Sanguine Cove Time For Her Comeback

Kateri wasn't really sure what she should be thinking at that point. She felt that his response clearly indicated that there was something going on. That she'd guessed right about her mother. She decided that maybe she should inquire further and see where that might take her. Then she could either drop it or ask more questions.

The grin that appeared on her face caused a look of curiosity to cross hers and then he said it. The dreaded, Ask your mother, that was like the kiss of death in all aspects of a pups life. Kateri wasn't sure her mother would tell her what was going on. She thought that if she'd really wanted to she would have said something about it but she nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that."

She turned her focus back on the adventure and thought she had come up with something pretty good. Fairies and unicorns. Even to her ears it all sounded pretty amazing."Yeah of course I have. How would I know they were there if I hadn't?" she explained when he asked if she'd ever seen them before. Then she frowned when he admitted that he hadn't, "Well. Maybe you'll get to today," she suggested bumping his shoulder amicably.

For a moment the guardian thought Kateri was going to press with more questions, and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to resist her. He'd never really been pushed by one of the pups before. Luckily she accepted his answer, safely passing that conversation off to Aquene and they moved on to fairies.

He smirked at her response to his question. How silly of him, to think she hadn't seen them. "Maybe," he conceded, "or maybe you're just special. They don't like to show themselves to just anyone." He poked her side with his nose in return for her shoulder bump. She was a bright kid.

Kateri moved on from her line of questioning. She didn't think she'd get any more out of Nash anyway. Besides this little outing wasn't meant to be an interrogation. They were supposed to be having fun so she woukd just have to provide that. Which she felt she'd done quite sufficiently if she did say so herself.

A story about fairies and their small little town with unicorns and other magical creatures. Whether or not they actually existed didn't matter. The fun would be in trying to find them.

Her mismatched gaze was turned to look at Nash when he spoke. "I doubt I'm anymore special than you are Nash," she stated, "And even if I were…" she trailed off as she realized they were at the log. "We've got to look all over now," she said in a whisper, "They are rather shy so they don't like strangers."

Kateri was quick to assure him that she was no more special than he was, but they'd arrived at the log and she lowered her voice. He crouched down to better hear her as well as appear conspiratorial. They were fairy hunting, after all. He nodded solemnly. "Your our local fairy expert," he said, matching her volume. "Where should we look first?"

He could remember looking for fantasies when he was a pup, although when he was reaching the age Kateri was now, his father had died and he'd stepped up to try and do Tagg's work for him. And then...

Well, it wasn't worth dwelling on. It was over, and he had Aquene, who would never leave him, he was sure. His nightmares could torment him all they wanted and it wouldn't change the fact that she'd promised, and he trusted her. Right now, he was going to play pretend with his love's daughter, and it was going to be fun.

This was the most fun she'd had since she'd hurt her leg. Kateri was glad that Nash was playing along with her. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if there was something going on between him and her mother. That was for another day though. Just then she had someone who was going fairy hunting with her and she was going to try and make it as much fun as she could.

The young Slayer looked over at Nash as he bent down to hear her better. "I've been studying them a long time," which was to say she'd had a long time to make all this up. It had started as something to keep her mind busy. Now it was a fun little game. When asked where they should look first Kateri looked around for a moment before deciding.

"Look over there," she said indicating a small burrow like opening under the log. "I think we should start there," she said before starting toward it giving Nash a nudge on the shoulder in her way.

Kateri shared his conspiratorial air, so Nash continued with it. He kept low and quiet, nodding along as if her studying fairies for a long time was the most natural thing in the world. Of course Kateri would study fairies. Someone had to.

She led the way to a small opening under the log, nudging him as she went. He smiled and followed, trying to walk lightly so he didn't frighten the fairies they were looking for. He peeked into the little burrow and sniffed to make sure there was nothing with pointy teeth hiding out for the winter. If Kateri got attacked by some sort of rodent under his watch, never mind his ears - Aquene would probably kill him.

Fortunately it appeared empty. Nash looked to his fairy hunter guide. "What do we do?" he whispered. "Do we dig?"

Her opinions of Nash might've been changing with each passing moment. As he followed her lead and played pretend with her. Perhaps mama had chosen a good one. She was starting to like the Guardian it especially helped that whether or not he believed anything she said he sure did a good job of hiding it for her sake.

They'd come across a small burrow under the great log that had once been a tree. Now it was hollowed out and laid on the forest floor like a fallen soldier of many, many moons ago. She watched as Nash sniffed at the hole first and then she took her turn. "Don't you smell it Nash? The fairy dust. It smells like honeysuckle in the spring," she described with a dreamy smile on her face.

Then at his suggestion of digging up the burrow she frowned, "No silly. That would be mean after they worked so hard. They aren't home right now," she said looking out across the forest. Then she produced a shocked expression. "Look Nash," she whispered into his ear, "Over there by that tree. There's one dancing in the air."

Nash's ears flicked as Kateri described the smell to him and he nodded seriously, though his eyes glimmered with amusement. Her dreamy smile was radiant - she certainly took after her mother in that regard. He swallowed a chuckle at her cross admonishment, but made sure he looked suitably scolded. Her eyes suddenly widened and her voiced lowered further as she whispered directly into his ear.

Carefully turning his head, Nash looked to where she was pointing. He didn't see anything particularly special, but he too arranged his features into one of surprised wonderment. "Wow," he said as quietly as she'd whispered. "We're so lucky!"

Kateri was really getting into this pretending about the Fairies in the forest. She hadn't expected that Nash would go along with it all but he was which made it lots more fun. The more she told about the fairies the easier it became to make up more details about them. Like the smell that their dust gave off. She wanted it to be a pretty smell because they were supposed to be pretty. At least they were in her mind.

She couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips when Nash's expression showed that he'd been thoroughly scolded. He was doing a really great job at pretending with her. They moved on and that was when she spoke of the dancing fairy by the tree. He even pretended to see it too amd said they were lucky to witness such a thing. "We certainly are," she agreed, "Do you think Nash that maybe it's a sign?" She asked him meeting his gaze. Her tone had become more serious now.

He could tell Kateri was having a good time, something Nash was grateful for. She'd had such a rough go of it lately, with being lost and then all but confined to the medicine den. Aquene had a good reason for keeping her daughter close, of course, and the pup needed to rest if she wanted to get better, but that didn't mean she couldn't have at least a little bit of fun. Besides, he was glad to have the chance to spend a little more time bonding with her.

The guardian glanced down at her when she asked her question, suddenly serious. He considered her for a moment before offering her a soft smile and nodding. "I think it's a sign that we've got a great year ahead of us," he said, and he meant it. He and Aquene were... well, them, Al and Oksana were them, and even though the winter had been hard summer was on its way and things were going to be alright.