Grizzly Hollow and all the lights were out

This evening had been easier than others. The sky had painted soothing colors of pinks, purples, and blues across the horizon. Something about the scene mixed with the smell of cedar left the woman feeling rather put together; which would be a first in a long time. While the daily struggle of finding out who she was or whom she was to become constantly kept her on her toes, the pale woman was making time to become familiar with the Hollow's location. Truly she should have been becoming familiar with the wolves of the hollow but she found herself not so prepared for that yet. Especially if they all were as caring as Rook and Veho. The feeling of being wanted and receiving affection would take time.

Finding herself a spot to look at a clearing between the tall foliage was no easy task. Her pale legs had grown dirty and covered with all sorts of woodsy things; leaves, twigs, and dirt being most of what littered her pale pelt. But in the end it was well worth the dirt. Like something out of a picture she could see the sky colored with the outlining of branches. Smiling softly the Santoro took a seat on the forest floor. Rump falling the the ground with a light thud.

Her mind often thought of him around this time of day. The way he might just be waking and going about his business before stopping by for a soft exchange of words. Yet tonight, tonight the mind of the pale woman allowed some escape from such troubling thoughts. With a deep inhale in and a long exhale out Piety found herself. Who she was in this moment was becoming apparent.

B o r d e n
tell me the words you long to hear & I'll sing them loud & clear

Nightfall had come again and Borden stared up into those fading pastel skies with a twinge of regret on his face. He was having a hard time remembering who it was who had come to greet him earlier. It had been a man, who looked almost exactly like him... just... he had been younger and his eyes weren't exactly right. He was nice though, very courteous; he even offered half of his rabbit, though Borden had politely declined. The older Lyall just wasn't hungry. Truthfully, he believed to have eaten just moments ago before the lad had shown up. The leftover rabbit still laid there, just inches from his forepaws as he rested his chin on his arms, still gazing upwards for the first hint of a star.

He fidgeted a few times, unable to relieve the ache that was flaring up between his shoulders. His rump rose first before he pushed himself up onto his paws. The pain was temporarily gone after he realized that he might have been at the pack den for the whole day. Perhaps if he moved it would be better. A tentative paw rose up then was planted back down into the carpet of pine needles. Oooh, his face was overtaken by a wince. When did his paw start hurting? He wasn't sure anymore, but with a determined stagger of a step, he moved towards the west where the sky was concentrated with the last traces of pink and orange.

The cogs in his head began to turn as he attempted to entertain himself with things he probably should have done today. Things like: checking on Angier, wishing his parents a good night before making his way to the borders on nightwatch duty, and seeing that his only sister had had a good day. He typically relieved her of her tasks, which usually meant hours of marking the trees, checking each and every landmark, and reporting any strange scents back to their Uncle and their parents. His sightless eye closed as he tried to work out an ache in his left forelimb. It would probably need a good soak in the river before bed; he would make sure to do that before he, himself, turned in for the night.

Everything had been peaceful and quiet as he went, the flow of his thoughts seemingly jumping from one place to another - from thoughts of remembering that he had had a number of sons to recalling Alexander's and Arlette's faces and from thinking that he had a bone to pick with his brothers to wondering what Jaysyek was up to, believing that he had not seen her for a number of days. His musings were interrupted as a sigh met his ears. If he had not been as vigilant or as silent as he was while he walked, he could have easily missed it. It was only a matter of months before his hearing would start to go; he just wasn't aware of it just yet.

He squinted through the gathering dark, willing his good eye to peer through the trees. A few steps more away from the old tree stump of a den and he finally saw her. His tail immediately rose with an eager and excited wag as he approached from her left side, allowing his right pupil to easily scrutinize her. She was probably about the same age as when he had left her back in Bertram Valley. Either that or time had merely been kind to her, just as it had to Jaysyek. Regardless of her age or how lachrymose the air about her seemed, all he knew was that she was just as lovely as ever.

"Well, hello," he greeted, a half-smile coming to his face as he stopped a few wolf-lengths away from her. The tone he had used suggested that he had recognized her or known her from someplace, even if he had not met her at all. "Fancy seeing you here." A tilt of his head conveyed the thrill that ran through him, but just to be sure that he wasn't getting ahead of himself, he cast out a silly little sentiment, one that his sibling would have easily dismissed as ridiculous, "You're Dove, aren't you?"

"Well, hello,"

She wasn't prepared for any visitors but she knew this male to be of the hollow. By his aged voice she could tell he was the older fella she had heard little of. "Well hello to you too." Her tail thumped behind her acknowledging the male but her eyes never left the sky. The pale woman didn't feel the need to truly focus on just the older male. She knew with her mind still well and young her multitasking skills would be easy. Unless the male required more attention.

A light song bird chuckle, a sound not heard of for perhaps weeks or months, was given before her words slipped out with such carelessness. "It is fancy in an odd way isn't it?" He was nice. Not nice in the way @Veho or Rook had been. This was a nice that seemed much more free ranged and feasible. Whereas Veho had been more closed in and pressed upon with his nice; Rook had been much more of a savior with his niceness. Granting her it because she needed it the most at that time.

He called her by one of the many names she dreaded, although it was better than being referred to by her birth name, yet she still kept up a gentle smooth mood. "Who else would I be?" Chuckling softly her eyes fell only once from the skies to search for the body of the male she was discussing with. Time had not been kind to his body but that didn't seem to change the air about him. "Come, come join me. Perhaps we can watch the colors fade from the skies together. It's not too late you know." A fluffy dirty tail thumped behind her as she thought of how making another friend might help her. Or at least another acquaintance.

"When the skies fade...maybe we can head back to the den to try and catch the stars?" She had never been one for sky gazing but she knew well enough that looking upon the above would take away any awkward gaps between exchanged words. Who knew, it might even give something for the two to talk about.

B o r d e n
tell me the words you long to hear & I'll sing them loud & clear

The only indication that Borden was welcome in her company was the hearty wag of her tail, but she had taken it all in stride. This was most apparent with her retort of "Who else would I be?" Upon her eager invitation, he sidled up next to her on her left side and slowly sat down, not too close as to, say, cuddle up next to her but close enough as to be just within her reach. They could have whispered secrets into one another's ears if they had to, but there was no need for that. She was family, after all, and between him and his sister, they didn't keep secrets...

When his muscles relaxed just enough his paws slid forward, relieving his back of the pressure as he tilted his head upwards at the pale shifting colors above them. Her voice flit over him, "When the skies fade...maybe we can head back to the den to try and catch the stars?" His ear swiveled in her direction but he had not missed what she had asked. "I suppose," he agreed to the idea, seeing as the night sky was easily visible there than anywhere else within Grizzly Hollow apart from the old bear den where the family had first laid claim to the pine-needled lands. "That would be lovely."

A moment of silence passed them by and from carnation pinks and warm oranges, the sky had changed back into its characteristic blue. It would be dark soon, but there were still a matter of moments before the first stars appeared. "So," he began, also diligently watching the sky above them. "What brings you out here?" A second look at Dove's face had his brow angled upward as if he had suddenly come to the confusing conclusion that the wolf before him was not his agemate sister. Even if her face had contained all the familiar features of his sibling, it was all too apparent in her voice that she was younger... Much younger than he initially believed. "You seem familiar," he pitched. "Are you... Dove's daughter?" It was probably a silly question, but he had encountered his share of alias-branded conversations. Most of them had come from his youngest son, who sometimes used to love to pretend being his father.