contagious

RE: It smelled like a deer herd was nearby.. but now there are no traces of them. | Clear — Current Temperature: 19° F/-7° C. Dusk. Continued from sugar. @Kite


tell me about my future
'cause I already know my past
let's make up for the time we've missed
so let's just get this over with

It had been his intention to head in this direction. Just the smell of this place stirred something primal inside of him, a sense of loyalty he knew after all this time would never weaken. The gnarled, twisting trees, whose branches intertwined overhead in a way that was beautiful in spite of the barren look about them, were just as he liked to remember. The gently rolling hills of the forest floor were blanketed in snow, but the dim flicker of light that shone down upon them lit them up like waves of white, glimmering and ghostly. He couldn't see it, but he could feel it, snaking beneath their paws─the crystalline-clear creek with the copper stones. It was his father's, and it would be his, but she didn't know that. In the darkness, Mirren's golden eyes became a muted grey, but they were bright all the same as they looked to her. Kite. In a way, he'd been nervous that when the sun set it would put out the ember that remained of their blaze of a day. It seemed unlikely that any experience could top their happen-chance meeting in the blackberry field, but the sun had gone and the moon had begun to rise and he didn't feel any different about the time they were spending with one another. If anything, the prospect of sharing a night with her was equally, if not more exciting. There was no denying that he was still high on her. High on life, with her. She'd been the perfect antidote to the poison that had seeped into his world─at least, it seemed that way so far. On some level, Mirren knew better than to let his hopes soar unchecked. He was willing to give a little, willing for her to take a little, and that was all he knew. He'd been quiet on this last leg of their short journey. Overcome by his own reverence for the area at first, he remained so if only to keep from spoiling the surprise. He'd never brought anyone here, least of all a girl, but it somehow seemed appropriate with Kite. It was something he wanted to share with her, a way of connecting her to his life, to something that was meaningful to him. She didn't know it, but this was holy ground to the Tainn. His gaze cast thoughtfully to her as he walked at her side, and his lips finally parted to break the silence. "The starlight suits you," he murmured, in a matter-of-fact sort of way. And then, it was the strangest thing... as they walked he could have sworn there was a whole herd of deer nearby, their scents carried heavy on the wind, but...there were none to be found, and not so much as a single track.

(This post was last modified: Apr 08, 2014, 04:28 AM by Mirren.)

The two had dined upon the frozen carcass, splitting it perfectly even. Kite was relieved to eat something; it had been a full week since she had been able to find any carcasses at all. The food, although cold, was great to the woman who had not been spoiled at at all these past two months. She suspected that it had little to do with the food they ate and more to do with her present company. Although the thing was frozen, her belly and heart were warm. They ate, together. Kite never minded manners, but somehow she cared too much as to whether or not Mirren got his fill. She could not be at ease thinking he was hungry, and eat in good conscious without being sure that he was eating, too.

It, this, was amazing. They did not even need words. Side-by-side they prowled, though Kite followed him. Somehow it went without saying that she would go with him anywhere in the world. Kite did not know what she had found, but she refused to let go of it. Of him!

As she moved with him, the scenery changed. She kept pace, but Kite could not help but hungrily look around. In him, and in this place, life hummed. The song could not be muted, even in the cold, and it filled Kite with a sense of wonder and vitality alike. The very life that coursed through the veins of this place—in the oaks he saw, on the ground that they stepped—seemed to press into her, and it near took her breath away. Her ears were perked, and she peered at him edgewise. It was not enough, and so she looked to him entirely. That was what really took her breath away, and Kite nearly stumbled but was quick to catch herself. There was no denying it. She was falling.

She did not know of his past, or that this was a piece of him, but the way that he looked here... Kite was awed. And as he complimented her again, Kite's ears fell backward humbly, and she smiled. Kite went with her instincts, followed her gut. She reached forward to attempt to nose his cheek affectionately, murmuring, You are perfect. Her tail waves behind her, and she cannot take her eyes off of him. She could not think of one thing that did not suit him.

