The Sunspire your story walks ahead of you

The yearling only told @Spica of her plan: that she wanted to do some exploring, simply so. She slipped away in the early hours of the pre-dawn, offering her twin to accompany or not, it was all up to her, but she did not want to be near the riverside today (or maybe tomorrow!) at all; the singular focus on puppies this, puppies that, feeding mothers, and tending others had long since grated on her nerves. So, she sought to put some distance there. Maybe some fresh air outside the place would help, or if nothing else, a welcome distraction from what had become an irritating tedium. Exploring to Ravensblood forest had been a good taste of it, but she didn't think that to be enough, and maybe this time she could roam around without running into her brother. Pointedly, she went in a different direction from where she thought he might lurk.

For a time she tracked along the riverside heading south, then when she recognized the familiar plains, she crossed over their open expanse--trusting that there would be nothing exciting there to see, and on her way, she found this to be largely true. Syrma didn't dip far enough to the east to find the great lake beyond because instead, she veered a course towards the towering heights of a mountain, merrily trotting along with her neck craned upward. Sure, there were peaks closer to Kaistleoki's claim but.. not like this one. When they had lived in Hoshor, she had only begun to explore, and never felt tempted by things like this then. But today was a different story as she felt foothills begin to give rise to the beginning of the mountain's elevations.

Not knowing what else there might be, she didn't rush up, but started to encircle the area that made up the mountain's base--hardly more than a dot on the grand scheme of things, though very happy to work her nose over something new.

sister tag for ref of course. not required or anything but i'd like to potentially use this towards either naturalist or scout P:

hope its ok to hop in! would love to make this a naturalist thread :)

it is not that caw does not enjoy his new home. there are ravens there, after all! what isn’t to like? but he does get…bored. is the thing. and it is very difficult to find everything he needs next to a big pool of water. and! very handily! there are many mountains nearby! these are usually dry. or one side of them is. he will just have to figure out which one.

vrána wheels above him, a tiny fleck of black against the sun. she is searching too, and she is probably better at it than him. just by virtue of being able to fly. a fun fact: no matter how many feathers he threads into his fur, caw cannot do this! also, this was not a fun lesson to learn.

caw does not move with any real purpose. he wanders aimlessly along the edge of the spire, picking through the plants as he does. it is not drier here – but he has not walked that far. and there are lots of mountains – there is still plenty of ground to cover.

but! his nose does run him directly into a patch of mugwort, which he has found before but there is nothing wrong with picking up extra. he gently snaps a mouthful of stems away from where it is sprouting through the cracks in the rock, leaving the rest.

it is important to be careful with plants, after all. who knows how much of it there is around? it will not be good if he runs out.

of course!

A piece of her was enchanted by the heights that towered above her, despite her paws being comfortable enough here below for now. Was she cut out to scale such places? To reach such lofty reaches? She was certain the highest she had ever gone was the plateau, when she and her twin had found the pack at the top of Blacktail all those moons ago, but these felt like a whole new, daunting spire.

However, one step at a time. She didn't even know what she might find at the bottom of the mountain, and probably best to scope that out first. It was already further up from the plains, a place she had never gone to, and alone, it was best not to get too far ahead of herself. Maybe if Spica was here beside her, it would be a different type of competition burning in her blood, one to see who might reach the top first.

Anyway, as her meander continued on the lower paths, it brought her closer to the stranger minding their own. Sight of anyone out here was enough to catch her eye, especially of contrasting pelage, and enough to send her aiming on over. Syrma sprang over a rocky patch, and trotted lightly on, her own presence well-revealed. Hey, hi, she chimed, swiftly noticing what this wolf was up to with a clutch of plants in jaw. Oh, do you know plant things too? she asked, gold eyes bright, though she kept a little distance once nearer--maybe a few lengths between them, juust in case.

vrána is better at seeing things than caw is. mostly this is plants! sometimes it is not plants – like now, when he is very busy working his mouth around the stems he has plucked, and suddenly there is a weight on his shoulder and a beak prodding his neck. ears immediately springing to attention, caw turns in the direction she has indicated for him and sets eyes on a stranger.

in what is probably a good move on her part, she greets him before he can begin to run his mouth off about anything irrelevant. for once, he is also too absorbed in the question to bound directly into her face.

