Firefly Glen As if the great divide could swallow me whole

AW! Bronco is scouting out/marking borders for the Firefly Glen claim.

As dawn broke, Bronco stretched, pulled himself to his feet, and headed off down the slopt toward where the mountains split along a ravine, which flattened out into the glen. His tight muscles had relaxed by the time he reached the grassy area, and he made his way toward the East, passing by the Altair of Twilight, where the borders of the glen would be established around its base. Already he could trace the movements of the others who had also passed along this way, creating a fairly obvious route for him to follow as he reinforced the markings, doing his best to space his own out evenly so that other wolves would have fewer gaps to slip through accidentally. 

It was somewhat mindless work, which suited him just fine- though he remained alert enough to keep his head up, watching for any sign of either one of his other packmates or a stranger, who might need to be informed about the new expansion of the pack. Vaguely, he wondered what the wolves of Neverwinter might think- and pushed that thought toward the back of his mind for another day, as he continued along.

Wanting to become better acquainted with her packmates, Leta had the good fortune of coming across the trail of Bronco; happily, she followed it. It was only when she saw him that she remembered how unique his furs were, and even as he walked then he seemed to sparkle. Was that the lighting, or was his haircare regimen truly that brilliant? Wanting to discover the answer for herself, Leta lengthened her stride to catch up to him. 

For all of her endurance training on the mountain though, she still had plenty more to catch up to the likes of those more in the practice of things than she. A little winded by the time she caught up to him (having been a decent enough distance away), she huffed out a happy little: hullo, before sucking in a breath and saying, mind company? all while trying to hide the fact that she was huffing and puffing a bit. At the very least, she enjoyed the run. Impromptu training, right?

Shadow-posted Leta! This was in the works for too long my b

He set out to hunt for the day, leaving the borders of Neverwinter a few hours before the sun rose and heading to the woods and lakes to the south. Even though most of his journey was fruitless, the landscape itself was spectacular. Yao marveled at the bright scenery, the forests emblazoned in fiery canopies.

He was successful in his hunt, nabbing a woodchuck who'd gotten a little too big for its hole. Unfortunate for it, but lucky for him and Neverwinter. He turned back to the Forest, the large rodent swinging in his jaws, passing through the Glen never the wiser.

There were two wolves up ahead of him. He stilled for a moment, watching them, unsure who either were. He recognized one of the forms idly wandering the Glen, though the memory was hazy. Soon it clicked, and Yao wagged his tail as he trotted towards the wolves. Bronco! Yao called to him through the muffling fur, remembering him from when he first arrived in Teekon Wilds. It seemed like a lifetime ago. You are...shinier than I remembered, he looked the wolf up and down. How did that happen? He turned and nodded to the other wolf. Mambo, hallo.

I was also allllmost shadowposted, but had the wrong account on so I had to refresh hah! Also YESSSSSS REUNION <3

His ears alerted him, first, to the approach of another and he lifted his head from where he'd been following along a trail left behind by Osiris to notice another wolf approaching him- the one who had introduced herself as Leta. As far as Bronco knew- and with the assumptions he'd made on his own- Leta was more or less a recruit that Osiris himself had picked up while he'd been off scouting with Desdemona, and potentially either an old friend or a new flame. The mocha yearling had a kindness in her eyes that expressed itself with a glimmer that seemed to be innate, unbidden, though there was a friendliness to her voice and a bounce to her gait that gave her the air of a pleasant creature. 

"Not at all," He said, bobbing his head to invite her to join him. "S'a nice mornin' to be out, forgin' a new path," He said, continuing to move along once she'd caught up with him. "You're from, uh...Not Neverwinter Forest but...?" He asked, having forgotten what the name of her birthpack had been. It was a place he'd never been to, and hadn't heard mentioned much- an indicator that the wolves of Easthollow were a peaceful, quiet sort who potentially kept much to themselves. 

He trailed off, then, just as he caught sight of another wolf- whose dark form and sunset orange eyes were recognizeable immediately. Bronco was surprised at first, and stiffened when he caught sight of a wolf he'd met- and had quite admired- only to see him again now so far from where they'd last crossed paths. His reaction to Haoniyao, if compared to the way he greeted Leta, was a good deal less refined. The stiffness caused by disbelief broke suddenly as Bronco collapsed suddenly into a play-bow, tail winging high in the air and whirling in broad circles behind him. He pounced the last few steps between himself and Haoniyao as he trotted up to the two new packmates, and greeted him with an amicable bark. 

"Yao!" He blurted gleefully, and laughed, prancing lightly on his tip toes as his shmmery fur was noticed, shimmying his shoulders to show off how the mica dust caught the morning light. "Heh, yessir, I am! Thanks for noticing!" He grinned. "Yao, this is Leta, Leta, this is Yao- we haven't seen each other for like...Months! And you're-" He said, leaning forward, noticing that Haoniyao's pelt bore traces of cedar and pine. "Are you livin' in Neverwinter Forest now?" He asked hopefully.

It is, she answered agreeably with a wave of her tail. It was not too hot, but neither was it as cold as winter; it was perfectly in the middle, and she was happy to forge new paths with Bronco. There were several here already set by those of their ilk—Moonspear—and they would create several more. Oh, no—not Neverwinter... Easthollow, she kindly corrected with a smile. There was a stranger then, who looked quite intimidating. Instinctively stiffening beside Bronco, she wondered if this wolf would be friend or foe. 

