The Sunspire You Don't Know The Pain I Feel

Any and all welcome <3 He needs some exposure. Wicken uses He/They pronouns interchangeably.

The sheer scale of the rocky outcroppings had proved tedious for the young wolf, but the mountains had given him much more than they had taken. The emaciation they had been sporting upon arrival to the Teekon had been slowly giving way to a healthy albeit slim figure that propelled the gentleman forth as he went. The altitude was well above where the birds sang and trees grew, but it was comforting to be surrounded by the flora and fauna of shrubbery and smaller animals. The dark wolf lacked the usual air of unease that surrounded them in the low lying areas. Another would be unable to sneak upon him without him first seeing them in the sparse shrubbery that gave way to snow a mere distance away.

Wicken clambered his way onto a ledge of particular height that was laden with soft green moss. A firm wall of stone to their back, and a breathtaking view of the way he had come. Amber eyes of melted honey drifted over the slopes with an accomplished feeling settling in their chest. The young wolf had come a long way from being the sack of bones a few weeks prior, and he was astonished that his body had the capability to carry him through such a feat now. 

He settled down upon the ledge to rest a smoky face upon smoky paws. A stark contrast to the light grey stone that was to their back, but the comforting lull of the breeze eventually allowed him to shut his eyes. Wicken could not sleep for fear of what would come to him in the embrace of sleep if he did, but he would rest his eyes before continuing on later in the day.

Just when she thought she had climbed her last Godforsaken slope, another would take its place. Was she going higher or lower at this point? Vystra did not know. What she did know was that she had found what was left of a rabbit carcass a few leagues back, with which she spent the night with. It was a decent meal, fast food always was. Little effort it, you see. And the girl had little effort to give when it came to hunting.

Her travels were absent minded, although she did enjoy watching the clouds move so quickly above her. At time it seemed as if she could touch them. Absentmindedness brought her to a ledge which overlooked greenery and a landscape that promised her mountain climbing venture would soon be over. Vys sighed in relief and a bit of annoyance. This whole journey was stupid. How could her family leave her? Had they never really loved her in the first place? The pale girl shook her head violently to rid herself of such dark thoughts. No, she wasn't a burden...

During her dramatic head shaking, Vystra noticed what looked like a figure elevated slightly above her. Blush eyes snapped back to where she had seen grey mass. It was not a figment of her imagination. Doubling back, the young traveler tucked her tail in and craned her head upwards to meet his gaze. She shook terribly, but hoped to look somewhat intimidating by flashing her teeth in warning.

The gentleman heard her approach long before she walked into his field of vision. Amber eyes cracked open with suppressed urgency in anticipation to see what soul was nearing. They focused on her closely as she drifted closer to assess if she was to be considered a threat, but Wicken could make no such assumption as he watched the cream stranger look over the lower ledge. Perhaps he could remain unnoticed. He awkwardly pressed himself back against the stone with no shortage of ruckus coming from the gravel that toppled over the edge with his shifting weight. A wince accompanied the noise, but the lack of reaction from the wolf below was noted as odd.

Despite his lack of effort, a dark grey pelt was easy to spot against a stone backdrop, and he shrunk down when the lady finally noticed him. A fear response to flashing teeth that had been engrained in his very being left his ears pinned to his head with his own teeth on display. They clicked their jaws several times in a blatant warning for the stranger to keep her distance, but there was no aggression underlying their stance. Wicken felt the familiar tug of anxiety settling in his chest that temporarily blinded him as he slinked further back on the ledge, pressing himself fully against the cool stone to put some more room between the two of them. A grounding point while he decided the next course of action. 

Their eyes refused to move from her form, but the calming effect of the cool stone brought reality back into focus. The wolf before them was trembling worse than a leaf in the wind. Fear. Wicken was a well acquainted friend to fear, and the woman before him seemed to mirror himself in that aspect. The glint of their white teeth slowly disappeared to reveal a blank expression as they drifted from fear to an at length understanding of the stranger. He peeled himself from the cool stone into a sitting position with his haunches still touching said stone that he hoped would appear unthreatening. It- It's alright. I will not hurt you. A silvery voice spoke out across the distance between them.

