Ever since his encounter with the strange freaking fireworm, Kea felt a little distant from the pack and his life in it. As if he had experienced something that other people couldn’t relate to. His first real brush with death, and the fears that had come with it. Fire was sacred to his family, but he couldn’t help but flinch a little when he passed the heart now. Despite all that, he would almost think the entire thing hadn’t been real if it wasn’t for the burn that had scarred his back.

He trotted along the shimmering shore, the castle at his back. This beach was as familiar to him as his own paw, and he was able to traverse it lost in his thoughts without tripping over his own paws in the process.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

"Speech"

Eltrys wondered what the Shimmering Shore looked like in the daytime, but the spires of the castle were daunting. They looked like stalagmites reaching up into an unending cave, the twin stalactites out of reach. He knew that's not what they truly were, and if he ever wanted to get close to the castle again, perhaps to see how Bramble was doing with the ghost she mentioned, he had to get used to the sight. They were neighbors after all.

He rounded the corner of the cliffs of Lazuli Falls and strolled down toward the beach. Closing his crisp blue eyes and taking a steady breath he carefully looked down along the beach and let his gaze wander up to the towering castle, this time in the distance. Last time it was the deepest night and he had not realized they were there. Now he was making a point to look at the crumbling towers and see that they were just towers.

And there they stood. An old crumbling castle overlooking the shore and the sea. Not so hard. As he looked at the castle from this distance he spotted a figure below it heading to the shore. He wondered if it was Bramble. Perhaps he could apologize for his rushed exit when they met.

He loped with a comfortable easy gait over the sands toward the figure, ah it was not Bramble. He was still keen to greet the stranger and test how close he could comfortably get to the towers.

"Hail, Stranger!" He called out in a warm baritone, letting the other give him a cue of welcome or pushback. He had probably seen him coming from a mile off.

As he approached he dipped his head in humble greeting, "Do you come from the Castle?" He inquired.

Kea probably should have noticed the stranger approaching, but he was well lost in the deep whirlpool of his thoughts. At least until a voice startled him out of them. He blinked, and looked up at the tawny stranger that had greeted them. “Morning” he said back with a small smile, though the morning had left them some time ago.

He glanced back at the castle, through of course he knew exactly what the stranger was referring to. The beautiful old building could easily be a formidable sight, but to Kea it was simply home. “Hearthstone? Yeah, the castle and the pack belong to my father, Artorias.” He said, wondering if this wolf knew all that already.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

"Speech"

He didn't mean to startle the other, as there was no brush to conceal himself here. He must have such a presence that keeps him more hidden than he supposed.

Much closer to the towers now, he could see the details in the building and the stones that made them and placed so long ago. Not at all deep wet cavern pillars. The shapes were not so reminiscent in the daylight.  

"Hearthstone." He said to himself, "Implies a welcoming home, I'm glad to know the name of it." He nodded as if to himself, then glancing off to the sea. He might know Bramble then.

"I met a Bramble Carpatris-" He smashed his lips together as he fumbled the last syllable again, "-Carpathius, pardon, when I was here last. Does she still reside there?" He asked genially.

"I'm Eltrys. I'm a recent hunter of Ethne." He bowed his head in greeting, hoping the other would offer his name as well.

“It is pretty homely” He agreed, it was all Kea had ever known, and he was often quite proud to tell people of the castle he called home. The other wolf started to name his sister, but clearly stumbled over their last name. Kea gave a soft chuckle, though he didn’t mean insult from it. “Yeah, my sister hasn’t gone anywhere. I’m Kea Carpathius, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Elrys” He replied comfortably.

”I’ve heard of Ethne, you live over by the falls, don’t you?” He asked. He hadn’t visited the pack before, but his father was good at keeping them updated on the world.


"Ciaran Carpathius"

"Speech"

Eltrys was sensing an interesting emotional distance from Kea. It was actually quite refreshing for him having been enmeshed in the emotional turmoils of the grief many of the Ethne members were experiencing. Either Kea was excellent at emotional stability and remained guarded, burnt out, or struggled to hold any emotion at all. Eltrys assumed the first.

He dipped his head as Kea shared his name and hmm'd positively about where Ethne was located.
"Yes, just over the cliffs there. Your sister showed me the magic of the glowing plankton here. Though she denied any magical mystery in them. What say you? Do you believe any magic in this world?" Eltrys posed the question with at tilted head.

Kea glanced behind the other wolf, as if he would be able to see the pack simply by being pointed in the right direction. The land that rolled between them however was too vast to be able to see the cliff side pack - other than the cliffs itself.

He tilted his head curiously at the mention of glowing plankton, and thought about the worm in the dark caverns, the fire, the strange wolf that had led him there. He thought about the ghost wolf that he had accidentally summoned during samhain. “Uhhhh…..” Kea said diplomatically. “Yeah… I kinda do” He wondered if the wolf would believe half the things he’d seen.

"Ciaran Carpathius"

Eltrys wondered if he had stumbled on a taboo subject with how dismissive Bramble had been and how guarded Kea appeared.

Eltrys watched the water come and go while Kea wrestled with the answer for a moment, then turned his gaze to the dark blue male as he answered.

"I'd be interested to know what you've experienced, but I understand if it's a strange subject not typically shared. I spent most of my life studying the subject." Meaning he'd believe a great many things. He was content to let it lay though if Kea was not one for sharing such experiences. [/font][/size]