There was something alluring about the quite of the night, a quite that was both still and alive in a single moment. The quite was the sound of a gently stirring wind or the rustle of a leaves embrace. It lived with the hoot of a passing owl and the scurrying of little foresters in the undergrowth. It was the darkness he gave himself over to whole-heartedly. For in its misty swirls of darkness he could almost hide the tension building in his muscles, the tightness of his hind legs, and the slight twitch of his long and often graceful tail. There was no grace in the taunt movements of his body now and still his tail swished in an idle movement of nerves and annoyance.

It would seem strange to behold this creature now, seen normally in the light of a quite beauty by movements that held an art of fluidity. He could not bear the truth of his own heart in these movements, the coiling tension as taunt as a rope on the verge of cracking away. He could almost see it now, through his long and terrible journey up the sloping mountain side, the path to the cliffs edge and the great drop below was almost on him now. It was here that he stopped, simply incapable of going further. He could not take those last few steps, even as he could not bear the shame of his own incapacitation. It was here he stopped three wolf lengths from the cliffs edge and sat his rump against the soft earth. He stilled his tail, as through realising for the first time of its defiant twitching.

He joined the silence that roamed this night as he sat there, simply watching the cliff he could not approach, the height he could not bear. He would get there someday, someday soon in fact, he would find himself at that edge and he would once again be ruler of his body. No fear could claim his heart. Not for ever anyway?

Her paws had lead her to the east - a few days away from home, but as an eta in training she wanted to get in touch with the plantlife away from home. She wasn't quite sure exactly what to collect, but the young woman figured that she would recognize things that she could identify by sight and smell as she went along. Lyric knew that she had a long way to go until she was anywhere as talented as her mother, but that would come with time she was sure. For now she needed experience and confidence - things that she wanted to find a little of on her own. That was what had pushed her outside of the pack's borders for a little while, but she had every intention to return.


Through the grasses she would leave a visible trail behind her, her eyes gazing straight ahead and up at the stars above her. Although she was happy to be home, she would still often wonder where her father and brothers had gone. They were all looking at the same sky, weren't they? "Please be alright." She would whisper a silent prayer to the lovely night sky, her eyes fixed on the twinkling night sky, before her gaze would shift and her focus would once again be on examining the area. Among the thicket's tall golden grasses there wasn't much that could be salvaged during the summertime - and it would seem that where the thicket ended...


The cliffs began.


And she was not the only one to find herself here this night, either. The fae would stare at the pristine figure of a good sized brute, that looked so soft underneath the light of the moon. Did she look the same way? Her head would tilt, the smile ever on her lips quivering just slightly as she fought away her nerves. "It's a beatiful view, isn't it?" The girl was around thirty inches tall, give or take a centimeter or two, and carried herself a bit younger than the fully grown lupine that she had only come to be this season. With it, she found herself even more curious of other wolves than she had been before, and even though she valued her family above all else, she craved a companionship that they just could not provide.


Maybe this brute would be her first friend made in quite some time. "It's the first time I've seen it like this - the cliffs make the sky seem so much closer." Hoping that her words, or worse, that she, were not imposing, she would move to sit at the stranger's side, wondering what brought him out here.
ooc: hit with some muse, ehehe

Soothing was the feel of the wind that ruffled against his coat and flowed across the earth and over the very side he could not bring himself towards. It was the wind also that brought with it the fragrance of another lupine. The soft rustle of her lithe paws against grass bathed in moonlight. He could tell from her warm scent that she was female, young perhaps with the feel of life and the living.

He tore his head free from his transfixed view of the cliff before him and unto the newcomer, even as the moon came completely free from shadowy grip of clouds. The shine of silver bathed her in angelic light, highlighting the brightness of her coat and almost hiding the darker tones of her black paws. It did the most however with her eyes, turned upon him now in the hypnotic highlights of blues and gold. Even for a mutation this one was oddly pairing even upon its outlined differences. She was the moon with the tinges of blue that swirled in one, and she was the sun with the warm golden glow of the other. She was? she was the blue of a lake with the mirage of sunlight twinkling down upon her- a frozen lake perhaps with the white of her coat behind those orbs.
He bit back a chuckle with the rise of one side of his lupine lips and tilted his head as she spoke.

