Post by Pavane on Oct 4, 2011 13:59:21 GMT -5
Two-River Fork
Wiraqu - Male Cougar
Arroyo - Female Adolescent Cougar
---
What? Wiraqu, traveling with a goal in mind? An actual destination? Perhaps he's been replaced by a doppleganger. The cougar slipping through the trees with the pale light of a chilly winter morning still looks like him, though. Tawny fur, easy pace... he's just actually directing that pace, toward the general regions where he last saw a certain other. He's starting to get close enough to hope for her scent - though the cold, and the light dusting of snow on the ground, make that more difficult.
For once, Arroyo's pale coat blends into the surroundings a little easier than usual, its creamy hues not so quickly sighted amongst the scattered snowfall and barren trees that make up the woodland's wintry landscape. Even so, the dark birthmark on her chest more easily gives away her position to any discerning gaze - though she might not mind being spotted by the roaming male. After all, she too is coming to find him, their mutually seeking paths bringing them together at the fork once again. Arriving from the southern bank, her clear amber eyes quickly fall upon Wiraqu's form, though the expression hidden within her gaze is somewhat veiled and unreadable for the time being. "Hello again, Wiraqu." Perhaps she did not expect to find him so quickly after her dream-vision...but here he is, nonetheless.
Wiraqu grins at the sight of Arroyo, veiled expression and all. So what if she hides her emotions? She's the one who's greeting him. That says something, now doesn't it? "Why, hello!" he replies. "What have you found today?" Just because Wiraqu has a goal doesn't mean he's going to go rushing headlong into it. That cub won't starve in the time a few pleasantries take. Or even a many pleasantries. He'll mention it when the time is right.
Arroyo averts her gaze, hiding a faint smile. Oh, she has found out a few things so far today...perhaps she will find out even more as the day goes on. It has been a couple of months since the pair last met, and Arroyo has certainly grown some in that time, both in body and mind. Her feline frame is still slender with youth, but now also bears subtle traces of developing maturity - in her face, her physique, and even her scent. When she lifts her amber eyes to meet Wiraqu's own once again, her smile is muted, but there is still a lingering hint of its presence. "The Great Mother came to me last night." That is all she says on the subject for the time being, waiting to gauge the other's reaction to her response before speaking further.
Wiraqu can't help but spend a bit of time observing Arroyo as she looks away, and the changes in her since he first met her. What has he found today? Her, and a fine discovery it is. He wouldn't help it, even if he could. Still, his attention does return to her face as she lifts her head and begins to speak. His response is a laugh, though not a mocking one, and nod of his head. "Is that what you were seeking, then?" It seems likely. She's always been a bit inclined toward the mystic answers. Which probably means she'll be leaving again. Well, at least he can send the cub with her. Still. He frowns, just a little, though he tries to hide it. He'd hoped for... but never mind that.
Any other day, Arroyo would have been quick to agree with Wiraqu's inquiry...but after last night, she takes a moment to consider her answer before responding. Well, perhaps that isn't so different from her usual behavior. "Part of it, yes." She once again searches the male's face for signs of his reaction, hesitating a moment more before finally forcing herself to continue. "But...perhaps you can help me with the rest."
The consideration itself may be different, but the pause to think is very familiar to Wiraqu by now. So much goes on inside that pale-furred head, behind those amber eyes. So much! The answer he gets is more or less the one he expected, though. He nods. What else did he expect from any of this? Mountain-cougars come. Mountain-cougars go. The same might be said of all cougars, really. So he persuades himself, and so he gives an actual smile. "Always something new before the eyes. The waterfall from above, the waterfall from below." He tilts his head to the side, considering. Her asking him? Well, that's new. Convenient, he supposes. It'll give him a chance to ask that favor on behalf of the cub in return. "Perhaps I can. What is it?"
Wiraqu's apparent non-sequitur about waterfalls gives Arroyo a bit of a pause, especially considering her recent experience there. Nonetheless, she presses forward on the subject at paw, mentally steeling herself as she attempts to present her proposition as casually and professionally as she possibly can. "I will be returning to my homelands soon, to fulfill my promised role as matron of my tribe," she begins, though this is information the male is already familiar with. There's another prolonged pause before she finally comes out with it: "But the Amaranth will need a chieftain as well." It's not an outright question, but with the way Arroyo is staring so expectantly up at Wiraqu, her meaning can be inferred well enough.
