even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

It was dark, and he probably should have been finding a place to sleep. But no matter how much he tried to convince himself he was all grown up now, Alarik was still young and a dreamer at heart. And his inner pup couldn't bear to pull himself away from the view he was enjoying right now.

The sun had found its rest below the horizon a good hour ago, and the sky had changed from a deep evening blue to a blue so dark it was almost black. And, he supposed, in another hour or so it would be black. The stars had seemed to peek out one by one, as if most of them were shy and wanted to wait for the bravest among them to go first. But after the first handful of stars had become visible, within minutes the sky was full of them. Alarik had been walking during this time, exploring with a purpose just like he'd promised himself he would do. But now... now he had been so suddenly and remarkably filled with awe that he just had to sit. And then lay down. And then roll over onto his back so his belly faced the sky.

And that's where Alarik was on this night, laying on his back atop a thin layer of snow, a soft smile on his face as he admired the beautiful night sky.

A wide yawn stretched his jaws as he continued to follow along the edge of the lake. The fireflies had come out a short time before and at first he had been awed by them and their little floating, glowing bodies, but very soon he grew more tired than he was excited by the new sight. He had traveled an awful long way so far even though he had no destination in mind and no idea what he might do next. He hadn't seen Amethyst in a while, his dad was always so sad all the time, and Paradise barely wanted to leave her precious buffalo. It was just so boring staying in one place all the time so here he was. Alone with a bunch of dang fireflies. His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, his paws continuing to carry him forward despite the fact that he couldn't see where he was going. Practically sleepwalking, Pyre had no idea what was in his path as he basically walked right over the other man laying on the ground. It startled him awake as he stumbled and flipped right over the stranger, landing on his back with a thud and a huff of air. He stared up at the sky for a moment with a confused expression, blinking and getting his bearings together. Pyre twisted his head to look at whatever it was he had tripped on and saw the slightly larger guy right in his line of sight. "Oh! Jeeze, my bad," he said as he hurried to his paws and shook off his fur. "Sorry, that was dumb of me." Speech Thought Others

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

The night was nearly silent, and Alarik was totally relaxed. He knew it wouldn't be smart to let himself sleep here, in the middle of nowhere, but his eyes were growing heavier and heavier and he couldn't muster the motivation to get up and find a better place to sleep. So Alarik let his eyes trace the constellations, imagining stories about them in his head until finally he fell asleep. And that lasted about two minutes.

He jolted awake when something struck him in the side, his eyes snapping open as another wolf tripped over him and flopped down onto the ground. As soon as Alarik had a chance to actually wake up and remember where he was, he laughed. "No, no... It's okay," he said, getting to his feet as well as he looked at the man who had quite literally stumbled into him. What an interesting way to meet someone.

It was dark, but even in the dark Alarik could tell that this male was magnificently colored. He had seen some wolves with abnormal coloring before, but this... this male looked like the embodiment of a burning fire. Alarik had to admit he was dazzled for a moment. But eventually he cleared his throat and spoke. "Seriously, don't be sorry," he said. "I was the one taking a nap in the middle of nowhere, and it's dark... maybe I should be the one apologizing," he said with a laugh. "I'm Alarik. Nice to meet you."

Vali enjoyed leaving the packlands from time to time, especially to the Firefly lake. It could be summer or winter, and the land was still beautiful. In summer, it had what it was named for - the fireflies that glowed softly in the night. But in the winter, it was tranquil; everything frozen, including the lake itself. The soft crunch of snow under her paws was theurupetic and relaxing; just the... solitude in general was. She had no idea she wasn't alone - not until a loud thud, and a stranger's voice rang out. And then... two. Ears pricking, she followed the voices, which were very loud and distinct. In fact - Vali resisted a bubble of laughter. So one of the strangers had tripped over the other, eh? "Hello?" she called out, voice friendly as she spotted the darkened silhouettes of the other wolves. She came even closer, then, so she could distinguish, well, something, anyway.

Well at least the stranger wasn't mad or anything. Pyre didn't realize that he had been sleeping out here until he had mentioned something about napping in the middle of nowhere. That made it a little more funny than embarrassing and it pulled a slight smile onto his face as he chuckled. Mistakes all around then. "Yeah, nice to meet you too. I'm Pyre. I was practically asleep on my paws so we're probably even in-" Before he could finish his statement a woman's voice caught his attention and his ears perked as his head turned toward whoever it was that was calling out a seemingly friendly "hello". He had to squint through the dark to see anyone walking toward them, but eventually he focused in on a pale figure. At least her light-colored fur made her a bit easier to see. "Hey!" he called back, figuring if he was going to stay awake to socialize he might as well get the most he could out of it. He glanced at Alarik with a shrug before padding off toward the woman to meet her halfway and see what she wanted. Speech Thought Others

even if it's just
in your wildest dreams

The other man seemed amused by the turn of events as well, and Alarik gave his tail a wag as he introduced himself. He chuckled when Pyre told him he'd practically been asleep on his paws, and would have continued if not for the voice that suddenly called out to both of them. Alarik turned to see who had decided to join them and saw the light colored woman not far away. "Hey!" he replied, at the same time as Pyre. This night was just strange. But he wasn't complaining, it was nice to have company, even at this time of night.

He followed behind the fiery male as the two of them walked toward the woman who had just arrived. "Welcome," Alarik said with a chuckle. "You came at the right time, we were just doing introductions. My name is Alarik." He bowed his head politely to the woman and smiled.