Let sleeping dogs lie (Open)

[Kailolu]

Kihlan watched as Zephyr flew over and landed next to him. He gave a nod toward the sky and looked at her. “Ready?” he asked standing and lifting his wings. He gave her a smirk before stepping off the cliff and creating an air current under them so that they wouldn’t have to use that much energy to get up into the sky. He flapped his wings a few times, gaining altitude before cutting his power off. Already he had attracted a nasty storm and that was because he was acting cocky with his powers. Now he was using them sparingly, only changing the air currents when he needed to find a natural one.

Not feeling in a talking mood, Ki remained silent, closing his eyes and dozing a little in the air. For him, it didn’t take as much focus to fly as it did when he was using magic. So, as long as he wasn’t dead asleep, he could fly. Kind of like how your body knows how to breathe and keep your organs working when you’re sleeping.

The white wolf yawned and nibbled on his leg. “Did you get enough sleep?” He asked, looking heavy lidded at his female companion. He really was tired and sore, but he felt like he couldn’t let Zephyr down. He knew how excited she was to get to the ocean, and he really wanted to see how she would react once they actually got there.

Word count;224
Muse; 30.7%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Zephyr broke into a smile at Kihlan's word and nodded enthusiastically, following him off the cliff. In contrast to his nonchalant walk off the edge she leapt as high as she could to catch the stronger part of the current and flapped hard, glad to be in the air again.

The sun was up now, just a bit over the horizon, but was partway veiled by a strip of clouds that seemed to border the sky. Still Zephyr squinted to see better. This is gonna suck, she thought happily.

Soon the female too started to become sleepy, and Kihlan's voice brought her back briefly. She gave a quiet "uh-huh", not thinking to return the question.

After a while she started to wake up and looked around, blinking. Kihlan was still with her and it seemed that noting had cha-- "Kihlan, look at that!" Zephyr exploded. She was entirely awake now and staring down and a mile or so ahead of the two wolves where a sea of bison had materialized while she was asleep. Without a thought for the work her friend had done to get them so high up, Zephyr began to descend quickly, gaining speed, then leveled out and traveled horizontally for a few minutes. She descended again, then leveled out, and soon she was a few feet above the herd of giant woolly beasts, startling them into a stampede and laughing joyfully at the spectacle.

[Kailolu]

Kihlan was enjoying the Silence. The crisp morning breeze, the newly found sun warming his fir. For a few minutes, he forgot he was flying. He wouldn't mind staying like this for--"Kihlan, look at that!"--ever. The white wolf opened his eyes and shot an irritated look at Zephyr. What was she going on about? He looked down when she started to glide toward the ground and finally saw what had stirred up her emotions. He soared down after her, pulling along side above the herd of stampeding animals.

He smiled at her enthusiasm and reached down to brush the back of one of the gigantic beasts. It gave a loud bellow and threw up its head, barely missing Ki's paw. With the sudden threat, Ki pushed himself up with magic, keeping enough distance between him and the buffalo so they couldn't gore him. Ki looked over at Zephyr and flapped hard a few times, propelling himself up. He watched the stampede from a distance, knowing the dangers of getting too close. "Zephyr, be careful!" He barked over the bellows and hooves of the feeling animals.

occ;

Word count; 187
Muse; 30.9%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Zephyr was aware that what she was doing was dangerous. Like the thunderstorms she so loved, this stampede frightened her and therefore excited her. The sea of bison a few feet below her tossed and raged and her mind barely registered Kihlan's warning, and she certainly didn't heed it.

Soon she neared the edge of the herd where the calves ran with their mothers so that they would not be crushed by the adults in the middle of the group. Zephyr flew on the outside of the herd, dropping closer to the ground and came to eye level with the youngsters, keeping her paws tucked close to her body. The creatures were terrified, she could tell, and while she knew that the animals were not personally frightened of the wolves, she also knew that they were afraid because of her. The herd mentality into which they had been born made them be afraid because they and everyone else were running away from something. Zephyr realized that she had caused that and her ability to sympathize with other creatures made her feel guilty.

