Sun Mote Copse whispering her wishes to the threads

where the glade of tall spires and pale mist had seemed a place of spirits and the moon's power, this woodland was all aglow with gold. sunlight filled it to the brim, illuminating the particles in the air. the effect had a dizzying beauty to it.
but could this be a home to a pack? a safe and fruitful place? aside from its beauty, nothing stood out to antha as she wandered the forest. nothing called to her, or radiated the energy of a home. she would simply have to keep searching.

the zombie noise of a risen man-child came from a patch of yellow snow near from the woman.

gregoriy looked like a seabird sucked in by a turbo engine: shit was everywhere. fur, feathers, dirt, who could really tell what those spots were.

his eyes were saucers when he noticed her.
леди! it is good morni—!

immediately he tried to jump over the ice ledge. his hocks quickly grabbed. he went down, from wide-eyed one moment to drooling jaw the next.

the sound of movement alerted antha to the presence of another creature even before she heard the groan. the witch halted, ears tall and alert as she scanned her surroundings. her eyes fell on a patch of yellow snow, and the disheveled man who rose from it. perhaps disheveled was too kind. he was filthy.
she held back a grimace as he called to her and leapt. yes, it is a fine morning, she managed, eyeing him warily and thinking herself rather polite for overlooking what a mess he was making of himself.

he tasted his own blood in the back of his throat. when he sat down again, he had to rub his eyes and feel the tension in his jaw, and then turned to spit out a piece of tooth into the snow.

grigoriy is good at legs, but not first time in morning. he grumbles.

his gaze rests on the woman, who views him like babushka choosing the least suspect cabbage at market.

pretty lady! what is the name?
grigoriy does a smile. it is... not so great.

I'm not much of a spree-er so Veteran is skippable, I was just hoping to squeak in three guardian posts somewhere. <3

 

Veteran drifted at the edge of the copse, keeping an eye on Antha as she explored within the trees. He liked Antha a lot. She was kind and adventurous and reminded him of his mother. Issorartuyok seemed to like Antha a lot too, but Veteran would not think too hard on that. He was still much too young and much too boy to dwell on the goings-on between grown men and women. 

However, Veteran did know without having to be told that Issorartuyok would appreciate it if he watched out for Antha while they all were out exploring. It was the honorable thing to do, especially since he was an aspiring guardian. 

A strange, male voice rising from within the copse drew Veteran's concerned attention. He started off toward Antha's position, alert and scanning.

antha softened, realizing as the man spoke that he was, perhaps, not all there. pity smothered the last of her judgment, and she answered him without resentment. my name is antha. are you a traveler? he didn't smell of others, but perhaps it was hidden by the stench of his filth. but then, if he had loved ones, why would they let him wander in this state? was he lost?

I think Grigory is inactive? I can't see the title for some reason. Going to skip him for now, but jump back in if you want!

@Antha and the stranger came into view, and Veteran realized he had smelled the man before he actually saw him. The closer he drew, the more potent the musty, sour smell became. Now, Veteran loved to roll on stinky things just as much as any other boy, but there was such a thing as taking it too far. How could the man even talk to Antha, in such a state? Wasn't he embarrassed? 

Veteran couldn't put a paw on exactly what bothered him about the man (other than the smell) but his whole bearing was off in a way that put Veteran on edge. And what was with that comment about Antha being pretty, hmm?? She was pretty-- very pretty. So pretty that Veteran's ears burned when she looked at him straight on, with those storm-blue eyes framed in summer sunbeams. But that wasn't something that you could just say right out loud like that. 

This grimy, weirdo stranger didn't get to call Antha pretty. 

"Antha.. Issorartuyok and Ensio and Heda found something you need to see right away," Veteran called out. "..And Wayfarer has a splinter in her paw she needs help with." He tossed out all the names purposefully, so that the stranger would know that they had lots of backup nearby.

omg sorry for the wait on this! i'll be quicker
now so we can get this wrapped up for your trade <3 also, veteran is precious!

there was a beat of silence, and then veteran appeared, looking rather disgruntled. antha bit back her mild amusement at the situation, acquiescing easily to the boy's obvious excuses to get her away. of course, she said softly, smiling kindly at him; part of her was relieved to be given the opportunity to end the interaction here and now.
she bid the stranger goodbye and turned expectantly to veteran, allowing him to lead her away. when they, presumably, had moved out of earshot, antha spoke again. you have good timing, she praised, shooting him a slightly mischievous glance that said she had spotted his ruse. an important skill for a guardian-to-be. she didn't know for sure if veteran was one of the children issorartuyok had spoken of when he said several of them were aspiring guardians, but it seemed a safe enough guess. besides, if he wasn't, then perhaps he would be willing to tell her his real aspirations.

"Thanks," Veteran said, made slightly bashful by the praise. But then, he was always slightly bashful around Antha, not to mention a little extra protective.

They began walking back toward the Summit. Veteran threw a glance over his shoulder, checking to make sure the strange man wasn't following. When he was satisfied, he turned back to Antha to continue their conversation.

"I don't really like lying," Veteran insisted, wanting her to think well of him. "But mom says you need to sometimes, if it keeps people safe. And a guardian always does what's needed to keep people safe." Sometimes he thought that his mother was a little too lenient on some things, like rules and the difference between right and wrong. What would Antha think?

Feel free to respond with a fade, or I'll edit on an ending in next week when I get some time off work.

oops this turned into a heavier post than i expected LOL. feel free to respond again or archive!

veteran struck her as shy at times; it seemed out of place in the boy, but antha thought little of it. he was still so young, and even the most stable children seemed to fluctuate as they settled into themselves.

they often sought approval, too, as they grew into the images they held of who they might become, which was exactly what veteran seemed to be doing now. antha nodded, pleasantly surprised to find a new admiration for lane in his words. she had taught him well.

your mother is right, she agreed easily, praise in her tone. i've found that sometimes the best path is reached by taking steps that may not feel right. sometimes the only choice is between survival and morality; we can't always have both. that's why we strive to do good when and where we can. we give all that we're able, so when the time comes we can take what we need and know that we did our best. that we deserve to survive. the witch kept this last, heaviest thought to herself. veteran would learn to question these things in time, if he possessed the inclination. antha half-hoped he didn't.

Antha described what sounded like a cosmic balancing act, where wolves banked good deeds away like squirrels hiding acorns, jut in case they ever needed to cash in someday to do something that was maybe not-so-good. 

"I've never thought of it like that," Veteran said, a note of wonder in his voice. It was a very spiritual way of seeing the world. No wonder Issoratuyok liked Antha so much. Veteran often thought that Issorartuyok walked half of his steps in the spiritual realm. 

He was glad to have Antha around as another ear for his more metaphysical questions. Now that he knew she had a mind for it, was sure to come to her with more. 

I love it! Okay, fading here! <3