Navigation -- Sunset Falls

It took some guts for her to leave pack lands, ever since she had that run in with the strange woman. But after Starling vanished, she started to work on the whole getting stronger thing. Lark had told her that he would help train her, but he was still recovering at the moment. She didn’t want to be a burden on him and gave him his space, not wanting to get sick again. Finch had enough of being ill. The woman shuddered, pausing as she heard the rush of water. Her ears flickered and she turned towards her left, following the river in the opposite direction of its flow. She had never been to these parts before, but exploring without fear was part of her whole better herself deal. Civetta stood between her shoulders as she headed up the hill.

When Finch reached the top of the mount, the sight took her breath away. Her pale blue eyes grew wide as she stepped near the ledge, the spray of the waterfall hitting her form. She could see so far across the eastern land, and it was the most stunning thing she had ever seen before. Settling on her rump she let out a soft breath, forgetting about the bird on her back. Civetta let out a shrill call, flapping her wings and picking her way to the wolf’s head with the assistance of her beak. Finch hardly realized it, still awestruck from the view. She blinked slowly as she registered that it was starting to snow, the first time she had seen the white flakes at all this winter. They were soft and almost fluffy looking, but they didn't stick to the ground when they landed. The whole scene was so beautiful, it really took her breath away. She was sad that no one was here to see it with her, and her heart ached for Starling. He would love this as much as she did… She blinked hard to scatter the threat of tears, just as a clutter of snow flakes landed on her nose. She shivered at the sudden touch of cold, almost shaking the poor bird off again. The young woman just stood there, transfixed by the whole scene. It was… almost romantic. A warm blush flooded to her cheeks at the thought, and she mentally shook it away. Now was not the time for silly thoughts like that! Plus she was at a loss when it came to anything romantic, she hadn't had her mother to walk her through all of this. "This is so pretty…" The bird whispered, reminding Finch that her companion was here. She carefully nodded her head, trying not to upset the small song bird. "It really is Civetta, it really is…"

"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

Tiburtius lifted his head to look at the sky as the snowflakes began to fall around him. They were light and fluffy and offered no true threat for a snow storm. At least not like the snow falls he remembered from his childhood. They had still been fairly young when his mothers moved him and his brothers to the east, but he still remembered the huge mounds of snow and heavy snowflakes vividly. His dual colored eyes came back to look at his surroundings with a sigh. It felt like he was constantly daydreaming of the past these days. He wasn’t even sure if the past was really that much better than his current situation… He just wasn’t sure he had anything in his future to dream of. His ears flicked back against his skull as he forced his silver paws to keep moving. He didn’t have a real goal or destination in mind, he just needed to get out of Fiori’s territory for a moment to clear his head. He absolutely hadn’t taken his decision to propose to Arivae lightly, but it seemed like every time he blinked an eye she was gone. He didn’t expect her to stick to his side constantly, but when he looked at his mothers and how they always came back to their den to sleep together at night even on days when they were both too busy to speak during the day… That was the relationship he wanted. He shoved the thoughts away as a sigh passed his lips, a small cloud forming around the end of his muzzle. This wasn’t doing anything to help him right now. He had come out here to take a breath and relax and so far he had only done the opposite. He lifted his gaze from the ground to look to see where in the world he was even going and his brows raised in surprise when he spotted a woman sitting a short distance ahead of him. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn’t noticed her sitting there. He looked past her at the view that seemed to have her attention so captured and had to admit that it was quite the amazing view. The light snowfall certainly added a certain something as well. A small smile touched his lips and he padded closer, careful to make some sort of noise as he walked so he wouldn’t startle her. “Do you mind if I share your view with you?” he asked politely, giving her a smile as he came over to sit to her left. Speak Thought Others

She hadn't been paying too much attention either, to enraptured by everything around her. Even Civetta, who was generally so alert, did not notice the large stranger. Not until he made a sound, alerting both creatures to his approach. Finch jumped slightly, her hackles raising as she turned to look at him. All the way up at him. The bird on her head fluffed up, tweeting in irritation as her beady eyes narrowed at the larger wolf. Her wings unfurled as she went to go hop over to him, but Finch quickly tossed her head upwards to stop her friend. Civetta’s beak snapped shut and she hunkered down between her ears.