Panting from the effort of flying so fast, Zephyr slowed and landed near the back of the herd, watching as the trailing few hundred animals barreled past and waited for Kihlan to stop too. She needed a rest after that romp and hopefully there was some water nearby.

As the thundering of hooves died into the distance, Zephyr became aware of a lowing sound coming from nearby. Curious, she took off again and rose a few meters into the air, following the sound. She spotted a dark patch in the grass a ways away and approached it with her heart in her throat, with a hunch as to what it would be.

As she had guessed, a small buffalo, a calf, was lying in the long amber grass with two of its legs twisted and gashes all over its exposed side. "Oh..." Zephyr swallowed and looked away, grief welling in her heart.

[Kailolu]

Because Kihlan was panicking mentally, he couldn't focus his energy to push Zephyr up away from the stampeding crowd. She didn't seem to want to listen as she flew closer. Ki flapped hard to keep up, finding his powers useless. When he tried to use them to make himself go faster, the wind out either push him down toward the bison or shoot him backward. So, he relied on himself only. The white wolf choked on a warning call when he saw Zephyr drop down along side the herd.

Was she crazy?! "Zephyr!" He barked, trying to keep up with her. Waves of feelings hit him as he flew. He wanted to protect her, but she wouldn't listen! Why wouldn't she listen? Did she not know this was incredibly dangerous? If one of them hit her, she would be trampled almost instantly. Did she want to die? Ki maneuvered around the herd, flapping fiercely whenever he dropped too low. And just like that, it was over. That stupid fae finally landed.

When Zephyr touched the ground, Ki's paws touched down a few seconds later. He panted heavily, wishing he had enough breath to yell at her. He gave her the look of annoyance and worry. Mostly annoyance. Over his breathing, he too heard the sound Zephyr heard. Before he had a chance to tell her to leave it alone, she was in the air flying toward it. Damn it all, woman! Sit still for ten seconds, would ya?! Exhausted from flying so fast, Kihlan rested his wings on his back and he walked after the fae. It didn't take long for him to reach her and he sat down, slowing his breathing to examine the squirming calf. Ki almost told her that it was her fault since she spooked the herd, but the wall of grief that surrounded her make him hold his tongue.

The brute cursed under his breath and stood, stepping closer to the baby. It squealed and bellowed for its mother, yet he knew that it was a goner. Kihlan closed his mouth after sucking his tongue back in and looked at Zephyr. She was looking away and he didn't question her. The wolf looked back at the calf and sat next to its head, glancing at its neck before looking up at his companion. He knew what had to happen, and even though he had eaten bison calves before without a second thought, he almost felt guilty. Even though he knew this wasn't his fault. He was almost sure she wouldn't want to kill it, but he knew what must happen, and so did she.

occ; 441

Word count;
Muse; 70.5%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Kihlan was right. Zephyr knew that the calf was suffering and should be...put out of its misery....And he was right in that she didn't want to kill it. She wouldn't. He would have to do it. She swallowed again, holding back tears, and turned her whole body away. She said nothing, trusting that Kihlan would know that she would not stop him, and started off at a run toward a copse of trees in the distance, flapping her wings a bit to speed up the travel. She needed to hide. She was ashamed.

Under the trees it was cooler; the sun did not penetrate here. There was no sound except for the rustling of leaves and grasses, not even birdsong. Not even a crow. Zephyr laid down at the base of a tree and closed her eyes, reminiscing about her days with her brother. They were her only real escape from today's events. Kihlan was nice enough, but he did not suffer her as much as her brother had done. She had seen the irritated looks he had flashed her. Her brother would have been flying with her. Was that a bad thing? Her recklessness had caused the death of an innocent creature. Perhaps her brother's lifestyle was not as righteous as she had thought it to be....No, not her brother's lifestyle. She didn't even know where he was, how could she know how he lived? It had been Zephyr's choice to chase those buffalo. She was entirely at fault and she could not blame her brother for the tragedy.

