Sun Mote Copse lucid dreaming

hoping for another OG 2018 pup? :D verna has way too little friends her own age.

She was not sure why she returned so close to where the silver wolf had mauled her. Perhaps because it had made her feel something -- alive -- while she normally heard only the whispers of the spirits around her. It made her feel weirdly alive. The boy she did not care about as much, although it would be interesting to see him again. But not for him, but for the adrenaline he caused to soar through her body. She had left Shadow's side, for the dark one had been cold since the spirit had suggested tearing their caretaker's body apart and eating or stashing what they needed. Shadow might think it sacrilege, but the spirit knew that their mortal bodies needed sustenance.

As she passed towards the grey slough instead her attention was caught by something. A new thing that hadn't been there before. With a cant of her head, the pale youth approached the borders of the copse. The forest reminded her of Blackfeather Woods, but then it was the happy-go-lucky Disney version. The sun shone merrily through the woods on this cold morning while a few birds twittered excitedly. The scrawny yearling started trailing along the borders, eager to find out more about this place and the wolves who'd settled here in her absence from these lands. As she walked it was clear that she wasn't all there, her head dreamy with the whispers of spirits. Even though it wasn't the forest she hailed from, the spirits were everywhere; so they lingered here, too, and she could do nothing but listen to their murmurs.

Now that everything had been sorted out, Kiwi felt lighter than she had in months.  Her mom knew what was up and understood, she was going to be a big sister soon, and she was solidly situated as Regent and getting back into the groove.  Things were looking up.

This good mood meant that when Kiwi crosses the stranger while doing one of her regular border struts, she didn't  immediately go hackles up like she sometimes was apt to.  She wasn't friendly, more suspicious, but her ears remained up and her tone remained somewhat neutral.

What do you want? She asked, lifting her tail imperiously as she stared at the larger girl.  She seemed kinda out of it? But shouldn't be hanging around their claim without a reason, in the Regent's opinion.

It wasn't often that the spirit ran into wolves that were smaller than her. She and her shadow were small in stature but it seemed that the ruddy girl who approached was even smaller. Yet what she lacked in size she made up for with sass and attitude. Her request was more of a command and was given with lifted tail. The pale youth seemed unfazed, her body language completely neutral as it was before the girl's approach.

Pack is new, was not here before. Her voice was rough from disuse. Was curious. She'd been curious to see what wolves lived here, and now she knew one, at least. Yet she doubted that the girl would warm up to her any time soon. Still, she'd at least try to poke the bear a little to see just how much sass the girl had. The spirit smiled a cheeky smile as she said, with a hint of playful sass in her voice: Your fur is pretty. Most wolves she had met were white, black, or grey. She had not met many wolves that looked as interesting as this one.

Was something wrong with her voice? It seemed to clear up after a moment, but it made Kiwi all the more suspicious.  Was this wolf sick?

Her next comment was completely out of left field.  Kiwi found herself flushing a bit because she couldn't match the tone to the words.  Oh.  Um, thanks.  She replied, obviously thrown.  Compliments about her leadership abilities and greatness she was used to, but compliments about how she looked she was less practiced in fielding.

I'm the Regent here, she added, getting back into her verve and adding some obvious pride to the mix.  So if you had a question I can definitely answer it, but also, if you cause problems I can definitely handle you.  She never could be sure if that last part was true, but she always said it!  It was her job after all.

It amused the spirit that she managed to catch the wolf who lived here off-guard with her compliment, even though she meant it, too. She smirked, clearly pleased with herself for that. She introduced herself as Regent, a role in which she clearly felt a lot more comfortable presenting herself than "pretty furred girl".

Then Regent girl threw in a weird mixture of helpfulness and threats. The pale youth quirked an eyebrow with a mildly amused expression and said: Is that so? She took a step closer, lifted her head in a sassy manner while searching for eye contact with the Regent girl, and repeated in a hushed voice: Can you handle me, Regent girl?

Averna's response elicited a strange reaction in Kiwi, even more than the compliment had.  A sort of draw.  Instead of being unbalanced by it, though, she took it as the challenge it clearly was, and stepped forward to close the space almost completely between them.

Definitely.  She said, letting her green eyes meet Averna's.  No way she was going to let her have her way on Kiwi's turf, and something in her stirred, enjoying this conflict (was it conflict?) immensely.  And it's Kiwi.  Who are you?

The pale youth felt her heart pound in her chest as the abbrassive youth drew nearer, leaving only a little bit of space between the pair of them. Another might've backed off, but the spirit savoured the closeness. The danger of it, the adrenaline, and most of all, the tension between the pair of them. It was like fireworks.

She introduced herself as Kiwi, which was a very unintimidating name for such a proud creature. It amused the spirit, which was clearly visible in the smirk on her face.

