Kintla Flatlands than anything you've ever seen

Quite some time had passed ever since Osprey had left the plateau's borders, therefore today's walk in the flatlands was both refreshing and inspiring. She felt so much better now, even though she could not vouch that her health and strength had fully returned. Lucky for her - as the spring reach it's peak, there were more opportunities to hunt the small critters and to her great pleasure, she was able to do that and provide for herself again. Maybe in few weeks time she would be up to join in the hunt for the big game, but until then...

The dry grass in the flatlands that had been in a yellowish-gray color all winter was now lush green and here and there like little flecks of sunshine there were dandelions. Their smell was not particularly nice, bitter even, but, what Osprey enjoyed was the exact shade of yellow. As a kid for an unknown reason she had enjoyed plucking the dandelion heads and eating them. Now - of course - being the mature and serious wolf, she did not engage in such a childish activity, but reminiscing those old times was pleasant. As if this was not idyllic enough - a wolf in a meadow of dandelions - she spotted her first butterfly of the season. An orange one with spots on it's wings that reminded of eyes. She stopped there trying to remember, what the old superstition about the way your summer was going to be according to the color of the first butterfly you saw in the spring.

@Burke

Burke had fully recovered from his bloat situation, although there were still a lot of other things at play in the pack. As the Beta he had to take certain responsibilities, but also as the counselor and caretaker he had his duties to the pack and the pack youngsters. The male had promised to Meldresi that he would take it easy, so every other day he would take a walk, sometimes outside the border and sometimes within the dark forest and swamps. 

Currently Burke casually walked through a field, thinking about Meldresi in fact. He wondered about what he was feeling for the alpha. Was it gratitude or was it genuine liking? He wondered if he could ever love as those dumb stories spoke about. Burke just decided that it might be because he is teaching her youngsters and because he also shares a den with her that he might feel different towards her. He was allowed to sleep next to her and she was allowed to sleep next to him. Both in their most vulnerable state. That was saying something.

The large tank of a male continued to move through the high grass until he realized he wasn't alone. A hint of the scent he recognized although it had been quite some time ago. He lifted his head to see the lithe grey female. Bullet. Burke's pale eyes glinted briefly. What had Night Mother in store for him now?! He let out a loud chuff to let her know he was there before approaching her, curiously glancing over the female he hadn't seen in so long.

There were a great deal of other things that Osprey had not done or seen in a while and the big brute that made his presence known, by chuffing out loudly, was one of them. In fact - she had blisfully forgotten about his existance up until now and, while following the butterfly that flew off with a mournful gaze, her mind pondered about, what she should do now. Ignore him and run back to the plateau, which was not that far away, or have the courage and approach the fellow boldly.

In the end she didn't do either of the things, choosing the golden middle way. She remained, where she was, turned her muzzle away pointedly and said loudly: "If I don't look at you, will you cease to exist?" This, however, wasn't said in anger or hatred, rather in an oddly twisted playful way, in which she admitted her defeat in the ways her fate tended to surprise her over and over again. "Probably not," she said looking the man briefly in the eyes. "Maybe you can turn into a butterfly instead?"

Burke saw the girl turn her head, not sure if he liked being insulted once more. True, their insulting was always rather playful but her mystery and curious way of thinking always made the male shift some gears. He was not dealing with a Black Feather Woods wolf after all. It was rather refreshing. Once again it sounded almost playful. Burke had to dig deep to find a spark of creativity. "Do you want me to cease to exist?," Burke returned then. 

"I am not going to expose my secret if I could turn into a butterfly," he returned on a playful tone too. As always, the large male was keen on stepping closer to her. He hadn't seen her in a long time but she looked definitely better than last time. That trademark smirk on his face. He wasn't sure if he had changed because of the blast attack. Meldresi did have to push a stick down this throat. Often he was still a bit tired. Maybe it was because he was getting older. "So am I an uncle or not?" he then asked with some curiosity, trying to test how sensitive the topic was.

