Moonspear take your time
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#1
All Welcome 
maybe @Bronco? but all welcome!

Charles didn't understand why Leta wanted to stay here. He'd actually hoped that he liked it a lot himself. Then maybe he could have convinced Leta to stay here for a longer period of time (he was yet unaware that that was exactly what she was planning to do). But as things were, this wasn't a very cool place in his book. It was too bad. Maybe he could find another place, but it just wouldn't be the same to travel by himself, and Charles wasn't that good at making friends. 'Wasn't that good at' as in, he had never made any friends outside of Leta, so he wasn't really sure if he'd find anyone that even wanted to travel with him. All the adults he had ever known just kinda left him, either emotionally or physically. He didn't know which was worse.

While he was here he decided just to make the best of it anyway. He wished there was someone who could show him some cool stuff, if there was any at all, here at the big rock. He figured he should talk to Leta soon about when they were going home, or maybe try to convince her to go somewhere else. He wasn't sure she'd go for that last thing, though. And she seemed somehow rather keen to stay around Osiris, for whatever reason.

Charles was searching around the rendezvous site that day, searching for a stream where he could quench his thirst.
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#2
The weeks passed, summer drawing to a close and autumn arriving in the wilderness. The rains had gone but now cold fronts moved into the region, lending the air a chill in the mornings and evenings, particularly higher up on the mountain. The change of season fascinated Meerkat, especially following the recent trip to Sun Mote Copse. The trees there were changing a lot more noticeably. Some were beginning to show their fall dressage here, though mostly rugged evergreens dotted the mountainside.

As she thought on these things, a strange feeling welled up inside Meerkat. She plodded in the direction of the rendezvous site, trying to pinpoint it. By the time she approached the familiar clearing, she still hadn't identified it. And she forgot about it entirely when her soft brown eyes clapped upon a stranger. He looked a little older than herself, with features that immediately made Meerkat think of a rat, especially with the patchy fur and scars.

He might be homely and a stranger, yet that did nothing to stop Meerkat from approaching with a warm, -"Hi there!"-
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Before he could find a place to find a drink, someone approached him. He looked at the sandy stranger, who looked pretty cheerful all-round. Charles blinked as she moved her body while she talked. Kinda weird. Why do you do that? he asked, blinking. Then he realised that he hadn't responded to her greeting and said: Hi. His face remained cool, as it usually was, while he tried testing the waters with this stranger. She smelled like this pack, so she was probably a resident, he thought.
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Rather than return her greeting, he immediately questioned her signing. Meerkat chuckled, pleased at being asked about it right off the bat. Some gave her strange looks, still others only brought it up well into a conversation, almost awkwardly. She appreciated his inquisitiveness and understood how peculiar the movements might look to someone who had never seen ptero before.

-"It's a sign language, another way of talking. My mom's deaf, so I grew up doing it... and still do it without really thinking about it,"- she explained. -"I'm Meerkat. Who're you?"- She didn't think she'd seen or smelled him around before, so maybe he was new. It was kind of wild to think that there might be wolves newer to Moonspear than Bronco and herself. They were old news by now.
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As she explained that this was 'sign language', another way of talking, Charles stared and blinked. He thought it rather peculiar, unlike anything he had heard of before. Then again, he regularly ran into things he hadn't heard of before, so maybe this was just another one thing that he just hadn't seen because the world was so much bigger than just him. Oh, that's cool, he said with a grin. He wasn't really sure what 'deaf' meant, but apparently it was linked to having this other language. Moms were kind of a strange breed to Charles anyway, they were often unreasonable, so having to learn a whole extra new language didn't seem too out there to him.

She introduced herself as Meerkat, and he said, 'm Charles. He didn't really think to add that he was from Easthollow or that he was Leta's friends, because he saw it as a totally normal thing that he was just visiting some pack. Sorry that you gotta live on this sucky rock. And he was quick to add: Unless that's, like, your thing. I guess some wolves like it. He glanced around as if to emphasise there wasn't much here but rock, and it was pretty boring to him at least.
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#6
He met her casual explanation with a bemused blink, then his narrow face broke into a grin. She continued smiling back, of course, and opened her mouth to offer him ptero lessons if he was interested. But then he gave his name and said something so off the cuff, it surprised a soft bark of laughter from her.

