Word Count 413:: Hope that explained well enough how he made it up there.
The wait for Sequoia to strike was unbearable, he needed to fill his time somehow, and without warning the idea had struck him. Several days ago, he had met a lone wolf named Mordecai and upon their meeting a wonderful, terrible idea had come to the ebon male’s mind. There the idea had grown, twisted itself in his thoughts and rooted itself in his heart. Soon, after Sequoia had taken care of the problem that was Salsola, Zalen would leave to the north to start a new life, hopefully with others in tow. Now, the idea that had come to his mind, the idea that would help fill the time, was to go to the north and scout out a suitable place for his future pack.
He left with nothing more than the fur on his backside, in Secui form, and had headed north, past Anathema, past the horrid Inferni pack lands, past where he knew Salsola resided. He had skirted past them all, undetected, unhindered in his journey. Soon, the Halycon mountains rose up before them, and instead of skirting past them like he had when arriving to Nova Scotia, he moved upwards and happened to chance upon a small pass. Here, the Pictou river poured out of the mountain like the living blood of the mountain, and he paralleled the river until it grew dark and he set up in a small rocky alcove for the night. The evening alone in unfamiliar territory was clear and cold in the mountains, and Zalen howled out longingly into the night time air, knowing that there would be no one around to hear him.
The next day, he had set out again, and as the sun hit its highest point in the sky, the mountain rock had broken in front of him, the river all but had disappeared, and he found himself in the most beautiful place he had ever seen. It was a mountain valley, filled with soft grasses and autumn flowers. He was no alone here, in the distance a brown bear foraged for sweet shoots that would help it through the winter, but the two of them paid each other no mind. Here Zalen rested, drinking from the crystal clear stream that ran through the heart of the valley. In the distance, he could hear the roar of a waterfall, and shifted quickly into his optime form he headed towards the sound, planning to take a quick dip under the falls.
Something about the atmosphere was electric. Titania had never been in a place like this, not even through all of her time as a pup when she traveled with her mother throughout Nova Scotia. Mostly Orin kept to the middle and southern realms, never had they traversed into the northern mountains. The place was rugged and chilly - when she had traveled over the higher peaks of Halcyon there had even been snow - and it all enlivened something deep within the wild girl that she had never felt before.
So what was she doing here anyway? Trying to find a gift for her mother. Only a few sunrises ago the girl had experienced her first change (yes, Orin's girls had been late bloomers) and was ushered into the adult world of the Luperci, and she wanted to explore her freedom and experience her new body by exercising her adult will. So, remembering her mother speaking of a herd animal she desired that lived in the mountains, she set off to try to find and wrangle the beast. Of course, young as she was she failed to think things through and wasn't worried with details such as just how she would find the animal or get it back home, but those problems would occur to her when the time came.
She didn't know that at the same time she traveled the feral mountainside that another wild soul did the same. Always she was just far enough from the male for neither of them to sense the other. Yet one night when she had taken up for the evening and laid in her Lupus form upon an outcropping of mountain rock she could have sworn she heard the distant howling of another wolf. It was so faint that the young silvery-white woman didn't even believe it to really be wolf, but was sure it was the bizarre breed of fairies that occupied the mountains. So that night Titania set her chin upon her paws and drifted off into pleasant dreams as the distant voice sang her to sleep.
The next morning she was wandering at the wild's whim again. The terrain became steep and was much easier to cross in her tiny Optime form, so she transformed to her bipedal body and scaled down the opposite side of the ridge. As she descended the rocks began to even out and she saw a verdant pasture below. It was an extraordinary sight, and the sunlight hit it in a way that made the land seem warm even in the cooling climate. Forgetting all about her search for the mountain creature, she knew at once that it was a place she wanted to visit. Soon enough her toes mingled amongst the grasses as she wandered the beautiful clearing. There were mountain ridges all around her that would soon be snow capped but for now just glistened with anticipation. A gentle breeze swept in from the north and twisted through the valley, tugging at her wild red curls. This was certainly a place that little fairies would enjoy.
