Moonspear Let Loose and Set Your Body Free

Since joining Moonspear, Pyx had thrown herself into herbology. Once she'd realized they didn't have a dedicated healer, she had decided to make it her mission to try and become one. She already had the love for herbs and herbology. So far, she felt that she'd been rather helpful. The herb cache was better stocked, better organized. She'd helped heal Floki and given Amekaze some herbs to help ease her pain. She was well on her way.

Today, though, she had decided she would take a break. She'd spent so much of her time hunting up herbs or exploring the lands that she hadn't truly taken any time to relax and enjoy her new home. When she'd risen this morning she had decided that she would do exactly that, enjoy her day. She'd set out for one of the small streams within Moonspear and followed it until it grew deep. Fish flashed under the surface as she traveled alongside the stream, and the smell of the cold, cool mountain water was enough to make her mouth water. Finally, once she was satisfied with her location, she stopped. She bent her neck to get a drink, and placed a paw in the water to test the temperature. 

She grinned to herself, pleased with the beautiful spot she'd found as well as the feel of the water. She began to back away from the water, chin still dripping from her drink. After a couple of steps she dashed forward and leapt into the air with paws stretched gracefully before her. She plunged into the still surface of the water with a large splash, sending fish scattering and water flying. Her head rose above the surface and she tossed it to clear the water from her eyes. A smile lit her face and her eyes as she paddled around, enjoying the cool touch of the water under her fur.

It was weird, knowing that Lazarus was dead and their mission had come to an end. Floki was satisfied, in a way, that the bastard's death had come about naturally after his fall -- but he also wished that Lazarus had lived long enough to have his throat ripped out by Charon. Ultimately, his brother had gotten his revenge, so he was pleased, and his life eventually resumed its normal routine.

After having spent so much time traversing the unclaimed territory around Moonspear, Floki was content to stay home for a while. He reacquainted his paws with the landscape, allowing his nose to become familiar with the scents of home as he scaled and descended the mountainside. The sound of splashing drew his attention during one such venture and he followed the noise, ears pricked curiously.

When the ground became damp and his paws began to sink into the soil, he paused, a lopsided grin stretched across his face. He was inches from the lapping water of one of the mountain's many tributaries, and floundering within it was Pyx. He watched as the surface rippled around her, influenced by the paddling of her legs. "Nice day for a swim," he commented loudly, though he didn't submerge himself just yet.

Though she might not look the most graceful thing in the water, Pyx was having a good time. She'd not been swimming in quite sometime, if you didn't count hunting endeavours for fish which she didn't. Even as a young pup she'd enjoyed the water, the way it lifted weight from you and the blotting of sound if you submerged yourself completely. She delighted in the bubbles that could be seen from under the surface, they way they shimmied and danced their silvery trail back to the air. It was easy to calm her mind in the water, to let small details capture her attention rather than the gnawing worry over whatever task was next.

Paddling about as she was, she did not hear Floki's approach, nor notice him right away. She plunged under, diving for the rocks at the bottom. Idly she wondered if plants that grew under the water's surface could be used for anything but she did not take the time to observe for any. Now as time for relaxation, not study. She rose again from the depths and snorted out water and tossed her head once more. A smile still covered her thoroughly damp face and as a voice reached out to her she started, spinning in the water to face the source.

She laughed at herself for jumping once she saw it was Floki. "You startled me! I should pay more attention to my surroundings, I think." She smiled at him and paddled closer, controlling her splashes so as not to get him wet. "It is a wonderful day for a swim. The water's the perfect temperature." She didn't need to explain why she was swimming, it wasn't as if there was a ban on it, but all the same she felt the need to justify her silliness. "I've been so caught up with herbs and exploring the lands that I realized I hadn't taken time to enjoy myself, to relax." Her feet found purchase on rock and she stood to talk to him, rather than bob about the water. She was still submerged to her shoulder, looking up slightly at Floki on the bank.

"How are you today? Were you coming for a swim as well?" It struck her that in this moment she was the most comfortable she'd been since joining Moonspear. It was finally starting to feel like her home, rather than her new home.

"Sorry," Floki apologized quickly -- this was the second time recently he had startled someone who was swimming, though luckily Pyx didn't have as drastic a reaction as Banner had. His packmate stayed afloat, simply turning in the water to face him as she explained what she was up to. She had been busy collecting herbs, and he knew that to be a fact -- he had seen her at work only a few weeks ago, while he was consumed with his own task of hunting down Lazarus.

He wouldn't let thoughts of the white wolf darken his mind now, however; thankfully, karma had done its part and Lazarus wouldn't terrorize the mountain any longer. He stepped into the shallow water, his paws pressed against the cool, wet rocks beneath. Pyx was right -- the temperature was perfect.