The night was cold, and Kite was at first shy, but as they continued to move, she drew all the closer to share in his warmth. Their breath fogged the air around them, and Kite at length said, This place... and you... she could not explain her stream of consciousness, but she could not withhold the thoughts that flowed in her mind as the creek did beneath them. It's like this place was made for you. The way you look... Like a King. Kite did not think of things in those sweet terms, but she had been told stories as a cub of great Kings and Queens of past. The way he looked now was just as her parents had described the kings. Regal, handsome, strong... and then some. Perfect. she reiterated, and it is only then she forces herself to look away, embarrassed by her admission. Kite had never had any qualms with speaking her mind before, and it was not as though she admitted to him that she partook in omphaloskepsis (which she did not), but her stomach flipped-flopped as it never had before. This was not the feeling the rotting of meat brought on, but something brilliant.

His golden eyes became a grey, and her own hazel eyes seemed to darken into a deep brown. She thought of the way the browns, silvers, rich golds, and the darker hues of his coat intermingled perfectly. Kite felt him move beside her and already envisioned the picture of perfection itself, because he was perfection. Kite was careful to look ahead, to not trip over a random mound or shrub, but it was only a matter of time.

The snow and ice crunched beneath their paws as they came upon the clearing. Many times he'd been here before, but he realized for the first time that he'd never seen it like this─covered in white and as silent as though they were the only souls in the world. As a matter of fact, he'd not been back since Nios has left. His memories were of the tall grasses swaying in the breeze, verdant and thick, and of the vividly hued wildfowers that grew on the banks of the creek as the sun glinted off the rocks of its bed. Now, all of that remained hidden, dormant, but he sound satisfaction in knowing that, when spring melted away the frozen landscape, the land would blossom as it always had. The cloud of her breath warmed his face as they made their way, the distance between them seeming to lessen the further they went along. He liked the close proximity and the way her fur would tickle his flank when at times their bodies would bump. Every now and then he would steal a glance at her, watching the movement of her lissome form and the grace in her stride. It somehow seemed to match his own perfectly, and upon noting this he carried himself just a little higher, with a little more purpose in his step, proud to be in the company of the stranger who so complimented him. When she reached to nudge his cheek, he leaned ever slightly into her touch without a second thought. "You are perfect," she murmured, stroking his ego with the highest regard. Mirren was far from perfect, but at her side he felt as though he could be. They could be. "It's like this place was made for you. The way you look...perfect." Yet another compliment, and to this he smiled softly. In the past, such praise coming from someone else might have been excessive or unwarranted, but coming from Kite, honest and genuine as she'd been, it felt right. It reminded him of the way his mother spoke to his father─with respect, and affection, and without hesitation. It made him long to reciprocate the notion, because in a way he felt like she always would, too. The meal they shared had filled his belly for the first time in days, and without the dull pain of hunger to distract him, she had his full attention. "I'm not sure that 'perfect' is a word meant to describe me, but this─" he stopped in his tracks to pointedly look about at the moonlit scenery, his eyes quickly finding their way back to hers, "─these hills, this forest, being here with you─now that is perfect...I must've done something right to be so lucky." He had absolutely no idea what what, but he was so grateful. She took his mind off of the negatives, kept him from tracking back to the past like he always did. Was it possible that his own skeletons could really be laid to rest, and that, for once, the future he'd dreamed of was slowly beginning to draw closer instead of further away? Surely a single day could not make such a drastic change. Could it? "This place, it's...a very special one," he continued, stepping out into the clearing where, just across the way on the other side, stood the rocky outcropping where Ruiko and Aeylen had made their home those years ago. Where the wolves of Copper Rock Creek had once lived among one another, loved one another. Where his life had begun, and where, in a split second, it had almost ended. Mirren looked Kite over, his stoical expression holding a hint of reverence, a hint of acceptance of her, a hint of hope.