The stranger's reaction was expected, but what wasn't expected was how quickly it came and went. Still, she held steadfast on all fours with her chest puffed, feeling unmovable as a rooted great oak. Though, she had never seen a tree planted amongst slate, which did not bode well for the analogy. And although Vystra still trembled, her eyes never left theirs.

The perched wolf had obviously been just as frightened. She could see it in the knee-jerk reaction of how they shrank into the ledge. Their expression was of a wolf stuck between a rock and a hard place... though she was more of a soft cloud that most could likely walk through. Vystra had begun to feel guilty for her brash and overzealous reaction, but soon felt relief as the grey wolf situated themself in a more comfortable and relaxed position. She could then get a good look at them, both her eyes and mouth wide to take in not only their appearance but their fresh herbal scent. 

A tall and lanky male it seemed, handsome yet riddled with scars. Naturally, he attempted to communicate with her, but she could not decipher what was said. By this time, the girl had fully sheathed her daggers and now had her head cocked to one side, undoubtedly looking unnerving in the way she just blankly stared at him. She was never taught to talk and knew no words. But she did know that most understood her when she pawed at her ear and shook her head. I can't hear you. Her attempt to speak back to him came out more of a muffled whine as she too reclined on her rump.

His anxiety greatly diminished with the disappearance of her own pearly whites, and it brought him some added comfort. The tension laden in their shoulders seem to drop with a deep breath for comfort. Yellow eyes were quick to look elsewhere with the intense eye contact tethering them together as her silence stretched on. He did watch her out of the corner of his eye, tilting his slender head to the side as she scratched at her ears. Perhaps there was something wrong with them? 

His attention was caught as his mind trifled through the reasoning, and then the prior events occurred to him. Any wolf would have heard the gravel falling between the two of them from the ledge, but the stranger had not reacted to it despite the loud sound that had reverberated from it. Maybe there was something off with her ears, and the lack of communication aside from the noise that escaped her was blatant. It was a foreign concept to them as they considered it. They looked over her cream pelt with curiosity as if it would jump out with the explanation printed on her fur in their shared silence.

An idea occurred, and Wicken stretched their left leg forward to paw at the air to grab her attention. Wicken moved himself closer to the ledge, hesitating to ensure the closer proximity was alright. Ever the gentlemen. He then pawed at his mouth with a lifted eyebrow. A small chuff escaped him. A question. Could she speak?

They were trying, and her pink lips pulled into a wide grateful smile. From the looks of it, the stone wolf understood her predicament! She giggled in excitement as the her peer waved a misty paw in the air, though she wasn't exactly sure what they meant by it. Rapidly, with the rhythm of a bat's wings, her tail displayed her pleasure with this stranger's intellect. Some wolves had such a hard time understanding.

As her rush of adrenaline died down, Vystra found herself again on all fours, inching closer just as the stranger did. They were motioning to her mouth. Was she hungry? No, I'm not hungry. A shake of the head would explain that one. But she did wish to tell the boy one thing. Her mother had taught her something very important when it came to communication, and nothing else really. She would try it with him. "Vys.." Her voice cracked, a cellar door covered in dust barely used opening for the first time in months. She could feel the vibration of it catch in her throat and cleared it as best she could before trying again. "Vystra." Her paw waggled like theirs did, mostly because she liked how it looked, then pressed against her breast.

He watched her inquisitively, pondering the shake of her head for a moment before accepting the answer. He could only hope that she had understood his meaning. So, She couldn't hear. They had never encountered someone with such a strange issue, but Wicken was not the type to look down another with oddities. He was an oddity himself with scars littering his pelt. Perhaps their communication would have to adapt as evidenced by the paws waving about. 

He felt bashful as the cream stranger mimicked his waving about of his paw, and the act suddenly seemed to have been a ludicrous idea in the first place. It would be just on par for Wicken to make a fool of himself in front of a new face, especially a pretty one. That is, until she attempted to speak. Dark ears perked to the rough speach, but they understood the meaning all the same as she placed her paw upon herself.

