Cedar Sweep Midnight selfie on a balcony

@Aria I felt like posting! :D Open to others as well!

From Alpine Lake the pair of young wolves moved slowly, taking their time as they followed the curve of the river. All around them stood barren trees, but Floki still couldn't get used to their haunting appearance. Eventually, the trunks all began to resemble one another -- standing straight and tall, their branches nearly devoid of greenery. What had once been a regal forest was now a shell of itself.

Despite their findings -- or lack thereof -- Floki was in good spirits. He was enjoying his time with Aria, finding her company to be pleasant. He was growing fond of her and her flirty personality; playful banter came easily between them, and time seemed to slip away as late nights blended into early mornings.

Standing beneath the naked cedar trees at dusk, the Ostrega looked up at the star-spattered sky overhead. It was easy to see with no leaves to block his view. "I still can't believe those bugs ate this much," he said, shaking his head slowly.

[ooc=center]eek! so sorry, been really busy the past few days with track. thanks for starting [/ooc]

Although she was enjoying herself, each step she took brought her spirits lower and lower. Floki was sweet and fun to be around, but she couldn't shake the feeling that everything really was destroyed. The whole Teekon Wilds... bare... She took a deep breath as they went, almost completely ignoring the eerily beautiful forest around them. The green was gone, but the night sky was completely visible. 

Floki spoke, and she gave him a weak smile. "Don't act like you wouldn't eat as much if you were given the chance," she teased him, shouldering him. Her white eyes fell to the ground, tail waving behind her. She began to press against him as they went, letting out a heavy breath. "Want to stop here for the night? I'm a little tired," she admitted. They hadn't travelled far, but she was exhausted from it already. The trip to Moonspear proved to be journey enough, and the pair hadn't eaten much recently either.

<3 I'll probably start another one later today!

"You're right, I would," Floki quipped, his gaze sliding skyward to study the naked limbs. He licked his lips thoughtfully, wondering what it would be like to consume that much greenery. It didn't sound appealing, but he imagined his line of thought would be different if he was a locust. He shrugged his shoulders.

Aria's suggestion was met with a nod of his head. Simultaneously, he felt her presence much closer to him, as her shoulders and hips brushed his own. He leaned back against her gently in an affectionate display. "Yeah, this is probably as good a place as any," he replied, already glancing around for a spot where they could bed down. There obviously was not much shrubbery to provide cover, but some of the larger trees had impressive roots growing from the colorless earth. He guided her towards one such trunk, gesturing at the cozy imprint below.

"What about down here?" he asked; there was just enough room for them to curl up in close proximity, though he wouldn't mind the nearness.

sounds good! (:

Aria lets out a heavy breath, relieved that Floki had agreed to stop for the night. She leaned against him, following his lead as he looked for somewhere to stop and rest. When he points one out, Aria falls to the ground before he finishes his question. She rolls onto her back and looks at him from upsidedown. "Floki," she begins, "You could have asked me to stop and rest on a pile of pointed stones and I would have agreed."

She stifles a yawn, her head tilting towards the large roots. She studies them briefly-- despite just saying she would have slept anywhere-- and begins to wag her tail. "It's perfect," she says, her white eyes turning and staring up at the white man.

She flopped quite abruptly to the ground, the sudden movement startling Floki. He blinked down at her, but when he realized she was okay he smiled. Her teasing earned a roll of his eyes. "Well, hopefully this will be a little more comfortable than that," he replied, lowering himself to his belly and crawling into the small space alongside her.

He positioned himself with his forelegs pulled against his chest, propped up somewhat so that he could look down at Aria. She seemed ready to hit the hay, but he wasn't quite tired yet. "You need to work on increasing your stamina if you're going to be a scout," he teased. There was some truth to his words, but it wasn't meant to be a criticism by any means.

Floki joined her, and the girl rolled onto her stomach, crawling towards him slowly before resting her heads on her paws and looking up at him. Her nose crinkled, rolling her own eyes at the male. "I am a fine scout," she tells him, her tail thumping gently against the ground. Her ears flick, and she stares at him with interest. She's more tired than she is sleepy, and now that she's laying down a bit of engery has returned to her. Her legs needed more rest than her body. 

"Why don't you tell me about you," she says, raising her head to paw at him. "I don't know much about you."

Floki laughed. "Indeed you are," he relented; they had only been on the road together a few days, but he had no evidence to suggest that Aria wasn't good at her job. They had kept up a good pace, moving through the unexplored territories with caution but without rushing. Despite the fact that all of the wilds seemed to have been eaten up by the locusts, they were gathering as much information as possible to share with their respective leaders.

She invited him to talk about himself, and he pursed his lips thoughtfully. He had told her about the move from Stavanger Bay to Moonspear the first time he met her, so he hummed in consideration. "Well, my dad was a viking. He passed away when I was very little, but there were a lot of traditions that I think I would have learned had he been around. My twin brother, Jorunn, knows a lot more about it than I do," he said. He wasn't sure why he referred to his sibling by his childhood name, but somehow it felt right in that moment.

Her ears perk slightly, pivoting towards him as she listens. "Vikings," she repeats, "How unique." She stares at the brute with interest for a moment, her tail thumping gently against the ground. "You say you don't practice them, but do you know of them?" she asks, her head tilting. "I'd love to hear of them," she adds. She wants to ask about his brother as well, but figures one question at a time. Joruun is a name she'd never heard before, but she supposed it fit well with the viking background. Floki does too now that she thinks about it. 

But truthfully, it's not like she has any idea what a viking truely is-- or anything that would be 'viking' anyway.