Finch chuckled softly, her fur laying flat as he asked if he could join her. She nodded, a heat rushing to her pale cheeks. Shifting her gaze away from him, she looked to the horizon instead. She may be working on getting stronger, but it was harder to shake her shyness. Shuffling slightly on her paws, she fell silent for a moment. Finch was at a loss of what to say, until a slight breeze drifted his scent towards her. She blinked at the overwhelming smell of a pack, and her head tilted to the side. Was there another pack here in the east? She was terrible, really. She didn't get out much at all. "So you're from a pack around here?" she asked with a squeak, her ears pinning at how sheepish she sounded. Her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red under her fur, her gray marked tail swishing on the ground behind her. For an alpha's daughter, she should know more about politics. And her rank too! Goodness, she had a lot to work on…

"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

Tiburtius saw that he had startled her a bit despite his efforts not to, but luckily she didn't seem too put out by it. What caught his eye first though was the flash of wings from the small bird on her head. He blinked from surprise and watched as the bird, that seemed awfully disgruntled, settled down out of view behind her head again. Having an animal as a companion wasn't entirely foreign to him, but he had never seen a bird ride on a wolf like that. It made him grin a little from how adorable it was that this small woman had a small bird riding around on her. He focused back on the pale woman when she nodded, agreeing to him sitting with her. He sat back on his haunches with a contented sigh. It wasn't a long walk from Fiori to here, but it was enough for a break off his feet to feel good. He glanced at the view ahead of them and immediately saw why she had been sitting here before he came up here. It was a beautiful view from her perch. His ears perked when she spoke, pulling his gaze back down to hers. It wasn't the first thing he had expected to hear from her, but it wasn't a strange question at all. He easily smelled the pack scent on her as well. He couldn't specifically name which pack it was she was from either. He didn't really make a habit of familiarizing himself with the other packs, with the exception maybe of the one Fiori shared a border with. He nodded in reply, giving her a small smile. “Yeah, I live in Fiori. It's over on the coast.” He wasn't sure how much of a reference for her that was, but he wasn't sure how else to describe Fiori’s location. She seemed so shy, with her quiet tone and heavy blush across her cheeks. It immediately made him want to be even more sweet and kind than usual. It was like tiptoeing and whispering to keep a bird from flying off. “What about you? Is your pack close to here?” he asked with an encouraging smile. He suddenly realized he hadn't introduced himself, but he didn't want to interrupt her now that he had asked a question so he waited for her answer before adding, “I'm Tiburtius by the way.” Speak Thought Others

He was quite the gentleman, he didn't make a fuss when she was a bit silent. He just sat there, a quiet companion at her side. Speaking of which, Civetta was growing bored of not speaking. She was a very outspoken bird, and her beak would not remain closed. Before Finch could say anything, the small bird removed herself from her hiding spot and fluttered over to the larger males face. She settled right by his nose, her favorite perch on strangers. Finch jumped forward to try and shoo the bird off, but she didn't move an inch. "You're a big wolf, why are you so tall? And what's a Fiori? I've never heard of a Fiori before. Finch, what's a Fiori?" The wolf let out a sigh and shook her head back and forth, shooting a glare at the talkative bird. Civetta made up for Finch's reserved nature, that was for sure. "Fiori is a pack, like Abaven is. Like this gentleman said, it's on the coast." When the finch gave her a look she just sighed, not bothering to answer her feathered friend. She met his gaze with a sheepish smile, apologizing for Civetta.

He asked about her pack and she nodded, pointing her nose inland. "My father runs Abaven over there," she said, shuffling again slightly. Her pale blue eyes found the horizon again, watching the soft flakes drift towards the earth. He introduced himself, and her ears fluttered towards him. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye, a shy smile still on her lips. "Like Civetta sai-"

"She's Finch and I'm Civetta!"