While Kite's life had always gone well, it had never been picture perfect. It had been the typical life of a wolf. There were some hardships to be had—family falling ill, injuries they suffered from the hunt, brothers leaving to go their own way—but they all had an important lesson to teach. Kite did not know what she would learn from being forced from home... or, perhaps she would not have had it not been for Mirren. His swift arrival into her life told her exactly what she needed: that everything happened for a reason. Kite did not hold any beliefs in higher powers, not knowing much of that, but she did think about how some things were meant to be and some things were not. In her very core, Kite knew this was right. It was nameless, but it felt as close to perfect as perfect could home. She had never felt anything like this before, and it was a shock to her system. Kite reveled in this feeling... curious, so curious, and eager to explore.

Mirren responded to her, and as he spoke, she watched how his expressions changed. His eyes were so bright to her, despite the darkness... As he spoke of luck, Kite grinned. Me, too. I'd been lost for a while. Dunno where I was going, she anxiously looked to her paws, but her gaze then diverts as she looks around. But now look at where I am, and better yet, who I'm with! Ah, perfect truly was the word to describe the moments she had shared with him. Kite felt like she had sprouted wings and could just... fly. The elation she felt... nothing could compare, not even her excitement when she learned she would become an older sister (which was pretty exciting to Kite, as family meant everything to her... even being forced to go did not dull that excitement). Kite shimmies nearer to him without thought, his light drawing her in. She hadn't the slightest idea of his previous days, how they had been. And Kite felt the misery and loneliness of all her days alone had been worth it, for this.

As he mentioned this place being special, Kite's ears swivel atop her head. Tell me about it, she prompts, thinking that there was more to be said. Kite was eager to hear. She could tell the place was special when they broke into the open mouth that was the clearing. No, she could truly tell long ago. Kite did not know if she thought as much because he did, but she had never seen a place like this. She was used to open land and fields with tall-grass and hardly any scenery except for the ever-present horizon. Here, there was so much to see, so much to note.

The way that tree looked over there. The outcropping ahead. The way she envisioned he would look standing upon that outcropping. Kite felt her tail waving left and right. She could not help but ask, Is this home?

It occurred to Kite, then, that one day she would like to do what her mother had done. A pack of family. Of course, she did not think of having children quite yet, as her season had yet to come, but the very first thought alluding to her future and her choices came into her head. Never had she thougt that way before. Mirren inspired something within her. What it was, she was not sure. She itched to find out.

The word lost as she spoke it struck a chord somewhere inside of him. It was not the first time today that she'd mentioned such a feeling, and now was not the first time that he identified with her on that note. Lost souls, they truly were. Or had been. Inexplicably, he didn't feel so directionless anymore; it was as if their two meaningless paths had merged to forge one relevant one. One that he felt would be worthwhile if they chose to continue on down it. "Tell me about it," she encouraged, and he watched in a quiet moment as she looked about. As if she had already known, or could read his mind, she added, "Is this home?" Home. There was that word again. His mind reminded him in that moment that home was west, in the thicket, where @Nina was likely brooding and his empty fox hole was cold and empty. But his heart, skipping a beat, answered yes; yes, this home, and it always would be. Nowhere would ever compare, not the valley of towering sequoia trees, not the thicket or the woodlands where he dutifully served his pack. The creek ran through his heart, and he bled the colors of those stones that glittered in the summer sunlight. Mirren found Kite's eyes in that moment, piercing into them and searching the depths of what he found there carefully. He was exposed now, his heart torn unexpectedly open, beating and bleeding and there for her to see. Before him stood a girl, a woman, a being who he could physically feel changing his fate. In her hazel eyes, dark and shining in the night, time and the fact that they'd not spent much of it together suddenly didn't matter anymore. This was what it was supposed to feel like. "It is," he breathed, tearing his gaze finally from her to the sight of the only place that ever meant happiness to him. "I was born here, in a den to the north, just past those trees there," he motioned in a direction away from the outcropping. "I spent half of my first year as a child playing along the banks of the very creek that flows right here, right beneath where we stand." His eyes fell down to his paws, his toes wiggling as if they were feeling for it's flowing waters through the snow and ice. "My father, Ruiko Tainn, and my mother, Aeylen, once claimed this place as their own, a kingdom meant for kings and queens, and for princes and princesses." It had been a while since he'd considered himself such, but by every definition he was and had always been a prince of his father's bloodline. "Copper Rock Creek," he murmured softly, the words sending a chill prickling down his spine. He surveyed her for moment. "Come." Mirren led Kite toward the dens, craning his neck to take in the familiar smell of stone and dirt that hadn't changed after seasons had passed and months of snow had washed the vegetation away. Feet from the mouth he came to a stop, peering into it's black depths from a safe distance. Even now, the sight of it made his chest feel tight. "I almost died once, right in there," he motioned. "A flood nearly destroyed our home, and I could have drowned. 'Almost did." He flashed a smile at her, not forgetting the happiness he felt with her in the midst of his reminiscence. "I'm pretty glad I made it through, or else I wouldn't be here with you, Ky," he stated, her nickname like a term of endearment. He meant it, too.