A deep, cool breath surged through her lungs and then she let loose. Laughing, she broke off it a run across the valley, speeding on two legs over the emerald grasses and colorful flowers. Birds and bugs were disturbed in her wake, some taking flight before her. She would leap playfully at those that were near but she didn't care to hunt right now and let them all escape. It wasn't long before the thunderous sound of the waterfall dampened the sound of her mirthful laughter. As she approached the lake she quieted, looking at the glassy water with awe. Golden eyes scanned the surface to the point where the water was choppy in the rush of the fall. It was a gorgeous sight, there was nothing like this in Cercatori. She wanted to be near to it.
There! In the middle of the lake, she spotted a series of flat stones! Grinning, she leaped out onto the first stone and then stepped across the others, drawing so close to the water fall that the spray caught in her hair and glistened in the sunlight. This place was like some sort of clandestine paradise.
He was quickly upon the fall, its icy water falling with a great surge that took him aback, the spray caused the air to fill with a silvery mist. It was cool here, the air heavy with water, and Zalen skirted along the rock face of the waterfall, finding several outcroppings behind the rushing water to get a foot hold from. After climbing on one such ledge, he stuck his head under a smaller stream of water, letting the cool water soak through his fur and glisten like diamond drops down his onyx fur.
Here he rested for a moment, and began to think. He began to think of Lucia, wondering where in the world she had gone to, why she had left him. His heart sank and he hung his regal head low. He missed her, and his heart was broken by her disappearance; he had intended to make her his mate, but he was afraid that the ghosts of her past had prevented them from coming together. Zalen let out a long sigh and turned back to the rushing curtain of water in front of him.
He was about to jump through the falls and into the glistening pool in front of him when through the rushing water he caught glimpse of movement. He froze, for a moment thinking it was the bear coming back to investigate the wolf. But the color he was receiving through the rippling water told him otherwise.
Without hesitation, he jumped through the falls, landing gracefully on all fours on a flat rock on the other side. For a moment he stared at the spot he had seen the figure and saw only mist, but then, it cleared and revealed to him was not a bear but instead a Luperci female. His ears perked, his eyes wide, her formed became clear to him, white fur like a crystal in the mist, fiery red hair flowing and glistening in the soft breeze. For a moment, he believed her to be his great grandmother, having taken physical form as she had before to convey some truth to him. But soon he realized it was no her, but instead a beautiful wolfess who he had never met before.
His mouth part slightly, in awe of her beauty, of the ethereal way she stood before him, practically glowing in the light of the day that filtered through the mist. Slowly he began to stand, and before he could stop himself he stepped gingerly into the water towards her.
Enthralled as she was with the sights and sounds of this place, she didn't notice the shadow moving behind the water fall. Her gazed tipped down to peer at the water just in time to see a foil scaled fish swim past, and she knelt down on the rock for a closer look. Not only was this place beautiful but it was plentiful, too; the presence of fish and the scent of other creatures that had recently visited gave evidence to that. “Wow...” She breathed softly to herself.
That was when she thought she heard a noise, though it was difficult to be sure with the roar of the waterfall overpowering most other sounds. An ear twitched toward the water and she slowly stood up, turning toward the falls in time to watch a man burst through the downpour. Her eyes widened with surprise but she lacked any fear as the dark man landed on an adjacent stone. At first he was just a dark silhouette obscured by the mist, but her eyes quickly focused on the man as the shroud was spirited away on the breeze.
Golden eyes searched the man's visage. He was... shocked?... to see her standing there. Why is he looking at me like that? the girl wondered silently to herself, but did not voice the first thought that came to her head – unlike her mother would have done. Instead she watched him for one long, careful moment, drinking in the sight of the wolf that stood before her. He was everything opposite of herself; tall with fur like midnight, there was something tied into his hair... feathers?... and he had jade eyes that glistened, jewel-like and deep. But more amazingly, he seemed fit for this place, as wild and untamed as the landscape. She was entranced. She didn't even notice he had stepped into the water and was wading closer to her... for a moment, anyway.
Then it clicked... the two were almost close enough to touch noses when Titania realized that she'd let a strange man come to close to her, so easily. She took a step back and her toes balanced on the edge of the rock. The girl stood poised for a moment more, just as a hunted doe does just before she tries to break free, and then she whipped around and sprang over to the next rock. A few more leaps and she was on land again, but there she stopped and turned back, staring into his mysterious countenance. If he took another step towards her she would turn and dart off.
She seemed as transfixed by his appearance as he was with her's and he managed to get close enough to touch her before she reacted. Gracefully but with haste she jumped several rocks away from him, and he was so enamored by the way she moved that all he could do was stand and watch. But soon, as she glanced over her shoulder he came back to his senses, No, wait! But it was too late, the girl disappeared into the mist.
