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salem
Her courage was growing, inch by inch it stretched over her until she was able to cross back into the territory she had been avoiding. Though she had only been gone for a few days, it felt like much longer since she had seen all of the familiarity that calmed her aching heart. But even if the sight of her home made the corners of her mouth curve into a small smile, she still felt as though part of her didn’t belong.
Dawn was close, the sun peering over the tree line to begin chasing the night from the sky. It was early, and maybe she hoped to sneak into the mansion without seeing many faces. She wasn’t sure how many noticed her brief absence, if any, and would rather go unnoticed until the moment was right. She wasn’t ready, she couldn’t find Naniko quite yet and be able to stand in front of her without shaking.
Walking behind the fence that enclosed the mansion Anu moved slowly and with an ease she didn’t expect. Her mind whirled with all the pending things she hoped to someday say, but it was a moment she hoped to put off. Up the steps and she landed softly on the porch. The sun crossed the tree barrier and shone against the house’s front. Blue orbs squinted against the glare, until it was too much for her eyes to take. She sat, enjoying the warmth that her god shone over her. Maybe for a moment there would be no tension in her world, maybe it would all just fade away.
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[html] The previous night, Salem did not make it back to the den. He had been running the halls of the mansion, merely exploring it for all it was worth, and when that hadn't sated his desire for things to do, he had looked over the simple books he had found. Then it had been hours of shouting randm words around, both inside his head and out his mouth. He had finally fallen asleep on a downstairs couch, but not just any couch. He couldn't have known it was an antique fainting couch, but it was just right for him to sprawl out on. Where it curved upwards for a head, it was where he had lain his own. And he had slept very much like the dead, unstirred by anyone who had possibly come in and out of the house during the night.
But just like a rooster stirring before the sunrise, he had come around as the first few rays of the fiery ball of warmth had started to shine through the window. It had hit him just right in the face to stir him, as the sudden change of light against his eyelids made them glow a furious red through his dreams. His dreams, of course, had consisted of the very words he had been practising reading — cat, bat, ball, fish, bird, book, and the like — and he found that he could associate them well with what they were. He had learnt quickly that he did indeed, enjoy learning. Yawning widely, the dark-haired D'Angelo rolled and slipped off of the couch effortlessly, stretching cat-like across the Persian rug that was just as dirty and worn as half of the things in the house.
But when he pushed open the ajar door to go outside, he hadn't expected to see Anu. She had been strangely absent, but he hadn't thought much about it. Naniko was no different and as it were, he was just as active and moving around as his siblings. He didn't know what they did and had gotten to that age where he also had little desire to follow after them unless they asked him to. But it still didn't stop him from greeting her with the same affection that he would have given his mother (and as it were, she was also in a way, another mother) and as he curtailed the distance between them on the porch with a wagging tail, he hooked his head over her shoulder.
“Good morning,” he groggily and quietly murmured to her. [/html]
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For a few brief moments Anu hoped that she wouldn’t be found. Instead the fey secretly wanted to do nothing more then to hide away, though the mansion’s port was no sort of hiding place. Correcting her cowardly thoughts, Anu looked to the sun. it was a short challenge, maybe to show she was had more in her then she sometimes believed she did. Instead of melting with the tension the sun eased from her body, she sat perfectly still, out in the open for all to see.
Knowing her presence wouldn’t go unnoticed, she wasn’t surprised to hear the noise of the front door, and the padding of foot-falls. Anu looked to find that it was Salem, their quiet son. Anu smiled in greeting, but let him approach and lay his head against her shoulder. It was a comforting gesture, moving her to close her eyes briefly in reflection.
Morning, Salem. She spoke in the same murmur, though she was just a little more awake then he seemed to be. Though he had never been one for words, Anu always had questions for him. Just like she did for everyone. Did you stay here? The question wasn’t demanding, just curious. It was obvious that the pups wouldn’t be pups for much longer, and she had come to believe that they could fend for themselves in many ways.
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[html] “Uh-huh,” he said through a yawn, moving from where he was to sit beside her on the stoop. “I was trying to read a book I found and it wore me out. So I slept in the parlour.” Smiling faintly into the sun as he surveyed the landscape ahead of them, he reflected momentarily on the serenity found in their home before drawing his gaze elsewhere. All of the trees were still in place, as well as the ridge that stretched out in southern portion of the territory. Places that he had briefly visited, but otherwise didn't go to that often. But they were still in Kansas; there wasn't a yellow-brick road in front of them.