There was something dangerously transfixing about every aspect of this wolf, to her eyes, to the coat haloed in silver and now the sweetness of her tones and she brought his attention back to the poison of the cliff so near them both. He shivered, rippling down his coat and ending in the subtle flick of his tail.
?Beautiful? No. I have never viewed it as such.?
His voice was soft without the roughness of the conflict in his mind. The drop was deadly, he had no allusions there. Perhaps she saw the beauty in its deadliness but he would always see the broken form of his long-passed brother.

?The moon has always held an interest to me, It is the time of the wolf I believe, and it seems to highlight beauty, it curves the world in its own way?

He still held his gaze to hers, he could almost block out the sound of the wind rushing off the cliff top, the knowledge of the drop a few lengths away. He was hypnotised by the glows of her eyes, the subtle shifts in colours where like nothing he had ever seen before.
?Alpine, is my name and do I get yours to match to that pretty face?
There was no teasing in his eyes, a touch of curiosity perhaps in its slight title, and a glow in the silvers of his own misty eyes.

She was surprised at his answer - he did not consider the view lovely? Her visage would shift into one of surprise, with a hint of concern - but she would not lose that friendly smile even among the curiosity. Had something happened to this male? She couldn't imagine what it was, but Lyric was not one to pry without good reason. As he continued to speak, she would settle beside him - sitting down and letting her tail curl around her feet - so long as he didn't move or give a warning for her to give him more space. He seemed to be a friendly brute, despite the faint aura of mystery that seemed to flit about him. "The stars lead me home after I was lost for weeks. Stargazing never got old for me." She would explain, at least a little, why she held her opinion of the view. "But the moon is always brighter, even when it's a sliver." She imagined that it was large, like another sun in the sky - but more gentle, less hot and more forgiving.


She didn't understand what he meant by curving the world though, and she would tilt her head slightly - she had never received a lesson on how the tides worked, her home to this day had never been beside the ocean. "How does it do that? Curve the world, I mean." The female was always ready to learn more about the world - it was why she was a little while away from home, to learn what she could about herbs on her own while the weather was right.


He would introduce himself as Alpine, and her mind would drift to the mountains - the name suited him. Crisp air and vast forests seemed to be where he was born and raised, to her, he almost seemed to carry some of that with him. When asked her own name, she would blush at the compliment, her lips parting and a gentle laugh spilled from within her. That might have been the very first time she was complimented that way - she would remember it - it was nice. And there was something honest about his statement too - glancing at his blue gray gaze, he didn't strike her as a lupine that often taunted or teased."My name is Lyric, it's a pleasure to meet you Alpine. Are you new to these lands - to Alacritia?"

He had not shown alarm or felt surprise at the intrusion of this wolf upon the land around him. He was not surprised that his humiliation would bare an audience. He did not however expect her to move to sit beside him. The flick of an ear displayed this even as his face remained impassive. She was oddly familiar and comfortable with him and he wondered what life she must have led to allowed her to become so trusting up here and alone with him.

He forced his gaze to move away from her, for a moment.. for just a moment, he had forgotten why he was here. He looked over at the view before them, everything stood out in greys and silvers, the night and the moon created a different world to they one they lived in in the day.
With her words he understood that she was another who could appreciate the beauty of the night, and the way it looked out for those that stood bathed in its light. Certainly she looked comfortable in it, sitting beside him with a relaxed warmth in her strange and desirable orbs.
She asked about his statement, and widened his view to the full world around them, thinking, wondering how he could explain how he saw the world now if she could not see it for herself.
?In part its the shadows that fall across its surface, its the gentle silver darkness.. the way it softens the sharper lines of the day. Here in this shadowy world everything is softer, gentler.. more forgiving?
His explanation didn't do justice to the beauty he saw in his eyes, to the waves of silver that fell through the shadows in a light so much gentler then the suns, it was by far enough to see by but without the harsh brightness of the day.

