Turtleback Lake Refraction

<ooc>For @Finley

The rains had returned, though today it was little more than a gentle drizzle, prompting a chorus from the birds who had not yet departed. The lands were turning green again even as the seasons changed and the world prepared to plunge ahead into winter. Caspian had little understanding of all this, he simply watched as the world changed to match his eyes, as his mother sighed with relief even as she busied herself about tasks, as the drops formed and fell from a leaf like tears. Though the fine sprinkling had begun to wet his coat, the boy did not yet stir to return to the den mere steps away.

His ankle was still bothering him, though the swelling had gone down, and the pain was far less than it had been. But he was supposed to rest, and could not go out adventuring or chasing @Ryder or visiting @Flair, or to find the kind stranger to thank her for her help, or anything at all, really. Don't go. A sigh escaped the boy as he watched another droplet of rain swell and fall, his reflection distorted and upside down as it looked back at him, then vanished. Just like at the lake. Why, he wondered, did ghosts seem to appear to him It was another thing he could not understand.

His thoughts had turned pensive and melancholy, and he did not even care that the rain was beginning to soak through his coat now. Sprained paw, whatever, to be stuck here, bored was the worst affliction of them all, or at least it seemed so to him.

(This post was last modified: Oct 05, 2022, 07:36 PM by Caspian.)

Finley had been down at the lake intending to do some fishing when she had noticed a mink who had managed to catch itself a fat fish. Feeling a little feisty she chased the creature away and stole the salmon, barely even touched yet. Pleased with this outcome the agouti woman scooped up her prize and made her away back to the den, knowing that Caspian would be nearby because of his injury. Maybe he would want to split lunch with her.

When her son came into view she waved her tail proudly at him, showing off the fish in her jaws. Hurrying along she put the salmon at her son’s paws, before sniffing over his ankle cautiously. The swelling seemed to have gone down and it did not stink of infection, so she was happy with this and took a step back.

Seeing the long face brought a frown to her muzzle, ”How are you doing Casp? Are you hungry?” If only it would be that easy. She knew he was upset that his injury had limited the amount of freedom that he had, just as he was beginning to have it. Unfortunately, there was not much she could do about that.

When his mother appeared out of nowhere, he gave her a half-hearted thump of his own tail in return. She drew closer and brought a fish which she placed down, inspecting his sprained ankle for a moment. This prompted a heavy sigh from Caspian.

It was not until she frowned at him that he was struck with a pang of guilt for his behavior, and sighed again. "I guess so," he answered the question of hunger first; he was in a low mood but the salmon did smell really good. With the arrival of autumn, the fish were fatty and plentiful, becoming a fast favorite of his. "Thanks ma," he offered a smile before dipping his head down.

Picking up the fish in his jaws, he followed his mother in out of the rain. Their den felt much smaller than it once had, and rather confining to the rapidly growing boy, but it felt good to be somewhere warm, in out of the rain. "Just... didn' think it would take so long ta feel good again," he mumbled. Cas wished his paw would heal fully so he could get back to exploring, and testing his strengths. It was better every day, almost there, just... not there enough. He was tired of being stuck, and left behind while Ryder got to go out every day. He could see the seasons changing, and felt like he was missing out on everything.

Finley looked up quickly when her son sighed, unsure whether he was in pain or just upset about his situation. When he sighed again and thanked her the mother was settled that it was just a down mood, and not a physical pain that was plaguing him in this moment. Settling down into a lounging position she gave an approving smile and responded, ”You’re welcome.” Above all else, Finley had been stressing how important politeness and doing your fair share of work was to her sons. They could do whatever they pleased, as long as they were polite and not lazy.

The mother didn’t know much about healing, she had always been more of a tracker than anything else in her birthpack. That being said, she had twisted her ankles a time or two in her youth and knew what a drag it was to have to wait around for it. Settling her head down onto her paws she responded, ”I know last time I hurt my leg like that it took almost two full moons before it felt normal again.” She didn’t know what else to say to make the pup feel better. Unfortunately, at this point it was just a waiting game.

Cas ate his fill from the fish as his frame warmed, gradually the den capturing and returning the warmth of the two wolves inhabiting it. When he was finished he cleaned his fur and settled next to Finley, pressing his head up against her shoulder and giving another thump of his tail.

Lately he'd had a lot more time to sit around thinking, and it made it harder to outrun the strange thoughts he sometimes had. Normally the boy would invent a game to play, or go on adventures or chase after Ry and the others, go off learning about the world. But sometimes it felt like there were ghosts in his past, and he didn't know why or what to make of it. He'd rather not think about it too much, but on low, rainy days like this it seemed a melancholy mood found him. Luckily Finley was here, and it made him feel a lot better to have his Ma around.

