Sun Mote Copse say you'll stay with me tonight

Maia's was more mythical, of course, as was to be expected. Charon grinned as he said, A valkyrie, eh? It did sound like something that would fit Maia well. However, her dream to become one was not something as easily granted as his wish to her. That suits you. I like it. Charon smiled and sighed contently as he looked at the fireflies and the stars above them, just dancing peacefully. It was good to relax after all the shitty things that had happened before, and after being driven from his own mountain by his daughter's heat.

Good, he thought so too.  Unlike him, she wasn't entirely convinced it was out of reach.  If as she grew, she find the right pack and the right place... well, she could call herself whatever she liked, yeah? 

The one problem would be the fighting.  Conflict wasn't exactly a passion of hers and she'd much rather talk to a stranger than fight them.  So maybe she'd be the first singing and storytelling Valkyrie.

Have you ever heard the story of the valkyries and the storm god? She asked, curious now which he'd heard.

Charon shook his head at Maia's next question. He hadn't heard many stories at all about valkyries, honestly, just knew what they were generally speaking, so it wasn't hard to get into a place where he didn't know a valkyrie-themed story. Let's hear it, he said, sensing that she was going to tell him the story regardless anyway.

i am completely making this up like I do most of her stories haha, man I love this though

This story had long been one of her favorites, so when he asked her to tell it, she was indeed already prepping to do so whether he wanted to hear it or not.  Well - if he'd asked her not to, she wouldn't have, but who did that?

Up high in the sky, above even the clouds, lives a band of warrior wolves who ride giant winged beasts.  They are a sisterhood of expert fighters and they answer to the storm god, who leads them into battle with teeth and claws of lightning.  She could picture him in her mind - fur the color of storm clouds and eyes the same furious blue as his fangs.  

One day, his enemy, the god of fire, was laying waste to a forest.  They always fought because when the god of storms brought rain and lightning, sometimes the god of fire would set the forests alight, and the wolves would blame the storms.  Her eyes grew distant for a second... she'd forgotten for a moment that fire played a part in this story.  But she was able to get past, as time had healed a good part of that hurt.  Likely she'd never hear the story the same way again, though.

The storm god grew angry and wanted to protect the mortal wolves, so he sent his valkyries in a rainstorm to fight the god of fire and send him back.  She paused here for a moment, putting together the rest of the tale.  It had been a while since she heard it.

Charon nodded as Maia started the story's introduction. The Valkyrie sounded impressive, indeed. Charon listened to the next bit of the story, which had fire in it. He didn't really realise this as vividly until Maia fell silent, which caused a frown on his face, too. Eventually she continued with the story, mentioning the storm god grew angry and sent the valkyries to fight the god of fire. Charon bobbed his head in a nod as he listened, awaiting the rest of the story. Even though he felt a little too old for storytime no, he had always enjoyed hearing stories.

cool! :D

Charon would make a pretty good likeness for the thunder god, Maia thought absently as she spoke.  Bright blue eyes, scarred and battle ready, but super noble and regal too.  All he needed was a pack of valkyries and a wreathing of lightning.  It suited him.

Fire has his own minions, though, creatures of smoke and ash.  The battle was furious, with the valkyries choking on the smoke as their claws and fangs passed right through.  Slowly, the fire forces were winning.  This was always where as a younger wolf she would be on the edge of her paws, anxious no matter how many times she heard it for the end and to hear how the tide would turn.

But the leader of the valkyries was a wise wolf, and her name was Senna.  She saw that the battle was turning and knew that they needed help.  The storm god had a sister who he thought was too weak to fight, the goddess of the winds.  Her power complimented his storms, but how could wind compare to the power of lightning?  She smiled at the rhetorical question, because of course those listening could probably guess the ending.

Senna rode up and up until she broke free of the fight and could call out to the upper winds.  They were the goddess's messengers and she hoped they would carry her urgent message on.

They did, and the goddess answered.  She loved her brother and his warriors and hated to see them lose, and she too disliked fire and the way it's smoke filled her winds with death.  So she gave the valkyries use of the wind, and with it they choked the fire and scattered his followers into ash.

The storm god was upset at first that his warriors needed help, but he was impressed too with the power his sister had given them.  Ever since then, he's allowed her to rule beside him, and that's why when a storm comes, the wind howls as well.  It's a good sign because it means that the goddess is watching as well, ready to give her gift again to fight their enemies.

