On the eve of their birthdays, Delphi had an idea to take Strai on a trip. She wanted to get them away from the mountain and all the trauma. Those nights that she lay curled against him, nearly waking up screaming, she wanted to avoid. There had to be something she could do to calm her mind. To heal those wounds that both showed on the outside and hid carefully on the inside. With permission and the promise that Strai would be with her the whole time, she began to lead them south. The weather would turn warmer and the snow would slowly fade. Soon they would arrive and make their way across the Bifrost into the land of Auster. It was a place her parents had promised they would go eventually, but that had been before when they'd only been a band. Now that they were a part of Heidinn, the traveling was a lot less. This was her chance though! They could see the sights, enjoy their time together, and find time to relax before they joined in on their first raid. The shift in her mood was obvious. Her tail began to wag a little more, her lips turning up at the corners, the spark of fire warm in her eyes. It wasn't until they reached a wide creek with a few beaver dams does she want to take a break. The wind felt as if it was picking up anyway and bad weather would roll in soon. Stopping near the water, she takes a sip, waiting for Strai to come over to her. As she fills her mouth with water, she slowly lifts a paw up to her chest. When Strai is close enough, Delphi leans and strikes her paw against the surface of the creek to splash water at Strai. She can't help the giggles that follow suit. "Delphi" & "Strai"

word count: 313

Word count: 278
total: 609

Had Maki actually sat down to think about it, she would have noticed all the contextual clues. That whatever Delphi had in mind, it probably wasn't something she was invited to. It wasn't as if she felt unloved by her siblings, or anyone in her family really, it was just-well Delphi always seemed to be having so much fun. She was so cool and charismatic, and her look? Stunning. So from an outsider looking in, her life looked effortless, like she was just bouncing along with a real prep in her steps. Which wasn't to say Maki's life was all doom and gloom, trials and tribulations, but it was just easy for her to look up to people, to admire what they had and want a little for herself, you know?

So yeah, she basically stalked her sister and her boyfriend. Was that weird? Yeah, probably.

It was so windy though, it felt like there were hundreds of tiny fingers grasping at her fur, tugging and pulling it back enough to make her skin ache a little. The trees rattled, and honestly she'd sort of lost track of them. How was she supposed to follow scent trails when the wind was blowing everything all over the place, filling her halfsied nose with just air. She bent down to pick up a stick, her teeth gritting as she struggled to hold it in her maw, felt like the very wind itself was trying to steal her makeshift katana from her.

"Straiphi!"Which was their ship name, btw. It had been a toss up between that and Delstrai, but it didn't have quite the same ring to it, you know?

This would mark the furthest Strai had gone from the pack lands. With Delphi as his guide, he was less concerned about how Vidarr might react to his absence. He assumed that she had gotten permission for them both to go this far. If she hadn’t… they’d face the consequences together.

It was interesting to see the way the land changed, the further South they went. Despite the fact that Boreas was likely the place he’d live out the rest of his days, he realised he had explored very little of it. The other change he noticed of course, was in Delphi. The further they moved away from the packlands, the more she perked up. He responded almost naturally to her, grinning beside her, and pointing out an odd feature in the landscape here or there as they passed it.

By the time they passed the strange landbar and made their way to Auster, he was footsore and a little overwhelmed with just how much landscape they had passed. He wasn’t one to call out for a break first, but he was internally relieved when Delphi decided to stop beside a body of water. He made his way beside her, lowering his head to drink when a sudden spray of water splashed across his face. He blinked his eyes, letting out a mock growl as he slapped a paw onto the surface of the water, sending a spray back at her. -- and then a voice was calling out some strange alien word that almost sounded like his name. With a deep frown, he turned to see one of the pack yearlings there. How… what…?

Total WC: 885


"Delphi" & "Strai"