"Moons? y'can count 'em?" Cas asked, perking up a bit. His ears tipped up with new interest. He knew it was there in the sky shining, changing its face, and he'd even heard fanciful tales, but the idea that it was something to count by was intriguing to the boy. How long was two full moons? He'd never really thought about it before.

The green eyed Lennox woman felt some relief as her son snuggled into her side and ate what he wanted from the fish. Once she settled into preening himself she set to work crunching on the bones and what was left from the meat. That was the life of a mother wasn’t it? Just eating the scraps? Finley never thought that she would be happy with that, but it surprisingly pleased her, especially seeing how her sons were growing.

Smiling at his question, the woman nodded, ”You sure can, have you ever noticed how it looks different from time to time?” Maybe he had, and maybe he hadn’t, she didn’t expect this would be something that a child would notice on his own. She continued, ”It follows a pattern, starting out on the nights where there is almost no moon at all and the sky is dark. Then it gets bigger until it is all the way full and bright, then gets smaller again until it’s gone.” She kissed his head softly, ”It’s a way for wolves to tell how much time is passing, and lots of things are controlled by how big the moon is.” There was a lot of science behind it, but she was a wolf and didn’t know what science is. All she knew was that it followed a pattern.

Caspian was warm and content enough despite his impatience to heal and go adventuring again. It would be easy to grow sleepy, but he was intrigued by what his mother had to say. Stories and lessons were exciting in their own way, too.

"Yeah," he nodded along, he'd seen it change but had no concept of the cycle or how it could be counted upon. He tried to imagine the moon shifting in the sky through the different shapes he had noticed, closing his eyes and thinking of the moon glinting off of the lake surface as Finley's words wrapped warmly around him.

Her kiss on the forehead brought his eyes open again, he was not ready to fall asleep yet!

"Lots of things?" he inquired, echoing her words. He wondered just how much pull the moon had over things he'd never thought about. It felt similar but different to when he'd heard tales of demons from Colette or seen that ghost-thing with Flair. Less scary, but just as magical, perhaps moreso because it seemed... less made up? He stopped to think about that for a moment, wrinkling his nose in thought.

The Lennox woman was a bit stumped by the question that came next, realizing she didn't really know the answer. She grinned sheepishly and nuzzled Caspian’s ear, ”If I’m honest I don’t know all the things it controls, I’m not sure that anyone does.” There were probably wolves out there who knew a lot more than she did and she had never been particularly intrigued by it.

But, she wanted to give the best answer that she could so she continued, ”Some of the things that I do know are that it’s the same cycle every time, and that it is about three cycles per season. It makes it a little bit easier to predict when summer will turn into fall for example.” And what else could she remember? Green eyes looked up towards the roof as she thought deep and hard back to her own lessons as a child.

Her face brightened as it dawned on her, ”And some animals, particularly the birds, seem to chase the moon around that’s why you see them flying away now. They’ll be gone for the winter and back in the spring.” She knew Caspian was getting tired, and she pulled him close into her side and began humming a song, one of the ones he had been named after.

Imagined vistas of the sky, changing moon phases and glinting stars and scudding clouds filled the boy's imagination as Finley spoke. His ears twitched to catch each word, a smile sliding onto his jaws as he forgot why his spirits had been so low. Ma was always good with stories and pep talks, and soon enough he was in another world as the rain sang steadily outside.

His eyes had closed again, but one emerald opened momentarily as she admitted she did not know all the things. The boy's eyebrow would quirk up, his ma was not all knowing? But she did know a lot.

Three moons per season meant that the current one would be nearly over before his ankle would heal up fully, probably. A sigh escaped his frame, but it was a contented one as he lay there in the coziness of their home and listened to Finley's voice, imagining birds on the wing to places he'd never see, with four earth-bound paws injured or not. As she pulled him against her and began to hum, he uttered one last question before surrendering to his dreams.

"Do we do that too?" Cas didn't want his mom to go away chasing the seasons, or for them to have to leave behind their home and their friends, even if the moon was beautiful and exploring was exciting. But if they came back, maybe that would be okay.

This will be Cas's last post as he falls asleep <3

Her son was settling into her side and the mother was pleased that she seemed to have cheered him up. She was ready to hum him to sleep when she halted at his question. Tilting her head slightly, she thought for a moment, ”Well, I think some wolves do. But, we don’t.” Unless maybe he would like that? She would travel with him if that was what the boys wanted. Laying her head across his shoulders she murmured, ”But we can do anything you want once your ankle gets better, go anywhere in the world. Or, we can stay right here if you would rather.” But for now, they would be perfectly happy right now.

FADE