The waterfall is where they ended up the first time they met, after all. No wonder it's on Wiraqu's mind, now when it seems like this may be the last time. He nods as Arroyo speaks of her return, entirely unsurprised. This was always only a brief journey, after all. As the silence stretches on, he starts to wonder if he should speak, but... she still looks like she's got something to say. So he waits, and then... then she actually comes out with it. Now there's something he didn't know! Okay, yes. Existence of a chieftain, he knew. But that's not what she's really saying, not in those words and with that expectant stare. The male cougar blinks. Twice. "Ah," he says unhelpfully, and blinks again. His thoughts are scattered like rabbits before a cougar; but he chooses one at near-random and chases it. "I don't know much of Amaranth's ways. Nor am I the best of students," he says honestly, his expression more serious than not. "But it will, won't it?"
Arroyo's tensed frame visibly relaxes somewhat at Wiraqu's eventual response. At least it wasn't a no. "You would not need to learn so much as I have," the matron-to-be responds. She will be the heart of the tribe, the one who will eventually become the spiritual head of it as well in later years, as a female descendant of Paoro's bloodline. He is none of those things, but even that is a fine complement to her intended role. "A chieftain serves to protect his mate's family and tribe," she explains simply, before realizing afterwards her particular choice of words, a slight flush rising to her furred cheeks as a result. It would be their expected relationship, yes, but the demure adolescent hadn't even dared to bring up the other part of the chieftain's job yet -- which is providing new blood to their ancestral line.
Whether it's at her words, or the way she blushes when saying them, Wiraqu smiles. "Not so different than any cougar male, then. Holding a land. Keeping its borders. Defending those in it from harm." All things he hasn't particularly done, in his life so far. Still, the prospect of something new doesn't terrify him. He's always found himself wandering to new adventures. Maybe the next set of adventures lies in staying put. "Raising up a family," he adds, and takes a step closer to Arroyo, keeping his gaze fixed to hers.
Perhaps all Arroyo needed was a nudge in the right direction to break out of her shell - whether by way of Paoro's visit last night, or from how Wiraqu approaches her now. Either way, when the older male moves closer, her normally stoic expression seems to fade away to allow him a more direct glimpse of the emotions that lay simmering underneath: hope, trust, duty, anxiety, confusion, perhaps even a budding hint of desire. Arroyo says nothing for a long while, merely nodding in response to his words with her eyes locked to his, before she finally asks in a quiet voice: "Will you come with me, Wiraqu?"
A tail-flick can start a landslide, if the time and position are right. Sometimes, it doesn't take much. Wiraqu smiles, taking in that tangle of Arroyo's emotions now displayed. All the intellect in the world can't answer the questions they bring. His own face lies open, the emotions simpler but no less deep. Affection. Hope. Curiosity. Patience, but desire. The cougar pads closer, wordless, and stretches out his neck to touch his nose to Arroyo's, if she'll let him. There's a faint purr to his voice. "I will."
Arroyo flinches only slightly when Wiraqu leans into her personal zone, and the slightest withdrawal of her own muzzle isn't enough to prevent their noses from meeting in the middle. She lingers in the light touch with the subtlest of purrs emanating from her throat, their matching amber eyes and characteristic markings reflecting each other for a brief moment until the younger female pulls away. "When shall we leave?" she then inquires, breaking the ice of the intimate moment as she returns to business. She had originally intended to stay throughout the winter, but perhaps Paoro's arrival was a sign that her journey - this one, at least - was over.
Wiraqu purrs, as noses touch, and a smile lingers even when shy Arroyo pulls away. Oh, he'll need that patience, with this one, but he rather suspects it will be worth it. He's found his next adventure. Or maybe she's found him? They've found each other, at least. "Whenever," he says with a laugh. "Though... there is one thing." A slightly more serious expression, though he still smiles. "There's a lost cub I found. I think her family is with Amaranth. I - we -" He grins. "- should bring her there."