[Kailolu]

Kihlan watched as Zephyr ran off. She felt guilty, he knew it. He would talk to her later, but the screaming calf had to be dealt with first. The white wolf looked down at the calf, trying to figure out how to do this. It was too big to just clamp his teeth around his neck, but if he got it just below the jaw...Ki crept around, wary of flying hooves and he touched the creatures cheek with his nose. It bellowed loudly and as it did, it pulled its head up. Before the baby had a chance to drop its skull, Ki lunged forward and sank his teeth into as much of its neck as he could, feeling his mouth close around its windpipe. The animal went into a panic as blood started to pool down onto the ground, covering Ki's paws. It managed to fling a leg out, whacking the wolf's knee. There was a loud pop and Kihlan yelped loudly, releasing the calf. Almost instantly his leg started to pulse and grow warm as if it was on fire. That really hurt. Ki looked at his leg and growled when he saw the deep gash that was oozing dark red blood. After giving it a lick he tried to put pressure on it, but it just made him yelp again. Great. The wolf limped over and quickly repositioned himself at the baby's neck and bit into it again, this time avoiding hooves. It took a while, but the calf grew still and death glazed its eyes over.

Ki laid down next to the corpse, trying to nose the pain away from his leg. It didn't look broken, and he hoped it wasn't. Looking at the dead body, he reached over and pressed his nose to its forehead and closed his eyes. He asked the spirits to watch over the young one and let his soul rest without burden. After finishing, he stood up, carefully pulling his bloodied, injured leg up close to his chest, and used magic to help him into the sky. He took off slowly, licking his wound as he flew. He headed toward the place Zephyr ran off to, groaning in disapproval. Of all the places she picked, she had to pick a place with trees. The wolf landed, almost face planting when he touched down. He hobbled into the forest, keeping his paw off the ground as he sniffed for his companion's scent. After picking it out amongst other smells, he found her laying at the base of a tree. Ki limped over and laid down carefully next to her, reaching out and touching her temple with his nose softly. "It's over," He said quietly, pulling back and looking at her.

occ;

Word count; 461
Muse; 70.3%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Zephyr heard her friend coming long before he appeared, but she stayed where she was, wanting him to find her. She had noticed that she often fled from unpleasant things in the hopes that someone would come after her. As Kihlan approached, another time sprang to mind when she had hidden in a grove of trees and a friend had come to find her.

Zephyr could not meet Kihlan's eyes. She was sure he was going to say something she wouldn't like, something like "I told you not to", or along those lines. And he would be right. She alone had spilled that calf's blood unnecessarily. What he actually said was much better than what she had thought, but it caught her off guard. She had been prepared to be angry at her friend for rebuking her, but now she couldn't do that. The female sighed and closed her eyes at his touch, appreciating his efforts to comfort her, but she said nothing.

((sorry for the wait and the quality >_<))

[Kailolu]

Kihlan was not surprised that his female companion remained silent, and he did not probe her for an answer. Had he been in her position he would have run to the point of no return, as the winged wolf was more of a flight then fight kind of guy. This contradicted to him being so strong willed, but if it came to the idea of him having to explain himself, he would just walk off. Having his moods switching so often usually fought with his will to do things, but in the end, he would pick what was most interesting, or least complicated. Ki looked at Zephyr as she laid with her eyes closed. He blinked slowly and awkwardly placed his head on hers in an attempt to comfort her further. The feeling of her head against his chin and jaw was a little different to him, as he didn’t like to console others when they needed someone. Usually he would tell them to suck it up and move on, but he knew he couldn’t do that to Zephyr. She was so innocent, and in no means did she mean for any of this to happen. Ki couldn’t bring himself to be harsh with her at this moment.

