Frog Chirp Creek haven't met you yet

October 18th; Early morning, well after sunrise; Light Rain; 44.6 ° F, 7 ° C.

Yes, this must be the place... Mouse couldn't help but feel his spirits lift as he pranced about in the happily babbling creek. His paws were soaked and his pads were freezing from the autumn chill, but hot diggity this was awesome! The best part about it all was that this place was familiar, and what was more was that the journey east seemed much closer than he had originally thought (that, or his stompy puppy legs and growing mind were just so dang small at the time that all he cared for was finally settling down with his family and establishing their little pack).

He pounced into a shallow pool, sending droplets of water everywhere - right, left, forward and back and up in the air! Still very much a puppy-at-heart, he jumped about, catching a single drop on the tip of his nose with a bubbly laugh. Well, if anything, the quiet creek was not as grand as his swamp of salamanders back at home, but it was something and it was enough to give him the reprieve he was looking for at the start of a new day.

Catching his breath, he came to a stand still with his front paws in the creek, only slightly surprised as even more water pelted down on him. With such an overcast sky, a rain spell was inevitable. Perhaps, expected even. His tail gave a small wag and he let out a small chuckle, just happy to have come this far.

The good thing about believing in ghosts was that you never felt completely alone, even if - by all accounts - you are physically. As it was, loneliness was no issue for the spirit herself, even though she occasionally did miss the feeling of fur brushing against her own. Rodion would not accept her moping after his death, so Auri did nothing of the sort. She and he lived in the spiritual realm as much as the physical one, after all - something that the old man would have called "awakened." Therefore, she only allowed herself to miss him a little, from time to time.

He wasn't watching her constantly, after all. Ghosts had more important things to do.

A loud splash caught Auri's attention and saved her from walking directly into a creek. Paws stopped directly at the edge and her champagne eyes flickered around to try and spot the source of the noise. Perhaps some faeries were playing about in the stream that day - Auri would love to see them.

It did not end up being faeries, but the wolf that played so joyously in the water had beautiful light around him - so much joy that Auri had no trouble seeing it. A small smile formed on her maw and she simply sat back to watch, her tail giving a couple of content sweeps across the pebbly banks of the creek.

The drizzle did little to dampen the youth's antics and he couldn't help but to give it all just one more go, absolutely oblivious to the fact that he was being watched. His black-saddled rump gave a kick into the air - much like a bucking stag - as he bounded further down the creek, laughter sounding out and up into the light grey skies. The rain gathered in his fur as he pranced about, utterly carefree and without a worry in the world. He was out here, all by himself, on his own, living by his own means... it was, well... awesome!

The Lyall pounced into a shallow pool where the water reached half-way up his forearm at the deepest part, sending even more water everywhere. Even up against his throat and belly. If he continued on this way, he would be soaked; and, if he had been back at home, he would have gotten an earful from one of his parents. However, they weren't here now and he was going to do as he pleased.

He was just about ready to dive face first into another deeper part of the creek when he stopped in in his tracks, his right paw and left foreleg frozen in the air in mid-strut. His golden eyes locked with a pair of even brighter yellow irises. Against the backdrop of cedar and evergreen tree trunks, she was, quite possibly, rather hard to miss. Mouse stumbled back in immediate embarrassment, ears flipping backwards and fur standing on edge from his lower back to the tip of his tail. He made a face that wrinkled one side of his muzzle. Mortified. Terrified. Awkward.

If he could have submerged himself in the creek and hidden beneath the surface as some sort of river boulder, he might have. She had already seen him though. He cringed to himself, his voice barely audible over the happy gurgle of the stream, "H-How l-long have you been ssstanding there?"

images of broken light,
which dance before me like a million eyes...

A young fawn has gotten separated from its herd. Hunt Opportunity, +8 Health

Oh no. She'd scared him.

The bright lights that had surrounded his dark form went out when he spun to look at her, and for a moment she wondered if she had a ghoul behind her. But upon turning, she noted that she was alone and it was she he was scared of. Tilting her head to the side in confusion - as she didn't fancy herself a particularly scary spirit - she offered him a small smile.

"Not very," she assured, her tail sweeping once behind her in a friendly manner. Momentarily, she wondered if he was worried about her maybe making fun of him. That was something that wolves cared about... right? Rodion said so once, a long time ago. Auri had never had to worry about that sort of emotion, because she didn't feel it. It seemed pointless to be embarrassed about anything.

Large ears perked forward and she stepped over to place her paws in the water. It was chilly, but that didn't mean it didn't feel good. "May I play with you all?" she asked, pale gaze flicking back up to meet his darker. It seemed like it would be fun to spend time with him and the bright sprites.

If it had been possible, he might have also covered his eyes with his own ears, their bearish shape still feeling much too large for his blocky head. So, she hadn't been there for a long while - or, so she said - so what? Mouse couldn't figure out for the life of him why this was hella awkward. He didn't like it. Heat radiated from his cheeks and he could feel it singe the tips of his ears and inside his nostrils despite standing in the rain and in the middle of the little creek.

"May I play with you all?"

Mouse's nose wriggled at the edge of his snout, unsure what to make of her choice of words as she drew closer. While, he had known about his grandfather being buried in these very woods, he thought little of the idea of spirits (or, Ancestors, as his Dad would have called them). Just who she thought he was playing with flew right over his head.

"I'm... sorry?" he proffered, unsure as to what she was asking. As if to be sure, he turned his head to look over his right shoulder and then his left. For all he knew, he hadn't been playing with anyone else (as far as he was aware, anyway). His tail relaxed some from its initially genial wag. Now he was just confused. He wasn't really playing with... anyone?

images of broken light,
which dance before me like a million eyes...

Again, it hadn’t occurred to her that he might not understand what she was talking about, but she remembered Rodion talking about nonbelievers. That they didn’t understand anything about the world and that they had to be patient with them. After all, it wasn’t their fault they didn’t know.

”You were happy,” she tried to explain, a tiny cant upward to her maw as she attempted to offer him a smile. ”Light sprites come and play around where there is happiness. They were all around you in the water.”

Auri didnt think of how strange she must have sounded to the poor, confused boy. That she might be making absolutely everything worse and closing and possible door for friendship in the future.

She couldn’t help it.

Her tail swished back and forth as she regarded the boy. ”My name is Auri. What about yours?”

"You were happy," she said and Mouse paused to realize that his mood had abruptly changed. He had been blissfully oblivious of everything until he had seen her there on the shore. She went on to tell him that there had been light sprites all around him in the water. His eyes tore away from her and up in the immediate spaces above and around him. There was nothing but grey, rain streaks, and the dull and muted colors of the dark forest surrounding them. He didn't see any spots of light at all.

He made a face, 'hmm'-ing to himself in his head as he focused on her again. She wagged her tail at him; and, he gave her some sort of lopsided smile in return. At the very least, she looked friendly, and as naive as Mouse was, he instantly took her warmheartedness at face value. "My name is M-Mmmerritt," he answered with a broader grin of his own. "But, my Papa calls me Mouse." His ears flicked back for the briefest of moments, as if embarrassed of his little nickname, but they easily returned to their relaxed positions on either side of his head. His voice had quieted, having remembered the parents he had left behind in the northwestern wilderness. "They only call me by my real name when I'm in trouble or if I'm in for a serious talk."

Another bashful smile as he averted his eyes to mind his step while he joined her on the opposite river bank. "Do you live here?" he asked with a shake of coat. "Have you seen the old bear den?"

images of broken light,
which dance before me like a million eyes...