She had laughed with the way he had asked for her name, and a smile was teased from lips that parted in a silent and more subtle laugh of his own. Her laugh was gorgeous and warmth, inviting him in to share with it.
?Lyric, I don't think I could find another to suit you so perfectly?
That was it, the gentle beauty he had seen in the grace of her movements the sweetness of her laugh and in the transcendent glow of her eyes. She in herself was a song, a melody she flowed with the grace of music and smiled with its innocence
?Yes, in fact I have yet to even know the names of the packs that reside here. You have the scent of life on you, I assume you yourself belong to one of these??

His answer was not what she had expected - it was... poetic, in a way, but he didn't speak as if he were a lupine trying to impress her somehow with glitter woven words. He was honestly trying to explain to her what she had asked, and she would find herself gazing at the ivory brute, only to look out at the view the cliff provided. His words were similar to her own thoughts of the gentle moon, and the smile on her lips would tug ever higher, her eyes creasing with a swirling mixture of contentment and joy.


Alpine's own laughter swept through the air, a gentle chortle, one that she would find herself wondering about - what was it like when it was louder? More comfortable? Would he ever truly be comfortable beside her? He seemed to be warming up to her as the minutes ticked by, and the female would blush slightly as he gave his opinion of her name. Was she a song? A tune? What sort of melody would she be if she were to hear what others did in her? He had to tell her one day, she wanted to know...


But he had questions too - ones that Lyric could answer at least partially. She had never heard of a pack described as life - but that was exactly what family was, wasn't it? Something to live for - she never wanted to go back to living alone again. "Yes - I'm a member of Valhalla, my mother, Erani, leads the pack. It's in Western Alacritia - you should visit one day!" She didn't want this meeting to be the last time she saw Alpine - he was a face and figure she hoped would be familiar from now on. As for telling him of her mother - she wasn't boasting of her own rank in Valhalla, so far she was simply another member hoping to train to better herself for her family. Who Lyric was most proud of, was her mother - already the girl saw so much in the woman, she wholeheartedly believed she was the best healer in Alacritia. To add leader onto that only gave Lyric something more to strive for.

"The packs I know of are Seracia, Ludicael, Tortuga, Glaciem and Ebony." Amenti seemed to be gone, but she wasn't sure what exactly had replaced it. "Glaciem and Tortuga are more dark in nature, and Ebony is a newer pack - I don't know much about it." She would explain, hoping that her brief namings would be worth something to the brute. "Seracia's in the South, Ludicael and Ebony here in the East, and Glaciem and Tortuga are to the north." If he ever wanted to look for any of them, he could now go about it knowing what region each pack was in.


"Where do you come from, Alpine?" Blatant curiosity would flicker across her visage, and the girl's tail would give a few gentle waves as she patiently awaited his answer.

As he spoke he found that her eyes had met with his and in that moment he could see a hint of surprise there and knew she had not expected him to say what he had said. There was a sincerity in that moment that he had not experienced with another wolf before and his breath caught in his responding surprise.
?You?re an Alpha?s daughter??
He had even intended to ask the words but they slipped out in this moment, his defence unsteady and cracking around him. He was especially surprised that a young female wolf, an alpha?s daughter would be out here by herself, slipping into the presence of a stranger she did not even know. She was an Alpha?s daughter, something about that stuck to him and he found a slight aching in his chest that he swear had not been there before, why was learning she was a princess have.. Annoyed? Him enough to cause the emotion that rumbled in there, for some reason he could not fathom he wished she had not been so noble-born.


She began then to teach him of the packs within this land, but it was too late for that he knew which pack he wanted to find himself in. She was the daughter of an alpha, her attitude said a lot for the pack that she lived in, the sincerity, the sweetness and the innocence she boosted told him its nature and he knew that it was there he wanted to go.
?Tell me more of your Valhalla, are all the wolves as open and warm as you??
He didn?t say it as a compliment, the surprising sincerity that clung to her washed off on him and his words where as open as hers invited them to be.



?Where I come from? Not a life as interesting as one born to a pack leader I?m sure. My home is lost to me now, it does not matte?

