Mudminnow River How to move on

For @Louis but open to others!

Malila was alone again. But she had not moved far, since she had encountered the two strangers at the downs. One, whom had gifted her with a free meal. She wondered if she would ever see either of them again. She sighed. Being alone, it seemed, was a normalcy in her life.

Her mother was gone, somewhere. And her father and brother had been missing from her life for years. There were packs in the area. But so far she was reluctant to check them out, to approach their borders. For fear that like last time, they would not be a good fit for her. She would have to get over her nervousness.

For now, she isolated herself. She found her way to a winding river. It's waters murky, but clean and full of life. Little glimmers of shimmering scales showed that fish abound here. Trying to hurry upstream. She contemplated her options. She had never excelled in hunting. Maybe fishing would be more up her alley. Slowly, she dipped her paws in the water. The fish scattered, much to her dismay.

Louis had been alone for long enough that it was beginning to wear on him. Spring should have been an opportunity to meet dispersals aplenty, but somehow, he only seemed to find old scents and stale tracks these days. 

Until now.

He'd followed the sound and smell of water to a river, and ambled along its bank and chasing little critters and bugs as they startled out - until an altogether different movement caught his eye.

Pausing, he watched for a moment as she crossed the threshold of the bank into chilly water and then lifted his tail to wag. Announcing himself with a friendly wuff, he loped down the river's edge toward her, "Hello!"

She sighed, watching as the minnows scattered. Swimming away from her submerged forepaws. Slowly she backpedaled, easing herself fully onto the bank once again. Ears swiveling back, she tried to think. Tried to use a common sense train of thought. Most likely, she had moved too quickly. That, or she wasn't patient enough.

A voice called out to her. Cheery and friendly. Flinching slightly, she looked up. Surprised to see another wolf, ambling her way. He looked a little younger than her. Cute. Healthy and rather approachable looking. Back in the earlier days, Malila would have met his enthusiasm head on. But through less than good luck and a series of unfavorable events, her bright energy had been dampened.

Still, she tried. "Oh um, hi there..." She stood awkwardly, her tail waving in a slow, tentative wag. Gosh, she felt so out of place. She hadn't had much in the way of socializing lately. It felt...foreign to her.

Too gladdened by a friendly face to worry much about her shyness, Louis tail wagged in earnest and trotted forward, speaking with rapid excitement, "I'm Louis. I haven't seen anyone in these parts lately."

She was a pretty girl, but smaller even than him. It still seemed a bit cold for casual swimming, and he glanced at the water she'd been wading in curiously, before fixing his attention back on her.

She faced him. Appreciative of his bubbly energy, even if it did not rub off on her. "It is nice to meet you, Louis. I'm Malila." She sniffed the air around him, for signs of others. "I kind of know these parts. I was born by a river, a little west of here. I had been absent for a while. I only just returned to the area here."

"Malila." He tested, nodding with a gentle smile, "That's a pretty name. Nice to meet you, too." Leaning forward, he sniffed at her too in polite greeting, but didn't quite touch. Some strangers, he'd found, were not so comfortable with proximity. A hard lesson to learn.

"It must feel nice to come home." He observed, head tilting, "I'm from a long ways off. Much of this is new to me."

"Well thank you. I like your name too." And she meant it. It wasn't just something she was saying. She turned to face the stream, looking down at their reflections in the water. Looking thoughtful if not a little pensive. "Well...kind of."

"I never really had the best of luck here, before. Always struggled to fit in, to settle down someplace. And my family...I don't know where they are these days. It is just me." She pawed softly at the dirt, trying her best not to come off as emotional. If she got too deep into this topic, who knows how she'd come off. And she didn't need to pour all that onto a stranger. "I am hoping to stick around and make things work this time though." She added, a little more brightly.

((So sorry for the delays, health has not been good :C))

Louis tilted his head, listening politely. It sounded lonely. It must be, in truth, and he could well imagine how unsettling it would be to have no place that felt like home. No family to come back to. "You must have some attachment to it, then? If you still see it as worth the effort. What about this place calls to you, so?"

Louis felt wanderlust strongly. He couldn't imagine settling down with so much out there still to see. Strangers to meet, cultures to experience. And he found himself curious, now, about this pretty stranger and the place she claimed she didn't fit into but desired to stay in.