"I heard you splashing so I thought a swim would be a good idea," he commented, grinning as he slipped past her and into the deeper current. It pulled against his chest, but it wasn't strong enough to knock him off his feet. Pivoting back to look at Pyx, he asked, "How's the herbology going?" He knew that both she and Judas were working to refill Thistle Cloud's depleted cache, which had to be a tiresome job.

My poor girl, I'm cringing for her. Charon mislead her.

She offered a shake of her head at his apology. "Don't. I was simply too involved in my swimming. Better a simple start from you than one from something more deadly." He smiled and moved to join her and she waved her tail softly so as not to send water flying. "It's an enticing thing, isn't it? The sound of another having a good time." She laughed a little, turning to watch him enter the water. He questioned her about the herbology and her face lit up.

"Wonderfully, I think. The stocks are looking much better, more organized and much better stocks. It's not just me, though, Judas has certainly been doing his part. I think we'll be ready for when Amekaze has her pups, and for more beyond that. Though hopefully no more wolves tumbling from Mountains during storms, or getting burnt by the lightning." It was a small joke, just a little poke. He was far from the only one to have been hurt in the hunting event though. It had simply been a case of bad timing for very hungry wolves. "I'm surprised by how much I recall about herbs, although I always had a sweet spot for it even as a pup. It's always interested me greatly." She paused, wondering if she was jabbering on too much. Charon surely would have rolled his eyes by now.

The thought of Charon reminded her of his game, and she decided there was no better time than now to play. She was still under the impression that it was a pack-wide game, a bit of Moonspear culture. Little did she know the embarrassment that was to follow. "Oh! So...would you rather..." She started, heading back into the water. "Rather have to eat dung for the rest of your life, and only that. Orrrr...." Even still she would not get as vulgar as Charon had. "...be mated by a ram?" She was rather pleased with her choice, and waited for his to smile in recognition at the game. She stared at Floki expectantly, grinning.

He was happy to hear how well her herb-collecting was going. The pack had been in dire need of a medic for some time, and now they were on their way to having two. Although he wished that Thistle Cloud would return, he was certainly glad that Pyx and Judas had cleaned up her collection. The cache of plants, flowers, and leaves had been a mess that had required a practiced eye and skilled paw to reorganize.

"Good," he replied, laughing at her mention of the pack's recent injuries. For a while, they had lived without any bumps or bruises -- but all of a sudden, there had been quite a few incidences. Add to that Amekaze's pregnancy and Floki considered Moonspear as a whole very lucky to have gained both aspiring healers when they did. He was about to ask her more about her childhood when her eyes suddenly lit up and she blurted out a question that caused his brows to raise in surprise.

The grin on her face indicated that it was a game of some sort. Unaware that his own brother had tricked Pyx, Floki played along, pursing his lips and reaching up to tap a wet forepaw against his chin. "Oh, wow. That's a tough one," he said. Neither option was too appealing, but the thought of consuming nothing but poop made him want to gag, so he replied, "I think I have to go with the ram. Do I get to ask you a question now?"

Floki took the joke about the recent injuries well and she smiled, pleased that he was in better spirits than he had been on their first meeting. As she asked her question his brows raised, but he didn't take long to answer. She laughed, pleased that her question seemed to surprise him. That must mean it was a good one, right? She was surprised by his answer, having thought that the dung might be easier to accept. The pain that would accompany the ram turned her from it, but perhaps if it was only once it might not be too terrible compared to a lifetime of dung eating. 

He questioned her after he answered and she faltered a little, laughing. "Don't you know?" It wasn't that Charon had purposely mislead her. He had simply played the game with her and she had assumed that it was part of Moonspear. She likely should have clarified, but his statement of needing to play it again had left her convinced. "Yes, it's your turn to ask, and you can't reuse my question." She looked a little confused, a little embarrassed. She was not yet deep enough in the water that she could not touch, and she paused to speak more before going any further.

"Charon introduced me to the game my first meeting with him...I had thought it was a pack thing. Is it?" There was a small amount of fear in her voice, hoping that perhaps it was a pack game. She wouldn't be devastated to hear it wasn't, but certainly she would feel silly. "I'm so sorry, if it's not. I must have sounded crazy." The ridiculousness of her question was only just striking her when viewed outside the bounds of a known game.

She was amused by his response, but confusion soon flickered across her face. Pyx explained the game briefly, and then provided the missing piece of information: "Charon introduced me to the game my first meeting with him...I had thought it was a pack thing." Floki couldn't help but grin and give his head a little shake; it had been some time since Charon had played a prank on anyone, and while this wasn't anything to write home about, it had provided him with a chuckle. He refused to think about the fact that the last wolf Charon loved to pick on was Wildfire.

