i want you to know

Mirren had met the entirety of her family by now. And he had not left her. Of course, her family wasn't crazy or anything; Kite had grown up happily and pleasantly. But that she came with a mate and a new surname surprised her family, who naturally was interested in the man despite the days they had ahead of them. Kite stayed with her passing sibling, who had requested her by name, and cared for them. Her mother interrogated her on her newfound mate, and Kite would escape to his arms come nightfall to meet his comforting words and him. His being there confirmed what she had known for a long, long time: he was her forever.

It was the coldest night of the Winter when her sibling passed. The memory was one she did not like to think back on, because it meant it had truly happened. Even now she was coming to terms with that fact, partially in denial. When asked, she would brush the subject aside. She was not ready to delve into this yet, this untapped sadness she had never known. But at the least, she was surrounded by family (Mirren included). They had a promise to keep; they had to return to the lands she had found him. So, when the snow first began thawing at the Plains—although she wanted him to see the empty place in its glory—her mother ushered them off. Kite felt a strangeness in her, nearly wanting to run at the woman who had reared her... but obeyed, a strange itch crawling up her spine and a knowing look in her mothers eye.

Who only briefly mentioned that she might feel strange in the coming days, but never why.

Kite had always thought there was no such thing as too much of her mate, was there a way that was possible? And defying her own beliefs, as they passed the threshold and drew closer to the place she had found him, Kite could hardly let him leave her side. Coupled with the newfound anxiety he might fall ill, there was also something else... something else! That itch!

The Tainn had stepped away to scout ahead, see how close they had come. A familiar landmark caused her to double back toward her mate, hollering, WE'RE CLOSE NOW! Her eyes hungry for the sight of him, he who had truly blossomed into a man in his absence from this place. They had both been placed as second in command at home, giving them some experience, but Kite had always seen her mate as more than that even in appearance alone. He looked so regal, so kingly, and he was all hers. Her tail waved triumphantly with her find.

(This post was last modified: Mar 10, 2015, 03:49 AM by Kite.)

It had been a long winter, to say the least. Not only were the days biting cold (and the nights even colder) and dark, but he and Kite had gone far from home to a place that, for him, anyway, was completely foreign. Storm Plains, he imagined in the first days they'd spent there, was appealing in its own ways. The openness of the sky, the way the rolling hills went on for as far as the eye could see, the abundance (and overwhelming at times) of fresh air... What really made the place of his mate's heritage intriguing, however, were the locals. For whatever reason, Mirren hadn't ever thought of Kite as coming from as large a family as she had, and, just like her, most of them were their own kind of tawny ─ the sort of coloring he thought would be a perfect autumn camouflage.

He'd enjoyed their time with her siblings and, truth be told, the swarthy Tainn had hit it off with Mrs. Tainn's mother, but never for the rest of his life would he forget the sorrow in which his memories of the place would always be painted. The way Kite's kin's life withered away to agony before meeting death, or the way, some nights, it was all he could do to lick away the tears from her eyes and hope that the warmth of his body could be any comfort to her in what were some of her darkest hours. She'd handled it all much better than others perhaps would have, given her support system and the way she always was stronger than she sometimes should have been. By the time the affair was said and done and she'd laid her sibling to rest and made right with the world and with her family, he was ready to bid the plains and his extended family farewell and head for the forest.

It wasn't until they'd undertaken the majority of the venture home that he realized there was more change in the air about him than just the weather and scenery. Kite was...was...incredibly clingy at times, and then distant as a blackbird in the sky; starving for days on end (despite his excellent efforts to catch her something fresh at every opportunity) and then without an appetite for just as many; hot and cold, literally. Like a boy, Mirren hadn't been able to put matters together into anything that even marginally resembled sense for what felt like ages when...one day it finally hit him like a pine cone fallen from a tree to land with a crack right between his ears.

