Heron Lake Plateau i was playing Rock Paper Scissors with imaginary friends

@Liffey

the keep was more boring now more than ever. mom was gone so there was no one to spend time with (come to think of it, a lot of faces had disappeared). all the games he played by himself were getting old and he had explored every nook and cranny of his home. it was about time he went out beyond the border.

slipping away wasn’t a challenge. minori was busy doing her daily routine and there was no other adult to keep an eye on him. he’d have at least a few hours to explore give or take. orochi didn’t waste a second of it.

the boy blissfully galloped through the new world. he was surrounded by new sights and places to explore. one of those places happened to be some wetlands. it was a very interesting discovery. there were no trees so he could see the land in all its glory. and there was mud, a lot of mud. it made walking a challenge, one orochi didn’t shy away from. he waddled on through with his head held high.

Liffey hadn’t been sorry to learn that her friends wanted to leave the Plateau. It was a beautiful place—bright green grasses stretching across plains, glittering blue waters curving elegantly through, with a line of rich, dark trees marking one edge and open skies another. She knew from experience, you could get lost watching the herons sweeping across the lake and listening to the crickets and frogs singing their melodies from their hiding spots on the shoreline. It wasn’t till you came nearer and actually walked along those waters yourself that you realized the wet, sodden ground beneath the grass that made it so unpleasant.

Liffey has learned the plateau was better admired from a distance, yet here she was, moving tediously across the wetlands. Her search for her daughter had yielded nothing, but she wandered still. There wasn’t much hope left in her, though there hadn’t been much from the start. It was longing that drove her, and an inability to settle until she’d exhausted her options. She was a mother, and it simply wouldn’t do for a woman in her role to settle with sitting back and hoping her offspring was well and happy wherever she’d gone. She needed to know, and she needed to do her best to find out.

She had been exploring the Plateau for any signs of her daughter for about an hour when she spotted a little figure bounding along ahead. Liffey knew it wasn’t Wisteria, but she was curious enough to call out a ”Hey there!” and find out who it actually was.

when he heard someone call out to him, he immediately thought his adventure was over. minori had saw him sneak away and now she was coming to scoop him up. but when he spun around it was not the dark furred mother who faced him, but a complete stranger. maybe she was one of the wolves who lurked in shadewood but hadn’t made their face known. he couldn’t tell, his sense of smell wasn’t up to par, especially around here.

who are you? orochi leaned forwards and squinted. you’re not here to take me back are you?

The boy appeared to be rather young, though not so young that she was too alarmed over him being out on his own. She would never have allowed her own children to do this at that age, but not all parents raised their children the way she did. Some were more lax. More... reckless.

Liffey paused her approach when the boy called back to her, questioning who she was and what were her intentions. Her interest was piqued now. She adjusted her posture to appear non-threatening and gave the boy a smile. "I wouldn't even know where back is," she answered gently, "My name is Liffey Frostfur. I'm alpha of a pack just below the Plateau. What's your name?"

so she didn’t come from shadewood. it was a little odd considering everyone he knew lived there. his little mind couldn’t comprehend anyone living beyond their quiet borders, as seen by his brief dumbfounded expression. was her home like his, slow and uneventful, or was it greater?

my name’s orochi, he hastily replied. introductions were the least of his concerns. he only wished to learn more about this woman. what’s your home like? he took a few steps forward and stared up at her with a curious gaze.

The boy seemed interested in what she had to say about her pack, which Liffey found curious. She was beginning to think that he perhaps didn't have a family or a pack of his own, but that didn't quite make sense as she could smell other wolves on him. She kept her curiosity to herself for the moment and simply gave Orochi a warm smile as she said, "It's nice to meet you Orochi."

"We live in a glade, full of trees and fields of flowers with a wide stream running through it. Actually, we could go see it if you like? It begins just at the base of this Plateau, so you can see the whole thing if you stand on the Southern ledge," she said. She watched him carefully as she spoke, still wondering what it was about her home that he was trying to find out. Perhaps he didn't have a good life back where he lived. Maybe he was a runaway. She wasn't certain how she would feel about that, even though he seemed polite enough.