Quickly he waded through the pool to the other side and went to follow her. He couldn’t smell her in this mist, but every so often he would catch a glance of her white tail disappearing again in front of him. He couldn’t run very well in this form so mid sprint he shifted back down to Lupus; it was awkward but somehow he managed to shift without falling all over himself.
Soon the mist cleared, revealing the beautiful valley once more lit by the crisp fall sunlight. He caught sight of her, a flash of white against the green mosses and lichens and ran full speed towards her. Zalen wasn’t sure why he wished to speak to this elusive female so badly, but something about her stirred up something inside him that was both frightening and appealing and he wished to explore it more.
Swiftly his black paws took him over the ground; he was larger than her, longer legged, and soon he was upon her. She had changed as well, and she was just as beautiful in her four legged form as she was ethereal in her two legged one. He ran along-side her for a moment, trying to catch those golden eyes that he had been staring into just moments ago.
.: OOC She'll probably finally start talking to him next post. lol WC 300+ :.
He made just the slightest move and that set the girl in motion. Like liquid snow she spun around and dashed off, retreating quickly through the plain, but there wasn’t any fear as she ran from him, or even when she glanced over her shoulder and saw that he was in pursuit. Instead it was exhilarating, and never for a second did she think the man who followed her had poor intentions. She turned her head forward again so he wouldn’t see her smile and kicked it up a notch, reaching the edge of the clearing and disappearing in the trees. She dove into the protective camouflage cover of a berry bush and all was silent.
Minutes later the girl burst through the foliage, leaves and flower petals exploding out all around her. Four paws hit the ground just a couple feet from Zalen, but they touched down running and she was off, back into the clearing again. Her pink tongue lolled out of the corner of her mouth as she looked back again, surprised to see that at some point he, too, had changed into his Lupus form. He’d been quick on the uptake and his shadowy body worked to catch up with her, she knew he could overtake her soon.
A snort exhaled from her muzzle as she righted herself again, her body jerking as she kicked it into top gear. She sped up for a moment but she couldn’t keep it up at this pace for long, and he was about a nose length from her tail now… and now he was at her flank. Her golden eyes turned towards him with a bright spark of competition, and an open-mouthed smile pulled her muzzle tight.
She faked left, away from him for a half second, and then her paws shoved her to the right. She didn’t care that it would probably send them rolling to the ground; she collided with the stranger and nipped at his ruff, and at the same time a cacophony of laughter exploded from the girl.
And she gave them to him, within their golden depths there was laughter and light where he had expected darkness and fear. His heart leapt into his throat and he nearly tripped upon a small dip in the ground. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since his last moment with Lucia, but this was different, it was not edged with darkness like it had been with her, here it was only light.
The nameless female zigzagged and the unthinkable happened and Zalen lost his footing and began to fall quickly to the ground, but suddenly he was righted again by her body colliding against his. He looked at her wide eyed as she nipped and laughed at him in such a carefree way that he couldn’t help but laugh too, his tenor tones mixing with her alto ones. He pressed back against her, ivory meeting ebony, and nipped back at her, managing to give her lower jaw a gentle tug with his maw. It was a gentle, playful show, and his body was filled with an energy that overwhelmed him. It filled his chest and burst from his throat in playful yips that ended in a long, joyful howl.
The two of them had made a large circle around the valley, the waterfall roared to their side once more, their full out sprint had calmed to playful bounding. Zalen pushed against her once more, sending the both of them tumbling down a soft, moss covered embankment. He was laughing, and they landed in a large canine heap, on the edge of the pool of the falls.
No part of a true wolf could resist the call, and when Zalen let out his joyful howl her own voice sang out just a moment behind. The wolf-song filled the valley and tumbled upward through the rocky ledges of Halcyon. As if by magic it felt like this place was theirs. The wind, the grass, the rock, and even though bear and deer and all manner of life inhabited this place, it was suddenly upon their shoulders and in their hearts; the legacy of the wolf.
