It had been quite long since she last left her pack territory and today she felt like relaxing and enjoying herself. She was drawn towards Fireweed Rise. A place where she had first arrived at Relic Lore and met Ice and Vlarindara. This was also a place where she was caught up in a fight with Ice and Rhysis, attempting to protect her respected leader from the jaws of the pale knight. Now, she hoped that she could just relax among the flowers and bask in the sun without any interruption.



However, she wasn't the first to claim the Rise. As she came upon the flowery abyss, she caught the scent of Tlarx. Her tail gave a happy wag and she jumped upon a rock to peer out into the field of wildflowers. She spotted him laying down and mischievously thought of a devious plan. Carefully leaping down from the rock, she crept towards the down man with a smug look on her face. She planned on surprising him with a leap attack on his side. The wind was thankfully in the other direction as she crept forwards. She was about three feet away from him when she leaped from her crouched position onto his white side. In a fluid motion, she attempted to grab a hold of his ear while landing softly on his side before rolling off him. A happy play growl escaped her chest as she tumbled onto him.

As she landed bounced off of him, he released a surprised snarl and he attempted to roll on his side. She was already on the ground besides him, so all he tried fighting off was open air. A soft laugh escaped her maw as she watched him paw at the air like a dead bug. He must have realized then that it was her because he gave a playful bark and he began to wag his tail in excitement. Her tail too, thudded against the ground happily as he reached over to grab her ear. A playful growl and a light nip on his cheek was given before she heard his words.



She chuckled lightly and leaned back to look at him while laying down. "I was going for that. She said lightly, flashing a bright smile before looking towards the wildflowers around them. The bright reds contradicted with the light shade of green grass around them. It was truly beautiful. "This is really beautiful." She murmured quietly. After being in the mountains for so long and not seeing many flowers, this was an experience that she didn't witness all the time.

She stared out into the abyss of red flowers, admiring their beauty and grace. The careful breeze swept through them making them ripple like a small stream. She was unaware of Tlarx staring at her, but as he spoke she turned to smile at him. It was nice having easy, light company like this. She didn't have to worry about revealing too much about Poison Path or worrying about Swift River after her. It was almost like a relief. Hakuna matata. No worries. Just easy company.



She turned back to watch the rippling of the wildflowers and didn't notice him leaning towards her. However, she did see out of the corner of her eyes, the bright yellow butterfly spreading it's wings and tried to skirr away from them. She laughed lightly and watched as the butterfly fluttered around them gracefully. The rumble of Tlarx's voice besides her made her flicker her eyes back towards him. A light smile flashed onto her face and she watched him looked down at his paws. It didn't seem like her regretted saying those words, but it seemed like he couldn't believe he really said them. He looked back up then and unexpectedly nuzzled the side of her cheek.



Her smile got wider as she looked at him. "I'm glad to see you too." Thoughts and feelings swirled around her head and she had trouble distinguishing them all apart. Excitement, confusion, sadness, happiness, perhaps even love? All these bombarded her brain almost giving her a headache. She never felt these feelings before. They were foreign to her. She had no idea on what to do. Should she nuzzle him back or turn away? She had once experienced a slight connection with Fallen, but he had deserted her. Would Tlarx desert her too? She was confused, but she knew she felt something for him. She never thought of it as love at first sight and it wasn't for her at least. The first time they met, he had saved her life from a cougar attack. He helped her hunt down a goat to feed herself and her family. She was in his debt. And she did not like having debts to repay.



However, she didn't care about that right now. She wanted to throw away all her doubts and concerns. She leaned forwards and nuzzled him back, stopping to lightly lick at the base of his ear. She snuggled closer towards him and laid her head on his paws.

She had no fear now. No fear of being deserted. No fear of doing something wrong. She did not care anymore. In order to live life to the fullest, you had to live in the moment, right. That philosophy conquered her mind. She no more doubts or concerns. She was only filled with the happy emotion that for so long deserted her. Her father ripped that feeling away from her, but now he couldn’t destroy her life again. She had finally killed her demon. The demon that was her father’s voice in her head, telling her she couldn’t live, nobody would love her, all she was was a nobody. A nobody that was a failure. Now she knew she wasn’t a nobody. She did live; she was living and breathing to prove it. Her family of poisoned wolves loved her and she knew now that she was not a failure. He was the failure. He failed to ruin her life. What now.



For some reason, Tlarx’s simple company brought all these thoughts and feelings to the surface, making her realize many things. His smooth voice enveloped around her ears and she softly laughed. “No, I think they know not to mess with me now. Since you’ve become my guardian.” Her voice copying the teasing gestures of his. What she said was true. Since the attack, she hadn’t seen any mountain cats around. She would have to thank him later. “Haven’t had any more run ins with owls or awkward wolves, have you?” She said teasing again. She lifted her head off his paws to look at him with a sweet smile on her face.