As much as she didn't want to leave him hanging in question as he called for her, she couldn't reply for fear of scaring off the specimen she'd unwittingly wrangled. His heavy steps crunched and squished over the terrain as he caught up, and were there in the back of her mind as she fixated on the tiny lantern that tip-toed on the tip of her snout. Its fluorescence flickered like liquid electricity, growing bright, then dim, then bright again. Fenru emerged through the cattail veil, and the feel of his proximity made her tail sway as she leaned to him, arcing her body to better face him. His motioning as he proceeded to point out the bug on her nose elicited a genuinely charmed smile from the girl who laughed lightheartedly.


As if to play show and tell, Luce made a point to stick her muzzle out further so he could get the closer look they'd come for, her eyes peeled as she gauged his reaction and hoped he liked it.


The way he drew closer to her then wrapped her body in warmth. It was a kind gesture, the gentle way he'd attempted to free her of the pesky thing that clung to her face. And she didn't mind. Stretching her neck to meet him halfway, her eyes nearly crossed to take in the fine details of his muzzle, which seemed rather massive from only a breath away. "Ah ha!-" she proclaimed. The touch they shared by accident dispelled the firefly and it fluttered up and into the night, becoming one in a sea of many. "Oopsorry!" She could feel the bashful heat emanating from her own face as well. "It's okay - thanks! You're my hero," she replied with polite sincerity. Perhaps a stroke of his ego would make him more comfortable and temper the tinge of shyness she felt, too. A warm grin tugged at the corners of her dark lips, and she looked him over with a blooming satisfaction.


"Well what do you think, Fen?" Feinting nonchalance, she motioned to the flurries of orange and gold that lit the grove with a tilt of her head. There was a childlike quality to the way Lucero took the sight in for herself, her ears pressing forward, tiny flashes reflecting in the golden depths of her eyes as they swept to meet his.

Her eyes found his just in time to catch something special churning inside their orange depths as the smile that she found defined him best returned. There were few words she could find to describe to herself the way the starlight danced along the ridges of his rounded ears; the way the reflections of the fireflies' glow faded into the hue of his gaze; the way his soft, easy stare seemed to bore a hole through her now. It wasn't a void she thought she felt there - but a light, bright and warm and unexpected. She could feel her heart skip a tiny beat.

It was gratifying then that Fenru found some novelty in this place, and she readily found the sincerity in his words. Different was his description, and she agreed. She looked over her shoulder to where the moonlit inlet ended and the shadows of the forest's edge replaced the night sky's reflection upon the water's surface. When he asked how she'd found it, the answer that came to mind was simple. Her attention returning to him, the heat in her cheeks blossomed. "Exploring with you, of course." Her gentle smile widened with his as she watched the firebug hover over him before landing just above his eyes and buzzing away into the night. "I think it's pretty special."

Drifting not far from his side, Luce nosed the blades of grass lining the shore, breathing in the damp scent of the earth as she watched the rippling water lap lazily against the bank. The magic they alone were meant to experience loomed in the darkness, and it called to her as she stepped delicately though the mud, a cattail brushing her side as she followed it slowly toward the woods. "Well...of the places I've been, I'd say this one is the coolest. I haven't been in these parts long enough to see many things." Things like a night like this, spent with someone whose company she found increasingly intriguing and appreciated. She flashed him an inviting look, encouraging him to come with her and halting to wait for him. Since crossing into the Lore, she'd spent most of her time along the creek, where the grandest thing she'd crossed was an old beaver's dam. There was the towering plunge that fell from the mountainside, and the cherry orchard that smelled prettier than it had looked in the earliest days of spring. She wondered then if, perhaps, he'd been to any of those places, too. "How about you?" Her eyes lingered upon his strong shoulders for the briefest second.

With the lagoon at their backs and the moonlit forest sprawling before them, she looked to her newfound companion, patient and eager all the same.

Listening intently, she soaked up Fenru's words like a dry sponge, her eyes following his large paw as it dipped below and along the water. When he mentioned that he didn't get out much, she thought about the possibilities of what that meant. It dawned on her then that his musky, alluring scent was the most predominant of several others he carried. His mention of a grove deepened her interest further. In her mind's eye she imagined his long, thick limbs brushing against the lesser vegetation of a verdant forest floor, his wide paws leaving deep prints in the dirt as he disappeared into shadow as mysteriously as he'd emerged to her on the other side of the lagoon tonight. The ivory furred girl intercepted his sly expression with a wide smile.

"I take it you're a grand explorer where you're from?"

With humility her golden gaze dropped from his for a moment and she swallowed hard. The truth was that she didn't know where she was from, that she didn't really have a past. Not one that she remembered anyway. It had been only a short time since she'd washed up along the rocky shore of a rushing river, and the only life she knew was that of the days after that led her to this place. Luce wasn't sad about it - she didn't know what she was missing. But in the face of her companion's innocent inquiry she felt sort of foolish without a proper answer. With a pleading in her bright stare she looked to him, looked him in his eyes, and hoped that he could see the honesty behind her words. "I- I don't...really know. I mean, I don't really remember..." She gulped down the fear that he might look at her differently now. "I don't know where I come from, Fenru - I'm just...here with you." A perseverant, I'm-a-lost-soul-but-it's-okay grin emerged to replace any doubt that may have been there as she'd replied.