He nodded his head enthusiastically, Vystra... Wicken They motioned to their own chest in hopes that she could understand just the same. The tip of his tail wiggled behind him in anticipation to see if Vystra would understand him. Perhaps the proximity would help as she inched towards him, he also took a hesitant step to her, peering over the edge of the drop.

Vystra leaned in with anticipation as this wolf tried out her name... to the point that if she leaned in any farther she likely would have toppled over. The stark female mouthed her name as they did. By the movement of their lips, it looked like they got it! She bounded in a circle with unadulterated glee at the fact that she was successfully communicating with this fellow. She was actually doing it!

Ah, but here came the hard part. Her victory dance abruptly came to a stop once Vys realized she still had work to do. Of course, who was this stranger? Surely they had a name as well, and she was determined to learn it out of respect and overall interest. Ah, he too placed his paw on his chest after mouthing... what was it again? Her lips hesitated to part, but the woman knew she owed it to them to try, no matter how dumb she sounded. 

She approached the base of the cliff. Light weight was placed onto her hind legs as smallish forepaws reached up to rest on the side of their rocky throne, her neck craning so that she was mere feet away from them. First came that awful attempt at a 'W' sound, which sounded more like a garbled wah. Regardless, she battled through the rest of the syllables with valiant effort. With her eyes tightly closed, Vystra focused on the shapes their mouth had moved and just kinda forced her voice out at the same time. In the end, she got "Wigan".

Although they were wrapped up in the technicalities of interaction, Wicken noticed her proximity with increasing alertness. Foreign was the concept of nearness to another soul, aside from a prior run in with a russet male on the banks of the river. He had not been this close even then, but Wicken did not shy away. The very paws he stood upon betrayed him in how steadfast they stayed upon the moss beneath his paws as she neared even closer. 

Amber eyes observed her carefully as she tried to speak, but they only did a full sweep when her eyes were closed in concentration. A pink nose lay on a pristine base with cream points, and the astonishing beauty that came with her brightness forced his eyes to linger there in appreciation. A stark contrast to their surroundings, but Vystra could have fit in perfectly if she were to fly away into the clouds that blew past above the two of them. They were quick to move their eyes when the pale wolf did finally almost manage his name and opened her rosy eyes.

Wicken nodded to her with his eyes cast to the side once again. Close enough. The explanation of how the 'ck' sounded was difficult to grasp for hearing wolves, and he did not want to embarrass her as a first impression. If Wigan she called him, Wigan he would be to her. Their tail lightly fluttered behind them as Wicken's paws were finally their own again. He scooted to the side of Vystra and hopped down from the short ledge with an audible huff. Perhaps he was thankful she did not hear.

He moved a pace away to give her space now that they were on even ground. His paw once again waved about to grab her attention. Do you know where you are going? Finally, his paw pointed to the way she had been heading when coming across him. The speech was slow and exaggerated as he hoped that she might be able to understand at least some of what came from him. She was headed into lands that were very popular with wolves, some of whom could have sinister intentions if she were to run across the wrong one. Generally, the young wolf could have cared less about wolves he had just met, but the positivity she beheld instilled a concern for her safety.

Wrapping up!

The young woman was overjoyed by her small win with Wicken, or rather "Wigan". Vystra displayed a cheeky grin coupled with a hefty wave of her tail, proud of her accomplishment. Perhaps there was hope for her yet when it came to communicating like everyone else. The lanky creature slunk from their perch, taking position near her. Only on shared ground could she fully appreciate the slender wolf's build. He towered over her, making her feel a little more vulnerable than before.

Steadily, the pale girl placed a single paw closer to them and leaned forward as she studied the movement of their mouth once more. She wasn't so sure what most of the words that Wicken was trying to say were, but she did know the word "where" and observed as their dusty paw gestured to where she had been headed. A quick nod of her dainty head, a light touch to Wicken's cheek, and a backwards glance as Vys began to continue her journey North. Her pastel gaze urging the slender loner to follow.