Sun Mote Copse i'm the pretender, i'm not what i'm supposed to be

AW <3

it wasn't just the mountain spires arcturus missed. it was the coldness as it seeped in at night, the howl of wind around the peaks. the familiarity of paths he'd walked ten-thousand times. the faces that had been part of his life since he was born, as familiar as the stones and sky.

the feeling of being a part of it all, belonging implicitly to.. of being built into the very tapestry of the life he was living, threading in and out just so.

it wasn't the same here; the trees thick and ferns crowding. he missed the sharp open skies.

the raw cold as it crawled down the mountainside like a cougar prowling for its meal.

there were times where he instinctively wanted to seek out old figures of his life - to tell them of something strange he'd found, or to ask them something -- only to realize that part of his life was as dead and gone as his parents.

arcturus kept his mind busy by honest work. the borders were frequented often, and over time a narrow path was braided into the pack's perimeters by the constant tread of his feet. he mantled one such path today, thinking of how irreversibly lonesome and untethered his life had become -- how quiet, and eerily calm..

They spent the morning at the rendezvous site, then Towhee fed Meerkat some lunch and took her on their daily foray through the copse. They stopped by to visit Neema and the "chibs," as Towhee affectionately called Primrose and the twins. After that, they roamed westward. They had ventured a little further every day and had covered pretty much the entire territory by now, excluding the borders. Towhee was still wary of taking Meerkat there and risking exposure, though she decided they could knock out two big milestones in one day.

Usually fearlessly adventurous, Meerkat currently walked at her mother's side as firmly instructed. Even when her darkening eyes spotted a figure up ahead, tempting her to bound forth in greeting, the puppy only obediently glanced up to Towhee's face. She couldn't quite still her waving tail, nor suppress the eager little whimper that crept up her throat, but she did not spring forward until her mother silently signaled, -Okay.-

-"HI!"- the youngster chirped and signed with equal enthusiasm once unleashed upon Arcturus. They were only a few yards away so she hopped toward him, every part of her body wriggling. -"I KNOW YOU!"- she blurted, a statement followed by a silly smile. She recognized him, though Meerkat couldn't remember his name...

just when he thought things were quiet..

drawn by the noise behind him, arcturus turned from his path and peered into the sunny weald. he saw towhee's ardent figure first -- followed by the bounding form of her whelp who, in that moment, seemed admirably leashed to towhee's side.

arcturus marveled, a smile timidly on his muzzle as he waited for towhee's go-ahead. once meerkat was unleashed upon him he stretched into a playbow, tail fanning above his haunches as he replied: "do you?" he feigned as if this was news to him, placing a paw on his chin as he carefully thought: "oh yes -- you're the fierce border patrol, aren't you?"

She gazed at him, hopeful that he would remind her, but instead he called her "fierce." Meerkat didn't really know what that meant, though her butt wiggled as her tail swung back and forth. -"WHAT'S,"- she began, only to pause her signing since she didn't know it, continuing only verbally, "FEARS?"

Meanwhile, her mother sidled up behind her, eyes fixed on Arcturus. Towhee gave him an assessing look, then said, -"This is actually her very first border patrol."- As she spoke, her eyes dropped to the youngster as she ran a paw down the length of Meerkat's back, orange eyes eventually raising back to Acturus's dark features. -"Join us,"- she invited, glad to have another set of eyes along even if they belonged to, well, him.

-"YA! JOIN US!"- Meerkat parroted. Still oblivious to his name, she tacked on an enthusiastic, -"BIG BLACK MAN!"-

big black man stifled a quiet laugh, catching towhee's apprising gaze. he was (pleasantly) surprised as towhee invited him alongside her and meerkat -- so surprised in fact, that his jaw hung slightly agape as he tried to formulate a response to fears and invitation both.

"it's -- well," he puffed up his chest and arced his tail in demonstration of something fierce - "this. you look the part splendidly." affording a small smile, arcturus tentatively fell in step alongside towhee, in awe he'd be invited at all. "i remember my first border patrol," he fumbled, trying to make for conversation between the silence.

The child's eyes widened comically as Arcturus postured. She didn't make the connection between his demonstration and the word "fierce," though she appreciated it all the same. And, of course, she immediately attempted to mimic him. Meerkat puffed up her chest and struck a pose, tail quivering like a poker in the air. She then made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a splutter, eyes bouncing between the adults as if to ask if she'd done it right.

Towhee smiled and patted her head, then motioned for both Arcturus and Meerkat to walk. -"C'MON!"- Meerkat said, needing no further encouragement. She batted at one of his swarthy forelegs, then bounded ahead, only to look back over her shoulder and repeat, -"C'MON!"-

-"Go ahead. I'll bring up the rear,"- Towhee said, mostly to Arcturus. Accordingly, she fell back a few yards. Much as she loved her child, she wasn't going to back off this opportunity to partially foist her on someone else for a few minutes. And it was always interesting to watch her kid interact with their pack mates. It was obvious Meerkat didn't echo her mother's skepticism of Arcturus whatsoever, though had Meerkat ever met a stranger?

