Hearing his laugh, Meadow starts slightly until she hears him tease her about telling everyone. Eyes sparkle with happiness and she says, “Oh no! They never let me live it down!” Her laugh is genuine and filled with great joy. Mortis might not be able to see it but, when he speaks about putting enough words together, tears fill her green eyes. To have a wolf think so highly of her already makes her feel… included. A soft, “Thank you” leaves her lips. Oh, sweet Mort. All her life, Meadow just wanted to feel accepted and loved. Now, she has found it with Mortis and the pack. Her heart is full and the small wolf will never trade this for anything.

A tear spills down her cheek and she snuggles further under his wing. When she starts to hum, the song fills her chest and begs to be shared. Finally, she cannot contain it any longer, her lips part and the song fills the air. Her voice is soft and she sings it almost as a lullaby for the big wolf. The words she knows so well, that are forever engraved into her memory, are shared with him. It speaks of stars and darkness. Of being true to your heart and finding your way home. She sings from her spot under his wing and the memories that fill her heart are woven into her words.

When the last word falls from her lips and the silence once move fills air, Meadow feels a sense of wholeness. The song, once shared with a young pup on sleepless nights, is now passed on to the another. It is Mort’s song now and see gives it to with all her love.



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Meadow thanked him for his words, and he rubbed his nose backwards through the soft fur between her ears. He’s seen Sirius do similar to Io all the time. Messing up the fur between her ears until she scolds him. He laughs softly, thinking of the antics between those two, and then feels bad. He wouldn’t want Meadow to be upset about it. He smoothes it down again, and sits in silence, listening to the wonderful sound of her song.

It installs a longing in him, the strange melody. Though he didn’t know what for. When she’s finished, he scrambles to his feet. “We should head back to the pack. Rigel, are you coming with us now?” he wondered. He was pretty sure he was here to stay, but it seemed best to be polite.

After she thanks Mort, the large wolf rubs his nose backwards along her fur. She can’t see it but she imagines it is probably sticking out at out at odd angles. Giggling fiercely, she sticks her tongue out the side of her mouth and makes her best goofy face. A huge laugh escapes and, when Mortis smooths the fur back down she aims a lick at his big paw in thanks. It makes her feel special to be so welcomed by Mortis. Part of her has worried, for a long time, that Sirius and Zee don’t like her. As someone that just wants to be acknowledged, that is one of her biggest fears.

So, now that Mort has truly accepted her, Meadow thanks him with her song. After the last note drops off and he suddenly scrambles to his feet, Meadow looks up from her position on the ground with great worry. Did she do something wrong? Was it a bad song to sing? Mortis says they should head back and she slowly nods her agreement before standing. Hopefully he does not spot the sadness that has started to fill the small wolf as she looks up at him.

Painting a smile on her face, she listens as Mortis speaks and when Rigel hoots his acknowledgement to the question, Meadow starts to move off in the direction of the pack lands. Rigel takes flight and slowly circles her before moving higher to keep watch as they move. Man, somehow, Meadow has really messed things up.



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He was pretty sure Rigil would be staying with Meadow from now. There was something almost mystical about it when companions and wolves came together. Osiris had been chosen for him, but Saph had picked him. He still remembered the delight of it.

He pressed gently against Meadow as they walked, his tail wiggling gently behind him. He wasn’t old enough to pick up on the worry on Meadow’s face, now would he have even begun to interpret it. No, all he knew was that he and his new Auntie/Friend were heading back to the Armada.

“Have you tried to fish in the ocean before? The funny trees that grow in the water give you hiding spots, and conceal your shadow. Plus, it’s really fun to just watch the ocean life. Have you tried it?” he asked, filling the new silence with his words. Just because they were heading back to the Armada, didn’t mean he was ready to give up on their play.

It is in Meadow’s nature to worry, to fret over every little thing and analyze it death. When Mortis had jumped up and started to move back to pack lands, she had thought that she did something wrong. The silence stretches as she gets up and moves with him, mind turning over everything she had said and done, examining and reexamining where things went gone wrong. So, when Mort presses into her as they walk, the familiar smile reappears. Giggling, she finds her tail wagging slowly from side to side. She probably read too into nothing. Typical Meadow.

Smile shines and tail starts to wag faster as he talks about fishing in the ocean. Eyes sparkle with happiness as she answers, “I have not tried to fish in the ocean. Will you teach me? You know, maybe I should practice on something bigger first.” Winking at him, she slows her pace, aiming to fall behind him slightly as she pretends to look for Rigel. “Hey Mort, have you seen Rigel?” she asks innocently. The owl is, in fact, flying ahead of them but she looks around, like she can’t find him. Her goal is to get him to slow down and turn toward her.

When she is a short distance back from him, head still tilted back, looking at the sky, she looks back at Mortis with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Coiled muscles in her back legs push her off the earth to shoot forward toward the huge winged wolf. Small paws devour the distance as she closes the gap quickly and, as she nears Mortis, Meadow aims a playful nip at his back leg before darting on. Laughter fills the air as she runs, wind whipping through her fur and she knows that the big wolf will probably catch up to her extremely quickly. She just hopes he doesn’t squish her in his excitement.



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“I can certainly try” he promised, he was still mostly learning himself. He didn’t know how well teaching would go. He supposed it would depend how long Meadow could stand still and motionless for. Mortis had always found that hard, but the disapproving frown on his father's face had sped up the lesson. Seer had taken his boys hunting multiple times, and any mistakes earned them a frown, and the occasional lecture.

When meadows asked if he had seen her bird, he looked up. Concerned. He was sure Rigel had been following them, and knew she would be sad if the bird had vanished on her. But… no, yeah, there he was. Drifting lazily on the winds in front of him.

He felt the sudden nip against his back leg, and startled. Then he laughed, realising she had tricked him. “You’ll pay for that!” he teased. Putting on a burst of speed as he sought to catch up with her.

A little-known fact about Meadow is that, when she hunts, she can become very still and not move for hours. It is a learned trait that she picked up after she had tracked an animal for nearly two days. When she had closed in for the kill, her excitement had gotten the better of her and made her spring out too early. The animal had spooked and ran, leaving Meadow with nothing to show for two days’ worth of effort. After that she had taught herself the subtle art of staying still, somethings sitting in a field for hours just to teach herself patience. It had been so boring but, in the end, the reward was she never again sprang from her spot hiding too soon.

Maybe that is way she can pull pranks really well. After she plays her trick on Mortis, she darts ahead, laughing as he calls after her. The wind in her fur is freeing, making her feel alive and happy as her paws devour the distance, running as fast as her small legs will carry her. Laughter floats behind her on the breeze and she feels like a puppy again. After a few running steps she coils her body, getting low to the ground to spring up into the air, as high as she can go. Meadow is flying, higher and higher, until gravity takes hold and she angles her body down to absorb the impact.

Front legs touch ground and bend, lowering her until her back legs hit and spring her back up to keep running. Tossing her head in joy, a laugh suspended in the air, Meadow looks back to see how close Mort is to her.



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