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The five-month old felt it was time to spread his wings once again, to venture past the realms of the rules that had been laid before him by his parents as soon as he could understand them. Always in the back of his mind were the consequences of such ill behavior – he feared punishment, of course, but more, he feared that his father would disapprove of him. His mother was a lot less threatening simply because she was his mother, and he knew she would always be proud of him. But he wanted the bond between him and Phoenix to be just as strong, and he felt like it was slipping away from him. He was a cowardly boy, he saw that now. It pained him to think of what his father made of the way Kansas handled things.
He had been to the river territory once before, as a tiny child. Now, the boulders scattered about the banks seemed so much smaller and less threatening, and the rapids appeared less formidable as they tumbled hurriedly before him. He was more aware of the sights, sounds, and smells around him – so many shapes and colors, whereas before it had just been a mess of unknown objects. He understood better, and he almost forgot that he was going against the rules. Maybe they had changed – he didn’t know, a lot had been happening around Storm what with the avalanche and the scare with Ember. This possibility comforted him further, and he smiled as he sat upon a flat rock and stared into the water, absently trying to spot fish.
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Sorry about the gross wait, this really slipped my post log for a while. :|
[html] It was back to the river once again, but this time the weather didn't feel as bitterly cold as it had before. Or perhaps Valentine was just getting used to the seemingly permanent frost that managed to cling to his coat when he went out of the warmth and into the cold. The way that the ice tried to settle on him almost gave him a silvery sheen in the right light; one that generally went unnoticed by the young man. He had left the cover of Jaded Shadows for a nice stroll, taking advantage of a day that was not tainted by a howling gale or snow that persistently fell on and on for hours. Of course, it wasn't very often that he did choose to leave his own territory, so he didn't mingle much when it came to the faces of others from other packs. Perhaps that was why when he spied out the child on the rock with a very keen eye on the water, his attention was easily divided. “Hope you're not planning on taking a swim at this time of year,” he joked with a smile. [/html]
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Gawd, sorry again for the disgusting wait.
He didn’t even know if there were any fish out this time of year. Perhaps they were like birds and migrated south for the winter. This really could have been the case for all he knew; he certainly wasn’t spotting any at the moment – no flashes of red or silver in the clear but bluish water. He sighed just as he heard a voice, and he turned to face the wolf who approached him. An enviably handsome, dark male with bright gold eyes, asking him if he planned on taking a dip. "No; I’m looking for fish. Are there… are there any even out this time of year? ‘Cause I’m not seeing any." The worst that could happen was being made fun of – and Kansas was feeling confident enough to take it today.
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It's fine. Nice lyrics in the table too; I haven't met anyone else who listens to Alesana. 
[html] Looking for fish? Valentine's eyes scanned the running water for any sign of the watery creatures, but also could not find any. “There should be…” he said, folding his arms in thought. “Maybe they're hiding underneath the ice. Fish are smart when they want to be.” Being out in the open water meant easier to be caught, he imagined. Giving the water another look over, he turned his attention back to the boy on the rocks. “I'd suggest ice fishing, but I'm not really very good at it. Not even really sure that the ice would be sturdy enough to walk on, let alone fish from.” Yes… those dastardly fish. [/html]
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Oh, you like them too? Awesome! I adore them; they’re really good. I named a character after them once. *lame?*
He wasn’t too discouraged by the male’s words. He didn’t really want to get wet, anyway – it was very cold, and he was sort of chicken when it came to things like that. So he nodded, albeit a bit disappointed that he would not be able to eat one – the little tricksters. “Ice fishing?” he queried, not having heard that phrase before – he could piece it together, but he didn’t know how such a thing was actually done. He clambered down the rocks and approached the shifted male, looking him over more closely before introducing himself. “I’m Kansas.”
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Yeah, they're fantastic! I really wanted to see them live with LoveHateHero and Sky Eats Airplane but no one else nearby wants to go, blah.
Yeah, ice fishing. S'where you poke a hole in the ice and well, fish. It's easy with a fishing pole but I've seen people do with their muzzles and hands, he elaborated, though not very well. Valentine wasn't really much of a fisher, anyway. His gold eyes studied the blonde boy for a moment as he made his way nearer and offered his name. I'm Valentine, from Jaded Shadows. He didn't make any effort to point out that he knew of a place called Kansas or how it was what the humans called a state, thinking that maybe someone else had already done it to the effect where it was common knowledge.
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Aw, I’m sorry! I’m pretty sure they’re coming here soon, too, but… I don’t know for sure. 
Kansas nodded, understanding and feeling stupid for not knowing what ice fishing was already. He wondered often if he was behind – he was nearly six months old, and there were still plenty of things he didn’t know about. He shook his head and tried to move on from fishing. He found the other male’s name interesting, and commented before he could stop himself. “I like your name.” He felt stupid immediately, and plunged into an explanation. “I mean, mine’s boring… just a state, whatever that is.” He still hadn’t grasped what a “state” was, though it had probably been explained to him before now. “I don't think I've been to Jaded Shadows yet. I'm from Storm.”
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Probably are. They're with Vans Warped Tour this year, but their myspace has the full list of where they're playing. :3
[html] He smiled wanly at the compliment, offering nothing more than a chuckle at the younger boy's words. “Well, it seems like everyone around here has an interesting name of some sort. Really makes you wonder what our parents were thinking when they decided to name us,” or maybe it was more of a question of what they had been smoking. Or drinking. Or doing at the time. Lucifer certainly had the short hand with anyone who knew anything about religion; Valentine wasn't sure if he was named after a saint or a holiday. Kansas, well, that was covered previous. “I've been to Storm before. Nice place. My father used to live there a long time ago, and my mother.” [/html]
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MMM MYSPACE. I’ll check it out. And sorry yet again for the wait – I done forgot to post in the absence forum. 
Kansas loved how friendly this male was – but not in the annoying way. Rarely did he meet wolves who behaved otherwise, but he could tell himself accurately that he liked this Valentine. He knew about the origins of all his littermates’ names save for “Icarus” and “Firefly”. Those two seemed to have come out of nowhere. Kansas shook his head a little to himself, probably looking strange – the other was complimenting his home at the moment. He heard this a lot. “Thank you. It is nice. Who is... or was... your father?” A prying question this was, but Kansas loved to know who was related to who; he found it interesting.
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S'okay. Mind if we fade this to black or wrap it up?
[html] “His name was Cross,” the young man informed the youth, “but I'm not sure if there are any folks in Storm who might remember him. Who's your father?” Most of anyone that he remembered his father mentioning seemed to have been long gone from what Valentine had gathered. His mother's old friends and acquaintances were still around here and there, but also a majority of them were gone as well. It seemed like the little region that those pack had nestled themselves down into was more and more a place like a pit stop than anything else; he had also met a few travellers amongst the long term residents. [/html]
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Yeah! This was fun. Let's fade to black? They talked for awhile and such...blahblahblah.
Kansas nodded, though he didn't recognize Valentine's father. It seemed as though the majority of the wolves he had met didn't have their parents around anymore. He was nearly one of them, with Iskata gone. Hopefully, Phoenix would be around for much, much longer. He didn't want to be alone in the world; it would have frightened him terribly. “My papa is Phoenix. You prob'ly know him, a lot of people do.” His father was sort of famous, being the ex-alpha of Storm. Kansas was always proud to call Phoenix his father, and it showed in the way his eyes lit up when he said his name.
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