Finch groaned at the birds interruption, shrugging her shoulders. "Yes, Civetta is right," she said softly. Looking back towards the waterfall, she took a deep breath. "What brings you so far from home?" Finch asked after a long pause, trying to shake off her nerves.


"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

Tib’s eyes widened with surprise and he blinked as the bird he had spotted on the smaller woman’s head moments before flew up from her perch, suddenly appearing right in his line of sight. He flinched back a bit purely out of shock. He grinned a little bit as his two-toned eyes crossed slightly to look at the small bird that had perched by his nose. He chuckled softly, adding on to Finch’s answer saying, “I’m not sure why I’m so tall. Most of my brothers are close to my height too though.” He had a good sense of humor and he didn’t mind her little companion’s outgoing nature as much as Finch seemed to. Well, she seemed quite embarrassed by it at the very least. It was funny to see a pair that was so different. He chuckled again when Civetta cut in to introduce the both of them, his eyes glancing from the bird to Finch and back again. “It’s nice to meet you, Finch. You too, Civetta.” Silence settled over them for a moment and he glanced from her little friend back to the ivory woman before following her gaze out toward the waterfall. It didn’t rest there for long though. Her question brought his attention back to her once again. He gave a small shrug of his shoulders as he answered, a small smile playing on his lips. “I didn’t really realize I had gone that far, to be honest. I was just walking and thinking and I ended up here. I forget sometimes that I take pretty big steps and I get pretty far if I’m not paying attention.” He chuckled softly at that. It really was the truth, as ridiculous as it was. He had so much on his mind lately that it wasn’t unusual for him to completely block out the world around him without meaning to. “What about you? Any reason in particular to be out this way?” Speak Thought Others

Finch wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Civetta landed on his nose and the giant wolf flinched, the smaller woman mirroring this action. She was so embarrassed, heat flushing up to her pale cheeks. He smiled, but still she could not relax. "S-sorry..." she squeaked, a touch of her old stutter returning. So much for being big and brave! She mentally cursed at herself, but her ears perked as he chuckled. Without pause he answered the tiny birds question, saying that most of his family was that tall. Oh, so like all the wolves in Imperium? It had been a pack full of giants, even the pups had been bigger than her when they came to visit and they staged their own fight. Letting out a big breath she found herself relaxing slightly. Civetta seemed awfully pleased with herself, hopping around on Tib's nose like she hadn't a care in the world. Silly bird, she was going to get them in a lot of trouble one day! She just knew that her companion was going to jump on the wrong wolf one day and get swallowed up. She was glad that this giant was gentle, she cared for Civetta and didn't want to see her get eaten.

He said that it was nice to meet her, and the warmth in her cheeks intensified. She glanced away at him, feeling little flutters in her belly. Her ears pinned slightly as her tail thumped on the earth in a soft rhythm. She hummed to herself softly, swaying a bit from side to side as she tried to ignore the funny feelings that filled her up to her nose. She had only ever felt like this with Dart, and that's when she started to hum a bit louder. She felt like that because she had a crush on the fox. But now, now was she crushing on him? Could you like more than one wolf... or fox? This was just all so confusing! She wished her mother had been here to help her through all of this, she was three years old and acting like a pup in love. Snap out of it! She was so focused on tuning out her embarrassing feelings that she didn't realize she had started to sing ever so softly. ""Non andare a caccia di cascate, si prega di attenersi ai fiumi e ai laghi che siete abituati to. So che stai per avere il vostro modo o niente del tutto, ma penso che si sta spostando troppo veloce," her sweet voice filled the air, and it wasn't until Civetta pulled on a few hairs on her forehead that she snapped out of it. She blinked wildly, feeling her companion that had flown off of Tibertius on to her. Realizing what she had done, she slunk down closer to the ground as her whole body flushed. Her ears pinned, and she looked up at the man beside her. "Um..." she whined, her bright blue eyes looking away from him and back to the view. "N-nice place, isn't it? We should explore!" She barked suddenly, a little too loudly in fact. She forgot all about what he had said about wandering, and she rushed to her paws and skittered off.