As if Kite's emotional...dysregulation wasn't scary enough, the prospect of fatherhood was this massive, brooding thing that hung over him like a cloud. Not like a storm cloud, or in the sense that it blocked out the sunlight, but just in the sense that there was something there, a constant reminder of some grander purpose to be fulfilled. Sometimes, the thought of creating a dynasty of his own was absolutely intriguing, and other times he was content just to have the love of his life healthy and curled up next to him come nightfall. Sometimes, the scent of her and the way she looked at him through those hazel eyes made his skin crawl something fierce...fierce for her. By the time the outskirts of the Lore loomed before the pair, he'd decided to leave the matter in her hands ─ what Kite so wished for, Kite would receive. And he was happy to give her every last thing that her heart desired.

Crossing into the ancient orchard, the ground still held the aroma of sweet as he sauntered along with Kite at his side. Mirren was ready to be home at last, and the closer they drew to the Thicket, the more swollen his heart became. "Yes we are─" he returned to her, nipping gently at her shoulder mid-stride. "But..." He skidded to a halt, his eyes widening with a melodrama he'd picked up from hers truly over the months. It was so hard to travel with a crazywoman without employing some sense of humor. "...what will you do when you can sleep in your own den again?" His paws and his brain were aching, he could only imagine how Kite felt after weeks on the road.

SHE LOVES HIM SO MUCH I CAN'T . Also your post = so beautiful, omg. I've missed 'em <3

At his touch, Kite felt her body go quite literally aflame, though could not understand the meaning. As he stopped, she drew her body alongside his own without thought, the sensation of his touch sating her for the minute. That they could be any closer did not occur to Mrs. Tainn, who desired it but did not know how to obtain it. These things, she was an utter amateur at. She knew not what her heat meant, but she thought of her mother at home hosting a whole new slew of siblings for her to have. And then for a moment, her mind adrift, she wondered what it might be like to have her own little set of paws weaving in and out of her legs crazily, and tugging at their fathers ear for morning walks. Kite blinked as he spoke, falling out of her reverie and back into him as she curled around his rear to draw back to his side again.

His question was met with a pensive look. What would she do? Take the longest nap of my entire life, she half-jokes, looking to him with a grin, With my best friend in the whole entire worllllllldddddd, she croons excitedly, now moving to nip at his chin, her tail waving left and right. He was her love at first sight, and she could find no collywobbles with him at all.

Y'excited? She questions, content with their break. They were on the final stretch, but they had traveled for miles beyond miles to get here. Her muscles screamed, and although she was a scout and had plenty of endurance, she was as mortal as he was. Kite nosed into his shoulder, finding the need to draw him nearer, the scent of him irresistible to his wife. The Tainn could not fathom how he was with her still, how he had to patience to deal with her always. Her eyes closed and she leaned into him, her rock, and as of late her strength, ears flattening reverently atop her head. Kite adored him above all other things; she would do anything for him, and with him.

He had weathered one of the greatest storms in her life, and met the whole of her family in one fell swoop. They had taken to him, and her sisters chirped her ear off about how handsome he was. How'd you do that, Kite? They would joke, He's better looking than you! One eye opened, now, and she had to grin despite herself. They were probably right. Mirren, to Kite, was one of the most marvelous sights she ever had beheld. Even in the morning when he had a cowlick, or bedhead, he was brilliant. I love you so much, she murmured into his shoulder, closing the eye again and taking this moment to rest, to reflect. While she had lost a family member, she had gained much on this journey. A healthy dosage of respect for her mate, and a deep bond with her remaining L'Crowe's.

 

(This post was last modified: Mar 17, 2015, 03:27 AM by Kite.)

<333

Having spent many weeks experiencing such a degree of hardship and heartbreak, Mirren had almost forgotten just how good life with Kite really was. Here they were now, after weeks on the road, somewhere between the plains and home and beneath a vast sky; the energy in Kite's voice (one that only she seemed to be able to possess) reminded him that they were young and had the world at their feet. No true responsibility (having not yet resumed his Guardianship), no threat to their bodies or minds, and safe so long as they had each other's back. With her, he felt like a bird soaring through the sky.