Her relief was palpable when Bronco broke the tension with his body language, and the stranger with their warm words of greeting. Not an adversary, then, but a friend... old, or new? Old, they had not seen one another in months... but that changed little for Bronco, who was warm and welcoming as though no time had passed at all. Mambo? she asked, not realizing he translated it immediately after and greeting him in turn with a shy smile and a, hello, Yao, marveling at his build. Heavy and broad, his limbs were longer and did not quite seem to match his physique. His eyes were a bright orange, reminding her of autumn leaves at their most splendid (in her own opinion), and he seemed to her quite kind.

He matched Bronco's playbow with one of his own, dipping slightly towards the ground as his tail increased in frenzy. Yao watched in awe as a spray of glitter rained from Bronco's shoulders. Ama! he wondered how it got there. It had to be something special.

It means hello, he explained. Even in the half year that he had been in the Wilds, he hadn't lost his accent, or his tendency to spout Kiswahili to those he knew couldn't understand it. It kept him linked. Mm, yes. I've been with them for a while. He nodded. Where's that? Easthollow? he turned to the woman again, eyes glittering with interest. It's to the east, eh? he chuckled at himself.

He saw a look of appraisal in Haoniyao's eyes, which indicated to Bronco that he was still quite taken with the dusty sparkle that Bronco shed like a layer of glittery mist. There seemed to be a look of curiosity on his features, so Bronco supplied a brief explanation. "It's just dust. But like....Sparkly mountain cave dust, called mica," He said. "Put it on someone with a winning personality and boom." He said, reaching out with one foot and softly brushing it along Haoniyao's shoulder, leaving a silvery trail of dust behind. "Now you sparkle too," He said. He'd begun to lose count of how many wolves he'd shared the shimmering dust with, intentionally or not- but the number was definitely getting up there. 

Now introduced, Leta and Yao seemed to have settled into an easy peace with one another, which came as no surprise to Bronco. After all- kind spirits tended to attract themselves to other kind spirits, or so he believed. And while he didn't know Leta terribly well, and he'd only truly met Haoniyao once before- they seemed the sort of wolf who was authentic enough, and comfortable enough in their own skin, that there was nothing pretended about either of them. They both made a solid, stable first impression; and Bronco liked wolves who were both friendly and comfortable. At peace with both of them, and allowing them a moment to joke back and forth, Bronco merely grinned at Yao's joke and looked for Leta's reaction.

Oh! Mambo, then, she repeated with a wave of her tail. She would see about using that one more. It was pleasant to say. Bronco then explained his sparkles, and Leta determined to find herself a cave full of mica so that she could glitter as he did. It was quite a nice look, and added an additional sheen to his healthy furs. Moving to keep up with the rest, Leta's tail waved. So, this male was of Neverwinter. She met precious few in that group thus far, but they seemed nice enough. 

She laughed a little at his observation. Not directionally savvy by way of cardinal directions, Leta gestured to the way she had come from some time ago. If that way is East! she answered with a grin. And Neverwinter—does winter never arrive to your forest? she marveled playfully, eyes alight as she looked to Broncoo as though to say, good one, right?????

My-cah, he parrots. The name was unfamiliar. He wondered if there was a translation in his native tongue. It seemed like something a mganga would know about. He grinned wildly as he saw the glitter fall onto his own shoulders.

He laughs at her joke. I hope so, he said. I want to see snow, Real snow, he thinks, not the flurries he had seen in early spring. Are you still with the, yaani... Firebirds, Bronco?

WC: 248
DECEMBER 14: Just going to tuck this one away into the archives- but will happily, happily thread with both of you again. This is just weeeeyyyyy out of date and I have a timeline -thing- heh. <3<3<3

It was nice to see that both Leta and Haoniyao had a similar sense of humour- even if it did mean the two of them came up with ridiculous puns. Their exchange made him smile, and he realized then how good it was to have found Yao again. He'd been hoping for quite some while, quietly, they he might pass by the Copse again so that Bronco could have had another shot at recruiting him into the pack. As it were, though, it seemed that he had found a good home in Neverwinter Forest, and from all that Bronco knew of the place, it had plenty of wolves in it that he felt were kind souls, just like his friend. Things seemed to have worked out quite well for the both of them.

When he asked about Bronco's current living situation though, Bronco shook his head. “No, friend,” He answered, though there was no regret or remose to his tone. “My younger sister and I moved to Moonspear, so that she could be an Ambassador there, and so that I could work on my guardian skills,” He said. And now, for the present situation. “Our alpha's son, though, has been chosen to found and lead a new pack- sort of a sister pack- here in the Glen, so that we can be an extension of Moonspear's claim, but a new pack amongst ourselves at the same time,” He explained. ”So...I guess this kinda makes us closer neighbours, eh?” 

It brought him a great deal of joy to get to both see his old friend again, to find out that he was living nearby, and to get to meet the woman that Osiris had brought to the Glen with him. For Bronco, it was as though he'd been given a good omen, that the founding of Firefly Glen would bring them more positivity in the future, in having such kind neighbours nearby, and such delightful packmates to call family.