Silent Moon Plateau you're gonna sing the words wrong.

RE: Kyna, a beautiful tune of birdsong wakes you up on a cool, spring morning.
Open for one or two!

On some level, Kyna was a bit surprised it had taken her so long to return to her childhood home. But then, founding a pack was time consuming, and more so than that was pregnancy. Revon’s infancy left her very little time to leave the den for the bare necessities, much less travelling south simply to satisfy her curiosity. Now her daughter grew, however, and the alpha was allowed a little more time on her own. In the early hours, she’d left the girl with Greer, promising to be back before the afternoon.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have curled up for a nap, but in her defense, the redhead hadn’t actually meant to fall asleep. It was more like trying to bond with the earth, or something equally as ridiculous, and she’d simply dozed off against the cool earth.

At least the bird song woke her up, or she’d be even alter. Kyna sighed softly, her fire bright eyes flickering upwards as she watched the pair at their nest, chittering before one of the flew back off. A second clutch of eggs. Birds were so productive, she thought wryly, but did not untuck her legs to stand. “Should I have stayed here?” she asked the bird.

Unsurprisingly, it said nothing in return.

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This new life he had created with his scarlet moon did not come without it's challenges but Greer could not shake the feeling that this was where he was supposed to be. Everything he now possessed had never occurred to him the past. Building a future—a pack, a family—had never tempted the shadow. He had grown comfortable in the north, abiding by the rules set in place by his sister and her mate, pursuing a role that he believed would benefit the pack. It was a life he would have thrived in, but it was not the life he was meant to have. What would have become of Kyna if he had stayed on the monadnock? Would she have left her place in the mountains to please him, or would she have found someone else to create a family with? The thought had made his head spin more times than he could count before Morganna encouraged him to find her.

However, she was likely expecting for him to return—with his mountain girlfriend at his side.

Once Revon grew into her long, Archer legs he would take her north, to visit her aunt (and, hopefully, her cousins). To explain to his sister why he had not returned.

After Kyna had left the little fox under his care in the early hours of the morning Greer had entertained Revon until her eyes dripped shut with exhaustion. As sleep began to take its hold on the fireball the ebony leader pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and left her under Iyes’ supervision. He streaked across the mountain terrain, his nose tipped toward the ground as he followed his mate’s scent. The shadow hated to intrude on her alone time but they seldom were able to escape their responsibilities.

Once he reached the strawberry blond he slunk down beside her, his shoulder pressed to hers as he hummed a greeting in her ear, his lips curling softly at the corners.

Of all the wolves that might have found her here, Kyna rather thought her mate might be the last one on the list. After all, she’d left their child in his care. And speaking of said child… The alpha female lifted her head a bit higher, craning her neck to look around the dark wolf for any sign of their daughter. When she did not see the little fox tucked up against his side, she frowned, glancing around the rocky plateau – but she did not see Revon there, either. That in and of itself was not surprising, as she rather imagining it would be a difficult slope for an infant to scale (she’d never climbed it at her daughter’s age).

Worry started to creep in.

“Where’s Revon?” she asked softly, getting to her feet to glance around again. Logically, of course, he could have asked Iyes or Heigen to babysit while he stretched his legs – the Aurora princess was old enough for that, now – but what if she’d wandered off? What if he didn’t know…? Surely he knew. But being a first time mother is not something that came easily, and Kyna still found herself forgetting about the birds and her questions, eyes searching Greer’s shadowy face.

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A wild dissertation appears!

Greer did not often break character. His self-inflicted isolation as a child caused him to be withdrawn and void of emotion—unless he was around Kyna. There had been a few times, in recent months, when he allowed himself to… loosen up, but it did not come easily to the shadow. He wanted to be a good father and worried that his stoic personality would reflect negatively on their little fire fox. His own parents had been more like stones than the bubbling brook that was his mate and he turned out fine-ish… right?

However, the Archer-Lyall would never admit these thoughts aloud, and certainly not to Kyna.

He was not surprised by the question that rolled off her tongue, his mercury gaze following her movements as she rose from her position. At first he thought about telling her the truth—that he had missed her company and left Revon under the care of auntie Iyes—but he swallowed the words before they could form on his tongue. Instead, the shadow feigned surprise, his head tilting to the side as he watched her golden irises scan the mountain behind him. His brows narrowed, a frown tugging at his lips: “With Ky?”

He knew this was a dangerous game, toying with a mother’s emotions, but it was worth it.

He hoped.

“Wh-what?”

Greer had been sleepy when she left, yes, but the woman had been fairly certain he’d actually been awake when he’d responded, when she left their little fireball tucked against her father’s warmth. The lack of verbal response had been no reason to pause – the shadow was just as likely to remain silent even when he’d been out and about for hours. Surely he hadn’t been sleep talking…or sleep mumbling. His eyes were open! Weren’t they? Suddenly, Kyna couldn’t remember the moment just right, or maybe she was imagining it? Surely she wouldn’t have just left her daughter without supervision…

The red wolf’s heart leapt into her throat, hammering so loudly she was certain her mate would be able to hear it. She swallowed, but could not form words around it. Kyna swallowed again, harder, her golden eyes looking back towards Aurora Heights to see if the young cub had followed her father out of curiosity…but no one was there. Her tail bristled as she whirled around, wide eyes searching Greer’s face.

