Firefly Glen [PHE] they got the drip

adults, sobeille had said. when chani had spent much time alone in their camp, drawing strength solely from the other seawolves, she at last showed herself.
in evening light, as wind rushed through the old trees, chani glowed in watergloss and ivy crowned upon her head, a nereide unknowing as she moved with an affected confidence among those many, many figures who thronged through the glen.

Sven traveled further into the glen. Meeting and greeting. But he was growing tired and he knew that he would be heading back to Kvarsheim's berth soon. But he was surprised by a wolf painted in autumn colors. He lifted his head and smiled. 

Hallo I'm Sven.

a friendly stranger, close in age to her, clothed in silver and dove-grey, approached chani now. she bit back the spiciness that often laced her introductions, regarding him with some curiosity. "bonjour," the girl replied with the aloof formality she had seen in older women of her kith.
"be you enjoyin' de event so far?" chani chose to say next, wanting to control the conversation before any questions started being posed her way.

A wrinkle of his nose with delight. A small smile that lit up the freckles of his face. The stars aligning in his dark pelt. Oh ja.

He nodded so excited his father's tongue slipped into his words. A soft little quiet chuckle. Sorry yes. I am. Many new faces to meet. And I think the hunt will be successfull.

A tilt of his head. You smell like the sea. My fadir lived near the sea for a very long time before he left to travel. But when he came home. He passed in the valley.

Sven tilted an ear forward. He didn't think this girl liked him much. And that was okay he guessed. He would not make fast friends everywhere. 

We are from Kvarsheim. He offered.

chani was not sure she liked anyone at all. sapphique's insularity had done a wonder on her, making the girl peevish when sven spoke of how he smelled her. was that normal to say out loud? she didn't think about her sense of scent anymore; everyone around chani was family.
maybe she was the weird one here. "i be chani, from sapphique," she said at last. "sorry about your fadir," she added, picking up the word the kvarsheim wolf had used with a blink that suggested more openness.
fathers, too, an impossibility for her.
"where be kvarsheim? is it far?"

Sven could understand not liking others he supposed. HE also understood being sheltered. Him and his siblings had been sheltered. A truth made evident as he tried to speak with the wolves here and didn't do the best he could. HE wished his brother was closer. He made a mental note to look for @Ujurak after this. 

It is a pleasure to meet you Chani.

A little smile. Our Fadir lived there briefly before he left to take care of Sanja.

he tilted his head and shook it. No so far. A few days walk from the coast. About 2 from here. We live among large stones. If you ever get around there. I'd love to show you around. It may not be as pretty as the sea, but it has its merits.

fadir. sanja. kvarsheim. sven. she could not help the endless comparisons between her language and his; the only thing which stalled her train of thought was his generous and wholly unexpected offer.
with the exception of ajei, chani had never known any member of her family to simply tour strangers through sapphique. at once she was surprised, then suspicious, then thoughtful, all in the span of several vulnerable seconds.
"well. i — den i will come," she said, managing to sound warmer than even a few minutes before, if only because sven had taken the wind out of her irritable sails.
"what are de large stones for?" she asked, stepping past him though with a silent invitation that he join.

Sven knew that his words would be different than most. Even difficult to some, but that was okay. He liked that he had a small part of his father in the way he spoke and the language he knew.

Sven smiled his face lighting up. The silver of his eyes dancing. That's good. You will have to meet Ujurak and Kristjan. And there are three girls near our age as well Petal, Foxglove and Dahlia.

He made a soft ho hum sort of noise, as he thought. I do not know all of it. But they represent different members of the pack taht came before. The patriarch, the mother, and so forth. They each represent t heir own type of skill or trade in a way. And they are the resting place of many wolves.

so many names! chani saw his eyes light and it amused her, to see this devotion to pack in someone else besides herself. and a boy at that. the presence of other girls sold her on the venture, but it was sven's mention of a mother that at last brought her own gaze to burning life.
a mother. a patriarch. she did not comment on the difference, instead nodding. "we have a resting place, on de cliffs. my gran'mot'ers be t'ere." more than them, but in terms of matriarchal power, erzulie and rosalyn had defined that for chani. "you said your fadir, he left? who is sanja?"

The Matriarch stone was just as important as the patriarch stone. In some ways more so. Mothers were the one all lived for. Or more so she loved for them.

A soft sound and he dipped his head a frown lining the fur of his inky face. Im sorry for your loss.

He blinked surprised and then shook his head. ,No my fadir did not leave by choice. Death came to take him to Valhalla. He had lived a long life. Sanja is the wolf that started our pack. But she left soon after. I have never met her. I just know her name.

"dey died as warriors," chani said, though she felt the pull of that loss as sven mentioned it. lore given in the form of more words, but this time the saltgirl tried to parse them. "valhalla. it is — what is it?" she asked, not wanting to guess and embarrass herself.
but perhaps; "you mean your fadir an' sanja, dey be united in death?" how could this be known? yet it was, in the same way the oceanic spirits called to those of sapphique.

He tillted an ear and nodded his head. Valhalla is one of the after worlds my fadir believed in. IT was where all the warriors go to feast and be warriors for the great allfather Odin. There are other's though too. I don't think i'd want to go to Valhalla when I die. I may want one ofthe others.

He shook his head. Sanja just left. Disappeared one day. No one knew where, but she left a pack and babies behind. So my fadir stepped up and took in the little ones and ran the pack. I don't think she's ever been back.

Valhalla. afterworld. and there were more than that, other realms. and! you could choose? quietly chani felt that this revelation boded well for her own sense of wisdom, and resolved to visit kvarsheim when she was able.
"de pack was lucky to have your fadir," she said with some somberness to her eyes. abandoning her own home was unthinkable. even the foray she and sobeille made had instilled chani with a vague sensation of wrongness.
"where would you go instead of Valhalla?" she chose to ask, wanting to continue in a less tense path.

Sven did not know as much as his father had of the realms. But he knew enough to know that he would not want to feast and fight for all eternity. And it depended on what life path you took. And Sven he was not a fighter. 

Thank you. I like to think so.

He dipped his muzzle down. I would go to the realm run by Freya. The allmother. Folkvangr if she would take me. Or Hel.

He tilted an ear. Does your family and people have beliefs like ours?

"we believe in life spirits aroun' us. we know de souls of our ancestors walk de lan'. but no. i do not t'ink about where we go when we die." her eyes danced. "perhaps i should, non?"
freya. now there was something more to intrigue her. "what is in folkvangr?" she asked of the young stone circle wolf, forgetting the ivy on her head as it started to slant toward one side — again.

He listened closely a small smile on his face. I have to admit. I like your family's thinking. It would be nice to know that my Fadir is still around watching over me.

A soft laugh and slate grey eyes lit up with mirth. Absolutely. By the way the way you speak is beautiful, it sounds like song. he nodded his head after giving a truth to her. He did not feel ashamed or embarassed by it It was an honest thought and he hoped it made her happy. 

It is a bit like Valhalla, but  more inclusive. Those that fall in battle still go there, but they do not train to fight in the afterlife They can go and finally be free from teh constraints of this realm. Or Hel is for those who did not die in battle who lived an unremarkable life. They can go here. But I can't imagine something like that. Because everyone lives some life of remakability right? At least in some small part.