Sun Mote Copse Chase the sky into the ocean
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All Welcome 
vague on if before or after kids!

Despite getting back into her usual routine, there were still some days when it was hard to get up.  That morning was one of them.  She'd been snoozing, curled up next to Wraen, but when Wraen left to do things she stayed.  It was so nice just lying there in the warming sun, not doing anything.... until @Kiwi had come along and shoved her up.

If you're going to be too useless to get a trade, you can at least go patrol.. Maia was beginning to have a real dislike for the girl, who she felt was targeting her with a particularly mean vein.  So what if she didn't want a trade? She was good at plenty.  And she got that it meant that wouldn't be promoted, she was okay with that.  It didn't mean she was useless.  Did it?

You have been kinda useless lately, though, haven't you?  That internal traitor of a voice.  Her ears tilted back to lay alongside her skull as she started a slow, contemplative walk around the territory.
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No one upsets Wraen's baby sister. No.One. :D

Wraen's frostbites had healed somewhat, she no longer got stuck on ice and to make things even better, the spring had set in, making the snow melt. The occasional storms and rainfalls did not dampen her mood the slightest. The cold and dark winter months were behind her and just the same way every living creature in nature was celebrating life, so did she. 

A hare for a breakfast improved her mood more that instead of taking a nap, she sought out her sister. It was a sunny afternoon and she considered that both of them had dedicated the better part of the day for the common good of the pack and now it was good time to have some fun. Having not found Maia at their shared quarters and nowhere else either at first, she had given up the hope entirely, when she spotted the familiar figure by chance.

"He-e-ey!" she called out, bounding towards her, radiating optimism from afar. "Let's go and do something useful!" she suggested with a twinkle in her eyes, meaning "useful" by their standards, while the rest of the world could go and... well, you know the rest.
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Wraen's cheerful voice broke through Maia's dutiful plodding, and the similarity of what she offered to Kiwi's jab made her wince.  Hey!  she recovered, greeting Wraen brightly.  Um, yeah, sure.  I was already doing a patrol thing.  She gestured.  But if you were thinking something else... There was no mistaking the hopeful tone on that question.

Wow this patrolling business was boring.  She did the whole hunting thing sometimes and that was okay, and the traveling thing.  But walking in circles around the same patch of ground was where she drew the line, and at this point she was only still going because she couldn't stand the other girl's voice in her head.
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"Patrol - shmatrol," Wraen replied laughinf, but also feeling a bit like a heathen after saying this and therefore cast a worried glance over her shoulder. Wildfire might get the joke, but she was not so sure about Kiwi's sense of humour. "I believe that you have done a decent day's work, because you do look bored to death," she kept the friendly banter going, despite the fact that she might end up in hell for her loud mouth. "And I am officially kidnapping you," she added. "So, let's disappear!" with this said, she nipped at Maia's shoulder and then invited her to race out and away from the copse.
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Oh, thank bob, yes!  She brightened up a bit.  Who cares what Kiwi thinks anyway?  Wraen didn't think she was useless and that was all that mattered.

But still.  We should avoid Kiwi, but lead the way!  She gave a nip at Wraen's shoulder and a little eager hop before happily racing after her.
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"We will be very, very sneaky and careful," Wraen replied smiling. She bumped her hip against Maia's in reassurement. Then they walked out and away from Firebirds and resumed their conversation only, when they were at a safe distance and prospects of meeting anyone were very low.

"Aside from boring yourself to death, how are you keeping up?" she asked, concern in her voice, but readiness to offer her shoulder to cry on, if Maia needed such.
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Oh, good!  With Wraen's help she could probably avoid her all day, and better yet, even with Kiwi's rank Wraen was older.  And way cooler.  That counted for more without a doubt.

I've been alright, she answered, which was typical for normal but a bit of a lukewarm answer for herself.  She'd had a bit on her mind, and now might be a good time to ask about it.  You're a storyteller, right?  Like, officially.  I was kinda thinking... do you think I'd be good enough to be one too?  She was tentative but hopeful.  She was pretty awesome at telling stories, but was she good enough to be professional?
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"Well, you could, of course, but most wolves do not view storytelling as true trade," Wraen replied truthfully. While people found stories entertaining, they failed to see, how much work and effort was put into making them good and tasteful.

