Pasos al Cielo Ever Since the Rain I've Been Living Days Too Slow

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

She had only half expected his response, and when he showed more excitement than she'd expected the woman found that her tail had begun to sway quickly behind her with renewed energy. The male gave her more praise for her everyday experiences than any she'd come across this reality made her feel a jolt of happiness and gratitude for the company of someone so eager to hear about her everyday mundane life. "Thank you Cottongrass, you're too sweet." she blushed beneath her pale fur, eyes seemed to warm up to him and the charm he was giving off; he was probably way cooler than her.

He asked if she had any more stories and the woman contemplated for a moment, reeling through the many silly and embarrassing encounters she'd come across during her life time. If only he knew how many stories she did have to tell, and how little time they had for her to tell them all, but for entertainment purposes, the woman cleared her throat and smiled wide. "You sure you want to open that box Cotton?" she joked, half expecting the male to reject her humor and decide against it after considering how easily she had ran off with this conversation. Perhaps she should hold back just in case, not wanting to give too much information too soon but she gave into his request without a second thought. "Only if you share some with me," she reasoned with the male, expecting the request to go over well.

Although she knew that she wasn't the best story teller or most interesting to listen to, she was certain that some of the encounters were worth a laugh,a scare or a shock or two. She was after all in a humorous mood, "You want to hear about my run in with a skunk or porcupine?" both were most comical with the latter ending in her receiving a few quills but they were all learning experiences that she would keep with her for life.

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Aurora "Rory" Thanne was brave, cool, and funny.

He could hardly believe his luck. Because how the heck did they both manage to live on the same plane of existence!? He was the exact opposite of everything he believed she embodied. And it was almost like she didn't even notice. She was cracking jokes and he was utterly amazed at the fact that she wasn't getting sick of him asking her all these questions. And when she went so far as to ask him about some of his adventures? He was pretty sure he was in heaven.

His tail never stopped wagging and he practically glowed with happiness. Because he couldn't get enough of her. He was pretty sure Rory was among the wolves he considered his favourite. It was a title he only bestowed upon Askan and Reyes thus far but he liked to imagine that she was the missing piece or something. He couldn't help but let out a hoot of laughter while his features squished into an overjoyed smiled.

This might have been one of the best days in his life.

"Later." He promised. And his voice was somewhere between sincere and teasing but he didn't think twice about his answer. He would tell her about his adventures once she finished with hers. "First I want to hear about the skunk." His yellow eyes were pressed into happy crescents while his rear end practically wiggled with excitement. Like he really couldn't wait for her to start talking.

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

Her excitement mimicked his' and she realized that her tail had begun to wag a million times a minute, it was the feeling that rose within her belly and burst in her chest that plastered the smile to her lips as she stared into the soft eyes of the male she had secretly considered a friend. He was much too kind, complimenting her in ways that so few had and yet the icing on the cake was that they were so sincere and it made her want to open up to him even more. She wanted him to like her as much as she was beginning to like him, and if it meant that she shared stories with him until the dawn, then she was willing to do so.

Her head nodded when he assured her that he would share his own stories with her later and she believed him, not considering for a moment that he would break his word and it took her a moment or two to filter through her many memories to recall the one he'd requested. Her run in with the skunk was probably her most embarrassing encounter, but than again they all were when she really thought about it, but she held no shame in telling him these intimate stories when he so obviously was enjoying them. "Ok, so keep in mind...I was a lot younger during this time so...don't judge me." she fair warned him though she smile hadn't disappeared, in fact she practically chuckled while telling him and was struggling to contain her excitement.

"Everything I learned about hunting and tracking came from trial and error," she wasn't going to go into her sad background story, it would only dampen the mood that Cottongrass had created and she couldn't ruin this experience for him. "anyway, it was dark and I was hungry and since I was only a yearling my skills were limited to small critters that were usually in hiding by this time but I couldn't wait any longer and I could hear something moving in the underbrush not to far from where I was laying." she took a breath, hoping that she'd set the scenery up as best she could. "I knew stealth and speed was crucial to catching anything during this time of the day and wanting to catch what I assumed was probably an injured rabbit before it ran off or became someone else's lunch, I crept up real slow, not wanting to be heard and lunged at it just as it was turning to leave." it was in that moment that she knew she had found a skunk; a completely different, and horrible, beast.

"I didn't see the white until it was too late and the most horrible smell I had ever witnessed in my life hit me square in the nose, mouth and eyes. I thought I was blind!" it was true, and her senses burned for nearly two days afterward. It chastised her too with the most strange noise she had ever heard but the pain in her head overshadowed the skunks verbal lashing, she only wanted the pain to end. "it was after that day that I knew; skunks were the worst creatures on the planet. And that I couldn't catch anything without being spotted for days." and she meant that, she disliked them even to this day and avoided them like the plague. "Now, your turn." and she stared at him intently, waiting for him to share something intimate about him. It would prove to her that he was beginning to trust her and she liked that.

(This post was last modified: Aug 26, 2017, 05:50 AM by Rory.)

