Stone Circle and when I return, and I’m more than you dreamt I’d be

His trip around the northern reaches of the Teekon Wilds had taken… well, longer than expected, and longer than he’d planned. Returning south brought a sense of ease to his travel worn paws. He returned more easy in his skin and easy in his mind, the worries of leaving the Saints shed away like the miles he’d put between himself and their land.

Now he had a promise to fulfill, and he hoped Reverie would be ready this time.

Turmeric came upon the borders of Kvarsheim with a new spring in his already bouncy step. He felt lighter in his heart and on his feet as well, and he sent up a lofty call for his friends @Inkeri and @Reverie to join him.

His tail brushed the snow in excited swirls. It had been too long since he’d seen them.

The sound of Merry fell across the pack lands and Inkeri felt her heart kick up and hen speed up. She had found Atreus sweet, fun, had liked him, could see more if he had been able to deal with her heavy baggage. However, it was nothing like this. She flushed and raced towards the noise, overjoyed. That he had returned.

She had to slow down, or she almost would have knocked him over flat. But she caught herself just in time and instead burrowed into his shoulder in greeting.

Hello Merry. Merry.

Then she backed up, ink and paper plume dancing behind her, aquamarine eyes sparkling with joy and alight with fancy. Where you been? You smell all over like different things. Things.

She gave a cursory sniff. Then frowned. Oh but Reverie isn't here anymore. At least her scent is weak. Weak. Anymore.

Inkeri ran at him such velocity, he couldn't help but howl up a laugh into the air. He hardly had time to brace for her impact, and truth be told, her let her rock him a little. Feeling the weight of her embrace press against him, her warmth against his skin. Turmeric draped his forelegs around her and drew her in.

Heya, Keri! he said with a laugh, and tried to steal one last press of his face against her shoulder as she backed away. Travelling had been good, but boy, had he missed her!

I've been all over the place, exploring the north and such! And I saw so many things - glaciers, ice fields, forests of fairy frost - he had been throwing his paws in the air as though waving each one to life, and chuckled at her curious sniffs, would've been even better with you there. Sorry for being so long in coming back. Didn't expect time to steal away on us so quickly...

Her news dampened his smile, and his heart fell a little. Oh, he said, and he tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice, I was hoping you'd both be ready for that trip to the ocean I promised to take you on. Do you know why she left? He didn't know Reverie well, but he worried for the girl all the same - and worried, too, for Inkeri. Hopefully, Kvarsheim hadn't done anything to force her away.

His laughter met her as her body met his. He pulled her into a tight hug and she felt safe and content. More than she had in days. It hurt a little, but in the best way.

She allowed him to press his face against her again, but then. Well she couldn't quite contain her questions. And then he began to speak and she watched him with joy, entrapped and entrance by his words.

What is fairy frost? Frost? She asked curious. She knew the other things, but not fairy frost. She enjoyed how delighted he was in talking. The way his paws moved and jerked through the air. It brought smiles to her face and eyes.

I don't know where she is. Just that her scent has gotten weak. Of course i want to go to the ocean with you. You!

He loved how she listened and paid attention, and how the looks she gave him made his heart beat quicker and tongue run faster with all the words he'd ever wanted to say - and probably even more beyond them. Ooh, fairy frost is amazing! So cold, but so beautiful. It's when the trees freeze with tiny icicles all over the branches and they all look like they're covered in the fluffiest, sparkliest feathers! Or - or like the beards of little fairy men, he grinned and pulled at the air beneath his chin as though stroking some imaginary goatee, and sometimes in the morning, the ice falls through the air in tiny little specks, and when the sun catches them just right, they look like I bet magic would.

Turmeric would have stayed in the moment of story, but reality always swung alongside even the grandest of tales. And reality, of course, built the foundation of every good tale — and this one, he found, was bittersweet. He’d looked forward to seeing his friend’s reaction to watching the ocean come alive, but if Reverie was gone… well, could he wait for her? Should he? Should they?

Inkeri’s eagerness sealed a crooked smile to his face, one that warmed with a new idea. I still want to go to the ocean with you, too.

She liked to listen to Merry talk. He made fanciful stories come true and imaginary men seem real. he talked of love and magic and fairytales. It was beautiful and awe inspiring and it made her teeth ache from smiling, and her eyes feel misty. Her heart beat quickened at every turn of phrase every story he told.

Oh Fairy frost sounded beautiful. I want to see it. It. It sounds beautiful. Like a dream. Dream.

Inkeri would be fine to go to the ocean with Merry by herself, but it was always good with friends thought she suddenly remembered how she had reacted with Atreus and she was a bit frightened. She looked down for amoment and then spoke softly.

I should tell you that sometimes. Things scare me that may not scare you. you. Like tall rocks or shadows or quick movements. I don't want you to be surprised or hate me for it when we do travel if it happens. Happens.

Turmeric chuckled. She had such a way of keeping him going! And her eyes never said she was bored, never told him to stop. Never told him to straighten up and act like a soldier.

He hadn’t fit into the lives of the wolves his mother had settled with, but maybe… maybe he really could settle in here…

It is like a dream, he agreed, in a hush of wonder, and one day I’ll make sure you see it, count it another thing I’ve added to my list of things to show you.

A list that grew longer and longer — but one his heart yearned to keep, and he grinned real big at the thought of seeing her marvel beneath the dazzle of glittering ice.

Her mood shifted then - shyness? Or uncertainty? Turmeric didn’t know where they came from, or her thought that he would ever hate her for something as normal as fear. He drew forward and sought to reassure her by reaching for her nose with his nose and drawing her eyes back to look at him.

Hey, Keri, look at me, he said softly, If you’re ever scared when you’re with me, you tell me and we’ll walk through it together. I won’t ever hate you or leave you, for that or for anything else. ’kay?

Inkeri would have never demanded he straight up or act like a soldier. Merry was not a soldier he was a story teller, a healer, a friend. She knew how hard it was to break from such constraints though. Her own family had made it almost impossible. She had been raised by such bloodshed. It was lonely and children were never really children.

Her tail whipped behind her in delight. Okay. Okay. I can't wait to go. That's okay. We have our whole lives to find this things. Things. She didn't mean any implication from it, it slipped out. A bit of her naivety and child-like innocence showing itself.

Gentle touch to her chin tip. Position so she could meet the warm eyes of Merry. She met them with her own swimming full of trepidations and fear. Worry that he would be like Atreus and just not speak, that he would not touch. Just let her walk away. But what she had expected to happen didn't. And her heart beat faster. And a shy smile bloomed along her lips.

Okay, Merry. Merry. She licked him along the cheek quickly and then ducked her head shyly. Unsure how else to show her appreciation for such things. For his gentle nature.

Thank you.