Hushed Willows Beautiful Sunrise Mother May I

Rodyn settled quietly nearby his furs and shells. It had been almost a month and already he had almost everything. All that was left, was the ermine furs and he still had almost a moon to gather them. Where his heels had been ready to glide and earn. Now his heart warned he slow down. For the russet boy was homesick for moonglow. For samani and Kukutux and Callyope. And so many more.

He titled downy head and watched as the sun began to rise. Bathing the area in its brilliance. Dancing through the trees along his fur and dipping through the shadows he wore.

It was beautiful here and he would enjoy it for now.

He had followed father’s scent trail to what felt like the edge of the world, but even that had not been enough. Father was gone. He could not even feel the vibrations of his paws through the earth.

And he wondered if maybe he had returned to the Weald, though his heart knew he had gone to look for mother. That’s who he had been looking for, too.

Still, Melaneus retraced his steps back to the Weald. Tried to, anyway. But no one had prepared him for what the world out here would ever be like. He could follow the wind and move with the shadows and feel the feet of rabbits move in tunnels underground, but he could not tell one forest from another, one mountain from the next.

That’s how he found himself in this ethereal place.

Melaneus was used to the fog lined trees of the Weald. These made him pause. Long branches reached down to the earth, bent over, as though old or crumbled up and weeping on the ground.

He did not feel any great stir of emotion as he watched them, but something rather soft pained his heart. For once the boy of shadows sat himself on the ground, and lingered freely in the subtle light of sunrise that broke through the frail cracks between their leaves.

Rodyn had been gone for a moon. He hadn't realized his friend was gone, nor did he realize his lifemate was too. Had he known, he very well would have abandoned his hunt for a time to help the little one that he had befriended to find his parents.

Rodyn closed is eyes as the sun danced between the colored branches, lighting up the ground and his russet red form. There was a bittersweet note to the sun today. Rodyn knew it was because he was changing, he was growing into what he was meant to be. Though a part of him wondered if perhaps, he would fully be the same after so long. He studied the shoulder that was now scarring and sighed. He would not trust as easily that was for sure.

A head tilt cause he felt a stirring in the area, the ground itself. He lifted yellow eyed gaze and moved across the tree line, eyes falling to another. Younger than him, he studied him from afar, realizing quickly it was Melaneus. Though it was not the young pup he had been, now he was rearing near his adult height and girth, and he was set to be much larger than Rodyn himself, who was no small wolf.

So with sun light rising behind him, he moved forward into the other's line of sight, but said nothing, in case Melaneus simply wanted to sit in silence for a time.

Shadows stole the young alchemist’s thoughts, despite the light ever growing between the slumping boughs.

What would he do if he could not find his family? What would he do if he could not find his way back to the Weald?

He had never thought of what came of children who lost their parents before they themselves came of age. He had never heard of anyone who had. And he did not know if anyone else really cared what happened to him, if anyone else had even known of his family in the Weald, apart from, well, his family. Oì Kryfoì, the hidden ones. Perhaps too well.

But perhaps one might care — or some — for in his self pity he remembered Moonglow, and this, perhaps, because of the one seemed an apparition before him.

His heart somersaulted, and his composure broke at the sight of his autumnal friend. He seemed smaller now, but Melaneus would never forget a friend’s face.

Rodyn.

What was he doing out here? Unless… unless the Weald was not far after all! A silence lapsed — one that his friend seemed to allow. And then, am I at Moonglow? he asked in a voice that broke from misuse and youth. He had never seen these forests before, but perhaps they were on a side of the packland he had simply never explored.

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth! I’d love to continue this, if you’re still down? <3

Rodyn felt a bit lonely in his movements these days. He who had been used to having someone around consistently for the last few months. Now to be alone again, as he was when he had been traveling. It stung a little. He knew the reason for it.

There was a heaviness to the youth and it hurt the tender heart that beat in the chest of the hunter. He tilted his head and at the softly asked question he sucked in a breath and shook his head.

We are about five days journey from Moonglow, but if you wait for me for a few days. I am on my way back after these few hunts. What are you doing the whole way out here? Is your father near?

Rodyn's heart started at the thought of seeing his friends face. It would be good to hunt with Astraios, to just say hello.

You're quite alright. I hope you are doing okay, lovely. I would be glad to continue <3

Five days from Moonglow.

Five days from the Weald.

And though the nasty knot tightened in his stomach, his worries, for once, we’re far from himself.

Why was Rodyn all the way out here?

Surely his family had not disappeared, too?