Perhaps it was a sign, after all - and this must be another. A child of Amaranth? She doesn't know who (or whose) it may be, but that doesn't make it any less of a pressing matter. "Yes, we should," she's quick to respond, already preparing herself for the travel home. Her stance is both ready and eager, the tip of her tail flicking anxiously as she considers the prospect of returning home again, and sooner than expected. After a moment, however, she blinks in realization, eyes flitting around the clearing. "Where is she?"
The signs and portents come thickly. Wiraqu might say it's because, when hoping for portents, nearly anything can be read as one. Tail-flicks and landslides. He grins widely at Arroyo's question - well, not at the question, so much as at the answer. "With wolves," he replies. "Ute. She says they rescued her." Seriously, what? And yet he can't deny that the young cougar was trailing after the traveling pack, and seemed to regard them with some measure of trust. Strange times, and strange adventures.
"Rescued her? From what?" Arroyo seems more concerned over the news of recent danger than the fact that a young cougar has been among wolves. She can't help but feel that she's been missing out on something very big while she was away from the mountain. Regardless, she's spurred into motion once more after her prolonged moment of quiet closeness with Wiraqu, already playing the role of matron as she dives head-first into fixing the problem at paw. Though she doesn't know exactly where the male left the young cub, she's still apparently antsy, shifting about on her paws in all directions.
"I'm not entirely sure," answers Wiraqu. "We can ask her." The cub was rather nervous with him, and... well, it didn't seem like the best of ideas to press her on it. Arroyo's eagerness to get in motion doesn't escape him, and he smiles and turns with a fluid motion. "This way," he says over his shoulder, and starts to pad off at an easy pace to where the wolves were. They may have moved on, of course - but he's confident he can find them. A half-dozen wolves with pups can hardly avoid leaving a trail.
Arroyo quickly moves into action, following Wiraqu as he begins to lead the way to the lost cub in question. Although she occasionally trots up ahead at a faster pace, projecting his intended path, before falling back into place beside him yet again, she is traveling alongside him nonetheless - beginning the first of many journeys they will no doubt make together in the times to come.
Wiraqu - Male Cougar
Arroyo - Female Adolescent Cougar
---
What? Wiraqu, traveling with a goal in mind? An actual destination? Perhaps he's been replaced by a doppleganger. The cougar slipping through the trees with the pale light of a chilly winter morning still looks like him, though. Tawny fur, easy pace... he's just actually directing that pace, toward the general regions where he last saw a certain other. He's starting to get close enough to hope for her scent - though the cold, and the light dusting of snow on the ground, make that more difficult.
For once, Arroyo's pale coat blends into the surroundings a little easier than usual, its creamy hues not so quickly sighted amongst the scattered snowfall and barren trees that make up the woodland's wintry landscape. Even so, the dark birthmark on her chest more easily gives away her position to any discerning gaze - though she might not mind being spotted by the roaming male. After all, she too is coming to find him, their mutually seeking paths bringing them together at the fork once again. Arriving from the southern bank, her clear amber eyes quickly fall upon Wiraqu's form, though the expression hidden within her gaze is somewhat veiled and unreadable for the time being. "Hello again, Wiraqu." Perhaps she did not expect to find him so quickly after her dream-vision...but here he is, nonetheless.
Wiraqu grins at the sight of Arroyo, veiled expression and all. So what if she hides her emotions? She's the one who's greeting him. That says something, now doesn't it? "Why, hello!" he replies. "What have you found today?" Just because Wiraqu has a goal doesn't mean he's going to go rushing headlong into it. That cub won't starve in the time a few pleasantries take. Or even a many pleasantries. He'll mention it when the time is right.
Arroyo averts her gaze, hiding a faint smile. Oh, she has found out a few things so far today...perhaps she will find out even more as the day goes on. It has been a couple of months since the pair last met, and Arroyo has certainly grown some in that time, both in body and mind. Her feline frame is still slender with youth, but now also bears subtle traces of developing maturity - in her face, her physique, and even her scent. When she lifts her amber eyes to meet Wiraqu's own once again, her smile is muted, but there is still a lingering hint of its presence. "The Great Mother came to me last night." That is all she says on the subject for the time being, waiting to gauge the other's reaction to her response before speaking further.