Not even looking to see if the male had followed her, Finch picked her way down to the waterfall. The cool mist hit her in the face, calming down the flood of emotions that had filled her. She watched the flow of the river cut through the earth, the shore mostly dirt and rocks. The snow still fell, making everything seem more quiet. Looking all the way up, she saw just how tall the waterfall really was. Oh boy, it was a lot bigger than she thought! She was so focused on getting to the top that she didn't even see all of this. Finch trod as close to the edge of the falls as she dared, it was very slippery where the spray of water kept the rocks constantly damp. Finding a mostly dry patch, she sat down and took a few deep breaths. She had just made a complete fool of herself...

"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

It seemed that the smaller woman got caught up in her own thoughts since his question went unnoticed as she began to sway and hum. He blinked and watched her curiously, his head tipping slightly to the side, though he wouldn't move his head too much since her little bird friend was still resting on his nose and he didn't want to disturb Civetta. His ears perked a bit when she began to sing in a language that he didn't recognize. His gaze rested on her easily and he felt a smile pulling at his lips at the sound of her voice. He felt strangely enchanted by whatever she was singing and he would have been happy letting her go on forever like that, but he felt Civetta leave his nose and watched her hop back over to Finch. He lunged forward a bit like he was going to try and stop the little bird once he realized what she was going to do, but before he could Civetta brought Finch back to reality and her singing stopped abruptly, looking up at him like she had just experienced the biggest embarrassment ever. He opened his mouth to assure her that it was fine, but before he could she spouted off something about exploring and turned and ran down around to the bottom of the falls. He blinked with confusion, one brow raising as he tried to process it all. Jeeze, women are confusing. He chuckled softly and got up to follow her down, moving a little less hurriedly than she had. He padded up behind her, settling beside her in the small dry patch she had found. He smiled down at her kindly and he had to keep himself from getting distracted by her pretty blue eyes. "You have a beautiful voice," he told her with a small grin. He had to speak up a little to be heard over the falls now that they were this close to the crashing water, but he didn't mind. He looked to Civetta with a playful glare, adding, "You didn't have to interrupt her, silly bird. I was enjoying it." He chuckled again, bringing his gaze back to Finch's. He tried to ignore those flutters he felt every time he looked at her face as he asked, "What language were you singing in? I've never heard it before." Speak Thought Others

It didn't take too long for the male to join her, and she peeked up at him from under her lashes. She blinked rapidly when he said that she had a beautiful voice, bashfully turning to the side as her ears stood half masted. She wasn't used to singing to just anyone, but it had been quite some time since she had sung in front of a complete stranger. It was a love that she had gotten from both her parents, and seemed to be the only one of her siblings that did. Civetta let out a loud chip when he said that it was her fault she had stopped singing, and the bird hopped up and down on her pale head. "But Finch is shy and gets embarrassed easily! I couldn't let her do that, I wouldn't be a good friend. She doesn't sing for just anyone you know! It's a very spe-" Finch cut the little bird off by shaking her head abruptly, a look of complete horror on her features. For the love of all that was good, she could really eat that bird right now. The finch chirped angrily and fluttered to a dry stone, narrowing her beady black eyes at her friend. Finch shuffled on her paws, first mistake. Her left leg slipped from under her, and she blinked as she ended up laying on her belly, paws hanging over the edge and getting soaking wet. She was so shocked that it took her awhile to realize that the water was freezing cold. Yelping, she stood up and scampered backwards, lucky that she didn't fall right in. Peeking up at Tib, a sheepish smile split her lips. "I'm just making things worse for myself..." she said, shaking her head as she stood stalk still. "But... thank you," She said softly, almost too soft to be heard.