"Well, no, but we can make it a pack thing starting now," he said, raising his eyebrows. He waded towards Pyx, closing the gap between them until he was standing in slightly shallower water. He wanted to resume their swim, but coming up with a question for Pyx required more concentration on his part. "I think it's fun," he insisted, reaching out to give her an encouraging nudge. He didn't want her to feel bad.

He then pursed his lips, twisting his face into an overexaggerated expression of contemplation. "Would you rather...be the best hunter in the wilds but have no friends, or the opposite? Have a lot of friends but be unable to hunt?" It was kind of a lame query, he realized as it passed his lips, but he shrugged; he would just have to keep practicing this new game to get better at it.

He chuckled as she revealed her story but she was happy at least he hadn't been scandalized. His kind offer made her smile. Floki wade over towards her and gave her a reassuring nudge and she smiled, she'd missed the small gestures of pack life. The small touches to reassure and encourage, the comfort of another. She dipped her head, grinning but still embarrassed.

"You are kind to me, Floki. I must have sounded a complete loon." She giggled a little at herself. "I am glad you like it, Charon seemed very pleased with the game too. It's nice for bonding, I think. A lot of what I had said to Charon seemed to bore him, although to be fair I did ramble about herbs quite a lot." She watched as she thought on his question and she chuckled again. "I had a hard time thinking of a question too."

Her ears perked as his question began and she nodded. "Ooooh, good one! Charon made me make mine vulgar, but I think that was because I was so shocked at his question. I like this though. I think...." She paused, considering. "I'd rather be the worst hunter, with tons of friends. My friends could help keep me fed, if they're truly my friends. I hate being alone when I traveled here...it's an ache that can be worse than hunger at times." She'd like to think that she could make friends who would care for her if she were ever injured or otherwise unable to hunt.

"Besides," She said with a small laugh. "I'm better at hunting herbs than anything else. Not that I can't feed myself, of course." She looked back to the water and realized she'd disturbed Floki's swimming by playing her game. "Let's swim like we set out to do, we can play more later." She gave him a playful grin, flicking her tail through the water to send a splash at him before leaping back into the deeper waters.

Once Floki reassured her, Pyx seemed to feel better about the situation. As far as he was concerned, she had nothing to be embarrassed about -- Charon had played a harmless trick on her, and if nothing else, she had introduced Floki to a new game. He nodded in agreement as she mused about the activity's usefulness in bonding, then his ears swept forward as she pondered his question.

He snorted in laughter when she shared that Charon had insisted she make her queries inappropriate, shaking his head in a knowing fashion. "Of course he did," he chuckled, then listened as she gave her answer. He was pleased with what she said -- he wouldn't have judged her either way, but her response seemed very fitting to her personality. Although she hadn't required him to answer his own question or provide a new one of his own, he replied, "I think I would choose friends, too." He wasn't the best hunter anyway -- just adequate by wolf standards -- but knew that those close to him were the most important relationships.

The offer to swim was met by a grin, and then a cry of protest as Pyx splashed him. Without hesitation, he swam after her, navigating the current with strong kicks of his legs. "Watch out," he warned playfully, "I heard these waters are shark-infested." He ducked his head beneath the water, holding his breath momentarily as he floundered towards her like one of the ocean-dwelling beasts.

She grinned as Floki laughed over Charon's rule and then again when he agreed with her answer. "There's something just...very sad about being wonderfully well fed with no one to share it with, don't you think?" She mused. Floki's cry made her laugh and she pushed herself harder, to move faster. A warning came from behind and she spun, watching him with a playful grin on her face.

His warning first made her brow knit together in confusion. Sharks in a stream? Who had ever heard of such a thing? And then he dove towards her underwater and she let out a screech and floundered to move away, laughing and tucking her tail from the oncoming attack. She waited for him to rise for air, swimming away as fast as she could. Once he showed any sign of rising, she would dive under as deep as she could to swim past him and appear behind him. Hopefully, with water in his eyes he'd be distracted enough not to notice her disappear.

Once behind him she intended to leap at the surface in an attempt to scare him. Her lungs would hold for that short amount of time, if she could handle the water in her ears. Underwater she had no way to tell if he'd seen her, so she simply followed through with her plan and exploded from the depths with a cry. "The tables have turned!" 

While the idea sounded good in theory, once Floki had actually plunged his head beneath the water he found that pretending to be a shark was more difficult than he had anticipated. It limited his range of movement and he couldn't hold his breath for very long. And when he tried to open his eyes underwater, all he could see was the murky depths they had stirred up by dragging their paws along the silty bottom.

So he re-emerged, just in time for Pyx to dive and swim past him, as swiftly as a school of fish. "Hey!" he protested, and as he turned to follow her with his gaze, she suddenly leaped out of the river, sending up a spray of water as her body broke the surface. He laughed and began to paddle away from her, heading downstream now so that he could allow the current to do some of the work as he tried to escape.