“hello! yes!” caw wiggles a little, and then remembers that it is bad manners to speak with your mouth full of plant stems, and also hard to understand. he sets them gently down at his paws. they will not be as good if they are bruised! “knew many plant things when home! maybe know many plants here. have not found all yet. but know where plants should be!”

oh! but she has asked her question like that for a reason, certainly! caw pauses in his wiggling to address this. “you know plants also?”

The bird receives long look from her too, as she had never seen one land on a wolf like that, who she realized on closer inspection wore feathers as well, if she was seeing that right?? Anyway, having an avian like that look so comfortable with canine companionship threatened a whole slew of questions too, but she did well to remember the first one she had already shot off at the unsuspecting stranger--who thankfully seemed to take to her arrival well, returning a greeting quite cheerily. The yearling was lucky to find company of the favorable sort out today.

From there, she pieced through his answer for its clues--notably, that here was probably not home, and that yes, plants were something he knew. Syrma replied first with a nod back before the question turned to her. Only a little bit.. but my mom knows a lot, so she's taught me some, she supplied, for she could only cite a few thorough lessons on the topic that left her perhaps more educated than some who didn't give a single lick about the subject, though by no means was she about to claim herself to be majorly knowledgeable. She had seen how many kinds of plants there were; what she knew about was just a teeny-tiny piece of that! So are the plant things different here than at your home? she asked, wondering about that--if these plants were where they were supposed to be, or whatever that meant exactly. What are those that you have? she followed up with, bright eyes on the bundle on the ground. She didn't really recognize them from here.

Oh yeah--I'm Syrma. I live by the river a ways back, she added, jerking her nose over her shoulder, vaguely to the northwest.

“very good!” caw perks up, nodding. “learned from parents too! many things. some not as useful here.” but! he was having fun, still! there were many more new things to see here than there were back at home.

he is, of course, under the impression everything he says is perfectly understandable, so he has no inkling of her confusion. “do not know! some plants same! some not.” caw squints thoughtfully at the cliffs. it is not that he knows every plant from home either. there are always more things to learn and he is not very patient. and he is not still at home like he should be. but he knows the important ones! “know good places to find at home. looking for lavender now! know to find it by edge of mountains in summer. thought i might find here, but have nothing.”

tail waving excitedly at her next question, caw bends his head, noses the pile of stems at his paws. “oh! is mugwort. very common.” he puffs his chest, eager to impart this knowledge to someone new. they did not let him teach things at home! “likes soil that not good for other plants. sometimes with weeds or many rocks. good for rituals! giving these to ravens. also good for medicine, but,” caw ducks his head, a bit sheepishly, “did not learn so much about that.”

what he does know some about now is greetings. it is important to give names when meeting! of course. “my name caw! live by cliffs with many ravens.” he mirrors her gesture to the northwest with one of his own, back in the direction of raven’s watch.

There's a lot, she swiftly realizes, but away from home and bright-eyed for the unfamiliar company, she was in good spirits to take it on. She took the note about learning from parents, remembering that her mom learned from her mom as well, so that felt like a credible source to her. Another good reason to be all ears, and not just because it was a lot, but sometimes she had to work a little extra to keep up.. or at least, it sort of felt that way. She didn't know what "not as useful here" meant, exactly, though easily rolled with it, just nodding for herself.

So what's lavender look like? Is it tall or short? I feel like I've heard of it, but... she mentioned with an almost-shrug, not really knowing what she should picture when thinking about it--but really, it would probably be the scent of it that gave it away before anything else, not that she knew this either. But, if it did its thing on edge of mountains in the summer, then it had to be around here somewhere, right? Syrma was pretty certain this place here fit that description very, very well.

