Wild Rye Fields illusions of the sunlight

@Cottongrass only, please! <3

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RE - A meteor shower overtakes the sky!

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To be honest, Risaela wasn't even sure why she was still awake. She was really tired, and yet her itchy paws drove her to wander through the golden fields that the Rye wolves called their home. The child had come to enjoy being around the beautiful meadows, but she still longed desperately for the paludal charm of Hearthwood River. She wondered if she stayed away long enough, she might not want to go back. But maybe that part of her that wanted to go back so badly was right, and she needed to return.

She missed her family so much. Even Laike.

Maybe that was the thing that caused so much of her insomnia lately. Maybe it was almost time to go home.

The girl was right in the middle of her thoughts when a bright flash of light whisked through the otherwise dark and star-spotted sky. Her silver eyes gazed upward, completely confused, and wondering what the hell had just happened. She was beginning to believe that she had imagined it, when it happened again. And again and again and again! It looked as though the sky itself was falling to the earth.

Her mouth opened in awe, amazed at how terrifying and beautiful this new spectacle was. The child stopped in her tracks, head tipped upward and silver eyes round in wonder. For the moment, all that existed in the world was herself and the crumbling, dying sky.

The distinct scent of Hearthwood River was fading. He couldn't smell it whenever he passed by the pack's outermost borders. And he didn't know about the origin of the odour or even why it appeared one day but he was glad that it was gone. It always unnerved him when he caught scent of something earthy and foreign when he was in the middle of pack territory. But he found that old habits died hard.

Because the scent of intrusion was gone but he couldn't stop his wandering paws. Not even when he knew for a fact that he wasn't a night owl and sooner or later he would crash whether he wanted to or not. A few more silent laps around pack territory wouldn't hurt anyone. Especially when he knew that it was around this time the owls became more active along the southern edges of Wild Rye Fields.

Except tonight he wasn't alone.

As from the darkness yellow eyes caught sight of a small body. One that he knew was far too young to be outside alone under the cover of nighttime. It was enough to have his paws stumbling to a halt. Because he couldn't see any of the usual babysitters nearby. He couldn't make out the dark form of Askan or the unique fur of Adelayde glinting under dull moonlight. His brows furrowed and for a few awkward seconds he could only stare. Was he supposed to get help or confront the puppy by himself just in case? He didn't think he would be able to live with himself if he wandered off to alert someone and returned to find that the little wolf was gone.

His paws made the decision before his mind could fully decide. And so he approached the girl with uncertainty in his every step. She wasn't one of theirs. He didn't recognize the pale fur from the pack meeting that took place only days ago. But he figured that nobody would allow a stranger to wander into pack territory no matter how small they may be.

He stumbled to a halt beside her. Moments later his gaze followed hers to the night sky above and he watched alongside her in silence. There was a meteor shower. One that was nothing more than dozens of white streaks darting across the open sky. He spared a glance back down at the puppy.

"Those are, uh, they're—" His mind reeled and he wondered if she already knew what they were. It would be real awkward for the both of them if she did. He forced himself to continue despite his internal hesitation. "They're shooting stars." He finished with an uncomfortable nod of his head. Like he was just double-checking with himself. Behind him his tail gave a slow wag and he decided to settle down against his haunches before he fell over with his neck craned upward.

The arrival of a new wolf didn't really phase the girl, who was far too engrossed with the beautiful show across the sky to care about anything else. For several long moments, she was even really glad to have his company. She assumed he was part of the Rye pack, because why else would he be on their territory? Therefore, she wasn't afraid. Although a quick glance told her that he was pure white, like Uncle Cloud, which caused a pang of longing and homesickness to rise in the child's stomach.

It didn't last long, because the new white wolf decided to speak.

'Those are, uh, they're—' he began, and Ris turned her gaze back toward him to show that she was listening. She was patient, because she had problems with making words correctly, as well, and she didn't mind the wait. 'They're shooting stars.' The young wolf finally finished his train of thought, and the pup turned her attention back to the sky above. Shooting stars sounded really cool, and they looked even cooler.

"I l-l-like 'em," she stammered, her silver eyes tracing the movement of one of the dozens as it streaked across the sky. "They-they-they good?" Maybe they just looked nice, like that mean worm she'd met so many weeks ago (she knew now that those things were called snakes and were to be avoided.) Maybe the shooting stars were like that, but she hoped they were nice. Besides, even if they were bad, then how could something so tiny hurt anything?

That would be so weird.

Sorry for the wait! Won't happen again <3

Something was happening.

He could feel it in every fibre of his being. From the way his paws itched to the way his bones seemed to hum with untold energy. And he didn't know how to describe the sensation or even start to understand what caused it but he knew it had something to do with the stars. Why else would the crawling sensation grow stronger with each passing second? He was staring at the stars and he got the suspicion that they were staring right back.

His ears twitched at the girl's soft voice. Her question only strengthened the reaction inside of him.

Because he didn't know the first thing about stars.

It was becoming more obvious and man, he was starting to feel nervous. His ataatatsiaq didn't have any words of wisdom for him when it came down to the sky. And he knew for a fact that his parents didn't tell him anything either. He was pretty sure he could remember his parents mumbling something about shooting stars before begging him to go back to sleep. That was the full extent of his otherworldly knowledge.

He wondered if it was too late for him to call for help. Askan or Adelayde had to be somewhere nearby, right? They seemed like they were good with puppies. Way better than he would ever be because come on, he himself was more or less an overgrown puppy. One that didn't know anything about shooting stars and he sure hoped the girl next to him didn't have any more questions. Because were they good?

How was he supposed to know!

"Yeah." He finally managed to stutter out. "They good. Great, even." Was it obvious he didn't know what he was saying? He felt like his sheer ignorance on the topic was obvious and that the whole entire world knew it. All he could think about was that he was moments away from getting made fun of by a puppy. He could sense it.

(This post was last modified: Oct 29, 2017, 05:28 PM by Cottongrass.)

SO sorry for the wait!

The little kid didn't notice Cottongrass' dilemma. She was too enraptured by the falling beams of light, and caught up in the wonder of it all. She wasn't worried that the falling stars were bad things - not really. That had been more to start a conversation, instead of get an answer because she was concerned. In a few months, she would be reminded of this night as snow fell in the wintertime, and she would even moreso be reminded of the white wolf beside her.

But Cotton was quick to reassure her that the stars falling from the sky were more than just good - they were great. So, clearly they wouldn't bite like the mean snakey thing she had met so many weeks ago, and clearly she wasn't in any danger. Silver eyes tore away from the heavens to glance at the white-pelted man, her tail sweeping across the grass as she wagged it behind her. "'M R-Rissy," she introduced, but she doubted he was unaware of her name. Jessie must have told most of the other wolves about her by now, and this wolf smelled a whole lot like Jessie.

"'Syer name?" she asked, angling her ears and giving her new friend her full attention. It would be rude to do otherwise, wouldn't it? She wasn't quite sure where she had come up with that idea, but it seemed to be right. Yeah.