Blacktail Deer Plateau always been that way

AW, but maybe @Malachi? :)

Eilidh was growing more womanly every day. She was still lanky and awkward, but her height was complete. She wasn't excitingly tall, but she was average height and slim, which made her seem taller. Each day brought a little more grace to her movements. A few months ago she was trying to be an adult with her stance and attitude, and now her grasp of adulthood was closer than ever. She'd be in the adult ranks in a few days, and she wanted to celebrate somehow.

She still needed to learn her trade. Malachi had promised to teach her how to be a chronicler, or at least teach her what he knew about the trade. Eilidh's mother was a chronicler, too, so following in her footsteps was important to the golden girl. She wandered a bit that morning, thinking about the future, and finally after lunch, she decided to act on her ideas. After howling for Malachi, Eilidh settled down beside a small stream in a clearing, hoping he'd live up to his promise.

The weather proved fair that day, and Malachi aimed to make the most of autumn while the season remained. He took to the warren he and Dante had flushed many weeks before, but the scent there proved stale, and after a look about, he struck in a random direction to scour for anything fresh. The morning ebbed by without much affair. He managed to take down a thinning hare, but the rest of his efforts proved fruitless.

He had no qualm when a familiar voice tickled his ears. Malachi fixed his attention on Eilidh and heeded her without a second thought. A squirm of nerves and excitement wrestled in his belly, and he did not slow until her distant speck grew close enough for him to see her face. He slacked in speed then, and a genuine smile lit his face. "Good day, Eilidh." She had grown since he'd first met her, but he viewed her with eyes of innocence. Soon she would be a woman, but even then his duty was to guide and protect her in any way he could.

She didn't have to wait too long for Malachi to show. Her belly squirmed and fluttered at the sight of him, and she wondered if she was getting sick. Then she cleared her throat and forced her stomach to settle, wondering what on earth that was all about. But by the time Eilidh could think through an answer, Malachi was standing before her with greetings. "Hi, Malachi!" She said brightly, sitting up to touch her nose against his cheek. It was meant to be innocent, but a shock of warmth traveled from her nose down to her navel, and she quickly stepped away from him. Blinking back her confusion, she coughed a little, and shook her head. 

Looking back at him, she asked, "Um, how are you?" It was only polite to ask. Plus, she was covering up her idiotic move early with the question. Maybe she'd distract him from noticing how her ears flushed with blood when she touched him. She seated herself again, this time upright, her shoulders pushed back. She was small, but not weak, and she'd use every opportunity to prove that to the world. "Have you done anything exciting lately?"

Malachi read nothing into her greeting and moved to return her gesture, but before he could, Eilidh had stepped away. The haste in her movement surprised him and he pulled back with a frown. The Mayfair had replaced her initial approach with one of more reserve, and Malachi eyed her with a pause of apprehension.

He lowered himself with slow caution and tried to ease back into a natural approach, whatever that meant for him. "Well, I'm... well, I suppose." A nervous smile twitched his lips and challenged his best effort to conceal his lack of practice in the social arts. He'd had an easy enough time with Pearl, but there was something about youth that made him uncertain, and twofold with Eilidh. "Well, I've been watching the mountain border, you know, the one that touches the burnt forest." His words began slow, but talking about his work was easy for him, and soon he found his words came more like they used to. "The ground looks to be holding up well, but it'll still be a while before it'll be safe to push the borders back to where they were before. The forest will need to regrow first, and most of that will happen once winter is over."

Because forestry must have been what Eilidh had meant when she asked him if he had done anything exciting with his life, but he thought little of it. "I trust you've been keeping yourself busy?" He noticed her growth with more clarity now that he could compare her height against his own. He'd noticed, even without her extra effort to make herself taller.

OMG I'm sorry this has taken forever. <3

Eilidh barely managed to conceal her embarrassment when Malachi tried to return the greeting and she sidled away, leaving him confused. She flounced a bit, trying to hide her own confusion, before settling beside him. Did he really want to return the touch? What did that mean to her? To him? She smiled softly, her brain whirring a million miles a minute, and tried to focus on Malachi's words instead of the rapid beating of her heart. Eilidh remembered the burned part of the forest - she had been there with Harlyn before she left, and she knew that it would take a long time for the earth to heal. "I'm glad to hear its healing. I was there after the fire and it didn't look too good."

Then he asked about her keeping busy, and Eilidh smiled again, a nervous habit that made her feel a fool. But she couldn't help it and anyway, she'd been told her smile was sort of pretty, and she hoped that her dazzling grin would distract him enough so he wouldn't notice her nerves. "Yeah, I've been pretty busy these days. I've been helping Mamma gather herbs and things. She's teaching me about healing." Eilidh smiled again, this time a real one. She was glad she was learning about healing, but she also wanted to keep Malachi to his word about teaching her about his chronicling. Whether it turned out to be something she truly wanted to pursue was a different matter. It was a good excuse to be near him.

It's all good! <3 I am often not much better xD

There was something... different about Eilidh this morning. She seemed flightier than usual, and it was enough to make him shuffle on his paws. He tried not to let his confusion show, and he masked his face as much as she did hers, with a steady smile to hide the nerves beneath. That moment reminded him how little experience he had with youth, and he tried not to let his own uncertainty distract him from giving his full attention to his friend.

His ears perked and a broader smile crossed his muzzle when he noticed Eilidh's own face light at her words. "Healing, eh? Quite a jump from tracking." A nervous laugh accompanied the quip, and he felt a sear of worry she might take his words the wrong way. "It'll do our pack good to have another healer. It's not a skill  every wolf thinks of learning, but that makes it all the more valuable to have." A warmth spread in his chest at her happiness to be learning from her mother. He hadn't had much contact with Blue Willow, but by watching what her daughter was becoming, he trusted she was a worthy woman.

If Malachi knew exactly how she was different this morning, his nerves may have been harder to hide. Eilidh was a youth growing into the paws of a young woman on the verge of adulthood. Soon she would be part of the pack's larger ranks and would be expected to contribute with her skills and specialties. She was a decent hunter (of small game), a pretty good fisher, and was learning her mother's trade quite easily. "I still like to track..." she said softly, pawing at the dirt before her. Eilidh was almost going to say more, but then his words sunk into her mind, and she glanced up at him with a smile.

"I was thinking the same thing, really. Mamma needs someone to help her, especially as winter approaches." The gossamer princess smiled, studying Malachi's proud visage as they talked. He was so handsome and resolute, like a rock in a stormy sea. He was as trustworthy as her Pappa, she was sure of it. She secretly wondered what it was like to love someone that was not her own family, someone that she chose to love and bring into her life. Could Malachi be that wolf? She was sure her Pappa would not approve, since the wolf in question was years older than she was. Plus, who even said Malachi agreed with her? No one. So she quashed her feelings, tried to ignore them, as they spent these hours together. "Will you tell me a story?" she asked suddenly, wondering about his life from before the plateau. "What did you do before you joined us?"