Her playful dodge was in Zalen's favor; she did not notice when he began to falter but just as he had her own shoulder butted up against his and worked like a crutch in his waver. It surprised her so much that she yelped laughter, a constant chime that didn't stop through their entire run except for when their wolfish yips and growls were appropriate. As graceful (if not more so) than her mother, she glided over the landscape with ease, clearing fallen logs and tall rocks with little effort. Her body moved seamlessly over the ground and in harmony with the dark wolf's. Before she knew it they were at the water fall again, and despite herself her own paws had slowed drastically. He was keeping pace with her, though, until they finally reached a lazy lope. She didn't notice the mischievous glint in his eye though until it was too late, and they clashed again.
A squeal of jogged laughter cut through the air as they went tumbling down the embankment. When they bumped against the ground they were in a tangle. One leg over the other, his forepaw up against the back of her head. She twisted her head around to snap playfully at his paw until she caught his gaze and she stopped, coming up nose-to-nose with the stranger.
“Who are you?” she asked as she nudged his neck with her muzzle, taking in his scent. “I feel like I know you.”
Word Count 326:: Poem by Robert Browning "Life In A Love".
His chest was still heaving with laughter as she snapped playful at his paw and he was about return the gesture when her flaxen orbs caught his. He was instantly mesmerized, she was so close to him, their wet noses nearly touching. When she spoke, it was like crystal bells, like a fairy song, her voice as lovely as her visage. She asked him who he was and that she felt as if he knew him, and he wished he could have just opened himself up like a book for her, so she could know that he felt the same.
Before he could speak, she buried her muzzle into his neck and his whole body lit up like a fire. She smelled heavenly, like sunshine and wilderness and it intoxicated him. He wanted to speak but his words caught in his throat. His mind left him and he nuzzled her, gently pressing his head into the corner of her snout and let out a deep breath, trying to stop his pounding heart from bursting forth from his chest.
Finally, he found the words, I’m Zalen, and I do know you. I ran with you in the stars before the earth was made, do you not remember? I chased you around the moon... He couldn’t believe it as he spoke it, but continued, quoting perfectly from his favorite book, Escape me?
Never—
Beloved!
While I am I, and you are you,
So long as the world contains us both,
Me the loving and you the loth,
While the one eludes, must the other pursue.
My life is a fault at last, I fear—
It seems too much like a fate, indeed!
Though I do my best I shall scarce succeed—
But what if I fail of my purpose here? His voice faltered off, as he stared deep into her eyes, and before he could even make sense of any of it, he was licking her jaw gently.
The words he spoke were like some sort of dream. Never before had she fantasized about a prince charming, yet here he was before her anyway. She stared wide eyed into his, shocked and moved by the poem he recited to her. Where did these words come from? Whether from his head on the fly or a memorized limerick, it didn't matter, for the way he looked at her when he said them proved to the young wolfess that every fiber of his being poured truth into his words.
And as his voice trailed off his eyes bore into hers, and she let him look into her eyes and into her soul and stared back with fervor. His muzzle touched hers and soft kisses were deposited just under her muzzle. She leaned into the affection, drinking it in and welcoming more, and when she could twist just right she would sprinkle a few wolfish kisses on his cheek and muzzle, too.
“I knew it was you,” she breathed and angled her head, nuzzling herself into his neck. “From the moment I saw you.” The image the verse conjured was so beautiful that Titania's mind worked quickly to build the picture, reliving their run through the valley but this time they danced through the stars, bounded over the craters of the moon. The moon... she had brought them here together, Titania knew it. And in that moment of realization she wanted to throw her head back and howl her thanks, but if the moon watched over them now she did not know, for it was hidden by the daylight.
“Did you ask her to find me? She led me here... the moon...” A silvery ear flicked with memory. “She and you. You sang to me. That was you last night, wasn't it?” Of course! The voice that sang her to sleep. At the time she thought it was the fairy kin, but no, it was Zalen calling to her. Did he know it at the time?
The sensation of her tongue on his jaw, his face, his tongue, was exhilarating. It was like nothing he had ever experienced and it blew the kiss he had shared with Lucia out of the water. The feeling electrified his whole body and made him feel bigger then he was. Had he been a cat he would have purring, content in this moment.
His ears perked when she mentioned the night before, his howl, and he nuzzled deeper into her after she mentioned it, a smile on his face. So someone had heard him then; whatever had compelled him to howl that night, moon, stars, whatever, he had been singing for her, and she had heard him. He pulled away from her slightly, so he could see into her face, her eyes glittering like gold, That moon-song was for you… what is your name? He wanted to know it so badly, because a name is like a memory and he always wanted to remember her.