What was more of a purr than a growl rumbled lowly, softly in his throat as her body curved around his own, drawing to his side as she so often did. "I must be the luckiest boy in the world to have such a pretty girl at my side, best friend," he replied, nipping at the corner of her ear. "And..." he paused for a moment, lifting his masked snout to the wind, surveying the horizon of the orchard with a squint, "...I think a nap is warranted." They were drawing close to Secret Woodlands, so close that he could nearly make out the treeline over the most distant hills. And to answer her question about it, "Yes, love ─ I am very excited. I really missed Nina, you know...It's strange. I never really miss my blood mother," Aeylen was the epitome of a queen, a perfect matriarch, loving and daring and honorable, "but all this time we've been away, I've thought of Nina and the kids every day. I hope everything's alright." He'd had his reservations about leaving. Thinking that @Nina or the children might suffer in his absence, that they might go hungry in the cold, or that they might face danger without him to protect them. But he'd left able souls behind to care for them all, and she had a male to lead beside her then. @Koda ─ as stubborn and old and sometimes ridiculous as Mirren thought he was ─ had proven himself, and Mirren didn't doubt that his intentions to be the man he once was before his abandonment were genuine.

"I love you too," he murmured, lifting his head proudly to look down upon Kite's beautiful face. "...So much." He wondered if she knew how deep his love for her ran. It permeated every fiber of his being, consuming him and transforming him to be better, stronger, whole. Not a day passed that he ever questioned whether or not he'd chosen the right girl to have at his side. One day, Kite would be a queen, and even if she didn't see it herself now, she would be as fierce and regal ─ more fierce and regal ─ than he could have ever hoped for. 

(This post was last modified: Mar 21, 2015, 08:26 PM by Mirren.)

Kite was quite happy he had come with her. When her sister—Raven—came in the dead of the night summoning her urgently, Kite was not sure she wanted to ask him to come, given all of his responsibilities at the Woodlands. But at his request, she could not lie. She did want him to come. Kite wasn't sure if she could admit the need she felt for him, how weak she was when she heard the news. For some of the time, she had been a true shell of herself. Less spirited, certainly less impish and playful... more morose and quiet, unsure, and anxious. Mirren came to know a side of her that Kite did not know she had herself, yet. So together they combated her demons then. From time to time, they would still need to. But the trip home had been a good one as a whole, a peaceful one. The warmer weather certainly helped.

As Mirren responded to her, she grinned, removing her face from his shoulder. Kite had always considered her family to be the closest ones to her, but there was no one in this world that had ever amounted to what Mirren had become to her. Her littermate, Robin, had been the one she was closest to aside from her brother Falcon. The duo approved of Mirren as she knew they would, though admittedly they questioned him the most, and would even steal him from her for hunts and patrols at the Plains.

Her ear twitched at his nip, and as he paused she watched him. A nap is warranted. Her tail waved triumphantly, glad he agreed with her. He spoke of Nina, and Kite listened. As he admitted he never missed his blood mother, she grew somewhat surprised. This she did not expect to hear. Though she supposed she could relate; Kite had never been too terribly homesick for her parents, knowing they were well. Kite missed her siblings more than anything. I've missed Nina, too, actually. She was great to me always. And really understanding when we went... She was so, so thankful for that. The last thing Kite had wanted was bad blood with the woman who had been nothing but gracious toward her. I wonder how the Winter was, here. The Plains had been mild, but she knew it was not the same everywhere. Kite did not want to say that everything would be alright, as she typically may have had she not looked in the face of death. Kite knew cubs frequently did not make it in the Winter... but, Nina was a strong woman, and when they had left, the Woodlands had strong wolves to look after them.

Kite thought of the womans cubs, and then cubs in general, before Mirren took her from her thoughts with his requited words. Kite moved to bestow upon him many kisses, before the bridge of her muzzle brushed his feathery throat adoringly. Her tail waved as, like a cat, she shifted to drag her entire self slowly across the side of him as she moved in a circle... before her face was aligned with his rear-end. She lingered there for a moment, before moving to nip the top of his hindquarter in a love-bite, snickering and bolting away so he could not reciprocate. Tag.

This damnable itch had brought out a different desire in her, one she had not felt in a long time; the one to be chased.