Why was it always so that, whenever Osprey and Burke started on a good note one of them (won't point fingers at anyone) managed to destroy all the good mood and intentions by asking something inappropriate or tactless. Poking at an open, raw wound that had barely healed. The moment he had said those words about being an "uncle", smile disappeared from her face and she looked, as if she had been slapped across the face. She clenched her teeth together and averted her gaze, wondering, what should she say in this matter or should she say anything at all.

Eventually - as much as she wanted to say something hurtful - the better half of her convinced her that Burke was not to blame to, what had happened, and he did not deserve for being punished or rebuked just because he had asked the wrong question. "Well, unless you are able to ascend to heaven, I don't think that you are," she said, mustering up a smile. "But, who am I to tell about your half of the family. I bet you could have plenty of nieces and nephews by now. Just think - you could be an uncle without even realizing that," nah, she just could not let him go the easy way. He had stepped on her toes this time and she felt that stepping back, albeit lightly on his was only fair.

Burke realized he had said something wrong when the female looked like she was slapped. Whoops. Well he had a way of being rather insensitive about things. There was no denying in that. But he also wasn't going to apologize. He wanted to know what happened and he made the decision to ask for it. It seemed the young had died. He wondered if it was because his 'playful' push or not. Even then the male wouldn't feel guilty. He was proving his point after all. "I probably am. My brother was a whore," he pointed out plainly. 

"And I am a father too. Apparently my son is roaming this place harassing everyone but me. What a coward. He doesn't even want to face me," Burke returned with a snort. Plus he was also a father to Meldresi's pups, but he was not going to admit that to this Bullet. Useless information for this female. "Alas. My own fault," he hummed. It didn't bother him too much. He would get the young male to appear before him. He would make that Sebastian and then kill him without mercy. That was the plan. Maybe he would change it. 

Burke had a very neat quality about him - he was like a concrete block - you could throw rocks at him (a metaphor) and he did not budge. Osprey could lash out at him, insult him all she wanted, he didn't care, which was nice. There were people, who were fit to be "shoulders to cry on", this brute was the punching bag you could release all your anger out. In a way... she was not sure, if the male saw it that way or if he even wanted to be such.

"Kids can be difficult," seeing Peregrine's struggle with his brood - Saena and Junior especially - she could feel empathy for Burke. Children were nice and fun to have around for the most part, but then they could also turn into selfish, back-stabbing and unforgiving scoundrels. No matter of reasoning and bidding forgiveness could change that. She felt sorry for her brother and annoyed by his eldest kids for their inability to move on and need to blame their father for every single bad thing that had happened in their lives. "Feeling guilty doesn't help," she remarked and then grinned. "My advice to you - leave him be. If he does not want to see your face now, then it is highly unlikely that he ever will."

Burke sat down, or well, fell down on his butt. He was sitting surprisingly casual. "See that is where you lack information about me. I don't feel guilty," he pointed out. Okay, that was a lie, deep down he might feel guilty but that was layered with anger. No one would be harassing the wolves round him without facing him. "Plus, he explicitly told my alpha and other wolves around me he was looking for me. Even mentions of wanting to fight me. Well if you say such things you most definitely will get that fight. He is a coward for not showing up."

Burke was utterly calm when he spoke his words. He was so ready for this fight. Then all of his past was literally dead to him. Except for his brother, his brother should be killed too if he happened to come any close to him. What Burke didn't know what that his own son already did that job for him. "I have my ways of getting him to come to me," he then grinned slyly. Burke then looked around before focussing his attention to Bullet again. He though he had heard something behind him but it might have been some bird. "Are you ready to tell me your real name now?," he asked.

"That part of you has not been lost to me - you don't feel guilty and you never apologize," Osprey pointed out matter-of-factly. She could not imagine, how dense should she be to miss this - another - very defining part of Burke's character. "Consider it as a friendly advice for future use - if you ever decide to feel differently," though this was highly unlikely. He seemed to be pretty fine with, where he was standing now.