Then, mugwort. She eyed the pickings carefully, having stepped a little closer just seconds before (for in this shared interest, she determined he was not a major threat) to give a bit of a sniff in its direction. Rituals? The ravens take the plants? she asked, newly interested in this direction. Rituals had very easily stirred her curiosities right up, since medicine was something she was familiar with considering her mother's profession in the pack. My mom's a medic, so the medicine part is mainly her thing. She knows a lot else too but I don't think I've asked about.. uh, mugwort. she provided. Ooh, what's it like living by cliffs? And with ravens?? her eyes were big, and posture perked. That probably explained the ravens from earlier, or at least tied it in better somehow. I've never seen north of the plateau that's kind of by the river, where there used to be a pack but my sister says not anymore, so I don't know about what all else there is going on out there, she added. The world was big beyond her scope, and her tail swayed gently--for all of her questions about all sorts of different bits and pieces, she was happy to have found someone willing to share so readily too.

now that caw is part of seelie court the stuff about ravens watch doesnt entirely make sense but OH WELL

“is maybe…up to elbow or chest.” caw hums thoughtfully. “easy to see because is bright purple! usually grows in bushes. smells nice but…hard to describe. not helpful if haven’t seen it before.” these mountains seem like a place it would grow! it should not be so different here. all he has to do is keep looking. there are many places still to search!

he glances around. unfortunately, this fails to illuminate things any further. luckily, he does not have to look long before he is distracted again.

“yes! am giving these,” caw indicates the stems of mugwort with his nose, unbothered when syrma steps forward but for a friendly wave of his tail, “to ravens at cliffs! is polite to give offering before spending time in raven territory. bad luck not to.” he nods, thoroughly assured of this fact. “need more than mugwort though! is why am here to find lavender. other things as well!”

lifting his muzzle from the pile of stems at his feet, caw blinks. “are learning about medicine too? or is just mother?” he tilts his head. “should ask her! have found lots of mugwort here. do not know much, except is help for stomach.” if he has been told anything else along those lines, he was not paying attention long enough to register. “cliffs are nice! ravens good to live by, if you are good to them. sometimes bring shiny things.”

caw’s ears perk at her final comment. he knows some things about this area, after all! “do not know about plateau! but raven cliffs next to faerie court also, in the willows. have many different herbs there! and faeries are very friendly.” as far as he has seen, anyways!

The description gave her a lot to work with, even without the plant entirely in her mind's eye. Well I can help look, if y'wanna cover a little more ground around here..? she offered, content with the notion to see a bit more of the mountain, even if they stayed near the base. So far, she was just glad to be away from home, though a piece of her certainly missed Spica at her side.. but she was confident they would reunite soon and she would have all this to tell her about!

Anyway, the plants were offerings for ravens.. for good luck, apparently, to which Syrma nodded at like it made a lot more sense than it actually did. Anything was possible, though. Ohh I'd never heard that before, she added, but ultimately accepted it. He really seemed to know what he was doing so she just trusted that fact since she had absolutely zero experience hanging out with ravens, or knowing what they wanted. Apparently mugwort was one of those things, and lavender too. Noted.

Then, her expression gave a bit of a shift--trending towards stormy, though she tried to keep it at bay. No, not medicine exactly. That's just my mom's thing and she's been too busy with the new perfect pups lately for more learning from her... came her little snipe. She was happier with more distance, even if made her heart clench sometimes. Medicine's too much, and I don't want to get stuck babysitting hurt wolves. I just like the plants.. she unloaded a bit, keeping a firm look on. Medicine would have been the most practical application of her interest, but she was too soured by how much of her mother's time it took from them, and her patience was not that great. The plateau pack is called Kaistleoki. I've never heard about the faeries either... sounds interesting? she said, looking to keep the subject veering that way. Maybe Spica would want to visit with her one day.

caw perks his head at the offer. he does have vrána! but it is always better to have more eyes, and he is not home now, where he could have had many of his siblings and friends to comb the mountains with him. of course he would not have needed their help there. this is just much bigger and much stranger than the valley.

“yes! thank you.” he smiles toothily, making sure to share an extra wag of his tail to convey his approval.

it is not surprising she does not know these things about the ravens. the faerie queen did not, after all! and there are many things he does not know. it is probably forgivable that other people do not give offerings to the birds if they do not know that they should! caw likes to think this, anyways.

any shift in her expression is lost on caw, even watching raptly as he is. he is not so good at picking up on these things, but he is eager to chime in regardless. “plants good without medicine! helps to know where things grow. fun to learn also.” he is not exactly impartial in this. he would not be very good at medicine! but it is good to know the basics for yourself, and he has not had a pack for a while now.

kaistleoki is not something he has heard of, but he has not been in the wilds for a long time. at least he knows a little of the faeries! “yes! seelie court. led by faerie queen lumiya! just very important to call at borders first. is dangerous to trespass on faerie land.”