He flipped over from his back onto his belly, still lying close enough to her that their bodies touched. He couldn’t stop smiling, he felt so great in this moment with this nameless wolfess.
He adjusted and she moved with him, sidling up next to him and pressing her body into his. The warmth of his body was a balm in the brisk afternoon; with him here nothing could touch her – not the cold, the water, or the coming ice.
How funny, in her daze she had completely forgotten to tell the man her own name. But…“You already know it, you just said it. Titania Moonsong.” Her smile broadened as she told him her name and watched the look on his face. Was this chance meeting merely coincidence, or were they a part of something more? Fate? Her mother would have believed in it, and the fairy loving fae believed, too. This wasn’t an accident, they had been brought together for a purpose.
“Where are you from? Do you live far from here?” she asked while briefly turning her gaze from him to watch another lake fish splash boldly near the surface. They were so close to the water that she reached out to paw at it, but the creature dashed off long before her silver paw slapped the surface. She shook her paw off and settled back in at Zalen’s side, resting her head against his shoulder and taking in his woodsy scent.
Word Count 358:: Yay you get the first thread ever where I make Ruby appear! You can choose to see her or not, up to you.
When she spoke her name he couldn’t help but to laugh out loud, how funny it was that he had just spoken it in his last sentence. He nuzzled her white snout with his black one, Titania… what a beautiful name. And it truly was, a bold and proud name, one that belonged to a strong leader. But she was just a young girl, much younger than him, but he was drawn to her so.
She asked him where he lived as she playfully batted at a shining form within the water that quickly fled from her silvery paw. It was amazing how every small gesture of hers was completely fascinating to him, it was like he was seeing it all for the first time. She nuzzled back into him and his heart fluttered once more, he was completely beside himself and couldn’t stop himself from falling more and more. I live in the Dampwoods, Arachnea’s Revenge, near Anathema. Where do you live? His words were throaty and deep, for his whole body was filled with emotions that were so unusual to him that he had lost his usual voice. He brought his nose back down to hers and gave her a small lick again, he just could not help himself!
Closing his eyes for a moment he just laid there next to her, feeling the rise and fall of her breath, the warmth of her fur, her smell, her presence. He was suddenly transported to pup-hood, lying next to his mother, calm and content in the warmth of the summer sun… it was like in that moment she lived again. A soft breeze picked up, the mist around the two wolves thickened and within it, Ruby appeared, ghostly and hardly visible, being a part of the fog around her, save her emerald eyes which shown out like flames. Zalen sensed her, and he opened his eyes, seeing her there in the falls and he stared at her, his breath catching. “Not now! God not now!" he hoped that Titania would not see her, not notice her, he did not want his new companion to be frightened away.
.: OOC Yay! The honor! She's too connected to Zalen not to notice. :: WC 400+ :.
Anathema? Titania had only heard passing mentions of the pack and knew little of their dealings, less of their territory. She did know about Arachnea’s Revenge, though. When her mother was on the run from the scoundrel that had murdered her brother, Orin-Desdemona spent weeks in the Dampwoods with her children. Titania didn’t remember most of the experience, though, having been little more than a sick infant during their original pass through the realm. Later, when the woman with two names left Phoenix Valley and lurked as a loner Titania could remember little more than complaining about her paws hurting because they were constantly on the move.
“I know the place, a little. I traveled there when I was just a pup-” a childhood she was barely growing out of now “-but I don’t remember too much about it. Are you a part of Uh… Uhnethum?” She pronounced the unfamiliar word incorrectly, and the eyes that searched Zalen’s face admitted that she mangled the word, too. Though she asked the question she was sure she already knew the answer. Judging by the wolf’s wild, free scent, a scent that was so his own, she thought he might have nothing to do with any pack.
“I live…” She wanted to tell him some strange, exotic place, to say that she was a free wolf too, but looking into her eyes she could not lie to him. He deserved more than a lie, and she felt that he would somehow sense it if she fibbed. She wouldn’t mar this perfect meeting. “…in Cercatori d’Arte, with my family and my pack.”
