Nimbus Summit Every lie was a beautiful sound.

Wayfarer had known Duskfire Glacier like the back of her paw and, determined to learn from the mountain on which her kin were to make their home, she was keen to learn more of what it had to offer. Her trailing took her through woodland that grew dense along Nimbus' base, across frozen cliffs then higher up the spire until the air felt thinner in her lungs.

She breathed deep, and exhaled softly. Home. More than anything, Wayfarer hoped she would find that on those slopes.

As she rested for a time beneath Winter's pale midday sun, her thoughts turned to @Lane. Her relationship with her mother had always been a rocky one. While Wayfarer had been too little to really remember where, why and for how long her mother had taken leave so frequently in those early months if she and Veteran's lives, she recalled vividly that she'd been gone. Absent when she'd needed her attention, not the comfort of some pseudo parent that could never compare. It'd been easier for her brother to adapt, but Wayfarer continued to harbour the bitterness.

Had it been long enough? She wondered.

And perhaps for the first time since she'd been a scruff-tailed babe, Wayfarer gathered herself and began the search for her mother.

tag for reference. Hela, feel free to start a thread for Tuulu/Issor, and Lane will join.

Lane and @Tuuluuwaq had only just arrived at the base of the mountain, delayed a few days by the several pit stops they had made. Lane's amber gaze skimmed the rising treeline as she craned her neck upward, surveying the lands that would become her new home. She was a leader on this soil, and yet she was setting foot upon the territory for the first time. When she spied her daughter's fiery pelt weaving through the sparse trees at the summit, her voice rose in an excited whine. 

She placed a quick kiss upon Tuuluuwaq's cheek. "Will you go find Issorartuyok, Tuulu? I'll join you shortly. We can talk to him about.." About all of it. The war, Laurel's request, but most of all about... "-the beta thing." Lane finished. She offered him a quick, parting smile, and then darted off to catch up with her daughter. 

Despite their difficult past, Lane had never given up on Wayfarer. She had never stopped offering her the opportunity to reconcile, and she never would. It had long since dawned upon Lane that she would likely lose Wayfarer when the girl came of age to disperse, but as long as Wayfarer remained here, Lane would keep trying with her.

"Wayfarer?" Lane barked eagerly, hoping to locate the girl. She lost sight of her daughter's pelt as she ascended the mountain. Lane figured that there was a very small chance that Wayfarer would hear her call and actually come to her (rather than run away from her), but it was worth a try. It would always be worth a try.

For so long she'd been guarded, having spent so long building an impenetrable wall around her. Her stubbornness, her resentment and fear of further disappointment had isolated Wayfarer almost entirely from the wolves of Duskfire Glacier - this wasn't the way she wanted to be in Nimbus Summit. It would be difficult, she knew, to make peace within herself and try to let go of the misfortunes she'd faced throughout her short life, but she had to try.

She was tired of simply surviving.

Her name on her mother's tongue brought the wildfire youth to a pause, and she blinked over a russet shoulder to seek her approach. When her gaze settled on the Alphess' familiar form, she felt something unexpected in her belly. Her stomach flopped anxiously; was she admitting defeat, by finally taking hold of the olive branch that Lane offered time and time again?

"Hey," she managed, and the greeting felt awkward as it rolled from her tongue. Wayfarer blinked, twitched a whisker. "Uhh... safe trip?"

Wayfarer did not flee from Lane's voice, as her mother had half-expected her to do.  Instead she drew froward to greet Lane. Lane met her with warmth, bumping against her affectionately and swiping a kiss over her crown. Whatever awkwardness lay between them, Lane would stubbornly ignore. The message would not need to be explicitly stated: Lane was available to be a parent to Wayfarer whenever the girl was ready to accept. 

"Yes," Lane confirmed. "How was your trip?" she returned. Lane propelled the conversation to one of the only things she knew she and Wayfarer had in common: scouting. "What route did you take through the Sunspire Mountains? We cut through the canyon that Mereo guards, but Mereo had not seen any others come through besides us." Perhaps Wayfarer had gone by the sea. Lane had traveled the sea route with Wayfarer once, but the girl would not remember. Wayfarer had been inside Lane's belly at the time.

Honestly, she hadn't expected Lane to invite herself right into her personal space. Something feral sparked within her and her first thought was to bare fangs - to warn, to place a distance between them that'd become comfortable for her. Instead of clacking teeth, however, Wayfarer stiffened at the contact. She flicked her tongue anxiously between her lips, reminding herself of the budding hope she held for change.

Such changes would need to start with her.

Wayfarer listened to what Lane had to say, and lifted her muzzle to look briefly in the direction of the range over which their pack had travelled. She'd trailed far enough from the group to have avoided Mereo's claim, though hadn't found the courage to venture toward the coast by herself. "Through a valley between the mountains," she answered, "it was... fine, I guess." Nothing she felt the need to report on, for she'd simply enjoyed the opportunity for freedom.

Lane noticed her daughter's posture stiffen at her touch, and so she moved away after the perfunctory lick to her crown. Lane's warm, pleasant demeanor would not waver, but her heart would give a painful squeeze. Did Wayfarer dislike being touched in general, or was it affection from her mother specifically that caused her to recoil? 

"Oh yeah, the vale.. I heard about that. It's where your scouting party met Germanicus, right? The leader from Mereo?" Lane had never been to the vale herself, and in hearing about it, she had to wonder why the group hadn't elected to settle there. The Hinterlands were just so damn far away from everything. Of course, she saw the distance as a blessing now-- it would make it infinitely easier to keep Atautsikut out of the war that was brewing in the eastern valley. 

"Anyway.." Lane continued, changing the subject. She didn't want to talk about Germanicus. "Tuuluuwaq and I managed to stop by Mereo and Rivenwood, which means there's only Moonglow left to inform of our move. Would you like to come with us when we go to Moonglow? You and Veteran?" Lane smiled, a spark of hope in her expression.