As bright as the floodlight

@Kesuk

It was fine winter afternoon and the sun that had graced the earth with light for such a short time was preparing to leave. Osprey, who had been up and about all day, hunting, giving her share to ensuring that no trespasser lurked around the borders and paying a short visit to Blue willow's residence to make sure that she was alright, had come to the edge of the plateau to see the sunset and be alone with her thoughts.

Apart from getting to know her pack-mates better and meeting some strangers nothing too grand had happened in her life recently. Truth to be told - she was happy that it was like that. After her extended stay at the Stavanger bay she didn't want to have an adventure of that kind anytime soon. This time she had decided that she would not leave the plateau, who had become her home. The ties that bonded her with the rest of the people here weren't that strong yet to be tested by time and distance anytime soon.

She sighed and lied down, letting the thoughts that had been troubling her, go with the wind. Just for a moment she needed rest.

Her paws sore and her eyes wary, Kesuk was just returning from a recent 'exploration adventure'. After finding out that it was extremely hard for her to stay in the den and do those mately things you're supposed to do, the chestnut girl had started straying from the plateau. It was fun, she got see things and meet people that she never would have if she had stayed put. But it was getting awfully tiring. It was hard work, traveling for days just to talk to one wolf for maybe half and hour or so. But she thought it was worth it.

The sun was setting to her back as she tiredly approached the border. The thought of her nice cozy den was the only thing that kept her from collapsing and falling asleep right then and there. When she got a little closer, her sharp icy eyes where able to recognize the outline of a wolf, lying on its stomach near the border. As she approached it, she was able to make out the scent of the plateau on its pelt and she relaxed a bit, thankful it wasn't an intruder. She wouldn't be able to deal with that in her state.

She padded up to the unknown female, unable to tell if she was asleep or not. So she simply cocked her head to the side and murmured a light hello.

"Hello?" if she was indeed asleep, she didn't want to wake her, so she kept her voice quiet.

What had seemed to Osprey as mere seconds, while she had closed her eyes, had been been minutes in fact - she had fallen asleep without realizing it. It was quick, superficial sleep, no dreams and part of her still aware of the sounds and smells around her. Yet, when an unfamiliar voice greeted her, it came as a surprise and she woke up with a start, turning her head to see, who it was.

She recognized a pack member - a female wolf with dark brown fur and grey and black markings - one she had seen occasionally, but never approached or spoken to. It was a pity though, to live in the plateau so long and not know every person there, even by name. "Hello," she addressed the she-wolf, while getting to her feet and shaking her coat afterwards. "I don't think that we have met in person - my name is Osprey."

The silver female, who soon introduced herself as Osprey, woke with a start and Kesuk immediately felt bad. But when she got up and greeted her, the sorrel girl was sort of happy that she had woken her up. It was always good to meet someone new, as she really didn't know that many in the pack.

She smiled at Osprey, her tail wagging slightly in a light greeting. "Nice to meet you, Osprey. I'm Kesuk."

With her tiredness forgotten, she was exited to talk to someone new. The plateau was great and all, but when you only really talked to one person, it tended to get very boring, very fast.

"Kesuk," Osprey repeated her packmates name, memorizing it, and then with a polite dip of her muzzle added,"pleasure is all mine." It was pity that they had got to know each other's names only know, when they had lived in the same pack for a while. It was strange, how their paths had never crossed, and it made her wonder, whether this wolf was very quiet or tended to go beyond the borders often. If the latter, then it meant she was a either an explorer or didn't feel too well within the pack. If the first, then there was a potential of going on short trips around the area together.

"You are Koda's mate, right?" she guessed, having heard something about a new mated pair. No one among her immeadiate acquaintances had tied the knot recently. She remembered Koda - the trap-master, who was still alive and kicking here.

She smiled when she asked about Koda. This having been the first pack she had ever really called home for more than a week or too, it surprised her immensely at how fast the news of their new mate-ship had spread through the pack members. Even though she had sadly only just met Osprey, she already knew.

Again she wondered what the grey furred she wolf was doing on the border, maybe she was someone who liked to wander like herself. If she was, then that was something more they had in common.

"Yup, that's me." she answered happily. She didn't know really anything about Osprey, but she didn't quite know what questions to ask. "You like to explore much?" she questioned, titling her head to the side a bit. It would be fun to have someone to explore with.

"Yeah, I do," Osprey replied with an awkward smile. "I have not yet decided though, whether it is a good thing or something I should avoid," she said, referring to her last misadventure that had kept her from returning to her pack. She enjoyed wandering around the surrounding territories, but now there always was a bit of fear in her heart that something bad could happen again. Luck was not something she had all her faith in.

"Where do you come from Kesuk?" she asked the next most common question to a person she had met for the first time.

Kesuk smiled quizzically at the grey-furred wolf as she mentioned not being sure what to do about wandering, a little hint of fear in her bright green eyes. The chestnut girl wondered briefly if something bad had happened on one of her exploration trips, but then Osprey asked her a more normal question and Kesuk mental cursed herself for sounding like such a weirdo.