"I wonder how Winter was, here."

Immediately he remembered the last winter and how cruel and unrelenting it had been. The herds disappeared, the snow piling up so high in some places that he thought he could have sunk down into it and never see the light of day again. He'd been just a boy, then, which felt strange to him now, only a year later. It was strange how much one could grow in what seemed like such a short time, but perhaps that was just the nature of the transition ─ from boy to man. Mirren wondered if it had felt that way to his siblings, too.

For a moment he let his mind slip away from Kite and their travels and the orchard, to some distance place. He thought of @Nios and @Vaeta, wondering where they were and if they were well. Instinct told him that they were; he felt in his heart that both his brother and sister were strong, and he knew that they were capable of surviving without him, wherever they may be. Where once he worried over Nios, his body worn down from not knowing where he was or what he was doing or if he was alive, he wasn't so concerned. The last they'd seen each other, it was clear that his littermate didn't need his guidance and protection anymore, which felt like a thorn in his side sometimes ─ a constant reminder that his role in his brother's life had changed. It was also a reminder that the role Mirren had assumed since that encounter was no less important. He had taken a mate and was to be a faithful and dutiful husband, he was to be a faithful and dutiful guardian to Secret Woodlands, and he would raise Copper Rock Creek once more and rule over it until his dying day. He reveled in the possibilities the future held, but it didn't temper the fact that he ached for the companionship of his siblings, and always would.

He said nothing, but was drawn from his thoughts and returned to the present as Kite nipped playfully at his hip. The sight of her as she sauntered away from him, luring him to chase after her, brought a most genuine smile to his lips. He was more than satisfied and willing to indulge her. And...something told him that even if he wasn't, he wouldn't have much choice. His body felt drawn to her as she withdrew from him, and something churned in his chest like a storm brewing in a darkening sky. His skin prickled beneath his fur and his posture lifted dominantly, though not in a threatening way. He wanted to dominate her, he wanted to display his prowess to her, and he wanted to touch her, be near to her, possess and protect her. Mirren understood why this was, even if he'd never felt it for himself before.

Sweeping, graceful strides took the swarthy regal after Kite, and he caught up with her enough to return a nip to her hindquarters. But he wouldn't let her steal away again so soon; he nibbled his way up her back, his teeth softly grazing the skin between the slender blades of her shoulder. He longed to get her alone, granted that there seemingly wasn't anyone else around, and eyed a distant copse of cherry trees. Their branches were bare and they didn't offer much privacy, but the sun was setting now and soon darkness would cloak the rolling hills. Beneath a red- and orange-streaked, cloudless sky, one that bathed the snow in a similar, beautiful glow, Mirren tore away from his other half in a dead sprint, eating up the space between the two of them and the copse. But he didn't look back to see if she followed; he couldn't, because Kite's speed outreached his own and if he did anything but run he knew she'd catch up in the blink of an eye. 

Wherever her mate went, Kite would follow. To the ends of the world. And Kite knew it was much the same for him; he had proven that to her in his trip with her, to her crazy family. Kite thought of this even as her strides grew longer and longer, and she laughed at the thrill she felt, of being hunted; but he was upon her soon enough, and she slowed, her eyes bright and her tail waving. She felt his nip and would have turned to nip back had his teeth not met their mark so consistently after up her side, and she felt a chill unlike one she had ever felt, one that made her body go from cold to hot. A warm breath tickled her withers as his muzzle lingered there...

And then he was gone, racing ahead. Kite did not see his destination, only that he was going somewhere. Her muscles coiled and Kite wasted no time in moving doggedly after him, long strides carrying her to his behind where she nipped playfully at his heels, before she pushed forward even faster, harder, to get to his side and best him in this race. Ahead she saw the trees he had spotted, and if he let her go ahead surely she would surge past him in this race. This time she would not trip.