After rubbing his chin on her gently he turned away to assess the damage to his leg. There was a three inch gash, right on the knee. That would hurt to bend it. It was dark red and irritated, having split the skin and some tissue. The fur around it, being black, was darkened with matted dried blood, but it was still bleeding. Despite disliking the taste of his own blood, he started to lick his wound to try and nurse it to a point of no more bleeding. He knew it would heal with no real damage to him, but as he cleansed it, he wondered what the loud pop was. Though after only a few seconds, he concluded it was just the sound of the calves hoof hitting his knee. “Do you want to keep going?” He asked softly, chewing on his tongue to try and get the coppery taste out of his mouth. Though being a carnivore, he was used to the taste of blood, but he didn’t like the taste of his own.

Occ;
Word count; 385
Muse; 59.4%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

The white wolf's second touch, like his first, soothed Zephyr's pain slightly; she was quite sensitive to physical comfort as, in her puphood, she had received it primarily from her brother. In her mind, the happiness she had always felt around him was intertwined with physical contact. Grateful, when he moved away she lifted her head and smiled rather forlornly, but it was a smile all the same. She didn't want her own bad mood to get her friend down as well.

When Kihlan turned away to look at something she sat up, curious--and then horrified when she saw what it was. When her friend had arrived smelling of blood she had assumed it was that of the buffalo calf, but it was Kihlan who was injured. She gasped, "Oh, Kihlan, what happened?" She didn't remember him being wounded when this whole bison fiasco had begun, so whatever it was, it must have been her fault. Guilt settled on Zephyr like snow, her spirits immediately sunk again and, with a sigh, she laid down again with her head near her friend's leg, ready to help if he needed.

[Kailolu]

Ki was not all surprised at Zephyr’s gasp, nor was he surprised at how long it took her to notice. He looked over at her when she laid down and brushed his nose against hers. “Hey princess, I’m not going to die, I’ll be fine. Stop feeling guilty. This—“ He nodded at the gash “— was my fault. I was in the wrong position. You’re fine.” He went back to licking at the wound, glancing at her a few times. She took things pretty hard. But, it was to be expected. All the females that Kihlan had met always found ways to blame themselves for things. And even if it was their fault, they blew it up out of proportion and made a huge deal out of it. In Ki’s mind, it was better to just forget about it and move on. After all, it’s not use crying over spilt milk.

“Hey,” He started, using a softer voice then before. “We aren’t getting any closer to the ocean by laying here. It isn’t going to walk to us. Come on, sunshine, let’s go.” He smiled and stood, careful not to set down his injured knee. He started to hobble out of the forest before stopping and looking back at Zephyr and grinned. “Just promise me you aren’t going to start anymore stampedes.”

occ;

Word count; 223
Muse; 60.2%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Zephyr couldn't help but smile at Kihlan's reassuring words. At least he was still poking fun at her...that was a good sign. If he was cracking jokes he was fine. Still, Zephyr would have felt much less guilty if his injury had not been to a joint.

By the time he stood up she was feeling better, although at the sight of his limp she felt another twinge of guilt. She was glad they had wings and that he could rest his leg while they flew instead of having to walk on it like normal wolves. Zephyr had never appreciated how lucky she was to be able to fly more than she did at that moment. Her friend's next jibe did little to her spirits, but she glared at him playfully. "You watch it, buster. Need I remind you that you're at a disadvantage right now if I were to decide to beat you up for that little remark, huh?" With her forehead she nudged Kihlan's side with enough force to make him waver, but not so that he would fall. She didn't want to hurt him more than he already was.

A few moments later they emerged into the sunlight on the side of the copse opposite where the stampede had occurred. Zephyr didn't want to see the dark spot of the dead calf on the grass.

[Kailolu]

Kihlan turned an ear to her quip and flattened them when she moved closer. He gave a playful growl when she pushed him, tightening his mouth as he tried to regain balance. “Oh, don’t hurt me, I’m fragile,” he said in an incredibly obvious sarcastic voice. He rolled his eyes and hobbled alongside her as they exited the small forest. The sun was blinding for a moment, but Ki’s bright blue eyes adjusted quickly. The white wolf lifted his wings and shifted them above his back, glancing at the appendages as if to see if they would work. Moving his eyes to lock gazes with Zephyr he gave a nod to the sky. A sudden idea popped into his head and a sly smile crossed his lips.