Wiraqu can't help but spend a bit of time observing Arroyo as she looks away, and the changes in her since he first met her. What has he found today? Her, and a fine discovery it is. He wouldn't help it, even if he could. Still, his attention does return to her face as she lifts her head and begins to speak. His response is a laugh, though not a mocking one, and nod of his head. "Is that what you were seeking, then?" It seems likely. She's always been a bit inclined toward the mystic answers. Which probably means she'll be leaving again. Well, at least he can send the cub with her. Still. He frowns, just a little, though he tries to hide it. He'd hoped for... but never mind that.
Any other day, Arroyo would have been quick to agree with Wiraqu's inquiry...but after last night, she takes a moment to consider her answer before responding. Well, perhaps that isn't so different from her usual behavior. "Part of it, yes." She once again searches the male's face for signs of his reaction, hesitating a moment more before finally forcing herself to continue. "But...perhaps you can help me with the rest."
The consideration itself may be different, but the pause to think is very familiar to Wiraqu by now. So much goes on inside that pale-furred head, behind those amber eyes. So much! The answer he gets is more or less the one he expected, though. He nods. What else did he expect from any of this? Mountain-cougars come. Mountain-cougars go. The same might be said of all cougars, really. So he persuades himself, and so he gives an actual smile. "Always something new before the eyes. The waterfall from above, the waterfall from below." He tilts his head to the side, considering. Her asking him? Well, that's new. Convenient, he supposes. It'll give him a chance to ask that favor on behalf of the cub in return. "Perhaps I can. What is it?"
Wiraqu's apparent non-sequitur about waterfalls gives Arroyo a bit of a pause, especially considering her recent experience there. Nonetheless, she presses forward on the subject at paw, mentally steeling herself as she attempts to present her proposition as casually and professionally as she possibly can. "I will be returning to my homelands soon, to fulfill my promised role as matron of my tribe," she begins, though this is information the male is already familiar with. There's another prolonged pause before she finally comes out with it: "But the Amaranth will need a chieftain as well." It's not an outright question, but with the way Arroyo is staring so expectantly up at Wiraqu, her meaning can be inferred well enough.
The waterfall is where they ended up the first time they met, after all. No wonder it's on Wiraqu's mind, now when it seems like this may be the last time. He nods as Arroyo speaks of her return, entirely unsurprised. This was always only a brief journey, after all. As the silence stretches on, he starts to wonder if he should speak, but... she still looks like she's got something to say. So he waits, and then... then she actually comes out with it. Now there's something he didn't know! Okay, yes. Existence of a chieftain, he knew. But that's not what she's really saying, not in those words and with that expectant stare. The male cougar blinks. Twice. "Ah," he says unhelpfully, and blinks again. His thoughts are scattered like rabbits before a cougar; but he chooses one at near-random and chases it. "I don't know much of Amaranth's ways. Nor am I the best of students," he says honestly, his expression more serious than not. "But it will, won't it?"
Arroyo's tensed frame visibly relaxes somewhat at Wiraqu's eventual response. At least it wasn't a no. "You would not need to learn so much as I have," the matron-to-be responds. She will be the heart of the tribe, the one who will eventually become the spiritual head of it as well in later years, as a female descendant of Paoro's bloodline. He is none of those things, but even that is a fine complement to her intended role. "A chieftain serves to protect his mate's family and tribe," she explains simply, before realizing afterwards her particular choice of words, a slight flush rising to her furred cheeks as a result. It would be their expected relationship, yes, but the demure adolescent hadn't even dared to bring up the other part of the chieftain's job yet -- which is providing new blood to their ancestral line.
Whether it's at her words, or the way she blushes when saying them, Wiraqu smiles. "Not so different than any cougar male, then. Holding a land. Keeping its borders. Defending those in it from harm." All things he hasn't particularly done, in his life so far. Still, the prospect of something new doesn't terrify him. He's always found himself wandering to new adventures. Maybe the next set of adventures lies in staying put. "Raising up a family," he adds, and takes a step closer to Arroyo, keeping his gaze fixed to hers.