He smiled faintly when Aria expressed an interest in learning more about his background. It wasn't something that he discussed often, especially since abandoning the Lodbrok surname and taking Charon's. Truth be told, he didn't much feel like a Lodbrok or an Ostrega -- the only thing he could be sure of was that he was a wolf of Moonspear, and that ocean water ran in his veins.

He pursed his lips, dredging up memories from long ago that hadn't crossed his mind in quite some time. He had done a good job blocking those thoughts altogether, but he was surprised at how easily they surfaced. "So, my dad's name was Ragnar, and he came from a place called Odinn's Cove. Odinn is a god -- vikings worship him and have a lot of feasts and stuff to honor him. They also make sacrifices to him," he explained. His description was in no way eloquent, and he couldn't help but grimace inwardly as he wondered what Ragnar would think of his butchered illustration.

"My dad sacrificed his own eye to Odinn so that he would protect our pack," he continued. He paused and shook his head gently before adding, "I don't know if I really believe in all of that." After all, he and Charon and Thistle Cloud had been forced to leave Stavanger Bay behind after Ragnar's death, and now look what had happened to the Teekon Wilds.

Aria listens without any interruption. Gods-- again with that word. She knew the term and a general definition, but it wasn't until her talk with Osprey that she had really understood it. Previously she had learned about the god Zues, and now Floki tells her of a God named Odinn. She did not know the difference, or how there was more than one. She wanted to ask her companion where the gods came from, but she held her questions of disbelief for another day-- it would've been disrespectful, she felt.

Her ears perk, and she shakes her head. "I do not believe in such a thing," she tells him, but it was in no way meant to be rude or disrespectful. "It is noble and loyal thing for him to do such a thing," she adds, "but I've never found solace in sacrificing to beings who have never shown their face to me. If I would make sacrifices, they would be to those who have physically been around for me."

Her tail flicks, and she looks away, ears lowering. "I didn't mean for any of that to come out offensively, I was just sharing my thoughts," she says quietly. The pale princess mentions nothing of her belief in souls, a term that Osprey had given her. The world was filled with these souls, and Aria found comfort in praying to each of the universes souls.

She did not refrain from expression her opinion, but Floki wasn't the least bit offended by her words. Instead, he found himself nodding his agreement. Thistle Cloud had told him that the "sacrifice" had really happened when Ragnar was high on mushrooms and had tried to steal a kill from some ravens; but in his haze, Ragnar had truly believed that the act was committed by Odinn himself.

"No, I totally get what you're saying," he replied, shifting his position slightly so that he was leaning just a bit more against her. He could feel her warmth radiating into his fur. "I think if my dad had been around longer, I would have learned a lot more about his traditions and maybe I would have appreciated them more. But I just...kind of feel like it's silly," he admitted. He just couldn't buy into the belief that there were invisible gods to appease with actions that proved to be harmful.

"Like I said, Jorunn knows a lot more about it than I do -- he's got some kind of connection with our dad that I just don't have," he added, feeling a twinge of jealousy. Perhaps if he opened his heart to Ragnar's ways, the dead viking or Odinn himself would reach out to him -- but he wasn't sure he wanted to.

Aria found that she liked Floki and his openness-- to other ideas, other people... He just seemed like he wasn't cornered into his beliefs, and she respected that. She nods along as he speaks, making mental comments about his culture as he goes. "I think a lot of people actually believe in Gods," she tells him, her tail flicking gently. "Our beta female-- Osprey-- comes from a pack called The Romans... They have a whole bunch of gods they believe in." She thinks again to Zues, not quite remembering what he was the God of. She then smiles gingerly, finding his gaze.

"I know you aren't sure you believe in it, but I'd love to meet your brother one day-- I'm sure I could learn a lot from him about the religion. I'm not sure I'd buy in, but it's nice to learn." The brute shifts, and Aria glanced to her paws for a moment before she looks back up at him. "Are you comfortable?" She asks, her head tilting. 

He nodded at the mention of someone else's beliefs. That was the thing -- at the end of the day, how could he be sure that Odinn was in charge? What if it was some other entity -- and what if there was nothing there at all? It was this doubt that lingered at the forefront of his mind, only further solidifying the fact that he had been right to renounce Ragnar's ways. He was in control of his own life.

Naturally, the conversation turned to Jorunn. Aria expressed a desire to meet him, and Floki smiled. Had this discussion occurred a few weeks ago, before he had reconciled with his brother, his reaction to the proposal might have been much more negative. But he was on good terms with his twin, even if Charon wasn't. "He lives at Saltwinter, so probably not far from Donnelaith," he replied. "We could go visit him together sometime," was his next offer.

As for his level of comfort, he nudged Aria's shoulder gently with his nose in a reassuring fashion. "I'm very comfortable," he replied, his tail tapping the earth behind him.

The girl nods, a small smile appearing on her muzzle. "I'd like that," she tells him, and lets out a large yawn, her legs stretching slightly. "Saltwinter isn't far from Donnelaith," she adds, glancing up at him. Floki reassures her that he's comfortable, and her cheeks heat up slightly, her own tail thumping against the ground. In a last effort for conversation, she mutters out a quick "Me too," before she leans more fully against him and closes her eyes. She wants to ask him more, but has grown too comfortable to put off sleeping any longer. 

If Floki didn't move her, she would fall asleep, snuggling close to him for the remainder of the night.

last from me unless there's objection ! <3

Perfect!

Finally, the effects of exhaustion seemed to take hold of Aria. She murmured a quiet response before her words were muffled by a yawn, and almost as soon as she repositioned herself, she fell asleep. Fearing that any movement of his own would wake his tired companion, Floki smiled down at the top of her head. "Good night," he whispered.

He slowly lowered his chin to his paws and closed his eyes. A soft evening breeze moved through the empty tree branches overhead, and he, too, began to slumber.