Oak Tree Bend Starálfur

@Zera
RE: There is a meteor shower tonight

Awake in the darkness, Nayeli rolled into a more alert position, blinking as she gazed into the deep shadows of the den around her. Darrah and Zera were both lying nearby, presumably deep into some adventure in the lands of slumber. Although she wished she could join them there, sleep had continued to elude the Stormwright woman this night. After trying to drift off for what felt like hours, she had had enough. It wasn't that anything in particular was weighing on her mind - more than usual, at any rate - she just felt so very awake. Perhaps sleep just wasn't in the stars for her tonight.

Getting to her feet as carefully and quietly as she could, Nayeli stepped over the warm little lumps that were her children, careful not to disturb them, and crept from the den out into the night.

She didn't go far - perhaps she couldn't get must rest tonight, but she could keep a better watch out here than from within the den. Cool currents of night air danced freely out here, playing through her fur in a way that the still air within the den had certainly not. The grass was soft and slightly damp with dew, and the night chorus of summer sounds was softly humming - insects, owls, the breeze.... selecting a spot a short distance from the mouth of the den, Nayeli sat. It wasn't long before a flash of movement caught her eye - but this was no intruder, nor anything of an earthly nature at all. A star had streaked bright across the blackness, trailing light behind it as it flew. The sight brought a small, bittersweet smile to the dark woman's maw, and she reclined a little more, lifting her gaze to study the heavens. Moments later another flash seared across the sky, prompting a sigh to escape from the restless Stormwright - she found herself thinking of her old home.

zera tainn The fervor felt in a dream could run quickly cold. The Tainn child rest deep in the coma of sleep as vivid colors and heats purred through her mind. It was delightful - sleep. Zera slept the best when she spent her puppy energies atop the high hill of the den, rampant in the spectral grasses alongside Darrah. They could enjoy the summer all day long on the moor, finding safety in the watchful eye of the pack. The heat could take them to the shade of the Great Oak, or the neighboring glade where the two could pant out their time. And anon they'd travel the miles of deer tracks, to carry home the valuable supper. But for now, the youngest daughter slept noisily on the den's soft floor. In her dream, the young Tainn prowled eagerly through the damp grasses. She ventured far from the den, but no matter - she was older now. She'd seen the creek from the den's reaches, and the sparkles on the surface danced with the beauty of sunlight. The rays warmed her body through her dark fur, baking excitement beneath her skin. She could imagine the cool, smooth feel of the waves on her paws. The feeling incited her closer. She just couldn't resist to feel it and her legs screamed with speed. Zera noticed this was the farthest she'd gone alone from the den - but she couldn't help but find herself within the shimmering waves bounding deeper into the current. She laughed and howled with happiness, and wished Darrah was here to swim too. But something was pulling her with cold, steel-like arms that dominated any strength she might have possessed. It seemed to grab her hind leg with invisible jaws and swallow her beneath the impenetrable blue. She screamed mentally, kicked violently at the waves, gasping desperately for non-existent air. The current of the creek pulled her down to the sandy bottom, and with one last gasp.. her eyes flew open to the warm darkness of the den. Her heart raced in half-beats as her breath finally drew in. She quietly rolled onto her stomach, blue eyes weakly adjusting to the depth of her safe den. She whined softly to herself, looking timidly for her mother. But the white blaze she sought after belonged to Darrah's much less comforting face. She stood abruptly, body going cold at her mother's absence. Zera groaned, pushing onto her feet. She'd woken in the middle of the night before, but usually the comfort of her mother was but a step away and she could curl into the warm, loving strands. Zera made her way to the den's blurry exit, guided by only the silver rays of moonlight. The Tainn child perched herself at the den's entry, eyes adjusting to the world still. "Momma 'sat-you?" she asked with a whimper, making her way to the dark figure in the grass. She quickly recognized the brilliant white marking between those moonlit eyes and settled down up against her body. Zera focused her pale eyes on the dotted sky like Nayeli was doing. Every dot up there seemed to wink at her. But suddenly one of the dots streamed across the sky, arching beautifully over the atmosphere. It instantly vanished as quickly as it appeared. Zera snapped up from the dewy grass, tail wagging wildly. "Wooooaa!" she exclaimed, "Wassat?!" Milky eyes flashed back to her mother, hoping she saw the same thing.

(This post was last modified: Jul 05, 2014, 09:14 PM by Zera.)