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He clung to her every spoken word with bated breath. Because he was under her spell. She could probably talk about watching mud dry and he would stand alongside her with nothing but sincere interest and his full attention. What could he say—Rory just might have been one of the best storytellers he ever met. And when her latest retelling was over? He didn't know if he was supposed to laugh or express sympathy.

She had the misfortune of trying to hunt a skunk. The idea of smelling for three days straight was admittedly funny but he worried about her comment about going blind. That wasn't funny! It made his heart worry and the emotion won his reaction. He didn't hesitate to express that.

"That's terrible!" He barked with yellow eyes wide and his wagging tail coming to an abrupt halt behind him. A part of him wanted to promise her that he believed her. That skunks were no doubt the bane of everyone's existence and he would do whatever was in his power to make sure they all perished. But that promise was hard to make and even harder to keep. Especially when he didn't get a chance to express his thought.

It was his turn. She wanted to hear about some of his adventures. Now that was something he could do! He was a funster like that and he wanted her to be well aware of that fact.

"Well..." He started off as he wracked his brain for memories. Anything that would hopefully be interesting and entertaining. His mind came up woefully blank. "I don't have any stories about cougars or skunks." He was stalling. Because he could remember plenty of his past experiences down to even the minute details. But they all seemed to pale in comparison to the two that she had shared with him. She probably wouldn't want to hear about how his ataatatsiaq once abandoned him in the middle of nowhere and told him to fend for himself before his mom got involved. And she probably didn't want to hear about all the times he nearly faced death.

Those weren't entertaining. They were probably just sad. And he didn't really like dredging up the details about how he more or less get trampled by a muskox or almost struck by lightning that one time.

He was pretty lame. Except maybe he had something that wasn't totally disappointing...

"But—" He started. His yellow eyes brightened and his tail came back to life in the air behind him. He couldn't help but lean forward and his body practically hummed with giddy energy. "I have plenty of stores about monsters." He whispered, like he didn't want anyone else to hear about his experiences but her.

"You want to hear them?" He barked as he bounced out of her personal space. His front paws stamped and he leveled her an excited grin. Like he was totally proud of himself for coming up with the idea and he absolutely just saved the day.

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

She could remember the burning sensation as if it happened yesterday, her eyes on occasion still watered uncontrollably and grew blurry if she strained too hard but overall she was a survivor. It was what she did, and she took an odd pride in the fact that she hadn't quite failed at remaining on her own. Her mother would be proud that she could do something right about her life. "Yeah it wasn't fun, but it wasn't too bad either. I was more upset about the stench. Smelled like..." she hesitated, struggling to quite put her paw on the stench until, "butt. Really rancid and strong butt." it was after all the spray that had come from the gland of the skunks butt, therefore it fit the description. She shook her head, reliving the moment and forced the revelation from her mind; that was not a memory she wanted to go through twice.

Her friend hesitated, stalling it seemed, and a frown slowly crossed her features. He wasn't going back on his word was he? She couldn't handle the fact if he did and was happy that despite his confession that his stories weren't as interesting as Rory's that he had some about monsters that he could share. She nodded her head to assure him that what ever he had to share she wanted to know and even thumped her tail along the ground a few times so that he wouldn't misinterpret her meaning. What mattered most to her was that he was keeping his word--share with me and I'll share with you.

"What kind of monsters? Of course I want to know!" she sounded strangely as excited as he was when he'd asked for her to share and a smile pulled along her jaws. She wondered what kind of monsters were roaming the Lore, were they scary and slimy and gross like she had heard from stories as a pup or were they different as time had passed. She waited on his words, eyes growing wide with anticipation.

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There was genuine excitement dancing across her features. It only bolstered him forward and he continued to squirm on the spot like he could barely contain himself. Monsters were the best! They always saved the day when he least expected it! His yellow eyes shined bright with giddy energy and he bounced on his heels.

"Have you ever heard about the qalupalik?" He blurted out in a rushed breath. Tumblebelly didn't know what they were which surprised him the more he thought about it. He sort of assumed the other boy knew everything about monsters. Tumblebelly was how he learned about dragons, after all. He doubt Rory knew and continued on without hesitation. "My ataatatsiaq told me about her, once. She's a monster that lives under the ice!" He barked like it was the coolest thing ever. His tail wagged and he pressed forward.

"She steals away puppies that run away or don't listen to their parents and she makes them live with her under the ice—forever." He wasn't too sure about that last part. But that's what he assumed. He didn't know what else she could do with stolen puppies because his ataatatsiaq didn't mention anything about her eating them or anything. It made sense in his mind. "Apparently she's really scary. Like, gross shaggy fur and really long nails scary. And—" How could he forget the most important detail!?

"Oh! She hums! My ataatatsiaq said that she makes this really creepy humming sound right before she gets you!" He chirped like there was nothing unnerving about those listed facts. Like the idea of a monstrous, pup-stealing she wolf that hummed all the time was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it was for him. He never really thought twice about the whole ordeal. His rear end wiggled and his antics slowed to a halt.

