Mountain of Dire nebulae

@Aleister - 3/7/21, early nighttime, northernmost point of the mountain <3

She didn't know what possessed her to come back to this place. It held nothing but negative memories for her, oppressive and sad to think about. Not that her life outside had been too very much better – she'd been alone, for the most part, but it hadn't been all that bad. Three years on the road had taught her a lot about herself, about the world, and about what she might want in life. Of course, it'd take her til almost her fifth year to decide that she wanted to face some old demons, but hey. She had always been a bit of a late bloomer.

Springtime was upon them. It was still chilly, but her dense fur helped keep her warm. It was nighttime, but the moon was large in the sky, illuminating the rocky outcrops that she traversed in a soft silver light. Kip liked this type of weather – the snow, at night. She blended well with the whites and grays of the mountaintop, and felt safe as she climbed her way up the mountain.

The cool air nipped at her nose, filling her lungs with cold breath as she made her way to the northernmost tip of the mountain. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, that the stranger she'd met there nearly three years ago now would still somehow be around. But thoughts of that night still lingered in her mind, even after all that time had passed.

Would she change anything?

She would've come back, after the coyotes had chased her away. Wouldn't've run away like a coward. Found a place to belong and not been a drifter for over half of her life. There had always been a longing in her chest, pulling her to the mountains here. She wondered if it had anything to do with why she'd never taken a mate, never had a family or a pack. Just focused on caring for herself.

Attachment to others was... difficult, for Kip. But maybe it wasn't as impossible as she'd once thought.

A sigh pulled from her lips as she stopped, tilting her head up to watch the stars. Not to forget, but to clear her racing thoughts – that, at least, had not changed about her. The stars still brought her a comfort that she had never found anywhere else in the world.

Tonight, he didn’t retire to the den right away, instead he decided to trek through the range to find a good view of the stars on this clear night. Having a lot on his mind as of lately, Aleister needed a place to help clear it somehow. With his sister deserting him, Lila deciding to stay, and his interesting interaction with Flair had him wanting to seek solace somewhere that didn’t involve women. Especially now that all of them have changed with the upcoming season. The dark agouti male had to try to keep himself in check with all these instincts flying about.

As he was following the trail towards the northernmost point of the Dire, the Vuesain’s mind was swirling through the most recent events to have happen within the Cove. His paws mindlessly taking him through the familiar path. Though, he was unaware of another along the outcrop he was heading to until he was practically right on top of them. Shaking the fog from his mismatched gaze, ”Oh, I’m sorry! I wasn’t paying attention,” he muttered quickly as his gaze looked to the cream coated stranger in front of him. Blissfully unaware of who he stumbled upon.

 

Fate was weird sometimes, Kip thought. They shouldn’t have been in the same place at the same time again, probably ever. But Aleister was hard not to recognize, with his grizzled fur and mismatched eyes. She took a moment to thank whatever gods might be up there that she wasn’t caught up in this spring fever yet - her heats were always weird anyway, sometimes they’d show up and sometimes not. Maybe she was extra lucky and wouldn’t have to worry about it at all this year.

It was kind of funny that he didn’t recognize her, but it had been a good while since they’d seen one another. He seemed... stuck in his own mind, she noted, and offered him a smile. It would be funny to see how long it took for him to recognize her.

“No worries,” she assured, a small smile forming on her maw. “You look... exhausted.” It was obvious that the man was tired - and she was too, to be fair. “Care to sit with me, for a bit? I was just looking at the stars. Thinking about specks and other worlds and trying to clear my head.” Hint, hint, hint.

As his mismatched gaze found her seafoam eyes and distinct golden features, his gaze lit up. What a coincidence that Aleister would find the star gazing female once again after all these years. He let her speak, Mavis observing how tired he looked. And at notion, a sudden awkwardness fell upon him. Well, she probably wouldn't believe what just transpired between him and a certain chocolate coated female just south of here to get him so tired. Who he left sleeping in the den they shared. This was cringeworthy to say the least. Though, he most certainly wasn't going to explain why he may look so tired. Instead, he gave her a wary smile.

Her next words did bring a more cheerful smile as she hinted at some of their conversation they shared the first time they met. "Sure, I suppose I can sit for a bit," he responded, with a soft smile. Though keeping up the theatrics of pretending to not recognize her, "The stars help clear your head too?"

"Mhm. Well, usually," she amended, looking back up at the starfield above them. She figured he'd had to have recognized her by now, but she wasn't about to outright say it. "Right now, they're reminding me of a girl and a boy who sat up here not too many years ago." The girl was... just as sad as she'd been, back then. More confident and self-assured, of course, but no less lonely.

Aleister was like a beacon of sorts. She looked back over to meet his mismatched gaze, her own softening considerably.

"The girl wishes she wouldn't have run away, back then," she admitted, ears swiveling off to the sides. It was one thing that she regretted, deeply, about her life. One of those big mistakes that she'd made - she could never take it back, but she had also never been able to forget about it entirely.

