Zephyr's mood was high as the wedding festivities eventually wound down. Wolves who had come from all edges of their world were now departing - his expansive family shrinking back down to the comfortable group in which he had embedded himself. As far as Zephyr was aware, the antlered companion to his adoptive father was already his mother, but Artorias and Briar's ceremonial binding had only solidified that relationship. Life returned to normal, and soon enough the fledgling was invited on another adventure.

The Cedar Falls were a very different sort of place than the Bifrost his Aegis has taken him a season prior, but his mother was a different wolf than his father, so this trip being different made sense too. He was beyond excited to spend some quality mom and bird time with the reigning Queen of the Hallows, his enthusiasm leaking into his steps as he hopped and fluttered his fledging wings in an attempt to catch the air beneath them. Zephyr's head was on a swivel, his beak tipping to each side as he worked to triangulate the nearing sound of rushing water. "Are we nearing the ocean, mom?" He asked, hopping faster. There was a different quality to the water here than the crashing of ocean waves, but still very different than the trickling of a creek or stream.

"Zephyr"

Now that the wedding festivities had come to an end and the castle had been cleaned up and returned back to its normal state, Briar was able to take a bit of time to reflect on it all and think about everyone that had made it that much more special. At some point she'd have to make the trip up to her family's pack in their new location so she could properly thank them for making it so memorable, but there were a few individuals within The Hallows that she wanted to personally thank as well. One of those was her sweet, feathered son who had done the most fabulous job scattering petals for her as she walked down the aisle. The union that their wedding made official didn't change how she felt about their adopted family member, but it did make her feel even more like she and Artorias were parents together for Zephyrus.

A smile lingered on her lips while she walked with her excited son out to the near by falls. He was always so eager to go explore and she was loving exposing him to more of the world. It reminded her so much of Artorias' love for seeing new places and experiencing more of nature that it just made her so happy to watch. When she was trying to decide how to thank her flower bird she couldn't think of anything that he would like more than some time to go exploring. She chuckled softly as he asked if they were nearing the ocean, giving a little shake of her head. "Nope! That is water you're hearing, but not the ocean." She grinned and nodded for him to follow her, leading him through the tall cedar trees toward the river that flowed down into the cascading waterfalls.

"Briar Carpathius"

Briar's curious response did little to cease the endless questions swarming circles around Zephyr's developing brain. While there was little opportunity for the fledgling to explore the world as a newly hatched chick, he was growing quickly and with each day became a little less of a meal to any lingering predators. Each adventure outside the castle was a new one that fed his curiosity and advanced his working knowledge of their world, and he enthusiastically followed her forward towards the next lesson of this new, loud water.

He was hardly able to keep his attention off the path ahead, even as the cedar trees through which they pathed grew tall and thick around them. The colors of the leaves, the shape of the branches, it was another new sight in comparison to the castle and adjoining fields.. but nothing compared to the roar of the water. Zephyr continued forward behind his slender mother as the river came into view, a misty spray at the far end of it. There was a noticeable difference in the quality of the air here, and the fledgling ruffled his feathers instinctively to ensure the protective and partially water-proofed barbs were well aligned.

There were many questions on his beak but he lacked the words to verbalize them, shifting his shoulders as he tried to come up with a logical explanation for the odd mist. "Is it safe?" He landed on eventually, tipping his beak up to the wolf he trusted to keep him in one relative piece. "Why is the water trying to fly?"

"Zephyr"

Briar wasn't paying much attention to their surroundings other than listening out for any signs of bears that liked to frequent this area. She knew these parts well enough that she didn't need to worry about navigating it too much and instead could focus mostly on enjoying Zephyr's adorable and humorous reactions to everything he was experiencing. As they got closer to the falls the air started to fill with the mist coming off of the water, making the air more damp and humid the closer they got. She walked with him along the bank of the river as they got to the first set of the waterfalls, keeping between him and the water just in case. She trusted that he knew better than to go jumping off into the water, but she would rather be safe than sorry and have to go fishing a large fledgling bird out of the river.