Perhaps all Arroyo needed was a nudge in the right direction to break out of her shell - whether by way of Paoro's visit last night, or from how Wiraqu approaches her now. Either way, when the older male moves closer, her normally stoic expression seems to fade away to allow him a more direct glimpse of the emotions that lay simmering underneath: hope, trust, duty, anxiety, confusion, perhaps even a budding hint of desire. Arroyo says nothing for a long while, merely nodding in response to his words with her eyes locked to his, before she finally asks in a quiet voice: "Will you come with me, Wiraqu?"
A tail-flick can start a landslide, if the time and position are right. Sometimes, it doesn't take much. Wiraqu smiles, taking in that tangle of Arroyo's emotions now displayed. All the intellect in the world can't answer the questions they bring. His own face lies open, the emotions simpler but no less deep. Affection. Hope. Curiosity. Patience, but desire. The cougar pads closer, wordless, and stretches out his neck to touch his nose to Arroyo's, if she'll let him. There's a faint purr to his voice. "I will."
Arroyo flinches only slightly when Wiraqu leans into her personal zone, and the slightest withdrawal of her own muzzle isn't enough to prevent their noses from meeting in the middle. She lingers in the light touch with the subtlest of purrs emanating from her throat, their matching amber eyes and characteristic markings reflecting each other for a brief moment until the younger female pulls away. "When shall we leave?" she then inquires, breaking the ice of the intimate moment as she returns to business. She had originally intended to stay throughout the winter, but perhaps Paoro's arrival was a sign that her journey - this one, at least - was over.
Wiraqu purrs, as noses touch, and a smile lingers even when shy Arroyo pulls away. Oh, he'll need that patience, with this one, but he rather suspects it will be worth it. He's found his next adventure. Or maybe she's found him? They've found each other, at least. "Whenever," he says with a laugh. "Though... there is one thing." A slightly more serious expression, though he still smiles. "There's a lost cub I found. I think her family is with Amaranth. I - we -" He grins. "- should bring her there."
Perhaps it was a sign, after all - and this must be another. A child of Amaranth? She doesn't know who (or whose) it may be, but that doesn't make it any less of a pressing matter. "Yes, we should," she's quick to respond, already preparing herself for the travel home. Her stance is both ready and eager, the tip of her tail flicking anxiously as she considers the prospect of returning home again, and sooner than expected. After a moment, however, she blinks in realization, eyes flitting around the clearing. "Where is she?"
The signs and portents come thickly. Wiraqu might say it's because, when hoping for portents, nearly anything can be read as one. Tail-flicks and landslides. He grins widely at Arroyo's question - well, not at the question, so much as at the answer. "With wolves," he replies. "Ute. She says they rescued her." Seriously, what? And yet he can't deny that the young cougar was trailing after the traveling pack, and seemed to regard them with some measure of trust. Strange times, and strange adventures.
"Rescued her? From what?" Arroyo seems more concerned over the news of recent danger than the fact that a young cougar has been among wolves. She can't help but feel that she's been missing out on something very big while she was away from the mountain. Regardless, she's spurred into motion once more after her prolonged moment of quiet closeness with Wiraqu, already playing the role of matron as she dives head-first into fixing the problem at paw. Though she doesn't know exactly where the male left the young cub, she's still apparently antsy, shifting about on her paws in all directions.
"I'm not entirely sure," answers Wiraqu. "We can ask her." The cub was rather nervous with him, and... well, it didn't seem like the best of ideas to press her on it. Arroyo's eagerness to get in motion doesn't escape him, and he smiles and turns with a fluid motion. "This way," he says over his shoulder, and starts to pad off at an easy pace to where the wolves were. They may have moved on, of course - but he's confident he can find them. A half-dozen wolves with pups can hardly avoid leaving a trail.
Arroyo quickly moves into action, following Wiraqu as he begins to lead the way to the lost cub in question. Although she occasionally trots up ahead at a faster pace, projecting his intended path, before falling back into place beside him yet again, she is traveling alongside him nonetheless - beginning the first of many journeys they will no doubt make together in the times to come.