Skyfall Glen respite

She contemplated what his intentions were with taking him to this pack. Did he just want to offload her onto someone else? Was she really that much of a burden? Hopefully those weren't true but she couldn't help but wonder.

"Alright, let's go meet this pack. I hope they like me." She let out a small chuckle, nervousness showing plainly.

She finished eating her fish and looked up at the mountain.

"So, how far up do we gotta go? Gonna take a while?"

The other at last seemed to have sorted through her thoughts enough to come to a conclusion. Siyet decided she wanted to meet the pack, though there was a fair amount of apprehension present in her words. Jethro offered a terse nod, supposing could understand that. He felt similarly, after how long he'd been gone. If he had anything in his favor, though, it was that he doubted any of them had actually believed he would stay, with the possible exception of.. his friend. He'd even told Chan that he'd been intending to leave, eventually - but it was Nori he continued to think of. How was she going to treat him now, if they were to meet?

"Dunno why they wouldn't. You seem pretty cool to me. Kinda surprised you're still alone, actually." Jethro did not try to disguise his curiosity, even though he did not ask a question directly. Siyet had said she'd once hunted with a pack, which made him wonder what'd happened for her to end up alone. Additionally, it was simply the nature of their kind to seek others. As much as Jethro wanted to believe he was impervious to such a calling, he was not. It was in fact there, rooted inside of him. Perhaps he just tried a little harder than most to suppress it.

Giving his head a shake to clear such thoughts, Jethro realized he'd been asked another question. "Pretty far. It'll take at least a day. Maybe two, if we take our time, which we should. You good with leaving tomorrow mornin'?" He questioned, head tipping to the side slightly.

The other wolf seemed curious about why Siyet was by herself. She sighed to herself. She didn't really want to talk about it too much. But it had been long enough that maybe she should, so she could start healing.

"Yes, I used to be part of a pack. Way up north in the cold and snow. One day we were hunting and...a horrible blinding blizzard showed up out of nowhere. I was kind of far away from the rest and tried to get back to them." She sniffled a little. "The blizzard was so bad I couldn't see more than a couple feet in front of me. I wasn't able to find them so I dug a hole and took shelter. The blizzard lasted for 2 days and when I came out, I couldn't find anyone. I was separated and didn't know where to go. So I started walking. And ended up here."

She sniffled, sighed, and prevented tears from rolling down her face.

"I want to meet that other pack. Maybe it will help me feel better. We can leave tomorrow."

Siyet just felt so empty and lost. She had feelings of regret, regret that she didn't stay put. She may have been able to find her pack if she wouldn't have left the hunting ground. But it was a snowy desolate wasteland and she didn't want to spend more time there then she had to. She had come a long way, and along the way she had met someone. Someone she might be able to call a friend.

The other had definitely picked up on Jethro’s curiosity, and much to the dark one’s surprise, she opted to divulge a bit more about her history. Forest green eyes settled on Siyet as she told her story, and he paused in the consumption of his last fish, for the moment, out of courtesy. Her tale was a tragic one that still quite clearly affected her, a similarity shared between both of them.

A major difference was, though, it sounded like Siyet’s pack was the type that would be worth trying to return to - and the type that you would feel bad about being separated from. Jethro had never known that, but the more he had traveled, the more it seemed his background was.. unique, in a sense. Not a fact he was particularly proud of, but it was what it was.

”I see. That shit sucks,” he muttered, and the other sniffled, looking like she was incredibly close to tears. ”I.. um. Sorry.. that happened. But those mountain wolves, if you decide you like it there, would welcome you, I’m sure.” Jethro offered, hoping the words could be of some small assurance to the other. It was very rare that he expressed genuine sympathy for another, but this one earned it. Their stories were different, but the emotions of emptiness and loss were shared. Jethro was sympathetic to that much, at least.

”I could’ve stayed. They were going to welcome me, if I’d wanted to stay, but.. I guess I’m just not ready for that, yet.” He admitted. Although, again, the cynical portion of his mind wondered if they had only welcomed him due to his arrival with Nori. How would they have treated him if he’d stumbled across their borders, without her? How would they treat him in a couple of days, when he arrived with another stranger in tow?

Although he was hesitant to go back, these were questions he was curious to know the answers to, and that would quite likely formulate his conclusion as to whether or not he could even consider the cove a permanent home for himself, down the road. It would be an interesting experience, to say the least.

Siyet pondered the others words. He had said he wasn't ready, why could that be? Had something happened to him with the pack that caused him to not feel welcome? Had he had something similar to her happen to him?

She looked at the other wolf and saw a look in his eyes that reminded him of her. He looked sad, and mournful. Something had definitely happened. She wanted to investigate but thought it may not be wise to do so, especially since he was the first wolf She had seen in a while. She got up and got close to the other wolf. She laid her head down on his side.

"Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it, and thank you for listening."

There was, it seemed, a brief look of intrigue that crossed the face of the other once he'd finished speaking. Jethro could imagine how such a comment would sound to someone else, but to her credit, Siyet did not pose any inquiries. His words did seem to have a positive effect on her disposition, which the dark one was glad for. He was altogether unprepared for her approach, however, and tensed as she sidled up next to him. The words were there, on the tip of his tongue - don't touch me. He almost expressed them, but something within checked that.

Jethro knew now that not everything was as he'd once believed it. Touch and comfort was.. more common than he'd initially thought, he supposed. There was genuine appreciation spoken by the other, and after a soft breath, the dark one allowed the tension to leave his body, as he rested his chin upon one leg.

"Yeah. You're.. uh, welcome." He'd once told himself he didn't care. Perhaps that was no longer true. It felt good to help someone else, to make them feel better. It was a pleasant distraction from his own thoughts, he'd discovered. And he couldn't help but continue to marvel at such strange feelings.

"We should.. probably get some rest, now. We got a lotta climbin' ahead of us." As it were, the sunlight was starting to fade, taking with it some of the worst of the heat. Here along the lakeshore though, and with fur that would remain damp and cool for some time yet, that wasn't as great of a concern.

-fade here? I'll see if I can get a continuation up this evening

Yes this seems like a good spot to me

Siyet felt that the other was a little tense as she placed her head on him. He began to relax though and seemed okay with her touch.

He was right, it was starting to get dark and a good rest would do them both well. She yawned as she slowly started to drift to sleep.

Before she fell fully asleep though she said to the other, "goodnight."