"But with your love for travelling, perhaps, a scout would be a more suitable choice for you? That trade has adventures, being out in the wilds, meeting new people, exploring in it's description," she offered, watching her sister's expression carefully. "The next step for it is Ambassadorship, but you do not have to go there, if you do not wish."
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Wraen's sentiments echoed Kiwi's earlier criticism a little too closely, so she immediately got defensive.  So?!  I think it is!  Why does everything have to be useful?

She realized a second later she regretted talking to Wraen like that.  Sorry.  I like exploring, but when I do, I don't want to just meet people.  I want to know their stories. She frowned.  I might not be useful but at least I can make them happy.  If even Wraen thought she should do something more serious, though, maybe it was time to.  Maybe Kiwi was right.
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Wraen had struck the wrong cord and she realized that, when Maia replied with unusual sharpness. She was unaware of the dynamics between her sister and the queen-to-be Kiwi, but sensed that this did not come exactly out of nowhere. 

"Easy there, tiger," she said calmly. "I did not say that I count myself to the most wolves. They have no idea, how much effort goes into creating a story out of an idea, a snippet of thought, retelling of real life events," she explained.

"It's just a fair warning from my experience - you will meet plenty of people, who will enjoy your skills as they are, but there will be others, who will look down at you. And though I will now say - screw them - frankly speaking, their attitude hurts the most," she finished and sighed.

"Speaking of travelling - are you still planning to spread your wings and fly off to greener pastures, now that the weather is good again, or will you keep company for your old and cranky sis for a while longer?" she chose the words to make her inquiry sound light-hearted, but the worry was real.
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I don't care about them then.  This was a complete lie, but she definitely didn't want to care about them.  Her sister was a person who she very much felt she never needed to lie to, but this was a subject she was even lying to herself about.

Maybe if I become a storyteller I can become a scout too, and do both at the same time.  They kind of went hand in hand, because as she traveled to tell stories she also would have to pay attention to where she was.  I just get lost a lot.  She'd need to get better at that.

She hadn't even thought of leaving.  Did she say she was before?  I don't think so, she said slowly, trying to remember what they'd talked about when they first moved here.  I do wanna take more trips but I don't think there's anywhere I'd want to like, go go.  I love my old cranky sis, she finished with a grin, even if she is going respectable on me.  Her tone left no mistake that she was teasing, and despite her snap earlier, she was feeling way better.
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"No scout achieved greatness without getting lost 50% of time. That, in my opinion, is the only way you can discover something new. No fun in going, where hundreds before you have already been," Wraen spoke and her expression was more cheerful than earlier. Maia was not leaving (not yet, anyway), her confirmation was all she needed to hear.

"Sometimes best ideas for stories come, when you are on your own," she shared. "Time from time I clear my mind and become one with the environment I am in. It's difficult in the beginning, but over time it gets easier. My personal favourites are rain and wind," her voice trailed off, as she reminisced this with a smile on her face.
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Yeah, I guess.  She was still dubious but was definitely going to try it out.  It made sense right? She had friends around she wanted to see and that meant revisiting areas, so she could definitely learn them.

Rain and wind are awful!! You like them?!  Maia shuddered, but smiled.  Rain tended to soak her through and then she was cold and uncomfortable and just not good.  I don't think I have a favorite though.  Sun?  But not super hot sun.  She realized then that in all of her stories, she'd never really added the weather, or the environment.  I guess I never thought of that.  It would help telling stories to see different places and kinds of weather.  Do you use them a lot in stories? Here we go.  If she could learn a thing or two from Wraen real quick about how to tell a better story she was all over it! She loved picking her sister's brain about things.
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Wraen had never attempted to dissect the structure of her stories or anyone else's, thinking that by focusing on details too much, you missed something more valuable from the bigger picture. Like a person can learn a lot by opening up a corpse and working through muscle after muscle, bone after bone, nerve, vessel, organ after the other, but the true beauty of the being is it being alive and working as a whole. 

"I think that you get good at story-telling just by doing it frequently," Wraen had thought a while, how to convey her lesson better. "There is no right way of, how to do it. Each person has to find it's own," she went on. "There are true artists of description in the trade. They tell you about the meadows and not only you see them before your eyes, you are in them. They tell you about the storm and there you are right in the middle of it," she gave an example.

"Asked to label, what I do... I think I am the introspective kind. I am not good at detailed descriptions of the physical world and motions, however, telling about the inner workings of my character's mind comes easily for me," she explained. And this was true both for her and her player. "I suggest you do it, you keep doing it, even if you have doubts about yourself and pour your heart in it," she said. "In the end all that matters is neither the plot, nor the beauty of your language, but whether your story has a soul."
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Maia wasn't sure she wanted to get that good at description... she tended to get a little bored, describing the same meadow.  That makes sense! I want them to know where they are, if not exactly, yknow, see it.  Sometimes she forgot to even say a setting, because she was picturing it in her own mind and forgot the one listening wasn't watching also.

