Swift River Bring On The Night

@Sven Takes place immediately following This thread.

The hunt had been very successful for them both but the real surprise had come when Sven had offered his catch as a gift to her pack. The rabbits now needed to be deposited in the cache so she'd led him back to the border. Once they had reached the border she had quickly deposited the rabbits in the cache. Now that the hunt was over Leotie didn't want such a beautiful night go to waste. The colorful lights in the sky still danced across the snow. Normally she would already be in the den sleeping but on this night she would rather take in the lights.

When she returned to where she had left Sven at the border she offered him a smile, “The rabbits are safe and sound in the cache,” she informed him, “And I will inform my alphas of your generosity.” The agouti woman the pawed the snow a little nervously, “Would you like to go somewhere and talk?” She asked him meeting his gaze, “I know of a place we could go and take in the lights in the sky as well.” It would be a shame if he went straight home after their hunt but if that was what he chose she would respect it.

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(This post was last modified: Feb 09, 2017, 08:18 PM by Leotie.)

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Taken straight to their borders, he would now know exactly where to come when it came time to meet with the pack's leaders. As smoothly as things were going, Sven was pretty certain he'd make it out the next day. There was little reason to put it off, anyways. He waited patiently at a respectful distance as Leotie disappeared over the threshold, as they had not yet said their goodbyes and he wouldn't trail off without one.

When she reappeared, his tail gave a few wags and a smile curled his lips. She confirmed her work had been done, and assured him that the monarchy would know of his favor; excellent. But then she turned a bit shy, something he hadn't seen from her yet, and asked more of him.

The boy was a bit caught off guard. He couldn't foresee Leotie having any angle, and so it would seem she genuinely just wanted to spend more time with him. Just talk, as she said. Her mention of the aurora sent his pale gaze skyward, as though that would buy him some time. This making friends business surely was strange, but he had to admit he liked it. If only he had a reassurance that any friends made wouldn't vanish as @Sahalie had.

Lowering his sights to meet hers once more, he widened his smile.

"Yeah, sure. Lead the way."

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

Speaking with her alphas was something that could wait until morning and with the rabbits in the cache Sven had fulfilled his promise to her. In her way back to where she had left him she had made her decision to ask him to stay. It was true that he could go back to him pack now that he did what he came to do but it was such a pretty night that it shouldn't be wasted. She would rather enjoy the colorful night sky with him just talking then going to the den to sleep. As she neared the border her tail swayed happily behind her as he came into view.

When she asked him if he would like to go somewhere to talk she was a little nervous, she wasn't sure why exactly. She'd asked her packmates to talk plenty of times and she felt this should be no different. Though she felt they were slowly becoming friends and she was happy about it. When he agreed to go with her to the place she had in mind the speed at which her tail wagged increased and a smile crossed her features.

“It's this way,” she said more confidently as she turned to lead the way stopping to make sure he was with her. The place she had in mind was Swift river, they would be going back to Sacred Grove but she thought it the perfect place with a clear view of the sky and it's moss covered boulders for them to rest on. “Have you ever seen the sky like this before?” She asked as they made their way to the river.

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(This post was last modified: Feb 09, 2017, 11:25 PM by Leotie.)

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His agreeance made her brighten with glee, and that was a good feeling too. Sven Archer wasn't a whiffler, but as steadfast as he wanted to be with his skepticism and distrust of others, he wasn't strong enough to deny the magnetic pull of her smile. He wouldn't hope, he had sworn himself away from that foolish time waster. That didn't mean he had to stay dead in the water, however. Trying was what had always set him apart from his father, after all.

They were headed south he noticed, which was a good thing, given the journey he had back home still. Yet Sven didn't often break out of his responsible routine, and he resolved that one night of staying out and foregoing sleep wouldn't bring the world crashing down around him. He loosened up some as they walked, fully slipping into the ease that 'just hanging out' without agenda or responsibility brought on.

She mentioned the lights again, and his eyes traveled upward to take them in as they went. The aurora itself was not a strange sight to wolves that lived in the Lore, but it was true that the phenomenon was incredibly active and vivid in comparison to the normal stretch of green that banded the night sky.

"Honestly no," he answered, and couldn't help but wonder if @Attica had gotten a chance to see it before moseying off to bed.

"It's beautiful."

Faintly too, he wondered what stories his mother might have about the sight. @Piety had always had a grand explanation for everything.

"So... what did you mean, when we met, that... well, it sounded like you didn't know where you came from?"

Sorry if this post sucks. I lost the reply for this so had to retype it.

While growing up in the humans den Leotie had seen the lights in the sky plenty of times when she was let out into the yard. It was their vibrancy and addition of a couple of other colors that made them more special this time. They danced across the snow making it no longer look white. It also shone in the trees though not as brightly, she never remembered seeing it do that. All off the times she'd seen it before it had seemed much duller so to her this occurrence was something she didn't want to miss. Leotie wanted to share them with someone and while she could have just asked any of her packmates to come watch the lights with her it was Sven she wanted to share them with.

She was very pleased that he'd agreed to stay, she hadn't wanted his visit to be just about keeping a promise. Any nervousness she might have felt before disappeared when he accepted her invitation to stay. The agouti woman woman was soon leading him towards Swift River her tail wagging easily behind her. Their conversation had come to a bit of a stop during the hunt so in an attempt to get it going again she asked him about the sky.