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

Their souls had been adrift in the sea of life. But in that drift, they had found each other. Young and inexperienced in some avenues though she may be, Kite knew that something here was different from anything else she had ever known. There was no way to put a paw on it, given she hadn't felt it or known it before. Something in him, about him, revitalized her. As he spoke of this being home, Kite looked around. Despite the absence of other wolves and their scents, the feeling the place brought her when he admitted that this was home—to him—caused a fire to burn within her. There was no pack here.

One day. One day. In her bones, with every fiber of her being, for him... one day.

As he motioned to where he had slept as a cub, she felt her insides knot together. He had a life here, once. Kite closed her eyes to better picture what he described, and she hummed pleasantly. First she envisioned him as a small, spry thing... and then him as he was now. Life, coming to a full circle. Hearing him shift his paws ever so slightly, she opened her eyes and watched him wiggle his toes. Kite mimicked him, and only paused when he called himself a prince. From anyone else, Kite might have thought the phrase arrogant and egotistical. But as she heard him say it, it was as though he was remembering. Remembering who he was, even while knowing what he would be. By the moment, Kite felt herself being pulled closer and closer. Time was something Kite had learned to disregard long ago. Time was irrelevant. The first instant she was born, her mother loved her without knowing what or who she would one day be. Kite herself threw herself wholly at her family... and although it might be considered different because she knew them to be family, Kite felt time was a concept best left on the back burner. It was not the amount of time that passed that mattered, but moments that you felt.

She felt more here than ever.

Hearing his surname was interesting. It was as regal as he was. Tainn. Copper Rock Creek. His origins, before her eyes. She was the lucky one, she knew. And as he invited her onward, Kite floated behind him. It took not long at all to arrive to den sites, and her eyes followed his own to one in particular. As he spoke of almost dying, she let out a low whine. The thought! She would still be in pitch darkness, she imagined, if he were not alive. Kite moved nearer to him again as he fondly called her by one of her monikers, and the familiarity in which he said it endeared her. Copper Rock Creek has not died, either. It appeeaaars, she drawls, shifting so that she can move to place her head beneath his chin, That something is meant to be here. Or, someone. Kite is like a cat as she attempts to rub her head against him, wagging her tail. Kite knew it was this place that he longed for. If she could help it...

One day.

