Redhawk Caldera but your ghost.

The snow surrounded them. It fell in lovely, fluffy flakes that danced and swirled in the gentle breeze that whispered from the trees over the frozen river that stood before her. Where there should have been another shore, there was nothing but black opposite from where she was standing. It was eerie, but enticing in a way that pulled to her, called to her, but terrified her all at once. It was because of him. She knew it in the chill of her bones - it was him.

Unable to resist despite the vehement warning in her heart, she stepped out onto the ice. It creaked and moaned under the weight, but she ignored its complaints and stepped out towards the darkness. The snow began to fly harder around her, the wind growing angry as it growled. She paused, terror gripping her suddenly. The ground cried out beneath her paws, and she lowered her gaze to see bright blue eyes beneath the ice, wide and staring, full of anger and sorrow. She couldn't move, could barely breathe. Her mind screamed apologies, and then suddenly the ice splintered and she was falling into the frigid, churning water that swept her away, away, away...


Finley awoke with a start, her eyes darting in panic across her surroundings, searching for those blue eyes. They were no where to be found, and yet the Blackthorn could not shake the feeling that they were watching her as she crawled out of her den and stepped out into the night. She had only returned to the Caldera from her trip to the coast a couple of hours ago, and though it was only an hour or so before daybreak, thus too late for her to go back to sleep - not that she even wanted to.

Fin felt sick to her stomach as she leaned down to swallow a few mouthfuls of snow. The air was still dark and were it not for the fact that it wasn't snowing, she would have begun to suspect that she hadn't woken from the dream at all. The idea sent a shiver down her spine and quickly she shook herself as though it somehow could free her of the thoughts that threatened to invade her mind. After a deep breath, she broke into a run, emptying her mind and focusing solely on the churn of her muscles as she went.

Although Somnia had a routine with the way slept, it could be fun to sometimes alter it. Today, she got up early. With a quick stretch of her legs, she set off to find any creatures who were awake. Since she wasn't used to doing anything at this hour of the morning, it would be a good experience to see how things differed. It was a surprise to see Finley wasn't any different than usual this early in the morning.

"Hey!" Somnia called after her pack-mate who was a barely-visible blur in the dark. "You got a bear chasing you or something?" She continued in a good-natured fashion.

In spite of her efforts to keep her mind empty, the voice that her ears unexpectedly captured made that quite impossible as the owner of the voice was quick to pop into her brain thereafter. Fin slowed and turned to find her friend upon the snowy landscape, realigning her trajectory so that soon she was trotting steadily up to her with a smile on her face. "Hi! Ah, I wish," she said with a little shake of her head.

"What're you up to today, gamma?" she asked, proffering unto her the name of her rank as she so often referred to Finley as beta (per her request quite long ago). "It's a little early for you, isn't it?" Unlike Somnia, Finley had no regular sleep schedule whatsoever. She preferred to just wing it in her daily life, which often lead to her morning run being very, very early morning, such as today.

Somnia smiled amiably as Finley questioned her. "Well, Beta, I just wanted to see if the differences between the Caldera during the day and early morning where great. So far, I can check 'favorite female Beta up and running' off my list of differences." Somnia knew that there was only one female Beta, which made Finley the favorite one by default with no other candidates. But, Finley seemed to miss out on the details at times, so hopefully this would be one of those times.

"You always get up before the crack of dawn to run?" She questioned. While Finley did miss out on some details, the Beta wasn't stupid most of the time. It would be best to not let her gloat in her self-glory long enough to figure out the verbal scam.

Fin smirked and shook her head at Somnia's response. She appreciated the 'favorite female beta' thing, even though it was rather obvious that she was the only female beta. That fact didn't really occur to her, thus the inward, triumphant fist pump she did before listening as her friend posed a question.

"Uhh, not always," Fin replied truthfully, "I had a dream that woke me up and I couldn't get back to sleep, so I figured I'd just start my day." The image of blue eyes beneath the ice suddenly flashed in her mind, but she pushed it away again stubbornly.