Without warning, and without opening his wings, Ki gave such a strong burst of air beneath them that it broke the sound barrier, creating a loud boom sound. It was so powerful that it didn’t take his wings to rocket them up, but he slowly lessened it and opened his wings. He then cut it short to give Zepyhr enough time to register what he did before he burst out laughing, folding his wings up quickly and letting himself nose dive, careful to keep his injured leg close to his chest. “Ahh, I love gravity.” He laughed, reopening his wings to keep from falling any further. He looked at Zephyr, a big goofy smile on his face. “How you doin’ there, sweet pea?” He hoped he hadn’t scared her, but come on, that was fun. Especially with such a tense, upsetting moment they needed a release of some kind, and Ki thought that was amusing enough. Flapping hard a few times, he rode an air current higher, smiling at how well he had control of his powers.

Occ;
Word count; 304
Muse; 50.4%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Zephyr grinned at her friend as he went along with her little joke; it sure made her feel better about what had happened. In fact, she was surprised how good she was feeling now. It must have been Kihlan's efforts to make her feel better. Her brother had done the same thing when she was feeling down.

Zephyr blinked in the sunlight as the two wolves emerged, she caught Kihlan's eye and with a nod in return, she opened her wings, read to fly--then a very loud sound assaulted her ears and she was thrown upward so quickly that her vision went dark for a second. Panic and adrenaline surged into her body and when she could see again she looked around to see what had happened and was happening. Kihlan was far below her and not approaching very quickly. She realized that she was being borne upward by a very strong current of air that had also caught her friend, so she folded her wings a bit to let him catch up. Now Zephyr was calming down. She couldn't see any immediate danger and Kihlan was at her side. She just looked at him, speechless, but he seemed to be amused. The tan and white wolf was thoroughly confused. "That--that wasn't you, was it?" she asked, her voice still shaky with nervousness.

[Kailolu]

Kihlan turned a strange gaze toward his companion. "I didn't scare you, did I, Cupcake?" He was slightly put off by this. Who else had the ability to do that? And he laughed about it, did she not catch on? Instead of getting steamed up about it, he flapped closer to her. "I was just fooling," He tried not to grumble. "Didn't mean to startle you. Come on, we have to head out." Ki then guided her toward the river and started to fly above, riding a natural air current. By how slow they were going it was going to take them longer to get to the ocean, but Ki was willing to stick in just to see how Zephyr reacted.

Flying in silence, Ki racked his mind to find something to say to keep her entertained for a while. If she was amused, then she might leave him alone for a few minutes without getting herself into a heap of trouble. "Have you ever heard of the story of the great fibbing wolf Thyx?" He turned to look at her, expecting a no reaction. He didn't leave very much room for an answer before he plunged head first into his story. "Thyx became the king of all wolves for one reason only. He lied. He spread lies around, saying that he had the power to destroy any living life force, and that he could not be harmed. And so, since everyone feared him, they bowed their heads and respected him as their new leader. No one wanted to die, so nobody questioned his power." The white wolf paused to lick his wound.

"All respected him except for the great golden eagle, Dihla. He claimed that Thyx was a fraud, and that he had no true power. The eagle had spread rumors across the lands and soon others started to believe him, though they feared what would happen if they questioned Thyx so they remained silent. Clearly, Thyx wasn't pleased and decided to speak with the eagle, curious of what triggered his sudden hatred toward him. Dihla told him that fibbing would only bring out a stronger truth, and that he should beware of the consequences of spinning a web of false words." Kihlan paused and glanced up at the sky, trying to remember what happened after that. "Thyx dismissed the matter and went on as a tyrant. Dihla had had enough of the lies and went on a early morning flight to ease his mind. He knew Thyx had called a gathering earlier and all the forests' animals were gathered around the base of a cliff where Thyx stood, getting ready to give out his new batch of false hope. Dihla decided to teach him a lesson and flew down, grabbed Thyx's tail and flew into the air with him howling and screaming in anger." Kihlan got a little excited and increased the anticipation in his voice.