After a few moments of silence she continued on, a hint of play in her gentle tone. "I am a grand explorer, though; and I know you are, too." she said charmingly. Her rounded ears pressed forward with curiosity and she shifted her weight, intent on learning more about him. "The Grove you speak of, have you lived there long?"

She listened intently, at some times following his gaze to the fireflies' glow or to the water, at others observing the movements of the smooth muscles of his face as he spoke thoughtfully. So drawn in by his candidness, it was easy to forget what she was doing here in the first place, and easier to forget that this was the first night she'd ever known Fenru. Strangely, it was as though she'd known him all along. "Psshhhhh," he began, and she glowed at the sight of the grin that accompanied as it played on his lips.

Regarding her inquiry with obvious honesty, he told her that he'd lived in the referenced Grove his entire life, mentioning the mountain and one of his uncles as well. It sounded as though his roots were firmly planted here, and she reckoned that his family was probably notable around these parts. She drew a certain pride from his tone, and studying the intense shades of auburn in his eyes, she thought he should be. Polite, well-mannered, vivacious, engaging— he was something exceptional.

What came next as he stroked the dark pool with a single paw faded the world away entirely, leaving only the two of them and the silver light of the moon. "I think... I think if I could stay here, I would stay for forever. Would you?" At first thought, she was charmed by the notion that he was enjoying the night enough to want to stick around. Yet, as Fenru's elaboration slipped from his mouth, his words velveteen-soft, she was immersed in the images that crossed her mind. They were not just of this beautiful landscape as it was transformed by time and the season, but of him as he changed with them. The way she imagined the angles of his face to become sharper with age; the way the russet and golden leaves of autumn would complement the warm tones of his eyes if he stood at the water's edge; the way that, when the world was layered with winter's snow and ice and the skies above grew turbulent and grey, she could see the warmth of his breath upon her face, the strength of his body as she suddenly imagined it tumbling in the snow as they braved the cold like playmates; a vision of the dark-featured man as he looked upon her beneath the light of a hundred golden fireflies, forever.

From these thoughts she returned to him, her deep, golden eyes roving along the slope of his muzzle to his cheeks, and from there to the old soul behind his bright, fiery eyes. She couldn't imagine staying here for the rest of her life, along the grass lined shore of the glassy lagoon with only the seasons and the peaceful scene to accompany her. But...if it was by his side—this mysterious, hopeful, humble boy— through the sun and the rain and the snow, then her answer was "Yes." The single syllable slipped from her tongue as a lighthearted murmur. She didn't swallow, or blink, or breathe. She could only steadily hold his gaze and hope that maybe he saw within in it a flash of excitement and the way her heart so suddenly raced. "I could stay for forever if forever was with you...watch the days turn to nights we would discover, the stars fade from the sky when the fireflies took their place..." A gentle breeze ruffled her long alabaster coat, her lips pulling to an innocently intimate, soft grin before fading ever so slightly to an expression she'd never felt upon her own face. "...I could."

The uncertainty that came in the dark-featured companion's next reply wasn't entirely unexpected, although she hadn't really been prepared for the more serious twist their encounter began to take. Picking up on his nervous mannerisms, she wanted more than ever to reassure him—to make him know that she understood, truly understood, his concerns. As scary as his hesitation could have been to the girl who found herself inexplicably and irrevocably connected to the boy before her, his message made her glow. "Are you sure?" he'd asked more than once.


It was true that she didn't really know him, nor did he really know her either, but that wasn't to say that she hadn't seen a part of who he really was this night. Sure, she didn't know his history, or his family, his favorite color or what he was afraid of. She didn't know what he liked to eat or what his favorite past time was. Hell, she didn't even know his last name. What she did know was that when she looked at him she could see the light in his eyes, the way they looked upon her honestly and and how she felt she could melt into them; the humility in him as he pawed the pool's serene surface and the pride in his tone when he spoke of growing up in one place; the spark of electricity she had felt when their noses had bumped. Lucero didn't know everything about Fenru, but she knew that she wanted to.


"Fenru—" she started softly, stepping closer to him as her brows furrowed thoughtfully. A silent pause ensued and she looked for the best words to say. "...I'll stay with you. I'll wait forever if that's what you need, and I've got all the time in the world to get to know you." From her position on the bank and his in the water, the alabaster girl looked down upon him with a gentle surrender. "If you have to go, then I understand. I'm not...asking for your life for myself, I just...want to be part of it. I may not be able to wait here for you, but I'm going to be somewhere out there," she looked around her into the darkness of the world before returning to meet his gaze, "waiting and hoping for you." In the back of her mind the words he'd said resonated. It was she who was now biting her lip, gulping down the significance of all of this and what it meant to her. Maybe they'd only known each other for a night, but the heat of wanting to be his friend or something more burned through her something fierce, and she wasn't going to let it go now, not unless he willed it.


"I'll be heading over the mountain soon," she continued, "to start fresh in a new pack...I...I can't wait here for you, and I don't know how far away I'll be, but—" Without a second thought she slipped into the water, pulled by him and pushed to him by her will to convey her honesty and sincerity. She stopped only a muzzle length away, her neck stretched ever to slightly so that she could look up deeply into his eyes. Her heart was racing, but it was steady, and she was steady. "...I won't ever be too far. And I'll come for you if you can't find me. I don't want you to worry," a small grin tugged at the corners of her lips, a peaceful mask adorning the feminine features of her face, "because, realistically, I won't let you go."