Quite possibly they would run across one today, a thought which prompted the Regent to relinquish some of her attention to their surroundings rather than Arcturus and Meerkat. He would keep an eye on her while Towhee kept an eye on everything else.

for a moment a thought (was she mine?) darkened the chime of his laugh; he watched meerkat go with quiet amusement. when was the last time he had been possessed of such energy? even her swipe, while playful, carried with it a powerful current of youth and joy -- when had his life taken such a stark turn away from that?

with towhee's blessing arcturus moved after the bounding child. he got the impression perhaps towhee wanted some time alone, and somehow, playing with a child seemed easier than navigating the minefield that was talking to her. "hey, hold up!" arcturus sped up behind the sprinting puppy, taking in the refreshing scent of the woods and the green. he needed this -- this momentary lapse of reality -- and meerkat's sunny demeanor was the perfect distraction to chase his less pleasant thoughts away.

"so, what do you know about patrolling?" the ostrega asked, swapping to a smooth prowl as he caught up to the tawny guardsman. he gave her a very serious look so she would know he appreciated her (important) presence; after all, without her here alongside him who would protect him if they came across ogres or goblins on the trail?

When he shouted at her to wait, Meerkat put on the brakes, her haunches bunching up beneath her as she turned to look over her shoulder. She lost her balance and nearly tipped onto her face, though she thrust out a foreleg just in time, bracing herself. Laughing at the near miss, she looked up again just in time to see him catch up beside her.

Together, they proceeded, Meerkat fascinated by his leonine prowl. She briefly looked at his face when he asked her a question, which went in one ear and... got stuck, since the other one didn't even work. But instead of giving him an answer, Meerkat simply parroted, -"WHAT YOU KNOW 'BOUT PATROLLIN'?"- Well, she tried to sign as she walked, which resulted in her falling on her face after all.

The pup recovered quickly, shaking some dirt from her snout, and grinned up at Arcturus. She also glanced back at her mother, who smiled and waved from the distance. The child stopped to enthusiastically flail back at Towhee before spinning and picking up once again, trouncing merrily alongside the big black man.

prompted to wait, meerkat nearly tumbled right over herself as she tried to look behind her. arcturus stole one glance back to towhee and stifled another laugh; how was meerkat so fresh and full of energy?

rather than answer, meerkat opted to brightly parrot back to him. arcturus, taking it as a valid question and an opportunity to teach, gave the question some thought before he replied. "okay, tell you what --" he bent down so they were almost level, giving meerkat a long look. "i will tell you what i know about patrolling, and in exchange, you will teach me how to sign."

"OKAY, TELL YOU WHAT," Meerkat got as far as mimicking before Arcturus threw her off by lowering himself to her level and offering her a proposition. She stopped, enchanted by the glimmer of his eyes and the twitch of his whiskers. Without thinking, she reached out a paw to bat at his muzzle. It felt much like everyone else's, though she let out a pleased chirp before dropping her paw.

She seemed to consider his words, though truthfully, she didn't really know what he meant by "sign." It was such a natural complement to her speech that it was largely unconscious, except when it became difficult for one reason or another (case in point: sometimes she needed those paws to walk). Meerkat certainly didn't know it by name, even if the concept itself was practically innate by now.

Nonetheless, she agreed with a bright, -"OKAY!"- and then promptly ran away.

was she following, or was meerkat just playing a game? arcturus stole a look back to towhee as if to confirm -- only to hear the telldale dash of a rogue child sprinting ahead.

bounding after her, arcturus looked for things along their path that might pique her interest and serve as a teaching moment. after scanning some trees, ferns, and rocks, his gaze lit on a sapling with a bent stalk. the fresh lime-green of the sapling's exposed flesh was still visible; something had passed through recently, and broken the fragile twigs.

"oooh!" arcturus' voice was somewhat affected - just so meerkat knew what he was looking at was really interesting. he hunched down and inspected the broken limb shrewdly and pointedly, waiting for meerkat to come to her own conclusion of what he was looking at, and why.

She didn't go very far or fast, digging her heels into the ground and whirling to face Arcturus only to discover he'd more or less sidelined. Meerkat paused, craning her neck, wriggling her nose and pricking her one working ear as she hard his distant, "Oooh!" He appeared to be hunched over a pile of sticks, which was of course intriguing to the youngster.

Meerkat scuttled toward him, immediately thrusting her stubby snout toward the broken sapling. -"WHASSAT?"- she queried, eagerly peering back and forth between the stick and Arcturus's face. Before he could answer, she astutely observed, -"IT'S BROKE!"-

arcturus wriggled over as meerkat careened into view, thrusting her nose into the very object he was studying. giving her the space she needed to make her own conclusions, arcturus gave a proud nod as she astutely observed the sapling was snapped in half.