-"You don't like it here?"- Meerkat pressed, eyes dancing with amusement, before she realized, -"Wait, you don't live here too?"- Was he a trespasser? Her heart did a funny twitch in her chest as she wondered what she should do if he was, in fact, an intruder.
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#7
She laughed at his comment, which made Charles feel pretty good about himself. He didn't often make others laugh, but it felt good to be in control. She asked if he did not like it here, which to Charles was pretty obvious. Why would anyone like this big dumb rock? Yeah, why, do you like it here?? he asked, implying that would be the weirdest thing he had seen and heard in his whole entire life.

Charles blinked as she asked if he didn't live here too. He thought it was pretty obvious he was just visiting. Yeah, me and Leta are here to visit. He didn't really realise yet that Leta was here to stay. You don't live here too? he asked, not sure how else to ask the question -- the way she said it, he thought, seemed to imply that she did not live here, either.
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She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until he informed her they were visiting. She let it out in a low whoosh of relief, which perked into intrigue. Meerkat didn't know anyone named Leta, though the way he phrased it made it sound like the two of them were ambassadors, sort of like Bronco and herself. Her tail whipped to and fro at the thought.

-"I've lived here for a couple months,"- she said, marveling a little at how long it had been already before explaining, -"My older brother and me came here from the Firebirds, our parents' pack. They're allies with Moonspear."-

She paused, considering his question about whether she liked it here. Of course she did! But she was momentarily distracted by that same strange feeling from before. It ballooned up inside her quite unexpectedly, her throat feeling suddenly tight. Meerkat swallowed, still not sure what the feeling meant and trying to suppress it somehow.

Seeking to distract herself—and because she was genuinely very interested—she went on to ask, -"Where are you and Leta visiting from?"-
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#9
Charles blinked as she continued to do the signing thing even though it was clear now that he didn't know it anyway. You don't have to do it, he said, gesturing at her sign language gestures, in case she had missed that point somehow.

So it seemed she and her brother had come here months ago, from an allied pack. So a lot like him and Leta, then, except that they probably weren't going to stay as long. But Easthollow was also allies with Moonspear, he was pretty sure, and that was why Leta had come here to train. To train? he asked her. Kind of like me and Leta, but we won't stay that long, I don't think. The details were actually a little hazy for Charles. He should talk to Leta about that at some point; but he was in no hurry for now, because he actually enjoyed the time away from home.

At Meerkat's question, he said: It's called the stone circle. Uh. Easthollow. Most wolves inside the stone circle didn't constantly mention Easthollow, but he remembered that the Legion wolves had called it that.
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#10
Never before had someone discouraged her from signing. Charles didn't do that, exactly, though his remark gave her pause. It didn't offend her in the least, though she wondered if it bothered him somehow. Perhaps he simply found it distracting?

"It's kind of like blinking or breathing, sometimes," she explained with a good-natured smile, repeating, "I don't even realize I'm doing it." And most wolves didn't seem to mind one bit, most even expressing interest in the silent language. Idly, she wondered if she would forget ptero if she were to let herself get out of the habit. Was that even possible?

Meerkat shifted her focus to the actual conversation at hand. She'd never heard of Easthollow or any stone circles, so she asked, "Is it very far from here? What's your home like?" Her legs twitched almost of their own accord, intending to make the signs along with the spoken words, and her lips twitched too, amused as she consciously suppressed the impulse.
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Meerkat explained why she did the signing thing even though he didn't understand it anyway. Oh, he just said. Charles didn't care overly much for her explanation, but at least she stopped doing it and at least that made sense. It would've been a bit rude if she had done it on purpose, knowing that he didn't understand it. It did make him feel a bit better when she stopped, made his head a little emptier not having the signing thing distracting him.

