Sunset Valley find me in a place among my brethren

surprise! @Faust

The gentle patter of paws on frosty ground, a woman bathed in gold evening light hummed the beginnings of a simple tune to any soul listening. She roved her way betwixt copse and fields, unsure where her legs carried her besides deeper into the winter landscape.

And as the final chorus came, a babbling brook became her guide. Its path cut a dark scar through the snow-white plains and the druid traced its passage upstream to where a spring emerged from the underside of a large boulder. 

Out of place in the flatlands, she wondered how it became. Restarting the melody from the top, her nose brushed against its smooth surface as if to ask its spirit inside.

frost laden, clad against his dark furs, he traversed the land. the air was sharp, carrying the faint scent of pine and the unmistakable trace of something... someone.
a woman!
feminine, soft, and warm against the chill of the evening. it lingered in the air like a whisper, weaving through the trees and across the open plain. his breath hung visible in the cold as he exhaled, nostrils flaring to catch the subtle shifts in the trail.
she was close.
as he approached, its gentle babble masking the sound of his movement. and there, bathed in the golden light of dusk, he saw her.
she moved with an unhurried grace, her song weaving through the stillness. faust stayed in the shadows, watching as she brushed her nose against the boulder, as if speaking to it.

"Find me where Cernunnos makes his revelry,"

The song passed down from generation to generation, its melody soft and quiet as if to be shared now with no one but herself. It was a tender reminder of the forests of old, of dancing among the trees with her brethren, and brought her comfort when the isolation of her journey did not.

"Where the horned one sleeps."

Satori didn't much feel like dancing anymore. Nor did she feel much at all past an ebbing tiredness that weighed her bones like heavy clouds just before the rain. As she leaned against the boulder, one ear pressed to stone, eyes closed to hear past the noise of water. All the while she remained blissfully unaware of what lurked in the shadows.

dainty, malleable.
she was a songbird of all things; cressed with blonde and heavenly hues. it had the barbarian taking a step out of the shadows, the darkness washing away with a sickening battle from the rays of light above from the settling sun.
but he said nothing.
traipsing steps, he sought the boulder that she leaned against, ear taut, she may not have heard him. nonetheless, his mirrored her, only a foot away, putting his ear to the stone.
staunch figure, towering hers, he seemed to only have an interest in her. with those beaming golden eyes, sunhewn furs, he couldn't look away. there was much here, much for him to gawk forth. and he welcomed it plainly, with asha's disappearance, there was no greater comfort than what a woman could offer him.

In her shut-eyed quiet, something was amiss. Though she felt no trace of a spirit within the rock, her free ear flicked at a the snap of a twig, the crunch of snow growing louder along with the unmistakeable scent of stranger - until she could ignore it no longer.

Her eyes flew open in time to see a shadowed man slump only a hare's length away, initial surprise quelling to a jaded curiosity as he too pressed himself against cool stone. Letting the tune fade to a whisper and then to silence, Satori studied the man before her with intrigue. Scars criss-crossed his face, and as her gaze traced the muscle of his chest and down further, the same pink lines broke the dark fur of his legs too.

Part of the druid wished to reach out and feel them as she once had to her mountain king. But those were times long passed. Instead, her attention returned to his face. "Strange, isn't it? How something so out of place can belong here as much as anything else."

she ogled him!
eyes fluttered open to reveal those pots of gold, trailing over the pink skin against the side of his face, down to the tears in his ankles, healed over with time. what did she think of him, then? terrifying? ruthless?
but she showed no sign of disgust. no sign that she wanted him gone, either. it was much easier than fighting with the white woman— ayovi.
breath caught momentarily in his throat when her voice was unsheathed to words; a pleasant sound that could cause the behemoth of a man to purr like a mountain cat.
his own eyes didn't leave hers; yes, he spoke, thinking of only how she shined against the white blanket of the tundra, and how easily she could fit against his side. what are we listening for?

There was no fear in her expression, only a gentle compassion for what this man must have been through. Each scar told a tale, so what was his story?

The thought lingered in her mind as he spoke with what Satori could only describe as rapt interest in her passion. And for the first time since stepping foot outside the ancient trees of home, the girl felt seen.

"Energy. Spirits within the rock." She fell silent once more, though all that met her ear was the sound of the stream below. Perhaps that was a sign in itself. "Why, do you hear it?

why hadn't she shown fear in her eyes?
it had his tongue come to glean his bottom lip, a sudden paradox of what he perceived the world as. he was not a religious man— this much he knew, but in the moment, he could humor her.
no. he said. it was the truth. he heard nothing but the muffled tone of her voice, casting upon the opposite ear whilst the other cupped against cool, chilling stone.
what do you hear? he'd been surrounded by women in his lifetime, priestesses and women of faith, but he'd never understood their rapt necessity to speak with gods, with spirits. he'd never heard their calls, or simply, they never answered his.

There was some relief in the man's admission, as if knowing the spirits were silent to him too made her feel a little less crazy. He asked what she heard, and Satori replied truthfully: "Only your voice."

His was a deep timber, a rumble of earthen tones softened slightly by the stone at her side. Perhaps he would speak more so she may hear it for longer. 