As the last word rolled off her tongue an oddity appeared in her peripheral vision. An eyebrow quirked as she turned to peer out over the glassy water, her eyes focusing on the choppy water by the falls. The mist there, it was strange. Was it the fairies? Titania cocked her head and squinted, and that was when the mist began to form tighter and a green brilliance shone from that spot. The apparition’s viridian eyes mirrored Zalen’s. She gasped, her jaw dropping. She had a close relationship with the fairies but they’d never shown themselves to her as strongly as this! Did Zalen see? She wanted to look at him, to know by his countenance if he saw it too, but she could not pull her eyes away from the spot.
“Do… you see that?” She whispered gently as though trying not to frighten the spirit away.
Titania chattered in her enchanting way about Anathema and her pack while Zalen continued to stare at his ancestor’s apparition, pleading with her with his eyes to go away. But she remained, like a shape in the mist, a soft smile on his face if he saw correctly. He felt Titania grow still beside him, and he knew she saw her too, even before she asked him if could as well.
Before Zalen could answer, Ruby began to walk towards them, hovering over the water like a backwards reflection, and as she exited the thick of the mist she became even more visible; the texture of her fur adopted a red hue, the silvery blue mark under her right eye became apparent. Zalen realized he had been holding his breath, his heart beating like mad, and he let it out in a rush. She was standing in the center of the pool now, the wind whipped softly about them, and she opened her mouth. Zalen’s breath hitched once more, she had not spoken with him in words since the day he had first met her in the Burnt Lands.
She spoke, and it was if the falls themselves spoke, like the rushing water had gained a tongue. “Don’t be afraid of this Zalen Damaichu…” she began, barely understandable, “your leadership will bring forth a new dawn unto this land!” After she spoke this, there was a sudden surge in the water, and her visage broke into shards that flitted about the pool like fairies before falling like snowflakes and disappearing.
Zalen stared completely in shock, his heart drumming in his chest, and he looked at Titania. He could see the shock in her face well, but there was no fear there, only elation. He began to calm and said softly, That was my great-grandmother… I think she likes you. He tried to relieve the tension of the moment with a joke, though he was sure it would fail miserably.
Titania stared at the apparition openly, enraptured. It was no fairy after all, but some wolfess whose body had long ago left this world. Her eyes drank in the vision as the spirit gazed upon them with her ethereal eyes. Then the ghost moved forward, emerging from the protective shroud of the waterfall and out into the open, suspended mystically over the pool. Only when the mark upon her eye became visible did Titania shift her vision to Zalen, looking at the red mark he bore about his left eye. Her eyes widened and she quickly turned back to the phantom. She saw the thing preparing to speak and straightened at attention, her ears cupped forward eagerly awaiting what this ghost had to say. And then she spoke, and the words and the sound were beautiful and puzzling all at once.
For a moment she thought she felt the thing’s power mounting, and just then it broke. There was a great rush and then the spirit’s countenance broke. She tried to watch each fleck of essence as it spread out over the pool, a sensation of peace washing over her as each sliver disappeared into the pond. When every last trace of the spirit was gone her amber eyes turned back to Zalen, completely awestruck.
“Wha-“ she almost asked but he was a step ahead of her, explaining the ghost before she could question. She blinked once, glancing at the lake as though she would reappear before looking at Zalen again.
“And does your grandmother’s ghost talk to you every day?” She was truly curious, for he was strangely calm for someone who’d just been visited by a dead relative. Was he like her? Did he see something more in this world than everyone else saw? “What did she mean, ‘don’t be afraid of this’? Your leadership? What?” She cocked her head, truly befuddled by the ghost’s prophecy.
As she asked the question he shook his head, embarrassment now bubbling up in his chest, No, this is only the second time I’ve heard her speak. Usually she doesn’t even make herself known… though I know she’s always there. He couldn’t help but shudder a bit. Upon their first meeting, Ruby had been so elated to see a living descendent that she had bonded to him somehow, and like a shadow she had been following him ever since. She rarely appeared however, sometimes he would only catch glimpses of something out of the corner of his eye and only when he was emotional or excited.
Titania then asked what she meant by what she had said and this Zalen was truly confused about. Ruby had spoken very cryptically, “Don’t be afraid of this Zalen Damaichu. Your leadership will bring forth a new dawn unto this land”; what did that even mean! Zalen snorted, frustrated, and plopped his head down onto his outstretched paws, I don’t know… perhaps… and then it came to him. Ruby had been there, had sensed it when he had spoken to Shandom about the folly of the Luperci, of how foolish it was that they turned to hume ways. She knew the plan that was in his heart, and she reveled in it! She was trying to push him to become an alpha, and she had ordained this place as the location.