“Is Spring gonna come soon?” The next season, the renewal of all things glorious and beautiful and a season that he hadn't even had a chance to see yet. He had heard about it because everyone else had talked about it at one point or another, but it intrigued him. He was a child of the autumn, so spring was seemingly its opposite. The thought didn't even occur to him that by the time autumn finished rolling by again that he would be an entire year old. The fact that he had grown so much from a toothless potato with legs was an amazing accomplishment in itself, of course. [/html]
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pudge is not a word… this has been noted
As much as she wanted to cling to them, keeping them close to fill her own sense of worth, she knew she couldn’t. It was impossible to watch them grow and become adults when she was still picturing them as the little bags of pudge they were when she had first met them. Listening to Salem it was easier to let the image of them always being defenseless slip from her grasp. Part of her was too tired to cling to the idea, while the other half questioned her reason for living if she didn’t have them.
Reading? Anu was surprised that he was trying to learn on his own. Though she didn’t understand the written word, Anu believed it to be an important ability to possess. A sense of pride blossomed within her, knowing that Salem was so set on learning that he took on the task without assistance. That can’t be easy, to teach yourself. Her tone was reflective, holding none of the concern that she would have just days ago, if he wanted to challenge himself then she would be nothing but supportive. You’ll have to teach me some words. Another smile traced her lips.
Spring? The idea that the season was on its way was surprising. The winter had been a long one, the longest it felt of her life. The sudden thought of spring lightened her heart and gave her hope. Soon Anu confirmed, though unsure of the exact date. Then all the snow will thaw. Pausing her let her mind imagine the territory once again without snow and ice. Then all the flowers will blossom, and it’ll be warm. Even at night. The thought of another chilled evening made a shiver tease her spine and at that moment she could almost smell spring in the air.
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Well that's disappointing... I always thought it was. XD
[html] She didn't read? This surprised him for some reason, but he made no move to talk about it. It had never really dawned on him until then that others didn't read. In fact, he didn't even think that Brooklyn read and maybe Mati didn't either. He didn't spent a large amount of time around his siblings for one reason or another, unless it was to eat or sleep. But he knew that he could teach her some words, it would only be a matter of him learning more of them himself. Smiling as she confirmed that spring would indeed be coming sooner rather than later, he imagined the season for himself for just a moment.
“I can't wait,” he murmured with excitement evident in his tone. “I want to see all of the flowers and the leaves come back to the trees. And it will be nice for it not to be so cold every night.” His tail beat out a happy rhythm across the worn wood of the porch, eyes tracing out the contours of the skeleton trees for a moment until he drew them back to his blue-eyed mother. “What kind of fun stuff will we do when it's warmer out?” He was set on spring coming so much that he wanted to learn to do other things as well. Hunting was on that list, even though it was hard to accomplish with scarce game in the winter. Spring meant that there would be easier game to catch, though he was generally unknowing of this. [/html]
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I know… very upsetting & this is ful of corny… ^^
She gave him another nod, Everything will be green, all the trees and the grass. When his eyes had opened all there was to see was the death of summer and the birth of the fall transition. There was a good chance he hadn’t seen any green leaves. Of course spring was a busy time for her, with the garden to tend too as well as Haven’s pumpkin patch to plant. Anu hadn’t forgotten the fun they had there, as well as the chaos that the plants had become. Soon she would have ordered rows of sprouting pumpkin stems.
Well, we can go swimming and fish. Anu began to imagine all of them running along the lake in fresh flora. The list started growing, as well as her excitement. And we can have camp fires at night and share stories. And your mother will be nurturing all of the baby birds that fall from their nests, and I’ll grow flowers, everywhere. She let her mind grow the image of her mate tending to infant blue birds while Anu picked wildflowers.
Maybe we’ll go on a big hunting trip. In the Trenches. The idea came to her as she watched him. There was no reason they couldn’t do some exploring with the changing of the season.
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[html] Swimming, fishing, hunting, exploring; all of it sounded so great and surreal to him that it may as well have come straight from a story book. Even if swimming made him a little leery of being back in that lake and in that water (though he had only been cast out on it when it was iced over), it sounded like fun. Fishing would naturally have to be done the same way, seeing how he was at that moment, still too young to grasp shifting. “What kinds of flowers will you grow?” he asked, curious as to what knowledge she had of those. He had yet to see many of them, though there was certainly plenty of floral things to be found in the house. Fake plants, caked with grime and dust, the paintings and photographs of long ago; they even coated the walls on paper. And of course, he was delighted to know that they would go hunting too, but he kept that a masked secret that was only seen through a brief glimpse of fire inside his eyes. [/html]
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She pondered over his question. The truth was that she didn’t truly know. But the green thumbed female had an idea of what little buds she would be planting and nurturing. Every year she tried something new, transplanting wildflowers from different corners of the territory into her garden as well as planting the seeds she had harvested the year before. It was part experiment, experience and luck.
