Secret Falls In these woods, between these trees

Shallow's Edge (minus all the rock in the background)
For @Reyes  But I'm tagging other's for snooping purposes. @Cottongrass @Phoenix @Hawthorne @Remington

Ever since his conversation with Reyes Askan had been on the lookout for a suitable place to call their home. He knew that they couldn't afford to be too picky as winter was drawing ever closer, but at the same just anywhere wouldn't do. It had to be safe and secure, somewhere with defensible locations they could fall back to if the need occurred. As much as he'd once loved the field, with its open spaces and sense of freedom, they now looked for something different. Something more secluded and hidden away out of sight Somewhere you could only find if you knew where to look.

Much to Askan's dismay, looking for such a place was far easier said than done.

They'd set out that morning with the intention of scouting out the area but as always, things didn't go quite to plan. Minutes turned into hours and still they roamed the woods, and still there was nothing but trees in sight.

As they wandered, side by side brushing up against one another, a thought popped into his mind and Askan couldn't help but give Gabriel's shoulder a nudge, as a sly grin pulled at his lips.

"This feels familiar. Remember the time we got lost in those woods? Think we'll stumble upon another lake? We gonna have to play another game?"He asked, his butt wiggling in emphasis.

(This post was last modified: Oct 26, 2017, 09:52 PM by Askan.)

Well, Askan might have been worried about finding a place before winter came, but his mate certainly wasn’t.  In his mind, the winter was still a long ways off.  The snows wouldn’t fall for a few more moons, at the very least, and they had a vague idea of the general area that they wanted to settle in.  You couldn’t force perfection, and with enough time, they’d could across the right place.
 
He cracked a yawn, picking up a trot to catch up to Askan when the younger wolf halted, leaving Reyes to all but stumble into him.  Any protest died on his lips – oh yeah, he remembered that lake in the woods alright.  He mirrored the sly look, tail starting to wag behind him as his snout snaked forward, nibbling on his mate’s chin.  He definitely enjoyed that discovery.  ”You wanna live on a lake, Kana?  You better not end up on the ice again.”
 
It was crazy to think that was how they met, once upon a time.

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

That wasn't exactly what Askan had in mind but maybe he had a point. Be it Turtleback or Skyfall Glen, lakes seemed to be the backdrop for some of their more memorable encounters. Like Reyes, Askan couldn't help but snigger-and maybe preen a little- at the thought.Maybe lakes were their thing. They weren't dangerous or fast flowing like rivers and honestly, they were pretty nice to look at.

"I don't know where I wanna live."He quipped, his tail wagging just as quickly as his mates."But you know me, I won't make any promises I can't keep." And with that he pushed on ahead, giving his mate a smack in the face with his tail as he went.

In all seriousness, there was plenty of water about in these parts. Rivers, streams and that massive waterfall. But a lake? He wasn't so sure they'd stumble upon one, what were the chances of that? It seemed too good to be true, maybe they'd have to settle with some sort of creek or-Askan's ears twitched at the sound of falling water. Not unusual, considering their location but it sounded a little different than the usual roar of the falls. Quieter, more subdued, almost as though he was listening into a secret conversation that wasn't meant for his ears.

Whatever it was, the forest hid it well. He saw nothing through the trees, nothing to suggest that there was a body of water nearby. His curiosity piqued, Askan cast a sly look over his shoulder and continued heading forward, fallen leaves crunching under his feet as went. With his mate following him like a broody shadow, Askan drew ever closer to the source of the sound. Where the hell was it? It sounded so close and yet it still wasn't in sight. He'd passed through these woods before, he knew that it got pretty dense in places but he didn't remember it being this bad.

Just as that thought ran through his mind he emerged from the trees and saw it. A lake. Wow.

It was nowhere near as grand or awe inspiring as Skyfall Glen but it certainly had its own charm, with the falling cascades, fallen trees and the bluest water he'd ever seen. Besides from the lake at the Glen, of course. And it looked pretty shallow too, the perfect spot to take a paddle in, if he did say so himself.

Running ahead, Askan broke out into the clearing and only slowed when the water began to tickle his toes.

"What do you think of this, Gabe? Pretty cool. Never seen a lake like this. Looks more like a pond or something."

“Well, maybe it ain’t a lake then.” If he was being totally honest, Reyes had no idea what made a pond and a lake different from one another; one was smaller, but where did a wolf draw the line?

The dark wolf stared after his mate as he sauntered away, still feeling the brush of the tail over his nose. Dios mio, his mate was such an asshole sometimes – he kind of adored it. Not that he’d say as much out loud. No way. Reyes turned his attention to following after instead, jogging along after the younger wolf, drawing to a halt before he entered the water. He wasn’t that interested in taking a bath, not right now, anyways.

“Least you’d have fresh water, I guess. Running down like that, at least some of it probably wouldn’t freeze over? And it’s not open, not like the fields.” He snorted softly. There were trees, and rocks. Yeah, that was way better when the winter winds starting biting at their noses.

REYES | Dead man walking.

Like his mate Askan was no water expert, but the parameters seemed pretty self explanatory. Lakes tended to be deep and wide, whilst ponds were anything but. The fact that he could see bottom with no effort at all made him think that it was the latter. Pond, lake or puddle, either way Askan decided that he liked it. That this would be as good as a place to settle as any, unless a better candidate came to their attention of course.