"The animals below were shocked, unable to speak, but only watch as their leader dangled from an eagles talons. And then, Dihla dropped him. Wailing all the way down, he died at the feet of those who served him. And then, just like that, the forest was free. One wolf cried out to the eagle as to why he had done such a thing. Dihla laughed and spun around to fly away. Just as he was about to disappear on the horizon, he said, "Because lies bring out a stronger truth."Kihlan stopped and sighed heavily, flicking his ears and closing his eyes. Hopefully he did a good job and he glanced at Zephyr to see if she liked his story or not.

occ;

word count; 626
muse; 80.5%
Tags; forte!

[Forte]

Zephyr listened passively as Kihlan told his story. She had not heard many tales, and they had never really captivated her. She preferred to make her own stories. All the same, her friend's parable had a certain charm to it and she smiled at the end. "That's nice," she said, "well-told. I hadn't heard it before."

"I have a story, too. Once, an aging witch lived alone with her son and daughter. The witch was bitter because her mate had left her to raise the pups alone, and she resented them.

One day while exploring and playing the pups came upon a spring that tasted sweet and they showed it to their mother, who drank and marveled, and the next morning she felt and appeared young again. But while the two pups continued to grow toward their prime while drinking from the spring of youth, the old wolf had to drink every day to keep her strength. The magic of the spring knew that this wolf had no right to the vitality it provided her, and while her appearance remained young, after a while she began to feel her true age even while drinking only the water of the sweet spring. The witch again grew mean toward her children, who were often away in the forest to escape her cruelty.

Then one day, a weary traveler sought refuge in the den of the three wolves. He was searching for a mate for the heir of a once-powerful pack whose blood now ran thin. Upon hearing this news the mother wolf, who at that time appeared old, coveted that powerful seat by the side of a king, but she knew that she could not leave her home because the spring was all that kept her young. The prince would not want an old, ugly she-wolf for a mate. Cleverly she told the messenger that she had a beautiful daughter who would want to meet this prince, but she could not travel with the messenger because she was tied by magic to a spring nearby. Excited by this, the messenger raced away to bring the news to the prince, who lived a day's travel away.

The mother wolf waited for her pups to return that evening, and when they did she was kind to them. She cooked for them a delicious meal, but the pups did not know that the witch had poisoned it. Soon they both fell asleep and their mother took them outside. When they woke up in the morning the wolves had been transformed into deer. Terrified of further harm, they escaped into the forest.

Satisfied, the witch drank from the spring and awaited the arrival of the prince. He was large and magnificent and young with a coat of pure black, and he was kind. The witch, who was indeed beautiful when she looked young, seduced him easily using her magic, and the prince decided that he would take her as a mate. Many attendants and members of his court relocated to home of the witch. Every night she left the den in secret to drink from the spring of youth.

The next year the prince's father died, and in celebration of the prince's coronation, a feast was planned. The court hunters entered the forest in search of food, and found a young stag. The hunters mounted an attack; but just before the teeth of the leader met its throat, the stag spoke: "Wait! You mustn't kill me. I am one of you." The hunters were shocked: never had they encountered a deer that could speak in their tongue. They listened as the stag told his story and that of the witch. A messenger was sent to the prince, who came out at once and heard the story as well. "If you don't believe me, test your mate: keep her confined for a day. You will see that she is not who claims to be." And so it was. The next morning the witch appeared old and decrepit, and the stag was praised. He offered to show the prince to his sister, who would happily take the prince as a mate. But the stag's sister was still in the form of a doe. "You must kill my mother," she informed the prince, "who cast this spell on me. Then I will take my true form." And so it was. The old witch was cast off a cliff, and the moment her body met the rocks below a golden light surrounded the stag and the doe, and when it faded they appeared as their true selves. The brother was made the heir of the pack and the prince took his sister as a mate."