<3

For a time, Nayeli lay alone beneath the stars, her thoughts wandering far across the wilds to a place that was all but lost to her now. She had been homesick for the isle of Lostwind less and less since joining the Bend, but every once in a while, the pangs of loss would creep up on her unannounced. Tonight a bittersweet feeling swept through her as she gazed up at the stars, the words of her grandfather echoing in her mind. "Those lights up there are our guides in life... long ago, they lead us to this place, and they can always lead you home again, wherever you might find yourself." Her father had once told her that the sun and moon were a god and goddess, and the stars the souls of those who had passed before, gone home again. With time, Nayeli had come to prefer her grandfather's explanation - she could not truly claim to believe in the existence of any higher beings, at least any that seemed to care for such lowly creatures as wolves, but that didn't mean the beauty of nature's mysterious, precisely measured dance had to be ignored. One could not predict what would happen tomorrow, but one could previse that in a year's time, the stars would have returned to these same exact positions in the night sky. With them to guide her, she could always find Lostwind again, or find her way back to the Bend - though it was difficult now to imagine something that might make her leave this place, short of utter calamity.

Eventually her reverie was broken by a different motion... her gaze was drawn downward to a small shadow emerging from the den, calling out to her in a soft whimper. "Yes love, I'm right here," Nayeli replied quickly, her own tones soft both to reassure Zera and to not wake those that still slept. Beckoning with her pointed muzzle, she adjusted slightly until her daughter was nestled securely between her front legs, against her chest. The celestial fireworks went on above, quickly capturing her daughter's rapt attention, and as the exclamation of wonder escaped Zera, Nayeli's gaze was drawn back upwards as well. "A falling star," she explained, wondering if such a thing would seem more or less magical to one so new to the world as her daughter. "See how many are chasing each other across the sky tonight... shall we count them together?" she went on. Maybe everything seemed just as magical to her, but then again, the stars had always held a special place in Nayeli's heart. Perhaps her daughter might inherit the same trait.

zera tainn Zera couldn't help but keep her eyes on the noble figure of her mother, even after she told her "the stars". The little Tainn marveled about the way the moonlight accented her adult fur, brightened the star between her eyes, and filled those eyes with so much glistening silver. Zera kept the small smile on her face when her gaze finally returned to the celestial fireworks. The night's beauty was even more amazing than the daytime clouds and the jumping puddles they poured. Even if they were really fun. Her mind could just follow the stars and the shapes they drew above the Earth, she wouldn't even need to wait 'till the sun stood up on the horizon's crest to see something beautiful. It was peaceful to know it would always be there to chase away the nightmare, to incite sweet dreams. A part of her didn't want Darrah to know about this. Darrah didn't need to know about the stars, the sky, or any of it. There wasn't enough room for him at night because he would scare off the elusive quality with his whining protest. Only an adventurer could harbor the wit, the puppy-intellect to even be capable of watching the night sky unfold into cosmos and comets and eventually, roaming the dark world with all the same elusiveness. That's what she would do. 'Zewa da nite hunter,' she thought quietly, settling smugly into her mothers chest. She would be the one to tell stories about. "See how many are chasing each other across the sky tonight... shall we count them together?" Zera's attention focused back up to the sky again as her mother's voice broke her thoughts about being a night huntress. She would love to count the stars, maybe they could do this every night! Her tail wagged impatiently, all the stars now were being still. "I alwready got won!" Zera narrowed her eyes, still peering deep into the blackness, between the stars to see if she might not be looking good enough. But every star remained stationary, just white holes in the giant black blanket that winked every now and then. She still must not be looking hard enough, and her eyes slanted so much that her face scrunched up. The seconds ticked by slowly, like days or even weeks. "Where did dey go," she asked. More seconds labored by, and it was really beginning to get boring. She sighed whimsically through a big yawn, stretching like a lithe feline. "Momma dis is bor--" and just as the word started to bubble in her mouth, another wisp of light rocketed overhead. "Dere it is! I seen it!" She bounced excitedly, tail flailing about. This was a fun game! "'means we got two!"

Her gaze fell again to rest on her daughter's form, studying the subtle softness of her dark fur in the starlight. Every day, the children grew - more and more they began to resemble those that had come before them, and began to display their own uniqueness, too. Zera's mood seemed ever-changing, and Nayeli could only wonder if she herself had once been so capricious, and how much she had changed since her own childhood. Each day they lived, Zera and Darrah blossomed a little more, and Nayeli could only vow that she'd do everything she could to ensure they went on living, to learn what they needed to keep thriving into adulthood. The fact that she could not prevent everything had become an ever-present nagging worry since her children's birth, usually lurking far off, but occasionally leaping to the forefront of her mind. Had her own mother had similar thoughts?

Her daughter's exclamation broke her from the spell, and Nayeli felt her nagging fears retreat for the moment. Zera's joy and exuberance seemed to banish them, and they kept their distance as the dark woman rewarded her daughter with a happy kiss on the head, her gaze trailing upward again just in time to see another arc of light streak overhead between the oak's embrace. And there's another! How many is that, now?

For another moment she looked at the star-scape above, before dropping her gaze one more toward the little one at her feet. Nobody knows where they go, but it's said that if you could catch one, you'd be the greatest hunter in the world, she said, her tone growing hushed and rather theatrical.