Moonspear Sweet sunshine

@Arrluk 

Ajei returned from her trip into the Glen. She thought fondly of the younger girl who had helped her make the spots feel more homey. She wished her all the happiness and hoped she found her voice soon.

Ajei decided to freshen up her own den. For too long she'd been freshening all other's and neglecting her own. So with the strong will she had in her quiet reserves she began to toil. 

She hung furs up to dry after cleaning them on a low hanging branch. She probably got them just as filthy trying to pull them over the branch as she had just cleaned out of them. But that's what paws were for when it dried. 

She was bundling herbs to dry next with wet pieces of fur and quills. Sprawled out with herb bundles all around her and loose ones too as she separated and sorted.

The process was a long one. She had to use teeth to pull the fur on either side. And then maneuver it so that the two flaps went on the quill that's she had stood upright in two pebbles. Who needs opposable  thumbs. Though her paw pads certainly had enough pricks from the quills.

Being a medic and an herbalist was a hard job and required much of tedious processes. Searching for the herbs after you had learned them and their purposes. Separating them to their uses. Chewing and mashing them into pastes. Clawing out pieces of wood to hold water and soak certain ones to make teas to drink. Hanging and drying certain ones.... He knew the work put into it. He had watched his mother many times and now Ajei. It was nothing he could ever think so set his mind to. Like his father before him, he would stick to fishing... and even some thought THAT was tedious work! 

Today he was doing just that. Further down the riverbed where their dens rest, Arrluk had stripped a fish to the bone and ate well and used that energy to catch two more. Laying them next to one another, he was then able to grab both by the tail together and begin carrying them off. The largest of the pair he would settle down in a clearing and all out for Moonspear's pups to come and eat. Then he would slip away with the smaller fish and head back towards his and Ajei's sleeping quarters. 

It is here he finds the firekissed young woman busy with hard work. Settling the fish down, he woofs lowly and brushes his wet nose along her muzzle with affectionate greeting. Take a lunch break, would you?

Ajei was not the greatest herbalist or medic. Her ways lied more in the mediator realm or was her hope at any rate. But that didn't mean she couldn't or wouldn't learn the other things. It was not easy. But she found quiet enjoyment in the tedious.

She and Arrluk had been busy as of late. And though they saw each other daily. They had not relaxed nesr each other in sometime. Too busy in their day to day. And of course she held no doubt that Arrluk had spent much time with his father while he was here.

A soft trilling of laugh. Delight. At his affectionate greeting. Which she returned in kind. He smelled like the river. And he even brought her a meal.

Oh, alright. She teased quietly.

was fishing well? Oh it smells wonderful.

A stirring of dust as she wagged her tail once. And swiftly took a bite. Peering up at him as she waited for his answer. Cheeks slightly bulged a soft. mmm.

She loved fish. And she loved to fish.

It was. He informed as she agreed to take a break, asking him if the fishing had gone well. I caught three. One for me, one for you and one I left in a clearing and called the pups to. I'm sure it will get sniffed out soon enough. 

He licked his chops and slid down into a sit as Ajei took a big mouthful. Hard work made well for a large appetite. Arrluk and Ajei had grown up in villages which were always buzzing with work to be done. 

The peak of the salmon run is coming... He speaks, half to himself and half to her in thought of it as he plays over ideas in his head. I think I want to head out to the lake across the Glen. Father says that in major spots, the fish literally jump into your mouth..!

She chuckled in delight at the thought of the children racing to find a fish to nibble at. She remembered well when they had done so. She swallowed her bite and gave a soft hmm as he spoke, listening. 

Oh can I come or did you want to go by yourself? She looked up at him with a softly veiled eagerness. It had been so long since she had fished with a friend. And the thought of the salmon jumping in your mouth. Well that was exciting, though not so challenging, but they could feed their families for days.

Is that even a real question? He said, trying to sound flat at he did so, but gave himself away by his toothy grin. Was there ever truly a time when he didn't want her around? Arrluk honestly couldn't even remember a time when they were away from one another for more then like... a day. Well, besides when he had gone on his little "spirit walk". Since Brecheliant is just through the woods, We can give @Kivaluk and @Chickadee a visit too? See how big the pups have got?

Ajei gave a small delicate laugh and shook her head. Green eyes dancing at his comment. Well it is polite you know. She teased back. She couldn't just invite herself. And besides what if he did want to go alone. But she also knew that before she asked, he wouldn't really have a problem with it. He never did.

Ajei's eyes lit up. Oh i'd like that. I haven't seen them yet.