Somnia knew that feeling. Oh, the irritation of not being able to fall back asleep when you wanted nothing more but to do just that! But, if it was caused by a dream it couldn't be that bad. Dreams were wonderful and fun! Especially the ones where you realize that you're dreaming and can control minor aspects of them! And so, momentarily lacking the common sense that usually only bad dreams woke you up, Somnia questioned the part of Finley's answer dealing with dreams.

"I love dreaming! Would you mind telling your dream - but only if you're comfortable with it! I know I sometimes dream about personal stuff." Along with the inquiry, an innocent-looking expression settled on Somnia's face.

Fin glanced at Somnia as she inquired about her dram, only to backpedal a bit to make sure she wasn't being too forward. The beta shook her head with an accommodating smile. Even though hers was a deeply, deeply personal dream, she didn't want her friend to feel awkward about it. So, she decided to make something up instead of admitting to not wanting to share what had really happened in her sleeping imagination.

"I don't exactly remember," Fin admitted with a faux thoughtful look, "I think it had something to do with a tornado and some badgers, though... Do you remember a lot of your dreams?" She turned to look at Somnia, hoping that she would take the bait and run with the change she'd made to the conversation.

A dream about tornadoes and badgers, huh? While the topic may have been a bit unusual, dreams could be filled with much more abnormal things. Somnia didn't have much more time to ponder Finley's answer as the Beta phrased her own question. "Sometimes I remember 'normal' dreams, but I have other classifications for dreams too, typically the types I remember." While most of dream classifications were made up in her head, there were a few of them that were actually real things.

"Those other classifications would be nightmares, lucid dreams, and false awakenings," Those would be the actual terms that she hadn't come up with. But, I often have bizarre dreams when I'm sick and can remember those. Then there are those dreams when you hear a sound - let's say someone's repeating a phrase while you're sleeping - and that sound leaks into your dream. You know what I mean?" Somnia examined Finley's facial expression to see if she had lost her in her confusing explanation of dreams.

The response she received from Somnia was far more detailed than Fin had expected to receive. Fin wasn't complaining of course because it meant she'd successfully distracted her friend from figuring out that she was lying about what her own dream had entailed. She listened quietly as the gamma went on about nightmares and lucid awakenings and phrases and leaking.... It would have been hard for Finley to follow even if she hadn't just woken up before the sun, but she didn't mind. She was getting quite used to Somnia's scientific brain and subsequent intelligent ramblings. She was also getting very good at the whole smiling and nodding thing while hanging out with her.

"I think I followed bits of that," Fin replied with a grin, "You think a lot about your dreams?" She canted her head slightly, curious to know more about how long exactly she'd been dissecting her dreams into various categories and mental filings.

Somnia smiled at Finley's response. While it would have been preferred to have what she said make sense to Finley, the Beta just didn't seem to have the concentration and knowledge in the topic to grasp everything. Instead of getting irritated, it was so much easier to let it amuse her. While Somnia couldn't exactly control what amused her and what irritated her, consciously deciding to not let some things bug her made her reactions change.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Somnia answered simply before diving into a wordy, unnecessary explanation of why dreams were important to her. "It was important to my mother, so I guess I get it from her. She was obsessed, thinking that dreams could tell of the future and stuff. I do believe that that's baloney, but I still like dreams all the same. There's the chance to experience anything in dreams without any actual risks. You can't control whether you dream or not, so why not take advantage of them?" There was a pause while Somnia tried to figure out which part she had forgotten. "Oh! My name is also supposed to mean dream in some other language."

Fin smirked as Somnia began a second tangent about her affinity for dreams. That was one of the things she liked about spending time with Somnia, especially at times like these when Fin wasn't necessarily feeling very talkative herself. Get the silver gamma started on a topic she was interested in and she took care of the conversation for them, simultaneously filling any awkward silences and giving Fin the time to sort through her own thoughts, as well as providing some additional things to think about.

In a rare moment of introspection, something Somnia said caught the Blackthorn's attention. She mulled it over in her head, there being a chance to experience things in dreams without the actual risks. Considering the fact that Finley had little fear of physical risks, the idea wasn't quite as attractive to her as it was to Somnia. And the emotional risks you could take in dreams... the ramifications did tend to linger even after the dream was over, didn't they. Case and point, the two piercingly blue eyes that still haunted her thoughts at that moment.

