Whitefish River stars that shine.

The days passed in Kaistleoki with no further word of Tiarnach. It pained Eshe to put an end to her active searching, but winter was on its way and she had other responsibilities now to share her time with. She kept an eye out for him still whenever she left the territory to get to know the surrounding areas better. But with no further word or sign of her brother, Eshe was forced to turn to hope as her best weapon in finding him again.

The young Wolf had been sleeping in the open since coming to the River pack. She hasn’t spent more than one night in the same place, wanting to get to know her new home and find a location within it where she felt most at home. It was strange to be within borders that didn’t belong to her family, and while she did still feel that twinge of homesickness, it was an exciting sort of strange.

The sun was falling that day as she trotted along the riverbank with her nose trailing close to the ground, inspecting this and that. The colors of sunset twisted along her silver fur and sparkled in her almond eyes as she turned her gaze skyward for the moment to look upon it with a soft, wistful smile.

Here i am to scoop up lonely threads, been eyeing this for a while :eyes:

There were so many new faces among the crowd, and after healing, things never seemed to cease. There was always something to steal him away from pleasant chitchat and get to know them all one by one. Thankfully, today he had gotten everything done early enough and was able to take it easy as the sun was setting over the horizon in a brilliant display as always - something he felt he hasn't seen in almost a lifetime.

Speaking of new faces, there was one right now. Walking along the same riverside as he was. In a greeting, the painted knight offered a casual wave of his tail first. Beautiful evening isn't it? I haven't been able to enjoy it for a while now. He didn't get too close, simply testing the waters out for now by seeing how receptive she was to casual talk. In Kaistleoki, everyone was so kind, however, some were more chatty than others; and frankly, he didn't want to start anything off on the wrong foot.

yay! I love being scooped :)

Eshe wasn't bothered in the least when her solitude was interrupted by a male whose coat instantly fascinated her. Questions about his parentage flew to her tongue, but she stopped them from spilling before she showed how much of a spaz she could be sometimes in social situations. She smiled at him instead and perked her ears to listen to his comment, which made her cant her head in curiosity.

"No? You work too hard to notice it, or just go to bed really, really early?" Eshe asked, her tail wagging to show her words were in jest. Though she was curious to the answer.

Hmm. A dramatic cock of the head to ponder her question. Perhaps a bit of both? The Constable finally answered with a cheeky grin of his own. It was hard to relax lately, to pick up from where he left on, to make up for lost time - to greet the new faces he hadn't had the chance to do lately thanks to an absence as well as some recovering. Everything just kept moving while he was stagnant, it always seemed that way, however, so he had thankfully gotten use to it to handle it with some sort of... grace. 

I haven't been much of a romantic lately to stare in awe. So much to do, so little time. Today he would take some time to return to his roots, Hiero had decided. Especially if he could kill two birds with one stone and meet one of the newer faces he had meant to do for a while now. Is this a part of your bedtime routine? He returned the question with his own little humour weaved into it.

The man's response brought a smile to her face. She was glad to see that at least a few of the wolves of Kaistleoki had a sense of humor, which suggested to her that perhaps they all did. "Ahh, an overachiever extraordinaire," Eshe replied easily, settling onto her haunches so she could be comfortable while they chatted.

His next comment also made her grin, but it was a semi-secret one. The notion of watching the sunset because it was romantic likely applied to many wolves, but she was generally not one of them. "Sometimes," she answered, "Though I admit, the romance of it isn't what sparks my interest. I pay more attention to the science-y parts of it. Like the way the colors reflect on the clouds to show their shape, or how quickly or slowly it sets as the seasons change. Y'know, super cool, exciting, science-y things."

How do you think I became Constable? It was all in light humor of course, he even straightened up proudly, tossing his head back in a dramatic gallant pose fitting for a great knight (he would say Constable if Ira didn't already do better at the role before he was ever promoted). Seafoam eyes flickering to Eshe with one of those half-grins, clearly not believing his own dang words let alone hoping she would agree with him. 

When the man meant "romance" he was hoping she would catch that it was less of love another sort of way and more so in the sense of "a feeling of mystery, excitement, and remoteness from everyday life", which thankfully, she did seem to take it that way. I've never thought of it that way, sounds interesting. He pondered how it could be... He was more so just wide-eyed and in wonder and awe to take in the colours as they shift and fade over time, to take them all in before night brought on the twinkling of stars.

To think there was a different way of viewing it was just as wonderous. Mind sharing your thoughts? I would love to hear how you see it. It's a whole different perspective I never thought of. The soft thudding of his tail patted behind him as he waited.

His comment made her laugh. "Fair enough," she replied, not about to argue. She had never achieved a rank like Constable in her life. She'd lingered near the middle of the hierarchy at her parents' pack, and that had always been just fine for her. She had no aspirations for leadership. Her goal was to be useful in the skills where she was strongest and most interested. She wanted a place to belong, and caring packmates all around. That was plenty.

She had to quirk a brow in surprise when he asked her to expand upon her comments on the sunset. "Really?" she asked, unable to help herself. She shook her head in the next moment, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm used to my siblings rolling their eyes and telling me I'm being boring whenever I say something like that," she added, chuckling a little while her heart panged with homesickness.

Really. He smiled, genuine in his curiosity for her to share her thoughts. It's only boring if it's boring to you. This was his attempt to try and reassure her to go on and describe what she saw in the skies. He was certain he would see the value in her perspective, to learn something new about something he had seen a thousand times before and maybe missed a few details that she would bring to the table through Eshe's experience and knowledge.

I'll go ahead and fade this out since you're also wrapping things up with Hiero <3

His interest was genuine, and though it was an odd thing that Eshe acknowledged, she was pleased. No one ever let her truly nerd out over her interests, so she happily settled in to tell him all she knew about sunsets and the sky. Most of it was theory, particularly the why, because... she's a wolf, what does she really know. But much of it came from the details of her observations, of which she had many. In the end, she wasn't sure whether he regretted asking or not, but it had been a pleasant encounter for her and she left gratified.