The yearling nodded, happy with his thanks, and glad he was willing to let her help--which she had expected nothing less, of course, but it still felt good to hear it. Seemed like a fine way to see a bit more of the mountain, and keep to some company she might learn something from somehow.

Syrma took some solace in the words to come though. Plants didn't need medicine, they were doing their thing regardless of what they ended up used for.. and most importantly, she had to agree. It is just fun.. she murmured, glad to have a bit of that weight to it seemingly chipped away, perhaps helping further validate any interest in her... when medicine just didn't do it for her right now.

Though she continued looking for flowers, trying to peruse onward some, she listened on. The pack was news to her. Lumiya, too. Faerie Queen?? But their border etiquette was not unheard of, despite the tilt-y head of hers. Oh, same for the riverside.. Ira and the others take trespassers seriously too, but we don't have any cool birds I know about.. she mentioned, understanding despite her little quip about why anyone might need to visit them. Just lots of fish.. and moss, mostly.. she said, shrugging. They were probably a bit different from the Court, if they followed a Faerie Queen over a Count. Still, this was useful information that she fully intended to take to Spica--maybe it could be a potential route for a scout mission of theirs some day, or they could just be nosy, a little bit like now when even though her sister was far away, she was very in her twin's thought.

heading towards a wrap if you want, since this thread's getting on a little in age? <3

it is not as though caw does not share most of his interests with his family. the valley does not have faeries along with it, but it does have witches! and they are all happy to help with the tasks of identifying plants, collecting for the rituals and spells, finding prey for the sacrifices. he is not even sure what it is like to have a family that does not support these things, or why they would not!

of course, it flies by his head that if his interests were anything else than the exact same ones he had been brought up with, he would be singing a different tune. he is not exactly known for anything outside a one-track mind.

caw also knows there are many packs who do not like intruders. his old home did not either! but it is different with faeries, of course. he could explain this in detail, but he does have lavender to find! and the ideas are at least the same. if it is the same for the riverside, she will know not to simply walk in if she visits.

caw ducks his head in sympathy. "fish and moss not as much fun," he agrees, and then brightens, ears flicking upwards as he motions her forward with his muzzle, beginning to lead the way around the spire so they can search for the lavender. "can always visit faerie court! we find plants now, for birds. then if you come i introduce you to ravens!"

See! She appreciated greatly that Caw felt it too. The moss was only so interesting for so long.. and was not nearly as intriguing as the birds. That gave her little fire a bit of fuel, and she was quick to answer with a nod. It was definitely something she thought she might like to do, especially if she could get Spica to come too for a scouting mission. She had no reason not to! That sounds good, she grinned and let all that funk about her mom and the medicine get away from her. Now she had an interesting piece to take home with her, too.

Satisfied with that bit of progress, but needing to do some work about their other topic: finding the plants, she scanned ahead seriously. I'm gonna go check over here a bit, she chuffed over her shoulder to Caw, then motioned her snout towards a rocky little hill. Maybe over there? Only one way to actually find out before she went on, happy to explore the mountainside for a while and sniff around for some flowers.

yess a wrap is good with me! this can be my last for her

caw wags his tail, glancing over his shoulder to return syrma's grin as he trots in a tight circle near the base of the cliff. he has not gone this way yet! hopefully he will be successful this time, especially with an extra set of eyes to help.

giving a cheerful nod in return to her words, caw sets his nose to the dirt and snuffles off, searching for the lavender he is certain must be here somewhere. there is no need to call to vrána; surely she has heard all of their conversation already. she has always been good at listening in, even when caw does not necessarily want her to. she is already wheeling above both of them as he begins to nose around the cliff's edge, keeping his blood-red gaze set on the edge of the cliffside and surrounding brush as they all settle down to search. he will leave the hills to syrma and vrána for now! and even if they do not find much here, there is always plenty left of the faerie court to look through.