She liked that description though.  She didn't know if any of her stories had a soul, but they certainly had a lot of heart, and she loved them.  She'd been collecting her own array of self-made stories, and each time she told them she tweaked it, making it bigger and in her mind better.  She never thought much on the character motivation, or really anything outside the progression of the story.  So, what the character wants?

Maia smiled.  I never thought of that! I always have characters, but I never really go into what they are thinking about. Her tales were all action, but this, ooooh.  This could add layers.  She liked this.
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"Come to think of it, if you are ever in need of descriptions, you can find your own clever way of doing it," Wraen suggested, inspired by a sudden idea. "Let me think," she searched for a proper object to use as an example and found looking at Maia's eyes instead. Why not?

"If you were a heroine in a story, I could say a number of things about your eyes. I can be strictly medical and say "her eyes were well-formed, round, sat nicely in the sockets, were neither protruding, nor deeply sunken and bore no sign of abnormality"," she chuckled saying this, because she had no idea, if medics were ever concerned about this. 

"I can be less inclined to show off my medical background by saying simply "her eyes were grey" or, if I am there to win your affection or just make my heroine more perceptible, I can tell you that "her eyes were silver as the moonlight"," she paused to come up with more. Something to do with the saying that "eyes were the mirror of the soul". "I can add that "her silver eyes had a kind expression and a mischievous twinkle about them" or that "the look in her eyes was of a person you wanted to get to know better and keep as a friend"," she stopped. 

"Besides - all of, what I said just know about your eyes is true," she grinned. "Especially the morphological description."
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It was both nice and a little uncomfortable having her sister describe her eyes in that much detail. Maia wasn't opposed to compliments, and usually she boasted them off, but she wasn't used to them and when they came from someone like Wraen, even in a roundabout way, they meant way more.

I think I like those last two best, she said with a little grin, especially the mischievous twinkle part.  Let me try!  She couldn't just do Wraen's eyes, so she glanced around, looking up to see a robin perched above them.

For that bird, I could say it's 'a little creature, dressed in feathers, with a bright red chest and grey wings.'  She had to think.  Or I could say it's a streamlined pilot with a slate grey coat, a blazoned chest, and a saucy chirp.  Seems like a ladies bird.  She grinned as the bird, as if hearing, glanced down and then flitted away with a parting chirrup.

It's harder than it seems! She added, wondering in a story how she would keep it all straight.  Would she lose the end if she focused so much on each part?
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"You are a natural!" Wraen exclaimed, when Maia dealt beautifully with the task of coming up with creative descriptions. If moments earlier the older sibling had had some doubts about, whether the younger one was getting in the trade for the lack of having anything better to do, then now she was convinced that Osprey's creative spark had passed on not only to her, but the younger generation as well.

"You get better with practice. The more you do, the easier it comes," she told. It was a lifelong struggle, if she was very honest. Never perfect, never content - these two things were that fuelled her motivation not to stop at, what she had achieved already. "Anything else you need an advice on?" she asked.
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She was bolstered with pride by the compliment and couldn't stop the satisfied smile that spread across her face, not even if she'd wanted to.  Maybe she'd make a trade of it yet! Then she at least would know she wasn't useless... not as long as she was doing what she loved, making people happy by spreading tales.  Anyone who didn't appreciate that (aka Kiwi) obviously just was determined to be miserable anyway.

She tried to think.  I don't think so, she replied, considering it.  She hadn't really had any problems lately that needed addressing, and Wraen had successfully cheered her up from this morning's troubles.  Do you need any from me?  Now wouldn't that be a switch!
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"Not today, but I will keep your offer in mind," Wraen offered Maia a grateful smile. "Let's go and have some lunch," she suggested, because all this mental effort had made her hungry. Funny, how hunting and tracking never had made her as tired as story-telling or discussing the basics of it with someone.

"Unless I offered you one earlier and forgot all about it," she added with a twinkle in her eyes. "And I have something really special too to offer - does beaver's tail sound tempting?" she asked, leading Maia to the very secret stash that was meant for special occasions. And food was the next best thing that could cheer a person up. 

Wrapping up. Thank you and I will make another one for the duo, once I clean my threadlogs.