Well, usually mostly wildflowers. Simple plants like Queen Anne's Lace, Black-eyed Susans, Daisys, Asters… And pumpkins. Smiling, Anu thought of the pumpkin patch that she would plant for Haven. Of course there was something else that she wanted to try, Lillys will be this years challenge. I haven’t found them anywhere yet. If I don’t have the seeds, I need to bring the plants into the garden. She wondered if Salem would have a talent in the earthen arts. Looking lazily out in the slowly aging day she questioned, What are you most excited about? Eyes found their way back to his face and a smile crossed her face. She was interested to know where his interests lie.
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_____Wildflowers, she said, and then she had listed of enough of them to make Salem wonder if that was just a fragment to be grown. He had been told of stories that took place in the deepest of jungles where the largest of flowers grew and he supposed that maybe that's what they were. Wildflowers, he thought. Wild and flowery; fragrant too. “I'm excited for warm weather,” he admitted, “and doing all of the stuff you said.” Growing older would be nice too, but not really a necessary. He still wanted to be a Lost Boy, just like the ones in the book Geneva had read to them.
_____“Can I help you plant the wildflowers?” he opted to ask, wondering if it was a hard task to do or not. He didn't know what went into planting, even if it was simply digging a hole and dropping the poor plant (or seeds) into it. But it wasn't like he got to do all that much with his parents anyway, so he would take whatever opportunity he could to spend time with them and to learn from them. Naniko was a leader and therefore busy, and Anu was close enough to be one (and in the future would be). Without knowing it or feeling it, he was subconsciously giving himself a goal to life up to.
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Of course, the warm. The days that would leave them so lazy that they hardly got the energy to feed themselves, or even to leave a solid peace of shade. Anu enjoyed it when they would swim, use the lake that they claimed for the best reasons. Not a fisher, Anu felt that the water was good for no more then drinking and swimming. His question made her soften, Of course. her response showed her excitement, thinking that he might have the same interest that she was born with. It was a delicate task, though a dirty one as well. It took patience, and a gentle touch. Anu felt that she quiet son would do well with the fragile roots and stems.
As soon as the snow melts and it warms, we’ll go and search for flowers to fill the garden. She didn’t know how precious the time she spent with Salem and his siblings would become. There would be moments where she would questions everything, more then she did already. Picking flowers would be a pleasant retreat, and a calming connection to make with the growing wolf. She secretly hoped his interest wouldn’t change.
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Sorry this is crappy. x_x
[html] Yet another smile beamed across his face beneath the warm sunlight. He couldn't really imagine the same gardens and rows and patches of different flowers that would no doubt be planted, but the thought of having a hand in it pleased him all the same. Wherever that good-natured side of him had come from was up in the air, but it was there. “How long does it take for flowers to grow?” Another good question, as the seeds had already been planted in his mind. Salem may as well have wanted to be a horticulturist already; he hadn't even touched a plant and yet he was trying to be an expert on them for the future as well as have a budding affinity for them. Actually… maybe that was a feminine trait… ah, oh well. What did it matter? [/html]
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Should we wrap this up?
Watching the young wolf on the cold wintry day, Anu pictured what he might look like when grown. He of course was getting there, getting taller by the minute (or so it seemed), but he and the rest would soon shift, and then they would look completely different. With the change she wondered if his personality would be different too. She found it hard to believe that he would stray far from his quiet and pleasant demeanor. Of course, time would only tell.
Not long a few weeks. But we have to be patient. Each will grow at their own pace. she answered him as she watched his curiosity and excitement grow. Comparing him to a budding flower was an obvious choice, and one she picked frequently. Unique in his own was Salem was growing bud, ever changing as his mothers nurtured and provided what he needed to thrive. A sharp wind swept across the porch, bringing Anu back to reality.
Lets see if we can find any books on flowers, maybe you can read a little to me. Anu smiled as she moved towards the door, wanted to spend the morning with him but also seeking shelter from the winter air.
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