"yes, it's broken." he answered, swaying his tail as he probed the fresh break with his dark snout. "recently too, see how fresh the break smells and looks?" he sniffed at it to make a point, stepping back and waiting for meerkat to do the same. "something broke this recently. this is one of the ways we check our surroundings to make sure everything is safe. any idea what it was, that might have broken our sapling?"

Arcturus agreed with her observation, then encouraged her to investigate further. He pointed out the freshness of the break before asking her a question: who or what had broken this sapling?

Meerkat glanced around surreptitiously, seeing nothing aside from Towhee shamelessly taking a dump in the middle distance. Eventually, her gaze swung back up to her companion's face, her little brow furrowed and her lips pulled tight in contemplation. There was no one and nothing else around, so there could only be one culprit...

-"YOU BROKED IT!"- she concluded, beaming proudly.

arcturus thankfully missed the private moment towhee was having in the distance, his gaze focused on meerkat as she concentrated. her answer was bright, but unfortunately wrong. the mountaineer laughed, sitting back on his haunches with a slow shake of his head.

"not quite -- sniff the branch." in arcturus' eyes, being wrong was just a learning experience -- one could not go through life being right all the time and evolve; evolution came only through errors, sometimes at a great cost. "you can tell who broke it by looking for clues." he sniffed the broken edge dramatically, closing his eyes as if thinking heavily. "hmmm.. smells like..."

He insisted he hadn't done it, redirecting her attention to something called clues. For reasons unknown to Meerkat, she immediately fell in love with that word. While Arcturus busied himself observing said clues, the pup drew in a breath.

"CLUES!!!" she hollered at the top of her little lungs. "CLUES, CLUES, CLU-LU-LU-LU-LUES!!!" There was just something about that word. It delighted her ears and her tongue.

Forgetting all about Arcturus's investigation and attempt to teach her, Meerkat abruptly stopped yelling and snatched the smaller end of the broken sapling. With a high-pitched giggle, she swiveled and ran back toward Towhee. The pup dove in between her forelegs, effectively clotheslining her mother and causing both of them to collapse into a heap.

"yes, clues." arcturus reiterated, bemused by meerkat's shift in attention from sapling to marauding it with her tiny teeth. lifting one of the branches above her like a barbarian, the jovial miscreant scampered off with twig in tow.

"hey, you're destroying the evidence!" arcturus accused in amusement, prowling after her with a rogue grin. rather than drill, arcturus was willing to humor meerkat's current whims. they could always revisit the drudgery of lessons later. "bet you can't play keep-away." arcturus intoned seriously, inferring this was a very important game that he was about to win.

Meerkat let out a woof as Towhee fell on top of her, though the Regent quickly jumped back onto all fours and promptly began nosing her all over. The pup just held onto her stick and giggled at the tickling, righting herself as well before swinging her head and smacking the Regent's forelegs again.

Even as Arcturus teased the pup about playing keep away, Towhee snatched the broken branch straight out of her kid's mouth and, with a quick snap of her neck, tossed it toward him. This could've been the beginning of a rousing game of monkey in the middle, though even as Meerkat spun clumsily on a heel to see where the stick had gone, the Regent's teeth closed on the tip of her tail.

The puppy gave a little shout and curled on herself, weight falling onto her hip as she brought up both forepaws to bat at Towhee's muzzle. Her mother's orange eyes sparkled but she did not let go until the puppy wore herself out and slumped in defeat.

Spitting out the damp, ratty tail, Towhee straightened and looked at Arcturus, a strange light in her gaze as she said, -"I'm going to take her back home now. Thanks for keeping her both educated and entertained."- Towhee smirked, gaze lingering on him a beat longer than normal, before she looked down at the top of the tired child's head and said, -"C'mon, you have to walk yourself because you broke all my legs."-

Springing back onto her feet, Meerkat waved a paw at Arcturus. -"BYE BYE!"- she shouted vehemently, pausing as she tried to remember his name. Oh, yeah. -"BIG BLACK MAN!"-

<3 fun thread!! lmk when you're up for more?

arcturus was riveted watching mother and daughter play. he reacted belatedly as the stick swung his way -- almost as if he were a puppy again, he chased after it and pounced, turning around with a wide grin only to see towhee had kept her rogue daughter restrained by means of clutching her tail.

arcturus stowed away the grin, letting the stick clatter to the ground as towhee announced their farewell. he was sure she had many things to do and he hated to keep her, though a small part of him was sad to see the two of them go. "no problem - any time." his tone was genuine, as was the look in his gaze as he caught towhee's glance for what seemed an unusually long time. the spell was broken by meerkat's chirping voice -- arcturus wagged his tail and waved a paw in response as he saw them off. "good bye meerkat - try not to trample anymore evidence!"

he didn't wait much longer after he saw the two of them disappear. there was still a swathe of border to inspect, so arcturus headed there feeling his heart was full and yet, strangely alone.