Her movements were slow as she followed him, Mrs. Tainn, her eyes landing on every single thing they passed. I am passing this rock as Mrs. Tainn. I am now actually going to scale this rock... as Mrs. Tainn. Occasionally she would stop Mirren with a yell and demand that hepay attention to his wife lest she fall into a river...and he would then walk along any water sources edge, likely eager to protect her as only he could. There was a lightness in her step, and the wedded yearling could not combat the glow that haloed the both of them. She couldn't see it, either, but if there were any onlookers surely they would. Kite felt it. Felt something surround and cling, and she leans into him. Her mate.Where are we going? Are we there yet?It might have been the twentieth (or twenty-fifth) time she had asked the latter question, but she was eager. Mirren knew these lands better than she, but truth be told, he never had told her any hints or where he intended to take them. Perhaps this was an adventure. Kite treated it like one. It took them long enough to arrive here because she had him scout nooks and crannies of any nifty looking thing with her.We're discovering things together,she explained. Kite found that exceptionally cool. The world was not just her own, now. She shared it with him. The Tainn would share everything with him. Kite's eyes looked to the changing sky, where a familiar ribbon of lights illuminated the sky, exceptionally bright once again. Their dance was one of approval, and the view with him there.... Kite pauses.Hey, look,
He'd been in bliss for more miles than he even cared to keep track of.
The budding young couple had made the world their own─the whole world─but, as much of it as they were seeing on their adventure, Mirren's eyes were mostly glued to his bride. He shared the weightless way she took her steps, his golden eyes mirroring the wild gleam that shone so fervently in her hazel ones. They scoured the wilderness together, but no matter how wondrous and faraway the mountain peaks looked in the setting sunlight, no matter how fresh the air that blew across the vast and rolling meadows were, no matter how pleasant the wildflowers felt as their soft and colorful petals brushed against his face as the two of slept beneath an open sky...Kite was still the most beautiful, wonderous, mysterious, and perfect thing to be found. But he'd done so much more than just found her─he loved her, and now their lives were intricately tied to one another for life.
By the time they'd made it into the heart of Serpent's Pass, she'd probably asked him where they were going five-hundred times, but he didn't mind. And as a matter of fact, he didn't really know. He'd spent some time on the eastern side of the range on his way to Copper Rock Creek all those months ago and had crossed the mountains to get there, but most of the terrain that sprawled before him was uncharted. There was no denying that it was beautiful, and how exciting it was to quite literally be lost with the girl of his dreams and best friend. All around them, ancient pine trees rose from the scaling, slated ridges, the rolling hills beyond them giving way into forest as far as the eye could see. In the night and as they reached what he hadn't realized was their destination, it looked like a sea of black, the moonlight upon the trees like slivers of light upon the crests of waves.
Breaking through a treeline onto an unlikely scene─a sandy beach, lining a vast and most secluded lake amid the mountains─the tawny boy didn't expect what they'd unknowingly found. The northern lights lit up the sky, dancing across it in waves made of colors he'd never even seen before. His jaw dropped open, hanging for a second in amazement before snapping shut with a hollow click. He leaned into her form, his eyes searching the sky before finding her face. In the dark and beneath the aurora, Kite looked like an angel, a figure of his imagination. This couldn't be more perfect, and now he felt more weightless than ever.
Mirren stared out across the lake, its waters like a mirror as they reflected the azure and violet hues that were cast through the sky above. "That's...that's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen." And it truly was. He breathed. "It was waiting for us, this place." Eyes of gold, pale in the night, fell upon her face.
Her heart never beat so rapidly as it did when with him. It was not a thing she could help. But then, there were times where her heart seemed to beat at an incredibly slow pace, too, so contented and comfortable by his side and with him that she had never been so at ease, so relaxed. But the Tainn newlywed felt her heart hammer like a hummingbird trying to be freed from its cage then, electrified by his presence and by the skies show for them. His words echoed her thoughts. A place for them. They had found it, though perhaps this had been the place he had meant to show her... and it was beautiful. Everything was just beautiful.
Kite looks to him, her heart twisting and her eyes gleaming as he does the same. A sheepish smile touches her lips, and she leans into him.You...She cannot even think of more words. Mirren had multiple effects on her, and one of them came into play now. Kite was speechless, and she shakes her head.I can't believe...Again she is at a loss for words and a look of frustration falls upon her.I am so happy,she manages at last. Kite thought she had known happiness before him, but she had been so, so wrong. Happiness must mean this. For beside him, Kite felt nothing but that, her whole being feeling the effect of him.These lights... you are more brilliant than them.Kite grins at her eloquence, very pleased with herself.
There was a chill in the late spring air that seemed to conflict with the warmth he felt for Kite and the warmth of her body, so close. Tiny, transparent clouds of of her breath when she spoke hung if only for a moment in the space between their faces, and a glint of joy shone in his darkened eyes, mixed somehow with the reflections of the waves of light that moved across the sky. Each day they spent at each other's side was like a thread of destiny, intricately sewing their fates inextricably together, and now that they had made their vows, nothing would tear the fabric of their life apart.
She was, perhaps, at her cutest when she was at a loss for words. With the expanse of navy sky wide open above them, watching her fumble and recover her words and the meaning behind them was something that he really did enjoy. But it wasn't just her; at times, he too couldn't quite figure out just what to say, and sometimes he knew that the silences they shared were just as important as the words that could have hung there between them instead.
"These lights... you are more brilliant than them."
He grinned, the puff of a soft breath exhaled into the shadows. His eyes fell to the ground for a moment, looking over his dirtied paws─a weathered cream against the shades of black that colored the earth. "Whatever brilliance you see in me is only there because of you." Mirren leaned to nip affectionately at Kite's chin, the thumping of his own heart slow and steady within the confines of his broad chest. "It's funny, you know...I would have never imagined something as wonderful and as special as this─being here, being with you─could have ever happened for me. For so long, it was like something was missing..." he paused. "...And for the longest time, I thought that I would find whatever it was somewhere along the creek. Somewhere in the past that I remember and love. But...It was just you missing; you're my future. You're my everything, Kite."
A breeze blew casually through the tops of the pine trees, their needles rustling like whispers beneath the stars.
He spoke again, and Kite turned to observe him, the sky above dancing in time with his words. As he paused, Kite moved, so that she was in front of him and not beside him. She looked at him, watched him and listened. His words were heavy, but they made her feel so incredibly weightless. The woman moved closer to him, pushing her chest against his and moving to bury her face in his plush, warm chest. His words rang in her head, a thousand times. You're my everything. He had read her mind, but the truth of it was frightening. Kite pressed her tongue to the roof of her mouth, and continued to push her forehead into his warm chest, and then she dragged it upward so that the bottom of her head was tucked neatly beneath his chin. Her tail waved. I didn't know I was looking for anything, Kite admitted beneath him. When I saw you the very first time, already something changed. From the minute I met you, nothing was the same. She pauses as she thinks on this, recognizing the truth of it. With him, he was the first part of the present, the future. Other packs had turned her away, and he had not. I would not change a thing. You are my everything. My present and my future, her voice does not waver, and Kite moves to lick tenderly at his chin. I did not know feeling like this was even possible before you. And I wake up and nothing changes. This happiness... she had not known it. But he brought it.