"Forgive me..." she began, then narrowed her eyes and changed the words, polite was a foreign language to him, after all, "no, actually not... but, why the hell you want that fight - what is the point? For the sake of fighting and bloodlust? Seems foolish to me." Knowing that there was someone, who hated you very much and bragged about fighting you was not nice, but then again - Osprey could not care less, what someone said or did behind her back.

"Oh... Bullet is not enough for you? Why so curious?" Osprey teased him with a slight tinge of malice in her tone. "Sorry... no, not sorry to say that this is all you are going to get from me. Take it or leave it - that's your choice."

Burke nodded courtly. "That is because I made decisions and stand behind the decisions I make," he returned plainly. It was for him a very simple equation. Maybe in the future he would think about it. But he might also not do that. He was fine with the way he was living now. Perfectly fine actually. "I want to fight to let this male know I am stronger than him and he should back off from my life," he pointed out. He didn't need to be remembered of his past. 

Burke kept his keen light blue eyes on the female. Somehow it felt a bit like lying with the female not wanting to tell her name. And Burke didn't know why. "Ouch. You almost hurt my feelings there," he returned dramatically. "I am curious about your reasoning. We keep bumping into each other. Or are you /still/ upset that I pushed my nose under your tail when you were in heat? Because that is absurd," he spoke, very confident with himself. 

"It's nice to know that my hard effort pays off," Osprey remarked with a chuckle, when Burke told that she had almost hurt his feelings. Not that she was trying to do that on purpose, she was teasing him - a bit cruelly, yes - but then again he had never been particularly gentle with her either. Besides he had the thickest skin out of all people she had met. As mentioned earlier - hard as a concrete block. You would need a potent explosive to make it crumble and fall apart.

"Fate has an odd sense of humor," she said dryly and shrugged. She had no idea, why she kept bumping in this fellow, but she had to admit that, even though the first times had been annoying, now it was almost amusing. In a sense - that, when the situation gets really bad the only thing left to do is to laugh. "So - what has brought you this far? As I recall - you don't live anywhere near," she sat down.

Burke rolled his eyes to the back of his head and then shook his head. "So mean. So mean," he mumbled. Although the male didn't male didn't look too bothered with her being mean to him. Actually Burke was one of those wolves that liked it when females were more bitchy, snappy or certain of what they wanted. It was clear that this Bullet was determined on keeping part of herself secret to him. 

"I was out on a stroll, stretching my limbs. Getting the muscles back to working on full capacity," he explained, to then realize that she didn't know what happened to him. "I was sort of pregnant too. Since I had a bloat attack. I almost died," he explained. His own stomach almost killed a fierce warrior like him. It sounded so silly. "I promised Meldresi to take it easy and not to be a workholic," he hummed almost proudly. He was actually doing better. 

Then he reminded that he told her that he wanted to become a Beta, and he had become one now. "Oh. And, I am Beta now."

"Yeah... pregnancy kills..." Osprey said, nodding, while feeling sympathy for the big brute and the irony that a bloated stomach out of everything that could kill him could have been the one to actually do that. It was true that one was it's own worst enemy. Literally too. "Not something I want to repeat anytime soon in the future and I believe that you don't want either," she finished with a crooked grin, then turned her gaze away from his face and yawned.


"Well," she continued after a bit of pondering and a moment of awkward silence between them, "since we have met here and we are both sort of useless wrecks for one reason or another, let's do something worthwhile." The fact that Burke too was not in his top shape and was recovering, made Osprey change her views about him a bit. Feel sort of a comradeship. "Suggestions? Getting drunk, being high or having physical intimacy are not valid options," she felt she needed to point this out. Just in case.

Burke couldn't really agree with it, since pregnancy didn't always kill but it was a dangerous act to play in life. Some females were obsessed with it and might even liked the troubles they had while carrying. Burke didn't see the appeal, which was probably because he was a male. He also never really impregnated someone he actually loved. Figures. "I can imagine with your experience, although some females seemed to love being pregnant for some reason," Burke shrugged, not really an expert on the topic. 