A part of what he'd hoped to accomplish by bringing her here unfolded before his eyes as the sound of snow shifting drew his attention to her feet. Where he'd wiggled his toes, so had she wiggled hers. Slowly his tail swayed behind him, touching the prominence of her hock when it moved in her direction. Their trek here had started, really, because he'd felt like coming back finally─because something about the way she had no direction, either, inclined him to make a direction for them to move in. It just so happened to be toward the place he'd really, unknowingly, been needing to see. And as the night wore on, it was becoming clearer that the girl's presence was not only comforting, not only refreshing, but it was healing him, too. Remembering much of his childhood and being able to share it with someone who otherwise knew nothing about it was like creating sparks in a field of dry grass. Thoughts of Copper Rock Creek were enough to stir the emotion in him that had for weeks been dormant, but for Kite to listen to him and to react to what he was saying─it made him feel like, for once in a long time, what had always important to him still was, and, perhaps, it could be important for someone else, too. "Copper Rock Creek has not died, either." His ears perked up. "It appeeaaars that something is meant to be here. Or, someone." As soon as she moved to position herself below his chin the fur on his nape stood up, then along his back, and even atop his head. A silly, weightless fluttering tickled inside his belly as goosebumps spread under his fur like wildfire. In one moment he was hot and cold, surprised and yet expectant of her, dominant and submissive. The affections he'd shared with Rabbit had been genuine, but they had felt boyish, childlike, and he certainly had never been sure with her whether or not they were really warranted or desired. But with Kite pressed so delicately into him, her lithe form leaned into his wide chest and the breadth of her crown beneath his chin...he'd never felt this before. A blossoming pride began to swell in his heart, side by side with a novel urge that he wouldn't quell─the feeling of possession. Like he'd known her in another life, cherished her in another life. If there was such a thing, had it been her all along? Was Kite what he had unknowingly been waiting for, searching for, longing for all this time, alone? Mirren returned her touch with an issuance of his affection, nudging her cheek as he leaned in just a bit closer. Milking their proximity for all it was worth, he gently buried his nose for a moment beneath her fur and breathed in the scent that spoke of open skies and a season of loneliness. "It is you," he whispered into her ear. It is you who is meant to be here with me.

Being with him brought on in her the unknown. Untapped potential and foreign feelings ignited within her breast, and she was compelled to go with them. Nothing had ever deterred her from doing so, having no negative experiences in this department. Whatever that meant. Kite felt her life moving, and their paths had crossed. Perhaps this was meant to be. Kite swiftly negated perhaps from the thought. The magnetic pull was undeniable and unavoidable both. The shy Kite was being brought out of her shell, and Mirren had accomplished this quicker than anyone. Even distant cousins could not get from Kite in days what Mirren had been given in hours.

Her insides exploded at his touch, and Kite felt her tail slapping her rear as it fanned quickly left and right. She had not expected his response, not at all. Kite had meant to inspire him to remember that this place was somehow for him, because she—a stranger to these lands—felt that. Her stomach lurched as he brought on his thoughts, his interpretation, of her words. Her eyes went wide, and the L'Crowe's mouth fell agape. Nothing but joy infiltrated her system, and Kite withdrew for a moment to really look at him. The heat of his breath warmed her entire body and soul, and the words ignited a blazing fire within. It was not lust, because the yearling was not yet two and had not entered her first heat. The warmth was deeper than that, it touched her heart and her mind rather than anywhere else.

I... She struggled to express herself, to tell him what she is thinking. I found home, she relinquishes control and the very thought of it. She simply gave in to herself, ignoring her fear. To clarify, Kite steps toward him and attempts to touch his chest with her cool nose, you are home. It was easier to find than she thought. And there was no doubting that it was true, because as the words resonated within her, they felt right.

When she pulled away in surprise, beaming up at him with those hazel eyes as wide as the moon, to beam back at her was all he could do. He searched her face with as much intensity as she searched his, and even if he should have said something, he didn't─because there were no words strong enough, or beautiful enough, or deep enough to do this moment between them any justice. Instead, he held her gaze, knowing that all of his certainty and honesty, and all of the promises he would make to her were right there in his eyes, written on his face and in the way he stood before her. "I...found home," she relinquished, the first to speak. The softest smile pulled at a single corner of his lips, and as she bumped his chest he lowered his head to press his cheek against hers. That morning he'd woke from the dullest dreams, in the coldest, emptiest den. He'd met the most unremarkable morning with an unremarkable spirit, and left behind a lifeless thicket to pursue an aimless path. In a barren field beneath a cloudy sky he met a quaint girl with honest words, and now here he stood, his feet planted to the ground he was born to walk upon, looking into the eyes of girl who could be everything he every dreamed, and...he breathed. For the first time, he knew exactly who he was. Because he could be hers, and she could be his. "Stay with me," he murmured, for the first time and to the last girl. "One day I will give you everything you've ever dreamed of, right here. Just...stay."

(This post was last modified: Apr 08, 2014, 08:25 AM by Mirren.)