As for her next question, Charles said, It's pretty far. I didn't travel that far before. Charles totally missed that she was looking a little amused as he continued: It was a few days to get here. I don't know how long we stay. Until we get sick of it, I guess. Leta's the one who wanted to visit, I'm just her friend so I came with. And it's nice to be somewhere else. He wondered if that was why Meerkat came to Moonspear, too, just 'cause she wanted to be away from her family for a while.
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Her eyes widened a fraction when he mentioned it had taken several days to get from Easthollow to Moonspear. That was quite a bit further than Meerkat had ever traveled herself; she had never made more than a day trip. That made her wonder if Moonspear had allies far and wide, beyond the Firebirds. She should probably ask the leadership at some point, to get a better grasp on her own ambassadorship responsibilities. Oh, she would love getting tasked with visiting their allies and passing along messages and news!

"I was the one who wanted to come here and my brother, Bronco, came along so I could. Otherwise, my mom never would've let me," Meerkat shared. "I think he really likes it here. We both do. The copse—that's where the Firebibrds live—isn't far at all, so we visit once a month." She paused before wondering in the next breath, "Do you miss your family?" For whatever reason, that question made that queer feeling from earlier sweep through her again, though Meerkat did her best to ignore it.
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Her impressedness was lost on Charles. He listened as Meerkat said that she had come here with her brother Bronco, and that was why she could come. She did seem young, so it made sense that her mother might not let her go. He didn't think that his mother would have let him go, if he had asked. That was why he hadn't asked.

Her situation seemed very different, since she was still visiting her home every month. It must be pretty close, then.

She asked if he missed his family. Charles' right ear twitched as he considered that question. Sometimes he missed Riley, and sometimes he missed his mother, but he was also relieved to be away from them. It was very strange. I don't know, he said, blinking. I think so. Charles frowned as he struggled with these thoughts, not sure what to make of his own myriad of feelings. He wasn't used to having so many of them at once.
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Given the uncertainty of his response, as well as her own inexplicably triggered emotions, Meerkat decided against pursuing the topic any further. She cast around for something else to say—better yet, something else to do—and decided a tour might be in order. Charles didn't seem to like this "sucky rock," though maybe she could change his mind if she showed him some of the cooler landmarks around the mountain.

"I can show you some cool sites around Moonspear, if you want," Meerkat suggested in a cheery voice. "Do you like lots of trees? Or maybe water features? Oooh, I bet you like caves," she said, based on his mention of a stone circle. "Pick one and I can take you to a super cool destination!"
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Meerkat seemed determined to show him around the rock, even though he already knew it wasn't that great. But there was something kinda infectious about her enthusiasm and Charles decided to humour her. Eh, sure, he said off-handedly, since after all, this was still a pretty sucky rock. He had already explored caves with Hydra and Osiris had shown him a thing or two as well. He liked that the caves talked back, that was a pretty cool feature, he supposed, but he wanted to see something else now. Trees didn't interest him very much, because every tree was pretty much the same anyway. Let's do water, Charles decided in the end.
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I'd like to pare down some threads and figured we could fade this, if it's cool with you? :)

Rather than a cave, he opted for water. She supposed that made sense, if he wanted to see something he hadn't necessarily seen before. "Okay! I'll take you to Silverspine. Then maybe I can show you the den where Bronco and I live. Do you like sparkly things, Charles?" Meerkat chattered away even as she motioned for him to walk beside her up the mountainside.
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yes, fine by me! :D feel free to archive this as is, or add another post if you prefer.

Charles let Meerkat guide him to wherever she wanted. She sure was energetic. It wasn't much like Charles himself was, but he let her guide the way and show him some things. He'd critique, of course, everything they saw, in his flippant wannabe-cool style, even though a lot of it was actually very pretty. But he had learned that you should never give anything away for free -- compliments or feelings included -- and besides, unsure people were a lot nicer to be around than arrogant ones.