"I'm from a place called Idaho, if you've heard of it. It's a very different place from here, there are barely any trees." she answered, recalling the memories of the long plains and dry patches, dotted here and there with little hills topped with prickly pine trees.

"What about you, where are you from?" she asked, hopefully sounding more normal.

If Kesuk thought that she had appeared as a wierdo to Osprey, then it was not true. She didn't think that there was something too extraordinary about the she-wolf that was standing before her. She was just like the most people here, herself included. "Idaho - no, I haven't. Sounds exotic," she remarked after hearing that there were no trees at all. One of her packmates at the Flightless Falcons had told her about a desert - a hot place, where only the toughest could thrive, where the sun heated the earth so much that it was on the verge of burning.

"Ummm... it's hard to tell. North from here and then a long and complicated way to a land covered in forests, vast plains and the oceanside nearby. A lot like here," she explained. "What is there - in this Idaho - if there aren't any trees?"

Kesuk chuckled at the word exotic. Even though where she was from was very different from here, it definitely didn't deserve the word exotic. She listened to Osprey's description of her old home, it did indeed seem a lot like the wilds, beautiful.

"Well it's mostly grasslands and wheat fields, with a few small hills that have these prickly pine trees that are nothing compared to the tree here." she described, tilting her head and pulling forward the details of her old home. "My pack claimed a territory that had a stream running through it, but I remember it was always pretty difficult to find water. And during the winter, it snowed a bunch." she recalled.

"Wow... that is one home," Osprey nodded, finding the description of Kesuk's place of origin as quite captivating and unusual. There had been fair share of hot summers at the Flightless falcons too, but water had been something that had always been present. It was hard to imagine, what was it like, if there was no water source around.

"So... how did you decide to leave your home?" she inquired further, because it wasn't very common that wolves left their birth pack, if there were enough resources for all. Yes - water was one thing, but prey could compensate the lack of it. "Wanderlust? Exile? Eloping with a tall dark stranger?" she offered her guesses to Kesuk, smiling all the while.

Kesuk smiled at all of Osprey's suggestions. The one about eloping was especially funny. None of the males at her old pack were anything to fawn over. At all. "Well, I guess half exile, half wanderlust." she admitted. She had never really liked all the dryness and the open plains. It had seemed to empty to her.

"The alpha never really liked me, so I got the boot. But there wasn't really anything keeping me there anyways." she explained with a smile.

"What about you? Why'd you leave what seems like a perfect place?" she inquired, truly interested.

Flightless falcons had been a "perfect place" - there was no doubt about it. Now that Tyrannus had been taken down (if you could believe, what your deceased "I-see-dead-people" niece told you), it probably was just like in the old days. Or different. Much to her surprise she found out that she did not care. Falcons belonged to her past - she lived in the glorious present.

"It didn't feel like home anymore," she explained honestly, without delving much in details. "But I have found it here and I hope that this is going to be a long-term deal," she continued, although there was a bit of confidence lacking in her voice. There was a part of her that did not want to be bound to one place. That wanted to be free.

Wanna wrap it up?

She nodded. Kesuk totally understood the whole 'not feeling like home' deal. It's what had ultimately driven her out. And there was not a single part of her that regretted that decision. "Same. This place is definitely more welcoming." she admitted, thinking back to when she first came to the wilds and how kind everyone had been.

"But it is always fun to travel." she sighed. She didn't know what she would do if she didn't have the escape of being an outrider. She would probably be bored out of her mind.

ooc: Ok - thank you for the thread!

"We could do that together sometime?" Osprey offered. "I love to explore and it would be nice to do it with a companion." It was fun to discover new things, but it was even greater, if you could share the joy with someone else. "This part of the valley has many nooks and crannies that just cry out to be found and seen and told others about. Who knows - we might even find treasure somewhere?" she lifted her eyebrows at this suggestion. The possibilities were endless - the only thing that was needed was to get up and get things done.

Then she noticed, how very tired Kesuk seemed and she scolded herself for keeping her here for this long. "You must have walked several miles today," she said with a smile. "Go and have your rest."[/i]

It was a great thread :D

Kesuk nodded happily at Osprey's mention on exploring together sometime. It was always fun to explore, but sometimes it got a little lonely when you were on your own. Sure sometimes you could meet other wolves, but having a friend with you from the start was even better. She could tell that Osprey was someone that she would get along with very well.

"I think that would be wonderful. And treasure can never hurt." she said with a mischievous smile. Her talk with Osprey had sort of renewed her energy for a bit, but when she mentioned it, Kesuk realized that she really was exhausted.

She gave her new grey-pelted friend a grateful smile, "It was great meeting you, I'll have to take you up on that offer sometime." she said, flicking her ears in goodbye and heading further into the plateau to get some rest after a long day.