He clasped his muzzle shut, unsure why he had said as much, and desperate to turn the conversation back to her blurted out what was in his mind
?What of your life in the pack, any suitors waiting you there??
His own lack of tact a new aspect to him he was not accustomed to, and he turned his eyes back to the cliff a little too quickly to hide his embarrassment to the loaded question.


Dammit He thought, get a hold of yourself

The young female wasn't sure what he meant by his question. Was it really so hard to believe? Lyric wasn't sure whether she would consider herself much like her mother, but perhaps she didn't carry herself as the daughter of a leader would. The female would nod at his question, hoping that he didn't mind, but honestly she wasn't quite sure why he would. Perhaps she would figure it out if he ever met Erani - she would quite like that - never before had she had the chance to introduce her mother to a friend. As friendly as the girl was, she didn't have many friends to begin with. Her packmates though, were cared about enough for her to never feel alone though, so long as she had Valhalla and her family she was happy.


"They are!" She would respond quickly, easily agreeing that Valhalla was open and warm - because that was the honest to goodness truth. She wouldn't catch that he had been comparing them to her until the moment after she had spoken - and the lupine couldn't help but blush, "I mean, they're good wolves - a family." Lyric would pause, before her tail gave a small thump at her side. "Thank you." It would seem that she was still not quite used to being complimented, no matter how earnest this kind brute was, it still made her stomach flutter in a way that she knew wasn't bad but wasn't sure if it was completely good.


"Oh I'm sure it is - it's your life after all." Anything that he was willing to share about his upbringing she would take in and keep forever. How had such a brute grown up? Where did he come from? What was his family like? "It matters to me." She would say gently, and although she didn't mean to pry, exactly, she wanted him to know that what he had been through meant something to her because he did to.


"No, I spent a long time looking for my father and brothers - I've only been in Valhalla for a season after spending almost a year away." She was two now, she had spent equal amounts of time traveling as she did at home. It would seem that most men in Valhalla were either happily adjusting to their lives with their families and expanding said families - or were her relatives! And although some were just fine with breeding within the family, she wasn't interested. No, her soulmate was outside of Valhalla, she was sure of it.


Alpine seemed like a man that would do fine settling down. If he didn't have a home at the moment, perhaps he would make one in Alacritia? "Besides, most of Valhalla really is my family... do you have a lady on your mind, Alpine?" For some reason, she found herself hoping that he didn't. Although she wanted him happy, and would delight in knowing that he wasn't alone in Alacritia, it was a feeling she couldn't deny. Although it was tiny, and a feeling she had little experience with, she didn't want to share him with someone who could be his mate.
ooc: sorry for the wait - went on a little vacation and got caught up judging ^-^

She was quick to confirm the goodness of her pack and he could see her love for Valhalla in her honesty. She seemed to realise a moment later how he had compared them to her and with a flush of warm colour she added "I mean, they're good wolves - a family." It was hard to pull his attention from her again, something about her captivated him and he found himself swallowing, hard as she flicked aside his comment of his family with one of her own, hinting that his life was important.. to her? He couldn't fathom why the life of a rogue would interest this princess.

She had him in the palm of her paws and likely didn't even know it. Now he could understand how she could be a princess, her presence wasn't commanding per say, but it was filled with a warmth that could make any of her pack love and follow her.

More of her mystery unravelled before him as he understood she had not lived her life entirely within the borders of a pack. Perhaps it explained how she could be comfortable walking into the presence of a rogue, she had lived her life as one once as she searched for her family. It took him a moment to realise the 'no' had been to his question of a suitor and a fluttering in his stomach unnerved him. He realised he had filled her words with a silence of his own and opened his maw then to speak.
?Your family, did you find them??
He wanted to know and hoped that she had, it was not easy to leave the fate of family unknown.
He should have expected her next question, and he was caught in the question for a moment. Something about her brought out an honesty in him and the simple answer 'no' felt like an omission. But.. there was no lady on his mind he had left behind his family and here he had no friends. A lady on his mind.. was there?
?I'm only acquainted with one lady, and she stand before me now. ?
It wasn't quite an answer, but it was all he could bring himself to say.