silver beneath the surface

Her dreams had never been so sweet, seeing her mother and father in their prime forms like how she remembered them best was truly a treat. The entire night she murmured softly in her sleep, tears had streamed down her face though she wore a happy half-smile in her sleep. Other pack members had been present for the dreamy reunion, and the pack had frolicked and played until she felt the sun's rays on her fur and Ellara stirring next to her. "Wake up, Atreyu." It was all the nudge she needed to pull herself from the dream, no matter how painful the goodbyes were. Life had to go on, it was what her mother told her before they parted in the dreamlands. She would have to find her way back to that place one day, a way back to that piece of the Summerlands where she could brush her mom's coat and tackle her father again.

Those holographic silver-to-lavender eyes opened slowly, Atreyu not moving for a moment as she got her bearings. Blinking, she slowly lifted her head to nudge Bigs, who was still happily curled up on her side. With a sleepy half-growl, Atreyu rose and stretched, feline claws digging into the earth. She would have to sharpen those before the next hunt, otherwise, they wouldn't hold onto anything. Shaking the moisture from her metallic-colored pelt, Atreyu yawned wide then made sure that her little companion was fully awake. Bigs did his usual morning ritual of grumbling before reluctantly rising to his tiny paws and shaking himself awake enough to function. Truth be told, they both could use some coffee beans. Atreyu's mother would steep them in boiling water to make a drink that would energize and help shake the cobwebs from their minds.

With her satchel and companion in place, Atreyu put one bangled paw in front of the other, following Ellara to the east. She hadn't been out this way before and she found the forested area to be more like her homeland than she expected, aside from the temperature. She wasn't as dreamy headed as she had been when she first woke up and one could tell she was in a good mood from the half smile that stayed on her face all morning. They hadn't talked much on the way over aside from the usual small talk one did on journeys like this, but Atreyu did plan to tell her about her dream. When they arrived at their destination, Atreyu was shocked at just how many salmon were running this year. It seemed like last year's run was a massive success.

Ellara entered the water, with Atreyu not far from the bank to keep an eye on her. When the strawberry coffee colored woman exited the water, she had a huge salmon in her jaws. Atreyu clapped and whooped, "Yay! Breakfast!" Now that they had a fish, they could go find the herbs with which to dress and cook it. "We're gonna need something good to go with it. I could show you how my mom used to make it? We would need to pick some herbs." Her words came out as a question, wondering if that would be alright with Ellara. Atreyu didn't want to step on the toes of her new friend. "This is an awfully big salmon, good catch!" She smiled to her friend with delight, hopeful that she could show what her mother taught her to do with a fish this size.