There is a rabbit\'s nest nearby. +1 Health

Kite was on his heels more quickly then he'd anticipated. The wind roared past his ears, cutting across his face and through his fur and in his chest his heart thrummed like the wings of a hummingbird. In moments like these ─ moments spent with her ─ he couldn't be freer, couldn't feel lighter. The two of them could have traveled to the world's end and back and still a memory made with her would heal any pain, any ache, would make him whole again. As she surged past him, he...he...couldn't help but to remember the last time they'd raced.

It was a fond memory. Forever he would be able to envision her as she jetted across the plains toward the mountains, the way her wet, earthen-toned fur blew in the wind and how majestic she looked...as she tripped and skidded on her face through a puddle of mud. It was those days they'd first spent together that he'd truly fallen for her, as he saw how cute she was when she blushed with embarrassment; how easily she relinquished herself to let him swoon over her when he thought she might be injured. It was as they traveled by day and learned to love by night that he began to envision a life not riddled with regret and worry, one where someone as amazing as she would stay.

In the fading light of a setting sun, with the violet of night encroaching across the sky and the sweet smell of fallen fruit beneath the winter's snow thick on the wind, Mirren watched the girl in motion in such an awe that, as they approached the copse, his run trickled to halt. There she stood among the bony branches of the trees, her sides heaving from the chase, her tongue hanging from her mouth, her fur shining in the last of the daylight. She was the same wolf he'd crossed that fateful spring day on the blackberry field, but she was no longer the same girl. She had become so much more than that, and only with her had he become the man he wanted to be. They'd been through thick and thin together, and their experiences had only deepened his devotion to and respect and love for her. He watched her for a time, leaving the distance in between them until the sun disappeared behind the horizon. And when he'd come to terms with what he'd spent this time putting into perspective ─ his heritage, his past, his aspirations, what she meant to him and what he wanted for her, what she wanted for herself and for him, what he was to do once they'd returned home, and the home he was to make along the banks of Copper Rock Creek ─ he went to her.

His golden eyes fixated on her. His skin prickled beneath his fur. The look on Mirren Tainn's masked face was as wild and wanting and serious as it had even been. Her scent filled his lungs as he drew to her, stilling only when they were nearly nose to nose. Slowly, he licked his queen's chin, then her lip, then her cheek. His breath was hot as it slipped beneath the fur of her jaw, and a rumble resounded low and quiet in his chest...

WOOF 

Kite's shrieking, guffawing laugh rang in her own ears up until the point she realized he had slowed, and she skidded to a halt roughly, nearly falling herself. This time she did not slam on her face (to her relief, it was embarrassing enough the many times it had happened before in front of him) and even managed to make it look cool (in her own head of course) as she rounded a tree that budded with the promise of the life it would bring. As the evening light hit her, it could look like she glowed with the same promise before that tree. She did not think of this, could only think of him as her eyes fell to him. It was him the light hit perfectly, him that looked positively radiant and kingly in this light.

She truly had changed since they had first met, but the credit could largely go to his presence that caused her to grow into a woman rather than a mere girl. Without Mirren, Kite could very well have vanished into nothing that Winter. But he had found her. More than that, accepted her right off the bat, even with her awkwardness, her way with words. Kite Tainn realized as she looked to the changed man before her, realizing that she had loved him from the very first time she had saw them. This was far more than sweet serendipity; they were meant. For many things. Firstly, each other. And beside one another, surely they would resurrect the empire Mirren had dreamed of. They had promises first to keep, and keep them they would—

But destiny could never be stopped.

Kite felt a strange instinct within her, and she let out a low, beckoning growl to her mate, who approached her immediately thereafter. He did not delay in his affections, which she pushed into, which caused a slow-burn to ignite within her belly. A low, excited whine was offered at his rumble, and his warm breath caused the eager Kite to quiver, tail waving all the quicker as she moved to nibble at his sharp jawline, and then to his shoulders... Kite continued in these gentle ministrations, trailing dotingly along the length of his body, allowing her tail to wave again, this out of instinct and excitement both as she rounded him and sidled up to his side once again, pressing her muzzle beneath his own, needing his touch, wishing for a closeness to him she could not understand, pushing against him and whining again lowly, wantonly—a sound the likes of which she had never emitted before, but that she thought nothing of all the same.