Neverwinter Forest wind my way out of the city

set once Moonsong is back from the hunt - I will be dropping Tulu for a while until things irl have settled (she's seeking Dutch - Asivaq tag for ref!)

The messenger had arrived swiftly and departed just as quick. It had been a boy from one of the villages that shared hunting grounds with the bay - Tulugak doubted she would ever see him again but had wished him luck on the journey home. All the while an empty hole had begun to open in place of her heart.

With @Asivaq informed of her situation, she had wished her dear friend good fortune before gathering her belongings and setting a purposeful stride away from the glacier. While the north called, she found herself pacing the familiar forest where she and @Dutch had first met, lingering, perhaps with the hope of crossing paths with him once more before she left.

Staying vague about what he knows post-hunt

The panther's heart was heavy. This was not what he had hoped to return to, but he supposed he could not claim to be surprised. He searched for the feeling he'd had when he'd first arrived: that he had found the place he needed to be. Perhaps it had only been for a season. Perhaps it was time to move on.

Whatever the case, he found himself in the right place today. The sight of Tulugak raised his spirits, and he came forward with a weary limp but a warm smile on his face.

"Tulugak," he said in greeting, his burnished gaze scanning her pale features. He did not know why, but something in his chest began to fall.

He came forth as a panther from the shadows of snow-laden trees and she turned to greet him in turn, feeling her breathe catch slightly at the sight of his condition. So much had happened since Moonsong had risen - so much had happened to him - and she had not been there for it. The guilt burned like a slow fire in her stomach.

Perhaps if things had been different they would've had more time together.

"Dutch," she wished to match the warmness in his eyes, but found she could not. "I have missed you." I will miss you. 

Ah — he recalled a song that his mother liked to sing. She's got leavin' in her eyes.

"And I, you," he replied, his ears twitching as he fought the instinct to fan them back. He would not plead with her, although this departure would cut him just a little deeper than the others. Not because she betrayed him by going away, but because he had, he realized only now, entertained thoughts of courting huntress. This could not be, of course — he still had not enough to off any woman, let alone someone like her. But still. Such thoughts had kept him warm on cold nights away.

He had not the strength to speak. He waited for her to say what she had in her mind.

It was hard to keep her composure when he next spoke. Fondly, she remembered her mother's words. If you ever find yourself a man, do not cry for him. Not until you have warmed his hearth for more than one sleep. She had neither slept with nor knew deeply much about Dutch, so why did she feel for him so?

And while Dutch's realisations lay beneath Tulugak's knowledge, she blinked once, twice, and let out a breathy sigh. 

Though she had little practice herself, she was reminded of their first meeting and how carefree she had felt in their game of make-belief. Dutch was a lover of tales - she supposed that was part of what made him so charming. Putting some distance between herself and what she must say would make it a little easier, no? 

"Can I tell you a story?" drawing closer until she could see the sheen in his goldflower eyes.

Tulugak came closer. Dutch wrestled with the urge to step into this closeness and kiss her — would this make the far-seeker stay? But he doubted it, and truly, he did not want to prevent her from leaving.

Instead, he lowered himself to aching haunches and offered her a sad little smile.

"Tell me," he invited, concern for the woman beginning to overtake his own sorrows.

In truth, Tulugak wished he would reach out and embrace her, to hold her while they talked and stave off the loneliness for just that little bit longer. It was for that reason that it hurt more than it probably should when he moved out of reach. Nevertheless, she mirrored his posture and curled her tail cat-like round her paws as he agreed to hear her.

"In the land of the long dark a husband returns to his wife and daughters with pouches laden with fish. They eat well and at the next light, he fishes again. That day he returns with one fish less. He gives one fish to his wife, and one to each of his daughters. The husband goes hungry that night." Here, she took a breath, gaze unfocused as she recalled memories.

"It continues that way until, one day, the fish stop coming. His daughters beg him for something to eat. They say, ataata! I'm hungry! But, he cannot give them anything. At the fall of the first snow, he gives his eldest daughter the last of his dried meat and tells her to leave the iglu and not return until she has found a place where the fish do not hide."

This time, her gaze finds his again. "She walked and walked until her feet were sore, until she found a village. Here she met many faces, and for the first time since she was a little girl, the daughter smiles again."

"Then, one day, a boy comes to give her a message. The husband had worked so hard for his family that his body could work no longer. The red sickness, he called it. The daughter wishes to return at once and see her father once again, but this village is her home now too. If only she could split her spirit in two."

There was more she wished to say, but it would not come, her smile bittersweet "I apologise, I am not a talented tale-weaver as you are, Dutch."