She finished, smiling and hoping he'd liked it.  There were a ton more stories about Senna and her warriors, but this one was great because she felt a kind of kinship to the goddess of the wind.  It was cool she proved herself so well that her brother let her become a part of his storms.

What fire looked like was something Charon had only experienced from afar, when the Sentinels had burned. From atop his mountain. It looked beautiful and yet it was so destructive, it was hard to imagine being part of it. Fire remained this magical, elusive sort of thing. Eventually the fire lost, which seemed like some sort of poetic justice, Charon thought, considering all that Maia had been through.

That's a nice story, Charon said. And teaches a valuable lesson never to underestimate anyone or think you can do it alone when you really need help, too. Like the way a pack worked. He smiled at that, even though things were a little complicated in his right now.

He hit the lesson directly and she beamed, nodding approvingly.  Of course he did.  And yourself too.  Imagine if the goddess had just figured she couldn't help and not answered?  She never would have proven herself and earned a spot next to her brother.  

Stories that are lessons are great, but so are ones that just kinda tell a story. she added, wagging her tail.  Sometimes it was better not to have to think when you listened and just immerse yourself in someone else's life for a time.

Charon smiled and nodded as Maia said that stories with morals were fun but sometimes it was also nice just to hear a story. True. He smiled and looked back towards Moonspear through the firefly-filled skies. I had a fight... That's why I came to see you. Charon frowned as he finally spilled these overdue beans. He wasn't entirely sure why he did. Maybe because he feared he might somehow not get to later.

My mate Amekaze won't give me children this year, and we had a big falling out over it. He decided to leave out the part about his daughter's heat. Maia was as young as Hydra -- if not younger -- and Charon didn't want her to think of him as an old dude.

Charon's subject change after was pretty abrupt, but she got the feeling when he said it that it had been on his mind for a while, so likely it wasn't a huge leap.  Oh.  Maia didn't know if she'd ever met his wife (she had, and thought she was really cool, but Maia forgot the connection).

Did she say why? Maia asked, feeling a little sympathetic.  If Charon wanted more kids and couldn't have them that had to feel awful.  She couldn't entirely relate because she definitely didn't feel any rush to have kids, but they were great and she loved pupsitting them.  It would have been pretty neat to play with her friends' kids too.  Auntie Maia all over again!

Charon shook his head when Maia asked if she had said why, even though she sort of had. He couldn't quite make sense of it, feeling that she had control over this and she simply did not want to. She said she couldn't force nature, or something, but she also seemed to be quite happy to not have to go through it anymore. It was as if she didn't want to anymore. She's a bit older than me, though I don't know how much specifically... Honestly, he only knew she was older than he was because they'd met once when he was still young and she was an adult.

.. It just seems like we're no longer aligned, lately. Before she had always wanted what he wanted and that made things easy enough. but now that was no longer the case and it was really difficult to see the path forward.

Maia knew next to nothing about age and it's effect on that sort of thing.  Eventually instinct would reveal it all, and like Amekaze she would simply know.  Right now it sounded incredibly selfish to her, Charon's mate withholding and not even entertaining something that seemed to mean a huge deal to her friend.  She frowned as her views on it took a clearly one-sided slant.

That's super dumb.  If you want them, then she should too.  You had them before, right?  Maia didn't want any of her own right now personally, but that didn't stop her from the judgement in her tone.  He seemed so down about it, when he said they weren't aligned.  He deserved way better than to have her shoot down his hopes.  Sorry.  That has to be rough.   Mates were a forever thing, and now that got Maia thinking.  What if she chose someone and then they got super out of sync like that?  Had her parents ever? She didn't think so, but now she was going to worry about it, yes indeed.

i just love how maia goes "my friend wants this thing, so his mate toootally should". hypocrisy ftw! <3 are you ok with finishing? you can fade this <3

Charon nodded. We did. I don't get it either. He decided not to play into her sorry - he was a strong man, after all, and strong men don't cry. He smiled faintly and then shook his head. It doesn't matter. Let's talk about something happy again. Charon smiled and then bumped his shoulder into Maia's. Catch me if you can. And without further warning Charon simply set his heels in the grass and started to run off, fully intending to win this game of emotion-avoidant play.

ill miss these two!! Wrapping now <3

Maia was totally down for feelings talk if that was what her friend wanted.  She'd never been the type to shy away from it, though she was prone to giving unhelpful advice at times.  She was just as happy to let the matter drop, however, as he took off.

Hey!! she called out with a laugh, and without another moment hesitation sprinted after.  She was more than ready to pass the afternoon playing chase with a good friend.