Zalen’s eyes widened and he turned to Titania. And why had Ruby shown herself to the two of them? Why it became so obvious now, she wanted this young wolfess to aid him in his endeavor! Titania… I’m thinking about coming here and starting a new life away from the grime and twisted metal of the hume things, away from the Luperci who live like those two-legged creatures who brought upon their own demise. If you would wish, I would want you by my side when I claim this land. He worried she would laugh at him, run off back to Cercatori d’ Arte with tales of the foolish wolf in the mountains who wanted to start a wolf pack lacking in the ‘comforts’ that the hume’s had provided them, he was afraid… she would leave him.
So this really was an enchanted place. A place where love blossomed eternal, where the moon linked wandering souls together, and where old spirits had the strength and will to bring themselves to light. The spirit had showed herself not only to her relative but to the girl she had never met, who she (presumably) didn't know. Titania thought about what Zalen said earlier, that they ran together in the stars before the earth was created, and she wondered if they had known his ancestor then, too. Suddenly she realized just how special the vision had been.
“I didn't think there was anyone else who saw spirits. I've talked to sprites since I was young but I'm pretty sure my family thinks I'm just crazy. Then again, my dad thinks he sees my dead brother's ghost.” She looked over the water. “He's never told me that but I've picked up on a few things he and my mother have said. I think.... I'm going to start believing in him.” Her voice trailed off for a moment as her thoughts returned to her family, but soon she was back in the moment and turned her attention to Zalen once again.
“How amazing is it that she came to us!” The moment she said it she looked guilty. “I mean... to you.” But she couldn't help but feel like the appearance of the ghost had something to do with her, too. She searched Zalen's face, watching the cloudy emotions that flexed within his eyes as he pondered Ruby's message. Her ears perked in excitement when it seemed he had figured it out.
She listened intently, rapt. He was right, one of the most alluring features about this place was that it was pure, wild, untouched by the horrendous things humans had once built. It felt more like home than the buildings and constructs in Cercatori d'Arte ever had, and she'd only been here for a short while. There was a dream budding here, infantile, and it needed nurturing. Only the right spirits would be able to succeed. But one Luperci alone was not a whole spirit, there was always something amiss... and perhaps that is why the couple found each other that day. Here, with Zalen, there was a richness to her soul that she had never known before.
He took her off guard. As his words drew to a close she stood up, surprised, and stared at him for a fraction of a second before her astonished expression was overcome with light. She almost didn't know what to say, how to respond, how to put how she felt into words... and then it came to her. Before it could seem like she was hesitating, Titania threw her head back and howled her joy to the sky, to the sparse clouds, to the sun, and to the stars and moon that hid behind the daylight.
Once her song trailed off, she dropped her gaze to Zalen. “Yes!” Her tail wagged furiously and she buried her muzzle in his fur, licking his cheek, his neck, his forehead, his muzzle. “I want to be with you. I want to stay with you here. I'll be by your side and we will run in this land together. Until there is no more land and the heavens are our playground once again.”
Word Count 246:: Gonna end there here so we can start our next one. Feel free to post again!
The look on her face was one of surprise and Zalen couldn’t rightly tell if it was a shock of flattery or of ridicule; he prepared himself for the worst… but it never came. Instead, the young female threw her head back, full of glee, and howled beautifully. Zalen stared, mouth agape, engrossed by the sound, before the excitement and need to join bubbled up in his chest and he joined her in the song, adding his deep howl to hers. When she finished, she buried herself into him, exclaiming her delight and desire to be with him and Zalen’s heart lept into his throat to tap-dance.
He nuzzle her back, rubbing his muzzle on her again and again, rubbing his scent on her and hers onto him. Then lets plan on meeting here again, in a moons turn. I will find you, back in the pack lands, I will come to you before then. He held back from admitting that he wanted to see her again because he thought he might go made without her, instead he just left his reasoning vague.
Standing, though his heart protested it, Zalen stood above her and once again bent his ebony neck down so her could reach her for a wolfish kiss. Come, let us go back together, let us stay together as long as we can until we must part. The idea of having to part with her, if even for a short time, hurt him deeply.
:: WC 200+ :.