"Well, besides it being where I was born, just the general atmosphere. I feel like there's a chance I could reconnect with old acquaintances. This place...it just feels right, ya know?" She didn't know any other way to put it than that. 

"I think there are a few packs in this region. I'll check them out. See what they are like." She did not want the conversation to be kept so one sided for too long. She wanted to know about him now. "What about you, Louis? What's brought you here, to the Teekons?"

"That makes sense." Louis agreed. Though he didn't share the sentiment, he could certainly understand it. He loved his home, and it would always be a part of him.

But...

He shrugged, "I wanted to see what was out there. My family is up North, where you can see for miles and miles on a clear day. But there's still so much world to discover, strangers to meet. Pretty girls." He winked. "It seemed a shame that all this would be out here and I might never even know. So I set out, and here I am. Apparently just in time to meet you. So that feels lucky."

Malila listened with a combination of quiet patience and bubbling enthusiasm. An explorer! How exciting. "Oh from the North huh? It sounds amazing, but I don't think I've traveled that far yet!" A little laugh was thrown in. "The world is such a big place. So many folks to meet."

His wink and chiming in about pretty girls didn't escape her. He even went on to mention how his timing seemed perfect to have met her. Was he...flirting? Malila blinked, smirking a little playfully. "Well that is some good luck isn't it? I feel like I might be the lucky one, to meet such a bubbly guy like you, out here today!"

Tail wagging when she seemed to reciprocate, he ducked half-way into a play bow, wondering if he could entice her into a game of chase. "Could be. Shared luck's the best kind, after all!" Bouncing on his forepaws a little, his bow ducked lower, a little more entreating in its excitement.

She smiled. "You are right. It most certainly is." She was surprised, but pleasantly so when he ramped up his playful mannerisms. Ducking down into a play bow, bouncing on his paws slightly. Her eyes twinkled. With a grin, she felt a spark that had long since been dead, light up inside her.

Suddenly her tail was whipping in the air. Before she knew what she was doing, she feigned an energetic leap towards him. Nipping softly, harmlessly towards the tips of his paws. Tense and bunched up, ready to bolt away and race around.

Malila couldn't even begin to recall when she had ever played last.

He bounced back with an excited bark, twisting like an otter as he darted out and in and gave himself the chase. They danced like newborn fawns through the spring grass, and he laughed a clear wild sound. Eager to catch her, but never quite doing it. Hoping to be caught - but not intending to make it easy.

And she was lovely to watch, fur billowing with each stride, and a smile that urged you to smile back.

He got so wrapped up in it he was watching her he lost his footing near the bank, and suddenly Louis was tumbling paw over tail into the cold water, scattering the fish in a great splash.

He came up sputtering. Laughing.

They chased, bowed and danced in a blur of pup like play. A feeling that, to Malia, was almost foreign. And she felt refreshed. Exhilarated. Like some lost part of herself had been revived and brought back to life.

This young wolf, Louis, she felt like she may have found a likened spirit again. As if she were making up for time long lost with her missing brother. She gasped in part surprise as he lost his footing, tumbling back into water. Any chance of a fish lunch was lost, but that was far from her mind.

He didn't even seem to mind his own mishap, coming up wet and laughing. Echoing his laughter, Malila was only encouraged to leap in after him, but slowly. One leg at a time, keeping just out of reach.

It felt a little bit like being home, Louis thought. Running and playing and barking and dancing. There were no cares at all to be concerned with in a moment like this. He'd missed such frivolity.

Laughter disguising a smile that had turned mischievous, Louis watched her wade in carefully, and then sprung his attack. He lunged forward - not to catch her, but to send a great splash of cold river water up at her, intending to drench her and ruin any effort at staying dry.

Last from me.

His attempt to drench her worked. A great splash of water came at her, thoroughly soaking her blonde and chocolate coat. She let out a surprised sound. The coolness of the water was refreshing. Spurred her playfulness further.

Completely forgetting about the possibility of a fish lunch, Malila, who was caught in the throws of play, lurched to chase after Louis. Indulging in an afternoon of romping and splashing through the stream, re-kindling memories of a childhood long lost.