As she was asked who she was, she tilted her head. That question is complex, she said, unaware at first that she was being asked for her name. Nobody had ever asked the spirit 'who are you'. But soon she realised that Regent girl -- now dubbed Powergirl because of how she displayed whatever power she had eagerly -- had introduced herself before asking the question, probably meaning her... name?

Nobody had asked that ever before, either. Spirit. Which she knew was not her real name, but she preferred Powergirl to have a name that lay closer to her heart than 'Averna'. Or perhaps it was that her birth name was only reserved for her family.

She did not like that smirk.  Kiwi had never been much bothered by her name before, but in the face of this aloof (and frankly, almost unreal) stranger, she felt a twinge of self-doubt pierce her core.  Her mind, then, had two options.  She could either embrace it and use it as fuel, building up the fire that this girl could think what she wanted and be proved wrong.  Or she could, eventually, find herself something better.  Something more suited, the way 'Spirit' definitely suited this ghost of a girl.

She chose the former and ignored the moment of doubt as best she could, not taking her eyes away from the girl's eerie colorless gaze.  It's not complex. she responded, catching the double meaning and taking her own turn at smirking.  Not if you know.  Kiwi had no issues with knowing herself or what she wanted.  Which, speaking of - Are you just here looking, or did you want something?  That came out with a bit of a challenge behind it too.  She felt the draw, but she also knew she shouldn't be wasting time here chatting with strangers who shouldn't be here in the first place.

The spirit could not help but chuckle at the comments. She hadn't even meant to sound honing but somehow it came out that way. Powergirl sounded a lot like a young pup who hadn't figured out how complex the world was. The spirit thought she knew who she was when she was five months old, maybe, but no longer. Powergirl was so eager to prove herself, wasn't she?

Do you, now? Such arrogance, so far unfounded, but there was something about that that drew in the spirit like a moth to a flame. With the playful smirk still on her face, eyes still as interlocked with the girl's as they were the other way around, she answered to the question: You. Which, of course, was a total lie because she'd never even known Powergirl existed until now. She just wanted to see how the girl responded.

You.  At first, Kiwi was again a little rocked.  But then her eyes narrowed.  What made this stranger think she could just walk up here and say something like that?  She didn't know her, didn't like her, and definitely wasn't interested in whatever this was.  Or so she told herself as she growled.

No.  The only ones that could have her were the ones who deserved her and all those wolves were right here.  Unless you wanted to join, you should leave.  And if you did want to join, we'd have to see, she added silently, her gaze now more glare than friendly.  She really wanted to stalk off, but she couldn't until the other girl was gone.

The girl struck back with surprising force, immediately saying 'no'. It amused the pale youth, who licked her lips and remained firmly rooted in place. She chuckled when Powergirl mentioned that she should join if she wanted her. It only a joke, shared the girl with a sly smile and a wave of her tail. Though a shame, it could have been fun.

After a short moment of contemplating the pale youth said, a sassy tone in her voice: But Powergirl seems more like the kind of girl to have than be had. She turned around and took a few steps away from the borders and Powergirl's blazing performance, and then looked over her shoulder with a smirk, about ready to leave. She enjoyed the fun, but her attention span was running out and besides, it seemed like poor Powergirl had had enough for one day.

Ugh.  Duh, of course it was.  Not a very good one, she answered back cattily, partially to hide the fact that she'd missed the mark on that one.  Jokes should be funny.  Kiwi wasn't convinced anything to do with this stranger could be called fun, but definitely interesting, and a big part of her wondered what would have happened if she'd answered yes.  Too late now.  She was just going to ignore that part.  That part wasn't Regent of the Firebirds.

Got that right, she muttered, but when Averna turned she'd see a matching smirk on Kiwi's face as well.  Come back if you ever wanna try me again! She called out, completely against her better judgement, then turned and cast a look around.  No one heard that right? Good.  In oddly high spirits, she watched until Averna disappeared, then stalked off to continue her patrol.

fade here? These two are gonna need another sometime haha amazing

When she looked back, there was a sassy smirk on Powergirl's face. The spirit wondered if Powergirl realised exactly what was meant with those words, but she did not clarify. There was something fun about having Powergirl in the place that the spirit wanted, for now, where they both spoke words but each had a slightly different meaning to them. Joke or no joke, flirt or impressive display of power.. it did not matter.

Without another word but only the expressive sassy grin to share as she looked over her shoulder, the pale youth trotted off. She felt oddly grounded, as if she'd taken a little step away from the dreamy spirit world to be in the physical world a bit more by this encounter. This wasn't the surprising part: the surprising part was that she liked it that way.

yes! and yes! this was fun <3