The thought of little puppies made her smile. And though she hadn't known either Chickadee or Kivaluk well. She thought of both of them fondly. CHickadee had been a constant in her life when she was much younger. And had helped her with some of her anxiety.

A sea-green (mostly) gaze dances over to Ajei's of bright emerald as she laughs and Aiolos grins with a showing of his small white teeth. However reclusive Arrluk had become, passed from the steps of his father, he would never not enjoy the company of Ajei. They could be themselves with one another. Both quiet and dutiful and a lack of awkward silences they might have felt among others. 

Neither have I. It was settled then and Arrluk thought of how he would need to get with @Sialuk and let her know of this little venture, should their day or two of absence leave room for worry.

Arrluk seemed happier in recent days. She knew that his heart would always hurt a little. Her's still did over her mother. And she of course grieved the loss of the his sisters. EVen if she had not been close to them. Simply because he had grieved. And his father and mother who she adored.

Will there be bears? Mother said that sometimes, salmon runs have bears?

She necessarily didn't mind, bears. But she would be mindful to stay far away from them.

He had grieved. Yet similar to Ajei, it was seeing the pain in his parents and the knowing that the pups would grow without their mother that hurt him most. Just like with Samani's pups, too. Arrluk did not know them particularly well or closely. He had so much family after all, yet he felt guilt in this. Thar his own reclusive, quiet nature had kept him from knowing them all as he felt it should and now it was too late. 

Arrluk took a deep breath, turning to the sun-kissed girl.  There might be. They'll be focusing on the food just like us. We just need to make sure to keep our distance. Ajei's mother was far from wrong. Then again, when had she been?

Ajei wished a part of her could grieve longer for the ones that Arrluk and Kukutux lost, but she simply couldn't. Only because she did not know them as well and was further with peace than others. However, She knew the pain well from losing her mother and did not wish such a cloud of darkness on anyone. And she had been older to be so young. Oh bless them.

She nodded. I can do that. And it might be interesting to watch them from a safe distance. We might even learn something knew to help us when we fish!

She smiled and took another small bite and hummed happily. Her tail wiggling slightly.

Arrluk nodded to her words, once more falling into a quietness. His predominantly sea-green eyes drift to the river bed, closing them a moment and his ears sweeping back at the soothing sound. Every so often he would steal a glance at the little ember near him, drapped in fire and snow. Come to think of it, she had more of a combining of his parent's coats then he did. How did he come out to be as he was, anyway? It was the spirit of the Akhlut in him, he guessed. 

Do you think we should return to Moonglow soon? It had been his intention to come to Moonspear when they had a need for more working adults. To live with some of his other family, know of them, their village. Would Ajei want to stay, go back, go to another village where they were most needed? Wherever she would want to go next, he would be there at her side.

Ajei had quit questioning why she was so different from her parents. In personality and in furs. Her mother had red upon her, but nothing like the fiery colors that she boasted. But she also knew that there were many lines of blood in her body. Years of other wolves to get to the point where she had been born. She may have been the veyr color of someone her mother had cared for in her family. And Arrluk though he was different she did not see it as so. His colors fit him, as easily as his name. 

She smiled serenely. I Do miss Moonglow. I would not mind returning soon. But do you think Moonspear would be okay?

She thought of their smaller numbers, mostly pups and children.

I feel so, now that the pups have reached their half year and relieved their mothers. After all, when they first had arrived, it was only Alaric among three expecting women: Elentari, Moonshadow and of course, his sister Sialuk. Mostly made to keep to their dens unless being relieved by another, Ajei and Arrluk had come at the right time but it still had been hard work. 

The pups were no longer so vulnerable and more self-sufficient. Still growing, but weaned and learning to hunt their own. Killdeer had rejoined them as had Bridget. Arrluk felt it an appropriate time, if only needing to inform @Sialuk and offer a goodbye to his family here to return to others. 

This is a beautiful place as any village, but I don't quite fancy myself a mountaineer. He admits. The terrian was rocky here in many places, dangerous in many too. It was the greatest mountain in the region, out of any he had thus ever seen. I miss our great lake and the grove. Rivers and creek spidered throughout the mountains and they had a forest at the base, yet dark and tangled. It was not quite the same.

She listened ears perked forward. He was not wrong and his answer was steeped in truth. The puppies barely needed their parents now. In a way it was uniquely bitter sweet. 

She had enjoyed her work here. But she would be lying if she said she didn't miss the village she had been born in. The one her mother lay buried in.