When Zephyr finished her story she took a breath and licked her lips, which were now dry. She was used to talking a lot but monologues were different. All the same, she was happy with the telling of the story and waited impatiently for Kihlan's response.

[Kailolu]

Kihlan was more interested in Zephyr's story then he had thought he'd be. He didn't look at her as she spoke, but rather looked at the river. His eyes glazed over as he pictured everything happening in his mind. He could almost see the wolves arguing and lieing to each other. It was almost like a dream, and he didn't notice when Zephyr stopped talking. His mind continued to reel, making stuff up to keep him occupied. It took a few minutes before he blinked and came back to reality. He looked over at his companion, giving her a nod. "Where did you hear of that? Your babysitter perhaps? Or did you make it up? It was quite interesting." He looked down again, giving his drying cut a lick. A stream that renewed life, one that could keep them young forever. It almost make Ki think something like that was real.

occ;

word count; 157
Muse; 20.6%
Tags; forte! ((Sorry for the fail post...))

[Forte]

Pleased that Kihlan seemed to enjoy her story, Zephyr smiled at him. "My siblings and I," she began to explain, "weren't told many stories, but when we did hear them, they were often about the adventures of a young, lovely wolf princess. One day my littermates and I made up the story I just told you, the story of how she became the courageous adventurer we admired. We promised each other to tell it other wolves we met, to spread it around the world. You're the first one I've told it to." Zephyr too watched the river as it passed below them. She found the late-morning sunlight hypnotic as it bounced and sparkled off its calm spots, and the occasional rapids kept her rapt attention. Running water, even far away, is one of the few things that one never gets bored of watching.

((Ditto))

[Kailolu]

"Well you and your siblings have a very creative mind." Kihlan smiled, "I envy it." He turned his blue gaze to the left, looking at the tops of the canyons. He watched as a few lone deer nuzzled their yearlings around, but once they looked up and noticed him, they all fled. The white wolf shook his head and grinned. Why deer ran even though there would be no chance of catching them was beyond him. Even with his powers, it would be a challenge to get after the deer, and they knew that, yet they ran. Kihlan quickly thought up the idea of learning how to be a polyglot. It would be interesting, if it were possible. Thought it would be difficult at the same time, being able to hear the words of the one you were going to eat.

Ki shook the ridiculous idea from his head. "How disappointed would you be if I told you it was going to take longer to get to the ocean then I originally planned?" He shifted his gaze up and looked at her, searching her eyes for signs of anger or anguish. He knew how excited she was and how eager she wanted to get to the big blue, but at the rate they were moving, with all the frequent stops, he lost all track of time and now had no idea how long it would take. They could risk cutting across the plains and the forest, and over the mountains. That would be shorter if he knew where he was going. The river after all twisted and turned in all different shapes which was taking up time. "Can you navigate?" He asked suddenly, glancing up at the sky. "With stars?" The "Genius" idea that thrust itself into his brain was that they could sleep by day and travel at night using the stars. He knew that if you followed a certain pattern, it would lead to the ocean. He just couldn't remember which one.

occ;

Word count; 346
Muse; 30.7%
Tags; forte! ((I tossed in the idea of not following the river and going across land instead to make things interesting and possibly form a mini plot. Is this a nay nay? Hah, what's your idea?

[Forte]

((definitely a yay ;D ))

Zephyr too noticed the deer bound away from the strange winged predators, and her instinct to chase them kicked in: she dipped a few feet in altitude before checking herself, reminded of the earlier tragedy. She regained her lost height and sighed, feeling restrained by the need to keep such urges in line.

At Kihlan's words, Zephyr looked at him with despair and surprise, not knowing what to say; she had thought he had known how long it would take to get there. Now the tan-and-white wolf's certainty in her friend had cracked. Still speechless, she looked down at the river still slipping away beneath them. The landscape through which it wound was beginning to change. There were more trees now, and the earth looked more bumpy. "With stars? What are you talking about?" Zephyr was skeptical that this could be done, but she was still curious, having never heard of such a thing before.