Floki's laugh greet her even as she tried to shake the water from her eyes. She heard him splashing away, swimming from her. Once she could see again she began to follow him, laughing herself. The current tugged at her fur, helping her along. It was nice to simply have a day to relax, time to play with one of her packmates.

She narrowed her eyes and lowered her head so that her lower jaw was submerged but her head and nose sat above water. She swam fast after Floki, slowly gaining on him. When she was closer to him, she aimed her nose at his hip, intending to give him a playful and maybe ticklish poke. She began to wonder about Floki's story. How long had he been in Moonspear? What was his trade of choice? Or intention? She would wait though, not willing to interrupt their pup-like fun with questions.

It was nice to do something mindless for a while, especially considering all that had gone on within Moonspear as of late. The warm sun overhead and the feel of the cool water swirling against his limbs was peaceful.

As the creek lapped around him, Floki relaxed his legs, letting the current do all of the work. But this, of course, slowed his pace and made it easier for Pyx to catch up with him. He didn't realize how much she had gained on him until he felt her snout poke against his hindquarters. He grinned then and whirled back towards her, dragging his forelegs through the water so that he sent up a spray in her direction.

She was not expecting his quick whirl, nor the tidal wave he sent her wave. She sputtered as it hit the target, then shook her head, laughing. She thrashed her legs in his general direction, hoping to somewhat pay him back. Her moves were sloppier, though, and would result in smaller less effective waves.

Her hind paws scrambled on rock for a moment a with a lunge and combined kicks, she launched herself forward and sligthly up out of the water. She aimed to land beside Floki, hopefully sending her own wave into him. She laughed again, smiling in the direction of the male.

"This is the most fun I have had in ages!" She giggled, shaking her head. "What about you? Or is Moonspear full of times like this? I hope the latter."

She wasted no time and retaliated quickly, using her body to propel the water towards him in a swell. It splashed against his chest and he laughed, paddling towards the shallows. He waded out and gave himself a shake, sending droplets flying as he turned back to hear Pyx's laughter and question.

"I haven't had this much fun in a while, either," Floki admitted, the single statement possibly answering Pyx's query about the atmosphere of Moonspear. He wouldn't necessarily say that their pack wasn't fun or lighthearted, but they had had their share of troubles to deal with as of late.

"When Charon and I were little, we used to play around a lot. He had a great imagination," he said, remembering Charon's stories of dragons and trolls in particular. "But I guess when you're an adult, you just don't get to goof off as much," was his conclusion, coupled with a shrug of his damp shoulders.

She followed him, heading to the shallows and then emerging onto land again. The earth felt oddly solid under her feet after spending so much time swimming. She shifted on her legs a moment, adjusting them to the weight again before she too gave herself a shake. She was quite the sight now, both of their were, her hair stuck out in red wet spikes, and her tongue lolled from her mouth. Her eyes were glowing though, and she smiled even as she panted.

"That's the truth, isn't it?" She said, chuckling. "You've always got something you should be doing or could be doing. When we're young, we don't think about how good we have it until it's gone." She took a seat. "We'll just have to change things, I think. Make it a more frequent thing, having fun like this. It'll be easier to get away with it too, once Amekaze has her puppies. We can use them as an excuse." She chuckled again and smiled at Floki, shooting him a goofy exaggerated wink.

My last post! Thanks for the fun thread! :)

"Yes, that sounds like a plan," Floki agreed, stepping out of the water and onto the dry riverbank. Already he could feel the sun warming his fur and he paused there for a moment, letting the heat dry the silver hair along the nape of his neck. "We'll have lots of fun games to teach them," he decided with a grin.

A moment later, his smile slipped away. Although it had been fun to frolic in the creek with Pyx, he realized that he should probably squeeze in a patrol before day's end. Amekaze was physically unable to do so, and Charon, understandably, had been spending a lot of time at her side as of late. "Speaking of the not fun stuff," he said with a grimace, "I'm going to head out to do a patrol. But let's swim again sometime before the weather turns cold."

He waved his tail and bobbed his head in Pyx's direction, then turned his paws towards the borders.

Yes, thank you for the thread! We'll have to have another soon!

Pleased to have made plans for the future, Pyx grinned at Floki, tail waving. "That we will, certainly Charon's game." That made her chuckle, though she wondered if Amekaze would be soured by her children spouting gross and vulgar options for would you rather. She watched the smile fade off Floki's face and a knowing grin spread on her own. 

"I understand." She replied simply. She ought to dry herself out and busy herself with the herb supply. She needed more raspberry leaves, her stores were completely missing a few things she'd not like to be without as well. "I have some things I should tend to as well. But yes, let's do that. It was fun, I enjoyed my time with you today Floki." She dipped her head to the male and then watched him head towards the borders. 

She'd rest on a rock for a moment, dry herself, before she too head out. A smile covered her face still, pleased with the results of her relaxation time.