But his friend answered without the need for Melaneus to say a word. His presence here was business, the usual routine of a wolf. And though he was not a part of Moonglow, this knowledge filled Melaneus with a certain grounding he had lacked since father had left to find their family.

That understanding that in some places, for some people, life was still normal, and that settled a small calmness in his otherwise anxious heart.

The youth shook his head, I don’t know where he is, he admitted, he went to find my mother. And brothers and sisters. They were all gone — but though he knew this, he did not have the courage to say this out loud, as if doing so would make reality truly real. I came looking for him but I think they might be back at the Weald now.

He thought about what Rodyn had said: that he would be going back that way. Can I go back with you? A few days would not compare to the many he’d already spent looking, and he would not mind the company, after so many alone.

<3 thanks Danni!! All is well enough, some things in life were changing pretty significantly here and I needed time to think them through. But I think they have settled down now — or at least, I have moved past the hardest days <3

A certain set of calmness settled on the younger wolf, and for that Rodyn was glad. he tilted his head and waited letting the youngling speak through his thoughts.

A frown took precedence on his face. I'm sorry to hear that. But glad to see your face none the less.

It hurt a little to know his friend was missing. He had seen him a few weeks prior, and he had noticed a heaviness to Astraios. He should have pressed his friend. Should have requested him to speak honestly about what it was he was bothered by. Not to abandon his young.

A soft nod. Yes you can and if you should find yourself in need of a hearth. Please come back to Moonglow. We would accept you readily.

Big Hugs<3 You're welcome

Rodyn frowned, but instead of unnerving him, Melaneus found even this secured him.

This man was his friend, and there was safety here. Perhaps even empathy. Care.

Melaneus didn’t realize how much he had missed these things.

His spirits lifted at Rodyn’s agreement, and his invitation to Moonglow… would he ever find his family? He could go there with Rodyn right now. His friend — and he had more there, didn’t he? His stomach fluttered at the brief thought of the girl he’d met upon the terrace…

No. He had to get back to the Weald. His father would be there, and all of his family too. They wouldn’t have given up so quickly on him. He had to try, at least one more time.

Thanks Rodyn, he said softly, deciding he would take his friend’s invitation as a comfort and nothing more. May I… walk with you now? If you’re still hunting, maybe I can help…

Melaneus as always was a wolf of little words. A boy not yet a man, but more deep than any Rodyn knew really. There was something to be said for the youth, and Rodyin wished him all the best in the world.

Well if you change your mind. We're there. And you are always welcome. Perhaps it was a bit bold to say, but Ro felt his word meant something and Melaneus was a good wolf to have in their corner.

Of course you can and yea i've been hunting a lot. Maybe we can get you a deer pelt like we did for your parents yea? Nice soft spot to lay down.

Rodyn's tail moved in quick succession and he motioned for the boy to follow. He wanted to offer a physical touch, but he remember how Melaneus had not liked that before.

We're there.

You are always welcome.

Melaneus drew these promises close to his heart and tucked them away where even the fog of the Weald would not be able to find them. True, he had thought these things of his family - but even though they were no longer there when he'd trusted they would be, he did not take Rodyn to be a man of flippant words. Not that his family had been, either. Father had left out of loyalty to mother, and surely had only left him behind because he had mistaken Melaneus for missing, too.

You got them that pelt? Melaneus said, eyes wide as he fell in step at his friend's beckon. He had always just assumed father had caught it, and had never asked beyond. But a new story unfolded before him now, and a friendship he had never had the mind to ask his father about. Melaneus tipped his head in a little bow. I would like that, if you taught me how to get a pelt like that, too.

Maybe he could give the pelt to his parents when they got back. Or maybe Moongirl would like it instead.

There was a serious air to the youth. Granted there had always been, but the hunter noticed it was more widespread and deeper now and he wondered about it. He was a bit concerned. He hoped Melaneus would return to Moonglow with him and not waste away in the forest of the weald. A place in moonglow where he could earn his hunting trade, meet all the wolves that Rody was sure would love him.

Rodyn chuckled. Your father and I did that together. We hunted twice with each other for big game. I got the pelt one time and he got one the second. Plus of course half the meet then. We hunted a bird near the coast. I considered your father a dear friend of mine, after our initial meeting.

Rodyn thought of Astraios and a pain bloomed deep in his chest. He wondered how the male fared. He hoped he had found his precious Themis.

I would love to teach you that. We can hunt right now if you'd like. There's always deer around here. Goat too. Their pelts are a little more springy. Then I can show you how to dry out the furs. Often times, the women do this in Moonglow, but I like to do it myself. Feels rude to expect them to do it themselves.