Finch looked past him at the rest of the river, when she noticed something she hadn't before. This was the first of many falls, the river opened up to a shallow pool below them, before dropping down to create a new waterfall. Oh, that was stunning! She realized that it was like that all the way down, each pool broke down the cliff until another waterfall was formed. She looked back at Tiburtius, most of her embarrassment gone. "I bet we can find a cave behind one of those waterfalls. Wanna try?" she asked, her gray marked tail wagging behind her. Without waiting for an answer, she trotted of to the next drop in the hillside. He asked what language she had been singing in, and she glanced at him over her shoulder. "Oh, Italian. My whole family can speak it," she said timidly. Not paying attention again, she nearly slipped right down into the next falls, which was not as loud or as tall as the first one. She shook her head back and forth, man, this was making her really clumsy! Staring at her paws as she made her way down the hill, she peeked at the smaller break of water, but only a sheer face of rock was behind that one. Disappointed, she started to head to the next one. This part of the river was so shallow, it would hardly cover the top of her paws if she stood in it. How that all gathered up to create a rush of water, she had no idea.

Clearing her throat, she realized she had been quiet for quite awhile. A smile flicked on her lips softly, before she looked down at her paws and then back up to him again. "So, you mentioned brothers. Do you have a lot?" Finch's family was huge, but she had learned that not everyone was like that. She paused for only a moment, going to head down to the next break of the cliff, forming a slightly larger waterfall. The walk down to this one was more sheer than the last, and she really had to be careful. Gingerly picking her way down, she paused when she saw something sparkling in the ground. Oh! A pretty rock! Civetta had seen it too, landing nearby. "Look Finch, another pretty to add to the collection!" the bird chirped, digging at the stone with her clawed foot.

"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

Tiburtius' gaze went back to Civetta as she quickly came to the defense of her actions and he had to smile at the relationship this small bird and Finch seemed to have he definitely caught the part about Finch not singing for just anyone before Finch shook the bird off of her. Not just anyone, huh? His brows lifted curiously. What did that mean? He looked down at Finch to ask, but just at that moment her paw slipped and she fell flat onto the rock they were sitting on. He jumped worriedly and bent down to help her up, blocking her from falling any farther into the river while she scrambled to her paws and skittered backward onto more solid land. His gaze followed her, watching to make sure she was okay. She didn't seem to be hurt though, only startled. He relaxed then when she spoke, only barely hearing her over the crashing water beside him. "You're welcome, Finch." He followed her gaze with interest when she mentioned the possibility of finding a cave among the many waterfalls that made up the river they were currently standing beside. Whether or not she was right, he was certainly intrigued enough to go on the hunt with her. He got up without hesitation and followed along behind her. He was happy to have someone new to get to know and spend some time with. It helped that she was adorable as well... He blinked at his own thoughts. "Jeeze, Tib, get it together." His gaze met hers as she glanced back to answer his question about the language she had been singing in and he raised his brows and responded with a little, interested "hm!" when she explained that her whole family spoke Italian. He jerked forward again when she began to slip, thinking for a moment that he would have to dive in and help her out of the water if she fell in, but she caught herself and a quiet, relieved sigh passed his lips. He had to wonder if she was always this clumsy and if she was how was she still in one piece? They continued on for a while and he honestly didn't notice the silence that had settled over them while they searched for a cave behind the waterfalls. He had never been the most talkative of wolves, but he certainly enjoyed conversation when there was some. He was just enjoying spending time with her. When she did speak though he brought his gaze back up to hers and he nodded to her question, a small smile touching his lips. "Three brothers from my litter and then two younger half-sisters." It wasn't the largest family he had ever heard of, but he thought it was quite a lot of children for two women to have. "Half of my brothers are missing though. So it's just me and my brother and our two sisters with us and our mothers right now." Just as he was about to ask if she had many siblings something seemed to catch her eye and he looked to see what it was, spotting the sparkling rock poking out of the ground. He looked up and watched Civetta as the little bird came to join them, landing just beside it and mentioning that it was one to add to the collection. Watching the two of them made him smile. "It is very pretty," he agreed as he padded over to take a closer look. "Not as pretty as you, but very pretty." Did he really just say that? He glanced up at her with a small, shy grin, chuckling softly at himself. Speak Thought Others