“I… I left her with you! She was still asleep and I told you… I thought you were awake? You answered me… I swore you answered me…”

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@Greer I am a slow bean and I am sorry.  :(

A wild dissertation appears!

<3 it's okay! @Kyna

Masking his emotions was something Greer had always done well. The scarlet female’s expression almost caused his composure to falter but he remained stoic, his silver eyes glistening with concern as Kyna became frantic. He knew there was a possibility that this was not going to end well—toying with a mother’s emotions was not ideal, even if it was for his own (twisted) entertainment. He mirrored her widened gaze with his own, his silver pools frantically searching her face for answers she did not have. Her words were spastic as they dripped off her tongue, tumbling into each other and barley making sense.

Did he feel bad?

Of course. Regret was already bubbling up in the back of his throat but he couldn’t back down now. Not yet.

“Greer no remember! Greer… Greer sorry! Thought with Ky!” He retorted quickly, mentally kicking himself as the words sputtered from his mouth. The shadow worried that the strawberry blond would streak past him and disrupt Revon’s time with Iyes so, as the words settled between them his expression softened. His ears quickly flattened against the back of his crown, his lips curling into a sheepish grin as his tail fell between his legs. “Rev ok. Rev with Iyes,” he explained in a soft, almost timid, voice. “Promise. Greer sorry trick.” The leader flinched even though the scarlet wolf had not yet spoken, for he worried about the reaction he was about to receive…

Was it worth it?

Absolutely.

There is a moose carcass that has been scavenged by coyotes nearby. +15 Health

Oh no. Oh no.

Kyna had no higher power to pray to, but if she did, if she did, she’d most certainly be rattling off prayers off left and right. Her mate had been sleep-talking. He hadn’t left Revon with anyone, she’d left Revon with someone who hadn’t realized, and now their daughter was off, wandering around, all on her own! (Oh, sure, maybe she’d done something similar at that age, but it was completely different being on this end of the relationship.)

But before she could spin herself up any further, or go sprinting back home to Aurora Heights to call a search party for her daughter, Greer suddenly fessed up to the horribly unkind trick he’d been playing. Her jaw dropped, and for several speechless moments, Kyna could only stare back at her co-leader, looking all the world like a particularly stunned fish.

Eventually, she darted forward, grabbing one of the shadow’s dark ears and giving a firm tug. “You bastard!” she gasped, still looking a bit surprised – if not for the sparkle in her sunshine eyes. Her tail whipped behind her furiously. “You cheeky bastard! You really had me going.” Of course she’d fallen for it – she’d never known this mischievous side of her lover! But, well, she kind of liked it. A lot. And there was so much to learn still about her Greer. “Did you come all the way out here just to give me a fright, you rascal?”

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@Greer -- I am so sorry I am slow!  But I am back and ready to fite post!

A wild dissertation appears!

@Kyna

He was not taken aback by her reaction. His tail curled beneath his legs submissively as his ears tucked against his crown, a sheepish grin working it's way onto his dark features. Unfortunately he was unable to flatten his ears quick enough, as Kyna reached forward and tugged on one to discipline him for his horrible (yet insanely amusing) joke. It was a cruel trick to play on his wife, but with the birth of their daughter and the formation of their back, they had been far too serious since returning to the mountains. He snorted in amusement as she called him out, the corners of his mouth pulling back as a smile stretched across his maw. “Sorry,” he hummed in response although the smile did not disappear. He felt bad for nearly causing his scarlet mate to have a heart attack, but her reaction had made it worth it.

Pressing a quick lick to her cheek in a feeble attempt to smooth things over the shadow gave a small shake of his head in response to her question. “Maybe,” he responded quickly, his tongue drawing out the ‘be’. That was part of the reason. Greer mostly wanted to spend time with the strawberry blond, for they were almost always surrounded by others. It had been quite some time since he had gotten some Kreer alone time with her. “Greer miss Ky,” he hummed as he stepped toward her, his nose bumping affectionately against her shoulder as he sought out her golden gaze, his tail swaying gently behind him.

“You are not,” she snorted, smiling right back at the man – maybe she should be mad, but it wasn’t like Greer had let it drag on and on, or let her race all the way home only to find their daughter happily playing with her Auntie Iyes. And there was that, too. Revon was safe and sound, her mate had seen to that before he’d followed her out of the territory to her little quite hiding spot.

But that was okay – the shadow was right. There really wasn’t much time for either of them to spend together, much less peacefully. Starting a family and a pack at the same time wasn’t…but neither was maintaining a relationship when they were on opposite sides of the forest. The little Archer family clearly wasn’t one for taking the simple way out.

Humming quietly, the redhead stepped forward and licked underneath the older wolf’s chin, content in the quiet moment. The birds had resumed their song overhead, seemingly unbothered by the shenanigans of wolves below. “I miss you, too. But we have now – we can listen to the birds.” She paused for a moment longer, ears flick forward. “Maybe we should make a plan for another one of these. Just the two of us.”

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@Greer -- We could wrap this up and start a new one?  O:

A wild dissertation appears!