"You don't know what language?" Fin asked, finding that unusual simply for the fact that she was Somnia, and Somnia did have a tendency of knowing many, many things.

Once again, Finley politely sat in silence throughout her ramble until Somnia got to the end. Whether she had listened to the whole thing was a different topic, but at least she had listened to her last sentence based off of the question she posed.

"No, I don't; I only know how to speak in one language." While Somnia did know many things, she wasn't an expert when it came to saying anything in a language other than English. After all, she had never encountered a wolf who spoke a different language, so why did she need to know how to speak in a different way if no one around her spoke that way? Even if the idea was mildly intriguing at times, who would she learn it from? Like stated earlier, Somnia didn't know anyone who spoke a different language.

"What about you? Do you know any other languages?" Somnia questioned. The idea of Finley being able to speak something else seemed unlikely, but it definitely wasn't impossible.

Fin was a little surprised that Somnia didn't know any other languages. Not that it was all too common for wolves to be bilingual, but just that... Somnia knew everything. In Finley's mind, she was the smartest wolf ever, like a walking encyclopedia/dictionary/translator. She got over her surprise quickly, though, and gave her friend a little smirk as she asked if she knew any other languages.

"B'fhéidir, b'fhéidir nach," Fin replied with a little grin before breaking into a little laugh at the surprised look on Somnia's face. "My parents knew gaelic and would sometimes speak to each other and my siblings in it, so I picked up some here and there. Just random things; I'm not fluent by any means. But I can say little things like 'good morning' and 'I love you' and 'Fin, you stop that before I give you a beating'." The latter was one she heard rather often. Fin smiled fondly at the memories.

Finley could speak another language? Even if it were just bits and pieces? Like, wow. The reason behind it made sense, but the idea of it wasn't easily accepted. Making up some language seemed more like Finley instead of actually knowing one. Somnia was able to get past her roadblock as Somnia heard what Finley said last. Somnia laughed at it, and it seemed much more like Finley.

"I'm guessing you were as much of a troublemaker then as you are now if you've heard the phrase enough to remember it." Somnia teased. Had she expected anything different? Finley was Finley; she had made trouble then, was making trouble now, and would in the future. She would probably train any offspring to cause trouble too, so the chain of trouble-making could go on long after she was dead.

Fin had begun to think back to her childhood, fondly mulling over the memories. She wondered then about what was happening in her siblings' lives. Well, some of them, anyway. There were really a lot of them, so it would have been rather time consuming to think of them all. One in particular caught the most of her reverie, and with a little sigh, she silently hoped that he had been eaten by a pack of savage mountain lions by now - and not for the first time!

"Wha - me?" Fin replied, faking an attitude of innocent surprise, "Of course not! I've always been a perfect angel, don't listen to anyone who tells you any different."

Somnia chuckled at Finley's response. "Riiiight. And I'm a mountain lion by those standards." She said with a voice thickly laced with sarcasm. She should make that into some kind of story someday. She could tell it as she had two mountain lion parents, but their genes somehow mimicked her looking exactly like a wolf, as well as her scent. She joined a wolf pack because it was the only place she fit in, because her parents despised her because of her being just like a wolf. Thus, she harbored a strong grudge against all of wolf-kind, and was secretly preparing to kill them all one by one.

Somnia grinned as she sorted out the story in her head. It could be a lot of fun to go around for a day and spread that story to anyone she saw.

Last posty for meee! <3 :D

Fin laughed aloud at Somnia's sarcastic response. No matter where she went or who she talked to, everyone seemed to just innately know that she was full of shenanigans. That Somnia was aware was not at all a surprise - after all, they were plenty close and what with being in the same pack and all and the rumors that spread so easily throughout their membership. She wouldn't have been surprised if even members she didn't know knew of her reputation.

"Ohhhh no you di'n'," Fin quipped, spinning suddenly to face her with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "You know what I do to mountain lions, right?" Her tail lashed through the air as she lowered her upper half into a play bow. She took one small hop towards the gamma and snapped her jaws before whirling around and darting off, hoping Somnia would take the bait and join her on a nice run around the borders before she actually began her day.