's uh, that's out of my jurisdiction."

However-

"But whatever you get up to in your spare time is your business."

She couldn't see his expression maybe, but what came out of his mouth was so unexpectedly perfect that she couldn't hide an inch of her grin in response. Oh, if someone's expecting to share, you can bet I'll be driving. Fennec retorted, but it was very clear that the idea didn't bother her much. That would be something. But don't worry. If they get too clingy, I'll exorcise the shit outta them.

She didn't honestly believe much in ghosts, but when she pictured a home she wanted to live in, it had a feel to it. It would be hard to describe and maybe she'd never find it exactly, but to her, places had personality. Sounds, scents, temperature, feelings. She wanted one with some mystery.

That's why there's two of us, right? She'd take the creepy, he could take the norm. And, if anything did ever wiggle it's way into her brain, at least someone would know better. Bronco might not be much of a brawler but she thought maybe, just maybe, he could at least smack a ghost out of her.

Great. So if she did end up possessed, the one in control of the murking would still be Fennec, the witch-wolf he'd chosen to marry...Well. She was the wolf she'd chosen to make him marry- Fennec was already very much in the driver's seat. But the idea of exorcism was nothing but a joke. There was no way Bronco was willing to believe that a ghost could actually invade and take over the spirit of another. Right?

So she'd have to be the one fending the spirits away from him. "Mmhmm," He replied, though he was obviously a bit distracted. "Hey Fenn...You dunno how to like...Get rid of bad dreams, do you?" He asked. "They're not like...Ghosts that're taking over my brain when I sleep or anything, but...Is there some sort of way to exorcise bad dreams?"

Fuck, this was actually a kinda serious question, wasn't it? He played it off a bit, but she could hear in his tone that the conversation had gone from full joking to something a little deeper. Which meant she couldn't really just toss him a bullshit answer.

Normally she'd have lied and said yes. She'd sell a stranger on just about anything so long as she could amuse herself with it, but it felt wrong here.

I've never tried, she replied, as if he'd just asked her about skipping stones or something equally as important. If he didn't want to make it a thing, neither did she. Maybe? We could find out, maybe. She could put something together for that, though it'd be more for his peace of mind than anything else.

What kind of dreams? Just as casually. She couldn't help it.

He supposed treating bad dreams wasn't as much of a priority as treating wounds or illnesses. "Hmm," He remarked quietly. He didn't want to spill exactly what it was that he'd been dreaming about, as it reflected his experiences...And he was still keeping that under lock and key. 

"Just...Bad ones. They're just dreams. I was just wonderin' if...'Cause they seem to happen every now and again, mostly just when I'm overtired or I eat somethibg funny before I sleep. I just thought there might be a remedy or something for like...A dreamless sleep?" It felt uncomfortable, asking for a medication. It felt like he was admitting a weakness he'd rather just solve with some kins of herb rather than fixing the root cause. But for now, the dreams were only an occasional thing. He hoped that for a temporary problem, there might be temporary relief.

He didn't seem to want to talk about the specifics. Of course that bothered her, it always bugged her to not know shit, but it would have been immensely stupid to get actually upset about it. Besides, his next statement called out just how stupid she actually was being right now, so it wasn't hard to let it go.

She'd been so hung up in witch bullshit she'd forgotten about her whole other trade for a second. Fuck. It's been so long since someone asked me for anything actually healing-related, I didn't even think of that. Talk about a brain lapse. She knew of one thing, though she was wary of having him take anything every single night. Herbs were tricky in that they had effects that built sometimes too, and she'd never treated anyone long-term like that.

I can find you some chamomile. It helps to relax and sleep, so it would probably do something. But maybe every other night? Just to let it kinda get out of your system. That might be bullshit, and if it seemed to go okay and really helped, she wouldn't be hard to convince otherwise. It was worth a shot.

He felt a bit ashamed of asking her for something to cure an ailment that he thought was unworthy of much attention. The fact that it wasn't something she had an instant reply for simply reiterated that belief. He tried to shrug it off. "I mean...It's not like an injury or anything life-threatening." What he meant, was that she typically treated things that were much more severe. 

She had a suggestion, though, and he was grateful that there might at least be something. "I can give it a try," He said. There was some caution to be taken with it, apparently. He didn't think he'd even need it every other night- he hoped he wouldn't. "Thanks, Ms. er. Mrs. Witch,"

One of the worst things about not having her stores anymore was that she couldn't put him up to helping her look.  She couldn't describe the plant's scent, or feel, or taste effectively enough, and she definitely couldn't tell him what it looked like.  Without an example she had to look for herself and hope she got lucky enough to get one to show him.  It wasn't that hard of a thing to find, but it also didn't show up everywhere.

He made it off not to be a big deal, but that was a lie.  Fennec knew what a big deal sleep loss could be and there was no way she wasn't helping him, especially because he'd finally given her something she could actually do.

Sleep is important. And don't pretend like I have better things to do. You know I don't. She wrinkled her nose at him, but the first part had a firm insistence to it. She wasn't about to let him try to "power through" and deny her work like just about everyone else had for the past... fuck, year, at least? She was going to get rusty.

She probably should have known, though, that he was sleeping badly. And should have offered something herself versus needing to be asked. Maybe part of a healer's job was also being nosy, something she filed away for a potential thing to try out when they'd established a new pack somewhere. Fennec was still letting Bronco define the boundaries at the moment.

Don't mention it, Mr. Witch. Fennec flicked a loose bit of dried grass in his general direction, breaking the seriousness with a small smile, and continued on ahead. Maybe she'd take the lead for a while, just for the fun of it.

okay to fade if you like!