"Maybe that is all it wants me to hear." A soft smile graced her lips as she gazed at the man in thought.

he expected her to speak of something mystical, reverent, that he wouldn't be able to comprehend with his hunter's mentality. so frequently he left women to their tasks of feeble indignant amongst the spirits, that he hadn't heeded omens of time's past.
only your voice, she had said. bah! the man was caught in a moment of being utterly tongue-tied. maybe the gods were real, putting him forth and above their own voices for this moment.
she was good. he wondered of what her heritage crawled with, how a woman could fit so incandescently into his views. a brow raised, he pulled his head away from the stone, instead taking the moment to close the unforgivable distance between them.
circling her for the angles that she provided, he'd make an assessment as a male, as a chieftain ready to surge. his shoulder brushed her hip when he turned again, faust. he said, darkening eyes upon her. why are you alone?

To her dismay, his jaws remained tightly shut, and for a moment the druid thought she might have upset him. What did he want to hear? That the stones whispered great things to him?

Perhaps her mother would have said such a thing, but Satori had yet to feel comfortable in her own readings, let alone interpret the signs for others. Before she could open her mouth to apologise, he was away and circling her as a moth to a flame. 

Warmth filled her cheeks, tiredness forgotten as his touch ignited a fire inside her that she knew only one way to tame. Faust. "Satori," she countered. And of her lonesome? "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." 

Turning her head to hold him in her gaze, her body remained still against him. "Why are you?"

satori.
the name was foreign in nature on his tongue, but it suited her, he thought. it had him thinking of the whitest of rose petals, the milkiest of hues that a mother's milk could provide. a strife of hunger scourged him, enrapturing him far down under in her golden, molten hues.
a flick of his ear.
it doesn't seem wrong to me.
a lick of his lips, again, the cold air seeming to bite at him. that, or his body was filling with heat at her presence. man can survive alone.
but it is not what he wanted. faust was not a sedentary man— he coveted more in numbers, but there was a folly to purse through.
others get in the way.

The poor man, it seemed he'd got the wrong end of the stick. But then again, it wasn't like Satori had explained her circumstances very well...

Still, the urge to correct him had passed and she listened dutifully as he offered his own thoughts; short and to the point, not unlike the man of her past. It was yet another thing that kept her paws rooted to the frosted earth, as if her wandering spirit had found something familiar to latch onto.

He spoke of men, then: "And so can a woman." Though there lay a hint of playful challenge to her words, her expression dimmed slightly and she averted her gaze for a brief moment. Isolation didn't suit her well. "What do they get in the way of?" And then, more directly, her voice reduced to a whisper. "What do you want?" For there had to be a reason he was still here, if not for the same desires as she.

ever inquisitive, he raised a brow at her challenge. he offered her a shrug, thinking of the separate amounts of women that he had encountered that were far, far the opposite. satori held the build of a huntress, so maybe it was in his interests to heed her. she'd come this far after all, slowly wrapping him around her paws.
hunt big prey. they are no good. he was a man who only hunted large beasts; oxen, bison, moose. he had no taste for supple prey. the largest of rams, too, when he could get a scent of the mystical beasts.
her tone had dropped to something seductive, as how he perceived such, and he would come closer to her face.
pack. all he had to say, to offer. company. too, it was the truth. he was vulnerable with his words, but his disposition told a different story. if he wished, he could kill her. broad form cut of the strongest of glaciers, the sharpest of mountain peaks.

Her head tilted curiously at his claim. While it was true she lacked the sheer strength needed to take down anything larger than a deer, she found her brow furrowing in thought. "Big prey is not always necessary, no? To survive is to survive, no matter what you eat." 

Perhaps she had been alone long enough for a meagre rabbit to seem appetising, but her kind had always taken only what they needed from the forest. He crept closer, breath tickling the fine hairs of her neck as he revealed his true objective.

Company. A pack. She craved it too. Had he guessed that? His figure towered above her, imposing, dangerous; she shivered pleasantly. An exploratory nose to his cheek as she made her intentions clear. "I will join you, if you'd have me."

brows furrowed as he disagreed with her. a firm shake of his head. to hunt large game is honor. it was his way of life— it was how he proved himself worthy for females, that he was the warden, chieftain on these lands. women would not understand the meager prowess to gauge honor in such a scale.
feeds lots. women, cubs. sidelong green eyes cast upon her, opening up the side of his neck so she can lodge herself along there, if she chose.
the warmth of her wet nose to his cheek was fleeting. her acceptance would be cemented.
come, then, he urged her, a pink flesh of his tongue coming to mark his scent along her own ears. i hunt for you. then we travel.

They clashed momentarily on beliefs, but Satori could push that aside for now. Such was the gift of rose coloured lenses. The red flags paraded behind him went unnoticed in her hurry to make him fit the mould of her ideal.

"I understand," her teeth traced from his cheek to the plush of his neck. "It's an honour that you'd hunt for me." The lap of his tongue restored her smile as she pulled away, cold air replacing the warmth he gave.

And slowly, slowly, the flame within her dulled to a burning ember. There would be purpose to her step as they traversed the night, eager to remain in his company and see what future he wished to build.

last from me!