Usually they helped him too, but tonight many thoughts and emotions buzzed within his head and he was sure a night full of starlight wasn’t going to clear them today. Many nights were needed for him to clear everything away. Again, Mavis was hinting at their fateful encounter on this same ledge years ago. Back then, he was a different man, dependent on his sister’s companionship and approval. Now without her here, it seemed the Vuesain was flourishing into a totally different man. Perhaps, Neha was his crutch that kept him from becoming all that he could be, her decisions and choices ruling his life. If he hadn’t vowed himself to her all those year ago, maybe he would of found himself sooner.

Her sea foam gaze looked to him softly, his own mismatched gaze softening in turn. The dark agouti male did miss his friend and occasionally throughout the years he would think of her, wondering where she was and how she was fairing. Aleister wondered if she thought about him too.

“The boy wishes he wouldn’t of run away either,” he answered hoarsely, perhaps everything would be different if they both hadn’t run away from the Lore. ”He probably could of taken on those coyotes,” Al replied with a meek smirk as he looked to her softly, hoping she realized he of course remembered her. How could he forget?

 

(This post was last modified: Mar 15, 2021, 01:03 AM by Aleister.)

"We probably could've fought them off if we'd tried," she murmured, frowning at the thought. The coyotes had been... weird, that year. So aggressive, and so many of them. The Lore hadn't been a safe place, back then. Not crawling with coyotes and memories of Odin and so many places that she could never belong.

But maybe there was a place here, now.

Mavis sighed through her nose and offered him a sheepish smile. "I've thought of you a lot, since then," she admitted quietly. "I felt like... I don't know. It was a really hard time, for me, and meeting you helped me feel more like myself, again." Emotions were... so difficult. Her face warmed beneath her fur. "I guess I finally got brave enough to come back." But was it too late, now? Would he have another wolf here that would be offended by her presence? Was she unwelcome? It seemed that she had lived a lot of her life in a state of unwelcomeness. She would leave, if she had to, but... she kind of wanted to stay, this time.

They probably could have, but it would have been dangerous with three against two. Back then, he thought there would of been a chance for them to meet again, though he wished he would of realized it would take years for them to come back together again. Perhaps then he would have set his heart on fighting the vermin instead of leading them away from her. Another thing he would regret.

Almost like she read his mind, she mentioned how she thought of him throughout the years since they last saw each other. “I’ve thought of you too,” he murmured quietly, returning with a soft smile of his own as she continued. She admitted how he helped her feel more like herself when they met and how she finally got the courage to come back to the place that held so much pain for everyone. “I’m happy you are back,” Al replied softly, his mismatched gaze looking to her softly. ”This time the boy isn’t running away.” Aleister was here in the Lore to stay, even if his sister was quick to abandon him.

 

He thought of her, too. Her face flushed beneath her fur - happy at the idea that she was a thought in someone's head. That someone remembered her and wanted to see her again. It both soothed and excited her, that maybe there was a chance that she could have somewhere to belong. That there was a place and a person who wouldn't mind her to finally, finally stay.

Feeling emboldened, Mavis slipped a little closer to him, their fur almost brushing, and maybe the spring season really was starting to get to her-

She inhaled and the illusion around her shattered. His scent was intermingled with others - a lot, really, but most prominently, a strong heat scent that clung to his pelt. Her blood ran cold and she jerked backward, eyes round in surprise. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry," she gasped out, ears swiveling to the sides in discomfort. "I didn't realize - I didn't even think about that. You have someone already." And here she was, encroaching on another woman's territory like that. She felt so dirty in that moment, so disgusted with herself. Trying to lure away another wolf's mate. How gross could she get?

The Vuesain was finally happy to admit he wasn’t going to leave the Lore like he always used to. The wanderlust still pricked at his toes, but now he was able to subside the feeling and just take a walk to soothe it. Mavis moved closer, their coats almost intertwining, a smile reached his lips at her warmth she offered. The breeze was pretty chilly on the ledge tonight. As his mismatched gaze looked to her, Aleister saw the next phase of events happen almost in slow motion.

It was almost as if she was revolted with him as she inhaled his scent and jerking away from him in one clean, shift motion. Mavis gasping out apologies and staying she didn’t realize he had someone else already. His gaze widening for moment as he as stunned she thought that. Though, how couldn’t she think that? Aquene was sleeping away in the cave he left her in while he was out getting some fresh air, but that didn’t mean they were a thing. It was a unexpected incident, that he hadn’t been guilty about until now. Had he traveled a little farther up the mountain, he would of found Mavis here alone and not disgusted at his scent.

“I don’t have someone and I’m not anyone else’s.” He answered truthfully, his mismatched gaze looking to her sea foam gaze. Sure, he had been a bit of a floozer the past two nights, but he was hurting and being reckless after his sister decided to up and leave him alone. But, he hadn’t promised himself to anyone. He was still free to choose.