She smiled and gave a little nod when he asked if it was safe, his follow up question over why the water was trying to fly making her grin. It was a very good question, but the way he phrased his questions always made her smile. "This is all fresh water like we drink or like you see in the stream that goes through the plains... just a lot more of it all in one place," she explained. "So the mist or getting a drink from the edge of the river is completely safe. It is faster moving water through so be careful not to get into the river or you might get swept away." She looked up toward the waterfall, trying to figure out how to answer his other question. "Water that's moving somewhere like in a river or a stream will find paths to help them get to wherever they're going. Sometimes that's a lake or a pond, sometimes its the ocean. Sometimes those paths take them over ledges or cliffs and that makes a waterfall like this. So it's not necessarily trying to fly, it's more like... jumping to the next part of its path."

"Briar Carpathius"

Zephyrus paid close attention to his mother's explanation, continually awed by the ease in which the learned wolf could explain each new concept in a way that was easy for him to understand. Briar's encouragement to remain careful nearby the fast-moving water made sense, and he nodded solemnly. "I'll be careful." He swore, lifting his fledging wing to his chest in a promise. While he enjoyed new experiences greatly, Zephyr found much more curiosity in the sky than in the water. Artorias had promised to teach him someday to swim, but the raptor chick did not feel the need to rush it.

The nearer they got, the louder the waterfall roared. The spray of mist was an odd sensation on his feathered face, but not an uncomfortable one. His third eyelids drew down across his eyes naturally against the droplets as they pressed forward, giving a cautious hop up toward the stones that bordered the base of the falls. "Will it go away, when the water runs out?" Zephyr questioned once more, blinking against the humidity and mist. He peeped in alarm suddenly. "Will our stream go away?" Within his chest the chick's heart pounded harder, imagining the path the fast-moving water was supposedly taking. If it was running so fast, would not the source of the water eventually dwindle to nothing, stuck at the base of the falls forever?

"Zephyr"

Briar stood behind Zephyr as he got closer to the falls and the rocks that surrounded them, ready to catch the hopping youngling just in case, while the mist and droplets form the waterfall's spray started to dampen her fur and made her blink against it. She smiled at his question, lifting her paw to pet over the fluff of feathers on top of his head to ease his worries as he seemed to fret at the possibility that the waterfalls and the stream might possibly run out and go away one day. "Don't worry, darling. They're not going anywhere and if they do it won't be for a very, very long time. Sometimes streams and rivers move or change course, but it takes many, many years for that to happen. Plus, it never really runs out."

She lifted her paw again, this time to point up at the lazy clouds that were slowly floating by overhead. "The water we have down here on the ground eventually evaporates and floats up to form those clouds. Then when those clouds get big and heavy the water rains down on us again and fills up the streams and rivers and lakes all over again. It's a big cycle that makes sure we always have fresh water to drink and that our plants keep growing." She looked back down at Zephyr again, giving him a grin. "Pretty cool, huh?" By now the fur all around her face, chest, and neck was wet and starting to clump together from the fall's mist, but it was completely worth it to have these little moments and lessons with Zephyr.

"Briar Carpathius"

The young raptor's beak fell open in awe as he followed her paw up to the clouds overhead, her explanation bringing new insight to the clouds he hoped he could one day climb. "There's water up there too?" He gasped, blinking hard past the mist and imagining the life cycle of the water as she told it, but up in the sky. "Do you think if you could touch the clouds, that they'd be wet?"

Zephyr's head tilted, his vulture-like neck craning this way and back as he surveyed the light and fluffy plumes of white and imagined what he might feel if he could fly through them. "Ooh! If I shook one, would it rain on us? Because then when I get big and can fly, I can make it rain whenever the Hallows needs it! Or kick away the clouds when we want sun and not rain." The raptor's talons kicked out playfully beneath him in his imaginings, though the dampness of the stones beneath him made rebalancing harder than he'd anticipated.

His wings extended instinctively to try and brace his fall but before he could even think to panic and drown, he found himself secure once more in his guardian's hold. "Thanks." Zeph peeped apologetically, giving her a sheepish grin. "Maybe I'll be better at flying than at walking."

"Zephyr"