He too hadn't ever seen it as it was that night, “I haven't either,” she shared with him, “Yes, it is very beautiful.” They continued across the snow and though the forest as she took him back to Sacred Grove and Swift River. They were coming closer when he asked about something she'd said to him during their first meeting.

His question did catch her a little off guard but she didn't miss a beat, “It's complicated,” she told a sigh leaving her, “I don't... exactly. I mean I know the place I grew up from when I was eight weeks but I don't know anything about my parents or siblings or where they came from.”

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(This post was last modified: Feb 10, 2017, 06:15 PM by Leotie.)

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Her admittance that it was complicated certainly was not a surprise to Sven. How could something so foreign not be convoluted? It was so difficult to even fathom, as no matter how shaky the pillars had always been beneath him, they still had always been there and he would be damned if he ever saw them fall. That he was an Archer, the history of not just the Ridge but Torbine itself echoing through his veins, his inheritance of it all had always been there to latch onto, to hold him steady when he could not be sure of anything else. Blood, identity; it all meant the world to him.

To have never had it at all?

She gave him a tiny answer, and he felt like it was only the tip of the iceberg. After all, he had so many questions.

But the scenery had changed; they had come to what he could only assume was the place Leotie had been speaking off. Great, snow capped boulders, smoothed by what must have been a far wider and deeper river ages ago, lined the banks of what remained of the waterway. Taking the initiative to lead the way, Sven picked out one wide enough to hold them both and climbed atop it before settling in. He tucked his limbs beneath himself, giving a majority of the room to his company. The aurora shone down upon them both and the white scenery around them, its vivid colors far from fading as there was still much of the night left.

"So, what do you mean? Like, they didn't know anything either, or... were they not with you?"

It was complicated and there still things she didn't understand about her puppyhood because she had been too young to understand. She still didn't understand why she had to be taken from her family at such a young age. For a long time Leotie had wished that she could know who her parents and siblings were. Especially after coming to the lore and living in the bend, seeing others like Sahalie who knew her parents and had grown up in the pack. It made her realize what she hadn't had her in her life until that point but now that she was in the Draw she felt like she had the family she hadn't had before.

The agouti woman felt like Sven was lucky to have grown up in his pack his whole life, to have always known where he belonged his whole life.

They had reached Swift River, the place where she felt would be the best place for them to not only talk and view the lights. While the boulders were covered in snow this time of year she felt the smooth surfaces would be comfortable. He was the first to climb onto one of the widest ones and settling in giving her plenty of room. She climbed up and settled into the place next to him her side touching his. Her gaze went to the sky to watch the lights dance across it while he asked her next question. Letting her her gaze return to met his, “My family wasn't with me, I was taken from them when I was eight weeks,” she told him before. Taking a breath, “From then until I came to the lore I didn't live with wolves,” she admitted.

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(This post was last modified: Feb 16, 2017, 06:26 AM by Leotie.)

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He couldn't help his body tensing as, despite all the extra room he had given her, Leotie chose to lay down close enough that he could feel her side press against his as she breathed. His whole life, it had been only family that showed him physical affection, mostly only his mother and aunt Morganna. The older he got, the more confident he felt curling up with his nonna, and of course since bringing @Attica home they were always dogpiled in one way or another. However, @Enoki, @Renier, @Nicolò even - the teen had never really let them so close to him. It felt wrong, too intimate to be so near to another wolf who wasn't dearly loved.

But Leotie was warm, inviting and calm, and as he watched her watch the aurora above them, he found himself relaxing into her presence. This didnt feel forced or faked or wrong; it felt comfortable, friendly. It was foreign, but as each breath came easier than the last, he found he didn't mind it so much. In fact, he rather liked the simplicity of it.

That moment of silence passed, and his eyes had wandered but were drawn back to her features as she spoke her answer. His brows knit together with his confusion, the teen continuing to struggle in understanding. He'd expected that if her family wasn't around, then they had abandoned her. He hadn't imagined that she'd been stolen, and certainly was shocked to hear that she had not been raised amongst wolves.

"What took you? Coyotes?"

Bears, possibly? What other creature could and would raise a predator not of their kind?

In the time that they had been talking and visiting with each other she had become more comfortable with Sven. She was trusting him more and more but more importantly she liked spending time with him as they were. There on the boulder, sharing each other's warmth, talking, and watching the lights in the sky. With each breath she could feel his side against hers and even though it was the first time they had been this close to each other if didn't feel awkward. It felt as though it was natural, something they had always done. She was still getting used to the physical affection that Kerb often showed her because it wasn't something that she had often been showed in the past. With Sven, she didn't have to get used to it, Sha hadn't had to think about it when she had laid next to him, it just felt right doing it.

He asked more questions of her about her past and she wanted him to understand where she had come from. To do that she knew she would have to come to terms she would have to share what she had avoid led telling everyone but Triell. She'd explained about her puppyhood and why she hadn't known her parents so that only left one thing.

Leotie let her gaze drifted across the snow once she had answered his question but then returned as he asked her another. She worried what he would think of her when she told him, it was what she always worried and why she hadn't told anyone. Would he be like Triell and accept it about her or would he looked down on her because she hadn't been raised in the wild. She looked at Sven hoping that the former would be the case. That their friendship wouldn't end but she knew she had to take the risk and be truthful with him. She swallowed, “Humans took me from my family,” she finally admitted as she held his gaze.

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(This post was last modified: Feb 16, 2017, 04:39 PM by Leotie.)

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