Burke grinned when she called them wrecks. Well they sort of were, weren't they? The tank of a male chuckled lightly at he words. "Okay lets," he agreed. He also wouldn't mind sitting, but then they would probably make a story again. As fun as that was, he didn't want their story telling to grow old. Burke smirked whens he mentioned the things that were out of the question. "And there i thought it was a great day to get laid," he teased her. He himself wasn't a fan of mushrooms or other things that would mess with his mind. He wanted his thoughts to be clear.

Burke got to his feet. "We might try some fishing? It has been a long time and it requires standing still and some attention," he suggested, he wasn't sure how she felt about fish.

"Let's leave that fun for another day," Osprey said without thinking and only a moment later did she realize that this time she had spoken a bit too much and driven a bit too far. It was as if she was indirectly promising something, even though she had no intention at all to keep it. The one time she had let the instincts take over her rational mind had ended badly and she was not willing to explore this side of her ever again. The stakes were too high for brief moments of pleasure. Ironically - she had had an entirely different mindset just two months ago.

"You know, how to fish?" Burke's offer for "fun" sparked her interest almost immediately. She had tried this herself, had tried to learn from others, but somehow this form of hunting was neither easy, nor very rewarding. She had given up the attempts in the end, but the big brute sounded very convincing somehow. "What's the biggest beast you have fished out of the river or lake?" fishermen's stories were always interesting to listen.

Burke's interested was immediately sparked, the light dots on his brows raised for a moment before he snorted out a laugh. This was definitely one of the downsides when one had fallen for another female. Even though Burke didn't like to admit it yet, he had his eye on another female. Maybe it was his age that made him want to settle down. He felt an actual need for stability which he never had before. Not that he was going to discuss that with Bullet ever, even though their friendship was somewhat weird and yet... fun?

The large male smirked. "I am from the north. I fished quite a lot," he boasted, raising his chin when he spoke. He had actually been quite good at it. The male licked over his muzzle, the only thing he disliked about fish was because it would smell so bad when it started to decay. "A very big salmon actually. I needed the help of another wolf to drag it out," he spoke. "So the victory wasn't all mine," he admitted. There wasn't much to tell about the story, the salmon would swim up the river. He caught one in the shallows and bit down into it, his former packmate grabbed the end and together they dragged it out. 

Burke then remembered that it was Dalia that helped him that day. The mother of Sebastian. He regretted mating with her, because now her son was still terrorizing him. Annoying little fly it was. 

ooc: would you mind fading this out in your next post - or if you have time, we could swap some quick posts and finish this next week?



If Osprey had been at loss of what to do with having Burke for an acquaintance, then now she had finally found use for him. He was good at fishing - of course - he could be lying, but then again he was old enough not to boast too much about things he could not actually do. There was edge of truth in his voice, therefore she believed him.


"No mermaids or sea-dragons?" she pretended to be disappointed a bit by the modest fisherman's tale. They were exciting not because they were true, but because they contained such amount of exaggerations that they were simply fun to listen to. "You will teach me fishing," she announced a moment later - she was not asking, she was stating a fact and expected him to agree.

"I taught you story-telling last time," Osprey reminded, feeling smug that he owed her something. The fact that her logic and reasoning in this case was a little odd did not matter to her. "Your turn to offer something in return."

Of course. I will wrap it up and archive this! :) <3

Burke slowly quirked up his lips when the female asked about the things that he wouldn't even think of in the first place. She had a lively imagination. He wouldn't even know about dragons if Ohen hadn't told him. Large lizards like beings. "I don't fish in the sea, the salty water is weird. I fish in rivers and lakes. I did hear about massive water lizards in the south but never met them since I am a northerner." Burke's thick fur was proof of that. Even in summer he had quite the coat. 

Burke laughed as the female demanded him to be taught fishing. He wasn't sure if she had the patience but they could always test that. "Lets see if you have a talent for it then," he agreed and turned towards the river. He wasn't sure if the salmon already did their annual trek or not. They would find out later. Burke walked with Bullet to the river and showed her the beginnings of being a fisherman.

End Thead.