"You wanna know something really cool?" He asked while leaning back into her personal space. "I heard her, once. I heard her humming." His gaze was intense and he held his breath while eagerly waiting her reaction. He could hardly believe the encounter even today.

(This post was last modified: Aug 26, 2017, 09:55 AM by Cottongrass.)

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

She hung on to every word, eyes grew wide and mouth agape when he started the spooky story with a question. She didn't recall ever hearing the name before and she shook her head accordingly, waiting for the male to explain who or what this foreign name meant. It was a ice monster, a creature that would steal puppies beneath the ice and never return them for punishment; a story best believed by the youth. She stood there in disbelief a moment and despite her ability to decipher that Cotton's story wasn't real, she couldn't help feeling the conviction in his voice and began to question her own beliefs. Maybe this ice monster was real?

"Whaaa?" she started to say, and she felt a sensation crept along her spine the more he spoke and she felt the briefest of shivers that disappeared almost instantly. This story was much, much better than her own. "Is this real Cotton? You really heard her hum?!" she questioned him with eyes now slightly back to normal but pupils dilated and heart rate increasing with anticipation of what he would tell her next. She couldn't understand why parents told their pups scary stories but supposed it often worked to keep the puppies in fear of running off too far.

"Does this mean that you ran away from your parents?" she asked him, not because she was entirely surprised that he would wander off considering the fact that it was a common activity for any pup but she couldn't help the disbelief--he was goody good shoe Cotton, he did no wrong. "and did you get a good look at her, erm, it?" she asked, not sure if the monster was a female but assuming that it was simply because she was slightly biased. "what did she look like?" she wondered, finally growing silent. It would seem that Cotton had beat her at telling stories, she couldn't possibly tell him another with his being as good as it was!

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Sorry for the wait @Rory <3

He liked to think he was the best story-teller in the whole entire world. That he could carefully craft a certain atmosphere and use it to his advantage when explaining events that happened to him. But all those boastful thoughts went out the window the moment Rory spoke. It was almost like she didn't believe him. And it was just like that his entire train of thought was derailed.

"Uh huh!" He puffed up like some kind of angry little owl and his tail gave an indignant wag behind him. Because he was telling her the truth and nothing but the truth! He heard the telltale humming of the qalupalik and managed to live long enough to pass on the story. And he was tempted to start explaining that to Rory. He could give her some long-winded—and probably very confusing—spiel about how he was as honest as they came. That the qalupaik was real and he even saw her once.

But the moment vanished as quickly as it had came. She was asking him another question and he couldn't let it pass by him. Because did he run away from his parents? The easy answer would be yes. That he ran away from his parents last summer and he never thought about returning ever since. But that was a story for another day. Like when they were even better friends or something.

"No." He barked with a quick shake of his head. "I was looking for her when it happened." If that made any sense. Because his master plan was that he was going to sneak up on her and just... Magically overpower a monstrous she-wolf before returning home and becoming a hero for the rest of his life. But that clearly never happened. Not when he was only Cottongrass and not Cottongrass the Hero or something. Oh well. He continued answering her many questions with a beat of hesitation.

"No. There was too much snow." He admitted. His ears rolled back against his head like he was growing more and more uncertain of what he was saying. "It was stormy. Really stormy. Like, there was so much snow I couldn't see past my nose." It wouldn't have been the first time he decided to wander out during the middle of a snow storm. And he also knew that it wouldn't be the first time someone had to come out and find him before he froze to death.

But that wasn't a good ending to any story. She didn't need to know about it. Especially when it was still like she didn't believe him.

"But I know what I heard and saw! It was the qalupallik. She hummed and looked like a wolf but bigger. Way bigger!" That was the only good answer and she wasn't about to convince him otherwise. He didn't get in trouble and kicked out of the den for nothing back then. His tail gave another frenzied wag and he stamped his paws. "I swear she's real." His ataatatsiaq wouldn't lie to him.

i don't even know if i believe

Aurora Thanne

Her eyes grew wide for a moment, bewildered at the fact that he insisted that he wasn't lying to her even considering that her words were merely from outbursts of excitement. She did in fact believe him, even though she no longer believed in ghosts, and her eyes softened in an attempt to assure him that she did not think he was lying even if the story seemed way too crazy to be true. He went on to explain himself, answering ever question she had come up with earlier and she found that her curiosity had reached its all time high when he was finished. Cotton had just become to bravest wolf she knew. "You're so cool Cotton." she said, making sure to let the male know that she recognized how much strength it took for a wolf his age to encounter a monster and live to talk about it, he was officially cool and she was hooked on hearing more. "I'm glad you were able to escape to tell your story. I think it deserves to be told." she smiled, ears pulling back from instinct. She inched closer, seeking to comfort him if the event was still traumatizing to him still and placed a paw on his shoulder before nipping it lightly in affection, assuring him that she was there for him if he needed her. "Ok, you've said enough, my turn again." and she took a deep inhale before spinning a tale of wild adventure in hopes that it could remotely compete with what he had just told her.

--FADE TO BLACK--

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