Ajei laughed and nodded I agree. It took weeks for my paws to not hurt. Even now if I am not careful they Crack and bleed.

She had been used to soft loam amd grass. I think I'd like to go home. But.

She looked down. I will miss seeing you in the morning and at night. their dens were not as close on moonglow.

Ajei agreed when it came to the mountain life. It was beautiful truly; all which you could see from the great heights and the way you could see so much of the sky, making it great for watching sunrises and sunsets. It was harder to find places within forests and woodlands that didn't block a full view. 

He also thought then of the beach, where the sky could be seen well over the ocean. Arrluk would have to try and get used to tripping by rolling his ankles on the shifting sands, but he also planned one day to live in Moontide whenever they needed the extra paws. He figured, if he wasnt lead of his own tribe, he would make an effort to be a part of each. Would Ajei be up for the challenge? 

He pondered it and it's around this time that Ajei mentioned their dens, her olive eyes cast downward. Arrluk's ears perked, his own eyes of sea-green turning back to her. Oh- A little surprised, then a wiry smile was given as his ears swept back. I didn't think of that... But she had and he felt his heart quicken and his stomach flip. 

They had just turned a year old when they had left to Moonspear. Arrluk had remained in his parent's ulaq then and Ajei, her mother's. Now... Maybe, He stumbles a bit, speaking lowly. maybe I could stay in yours? Or uh, we can pick out a new spot. The Star Hunter's densite would be vacant, had another not taken it. Arrluk didn't know if Ajei would think taking over the den would honor her mother and have it be lived in by the next generation or if it would be too painful and she would want to start fresh and new. He began to ponder spots... maybe by the river again, like they had here.

Ajei was not one that looked to the sky often. Not because it wasn't beautiful, but because she preferred. The rivers and the lakes, the trees and the forest. Loam and grass and moss.

She had not liked the sand exactly when she had visited the beach. But the ocean had given her a fierce feeling deep in the pit of her belly. She had adored it and feared it both. 

A small smile. But she didn't say anything else. She had thought of it. And perhaps it had simply slipped his mind. or he had not realized. And that was okay.

Ajei thought of her mother's den and she did not find aversion to the idea. She missed her mother and despite her father's proclivity for leaving. her mother had made it as beautiful as she could. It was homey and she loved it.

I am okay with staying in mine if you would like. Mother made it a home and I can continue that I believe.

I think that's a great idea. He said then with a small, shy smile. Ajei had a willingness to return to the den which her mother had founded and made her own for her family. Now, it would be the den of Ajei and Arrluk. Again, a fluttering in his stomach. Though their dens were situated quite close to one another now and there were plenty of times Ajei and Arrluk rest along the river, soaking up the run for an afternoon nap, it was still quite a step in the knowing they would be sharing the same den with one another and one which had birthed a family of two seasons. 

Arrluk had adapted the reserved, old-school gentlemen nature of his father and would need to remember to present himself properly to the young woman he would essentially be bedding with now. He swallowed hard and fell quiet once more.

Ajei returned the shy smile and tilted an ear forward. Paws making small patterns in the dirt. It would be nice to be home. To enjoy space that held he rmother's memory. She missed her so. Ajei felt good in her choice, secure, happy, calm. All of the above. And a small fluttering of anticipation and nervousness. She was particular about her space, but she held the knowledge that Arrluk always did right by her. So.

She looked up at him. Should we take any of the younger ones after the salmon?

A 'hrmmm' crossed the young man's lips, watching Ajei's paws tral patterns in the ground along the river edge where their little camp had been made for themselves. It would be nice to bring his nieces and nephews on the outing, yet couldn't help the feeling of unsettlement at the thought of doing it. 

Two of his sisters were known dead. So many siblings came and went, missing or wandering and so many nieces and nephews too... The idea that something might happen to Sialuk's own on his watch...  

Would it be selfish of me to say I'd like for it to be just you and I?

Ajei was surprised, pleasantly so when he voiced his want for just the two of them. And though part of her wondered at it, a small secret part of her thrilled at the idea. She always enjoyed her time spent with Arrluk and saw that this would be no different. He was different than everyone. He always had been. She didn't question it.

She laughed softly, delicately Of course it isn't. I don't mind going with just you. We can take them somewhere else another time.

Good. He says with a soft, shy smile. He felt his cheeks burning red, yet knew the fur of his face would not betray him. Yet would his eyes? His smile? 

If there was an awkwardness between them, it was one surely only felt by Arrluk, whose gut fluttered and yet couldn't place as to why...