Not many wolves were given a second chance in life so the last thing Askan wanted to do was squander it by letting history repeat itself. He'd once loved the field with its swaying rye and open expanse, but did he want to live somewhere like that again? Hell no. It was about damn time that he stepped out of his comfort zone and experienced something new. He wanted to live in these woods, with a fortress of trees to shield them from prying eyes.

"You like it then?" He asked, trying- and failing- not to appear too eager."Cause if not, just say the word and we'll be on our way."He said as such but the Selwyn remained firmly on the spot, his tail swishing behind him with such vigour that his butt  joined in too.

Damn it, he was so happy he had a case of the wiggle-butt. This was what Reyes did to him, he made him so cheery and optimistic. If he wasn't hopeless sap before then he certainly was one now, thanks Gabe.

Reyes might have had no interest in getting his paws wet, but the same couldn't be said for Askan. A little paddle wouldn't hurt, especially when the water was so shallow. Stepping forward, the water swallowed up his ankle then rose to his knee and wow the water was getting pretty deep and fast too. He took another step forward and-holy shit he couldn't stand up at all! With all of the grace of a bison trying to swan dive, Askan splashed into the water with an alarmed yelp.

What the???!!!This water wasn't shallow at all!

“Ain’t you the impatient one today?”

And every day. This was not some new facet of Askan’s personality – nor was it actually part of Reyes’ – but it was fun to tease every now and again. The older male snaked his head forward as he brushed by, planting a loving nip on his partner’s wiggling butt before he continued on by, smirk firmly in place. He had every intention of continuing on to the far side of the pond while Askan had his little swim when his mate gave a startled yep – and around Reyes went, splashing right into the water as if pulled by a magnetic force.

“What’s wrong?!” he yelled, glancing around frantically for whatever attacked Askan. “What is it?”

REYES | Dead man walking.

Had he not just fallen-or rather stepped- into the lake's depths he would have no doubt laughed his arse off at the look on his mate's face. Eyes all wide with his ears swivelled to the sides, he looked like a rabbit who'd just been pounced upon. But with water filling his ears and more than half of his body submerged under water there wasn't much Askan could do but kick till he levelled out.

With his head above the water and his ears flat against his skull, Askan scowled as he paddled his way back to shore.

"It's fucking deep, is what it is! Can't even reach the floor!"

Was this natures idea of a joke? Making a deep ass lake look anything but? Tccht. And of course Askan had fallen for it, waltzed right in like it was a puddle up to his knees. Scrambling to shore-without Reyes' help no less(!)- Askan shook himself off, no doubt spraying his mate in the process. Now that his feet were on dry land, he was free to glare at the lake as much as he wanted, till his bitter heart was content.

"Shallow my arse."He grumbled, as water dripped from his underbelly. History had a funny way of repeating itself, didn't it? Ah well, at least he wasn't freezing this time.

As he stood on the shore his animosity for the lake faded with each passing second. It was sort of funny, kinda? A moment he would remember for a long time at the very least. A place like this needed a name and as luck would have it one was already sitting on the tip of his tongue.

"Shallows Edge...Cause you know, it's ironic?" And just to be a pest he pushed himself into his mate's side, smushing his wet coat against his.

“Dios mio,” he hissed, head snaking out to bite at one of Askan’s ears. Fuckin’ pain in his ass, that’s what the man was. “You just some kind of water magnet, cabrón? Insistent on drowning?” The first time they met was never far from mind. But there was also that time with the bizarre ice geyser, and the croaking heron when they’d been trying to relax – though the water had been good to them, too. The large sky-like lake they’d discovered around springtime came to mind not long after and Reyes sighed loudly, trying to shake the dampness out of his coat.

Maybe that was their thing. Water. Lakes. Something old, and something new – they’d never really had the falls before. “Shallow Edge, huh? Borde superficial?” Reyes gave pause – for once, something actually did not sound better in his native tongue. “El agua del mentiroso,{i}” he rattled off instead, preferring the second one much better.

“C’mon, {i}pendejo. Let’s look for somewhere dry behind the falls. Warm you up.”

[/i][/i]

REYES | Dead man walking.

"Sue me, it looked shallow! Do I bitch at you every time you step in a puddle?" He asked with a sour squint, then to soften the blow-and be bit of a dick- he stuck out his tongue.

Once again his mate spoke in his native language and as per usual Askan had no idea what he'd said. By now he was more than used to it, in fact he rather liked the sound of of his language. How the words rolled together in one coarse and yet velvety wave. When they'd first met, Askan had-naturally- assumed that Reyes was just using it to talk shit about him. He still felt that way sometimes, but now that he knew him better he had a feeling that he probably used it to say nice things about him too. Things he was too embarrassed to say directly too him. Which....if that wasn't the cutest thing ever then Askan didn't know what was.

The prospect of finding somewhere warm and dry was more than enough to make his butt wiggle in anticipation.

"After you, old man."

Seeing as he'd done the hard work and found this place the least Gabe could do was find them somewhere to hunker down and snuggle. They'd let the others know about this place later, they were still having Reyan time.