He had known already that it would not be a happy story. What came out was something like what he'd expected, but hearing it from Tulugak's mouth made it all the heavier. His brows drew together in silent sympathy as she spoke, and at the end, he did reach out to pull her close. He couldn't imagine having to leave his family in such a state, nor what nightmares must have plagued her in the interim. Had this news, as awful as it was, been better than her fears? Dutch hoped so, and he hoped that there would be loving faces to meet her when she reached her home.

"Then of course you must go swiftly," he murmured, his heart heavy for both of them. "Don't apologize for this."

He shut his eyes and tucked his head against her shoulder, memorizing her scent.

"Perhaps you will bring them back here," he said in a hoarse voice. "And we will see you again when the weather warms."

There was a moment of long silence before she felt his touch ground her back to reality. Stiffening at first, not used to such contact, it wasn't long before she melted into his arms. The taste of salt was heavy on her tongue - since when had she started crying?

"You are right, I must go," she wiped at them quickly with a paw. Although she knew it was the right choice, she sighed frustrated at his words. More than a part of her wished to stay here with him forever and not have to worry about anything else. But she was not a child anymore; she was a woman that more than one relied on.

His next words brought forth a sad smile of her own as she adjusted to allow Dutch to lean more of his weight on her. "Perhaps I will bring them here to see you." She knew her place in Moonsong had not been permanent from the beginning, however much she wished it so. But she hoped once the snow had melted, this would no longer be true. 

And as Dutch lowered his head to her heart, she placed a gentle kiss upon his forehead. "Will you wait for me?"

The panther bowed his head to receive her touch, allowing the currents between them free reign in ways he would not have, had he not feared this was the last they would see of one another. They'd had so very little time together. Dutch half wished he hadn't gone with Chakliux on the long hunt — but he knew that this was not something he could trade away even in wishes. Things had happened the way they were meant to.

Somehow, it was this thought that made his eyes sting.

"I will look for you on the horizon," he replied, and then she asked if he would wait, and Dutch was quiet. He wasn't sure he understood what she was asking of him, and he was just as uncertain he wanted clarification. When he answered, he tried to speak true either way.

"We may leave the glacier," he admitted to her. "I don't know yet. But I will come to this place every equinox. I will sing for you. I will do this 'til the day I hear you sing back."

Tulugak was content with the answer he provided until he spoke of their possible departure from the glacier. "I understand." Did she? Suddenly, she felt extremely small and out of the loop. Did she really know Ariadne? Did she know Moonsong? The answer in her mind was a resounding no as she pulled away from Dutch, the moment they shared melting away as a snowflake on warm fur.

Dutch did not love her - he did not know her and nor she him. And it was anger she felt then. Anger at Chakliux and his hunt, anger at herself for resigning to her usual lonesome and not making the effort to know her villagers. But it was childish to reminisce on stolen time and what frustrations she had quickly dampened.

"It is not uncommon for villages to move or villagers to come and go," she spoke softly in hopes of providing some comfort. "Some find love and some find thrill in adventure. Everything must happen for a reason, though I will miss the ice if you are not here on my return." Rising to her paws then, she flashed him a grin as she readied to leave. "I will listen for a caribou bellow and I will know it is you!" That should cheer him up!

He felt inexplicably as if he'd lost something precious when she pulled away. The whole of his time on the glacier had felt as if it were meant to be, and it hurt to have that challenged in this way. What could he be sure of, if he could not trust himself?

But Tulugak spoke true. What had happened was what would always have happened. He said: "Then I was meant to meet you," with a truer smile on his face. "As I am now meant to say goodbye." She jested, and he jested back, calling after her: "As I am meant to challenge you to a much needed rematch, the next time I see you!"

But soon enough, her pale figure was gone.

Dutch stood alone, his heart beating too hard in his chest. He turned and began limping his way back to the glacier, until, on the next rise, he looked back for her again. She wasn't there, of course, except she was, wasn't she? In a way. He just wouldn't see her anymore.

The panther stood tall on the hillside and sang as he intended to sing each equinox:

"We couldn't wait for dawn to break
You must be on your way
And before I hear your voice again
Be many a long, dark day,

"One kiss before you leave me,
And one more for the wind.
Every day I'll hope and pray
I see your face again."

Her chest was tight as they spoke their goodbyes. Although she had promised to return, there was a certain sense of finality that hung heavy in the air. When the snow melted, what would become of the glacier village? Of him? It was perhaps what she feared most about choosing the path of the raven; that when she next step foot in these lands, everything will be changed. The feeling was stronger still for her family.

Still, she couldn't help but laugh as she turned back once to see his figure beneath the trees, feeling her shoulders lighten. "As you are meant to lose!" And then she took flight into the snow, drumming her paws to the beat of his song until he faded out of earshot and she was alone with the trees once again.

this seems like a perfect ending, ty for the thread <3