Post by Pavane on Nov 21, 2011 21:46:35 GMT -5
Coinin - male wolf
Niyt - female wolf
Lexus - male wolf
---Two-River Fork---
Coinin sits in the spot he was seated in last night. The events of the previous evening had given him a great deal to think about. He hadn't expected anything like that to happen to him when he had woken up yesterday. There is a part of him that is very happy about it, elated even. After all what wolf doesn't like to be recognized as having qualities that are useful to the pack...even one that doesn't like to be in the spotlight all that much. The other part of him is rather terrified. After all this isn't simply some honor, but is rather a large responsibility. He has spent the morning thinking of his fellow packmembers and his friends. In some small way he is now responsible for them, and that is a rather large burden. He is thankful though that Tariro is here, he won't have to do anything by himself unless there is an urgent need.
Niyt rests amid the reeds, a spot she came to late last night. She slept; now she is awake, listening to the sounds of the rivers and the earth. After a while, she slowly stands, padding out from the sheltering vegetation toward the bank of the river to lower her head and drink.
Lexus has, as usual, been spending a lot of time hunting and wherever he was last night it wasn't sleeping with the rest of the pack. It's not until the morning that he quietly pads back with a couple of rabbits all to show for the night away. He spots the others quiet easily but his greeting wuff is a little muffled by the food.
Coinin is taken from his own thoughts by the sounds of Niyt and Lexus moving nearby. A smile spreads across his face as turns to see them both. He is pleased to see Lex in particular because he has some information that he wants to give him about the conversation that he had with Rayen. He thought it had gone relatively well but that will likely have to wait because he doesn't want to betray Lexus's confidence to Niyt, even though he knows that Niyt probably already knows because the pair of them are close, "Hi all." he says.
Niyt lifts up her head after the drink, ears flicking in turn at the sound of Lexus and of Coinin. She smiles. "Hello," she replies. "How has this day found you?"
Lexus drops off the rabbits but keeps one for his breakfast before he walks towards the others, going to flop down nearby with the rabbit by his paws "Morning" he greets properly and sniff over his food before answering Niyt's question with a small chuckle "It found me hungry, then it brought me food. Handy really"
Coinin can't really complain at all about the day so far. It seems that most of the slush is gone and spring is really here. Which is certainly an improvement over the winter, "I'm well enough." he says to Niyt, "How about you?" he asks. He hadn't seen her around in a few days. He then briefly turns his attention toward Lex, "Hey Lex...when you get the chance later on we should talk." He says no more for the time being.
Niyt laughs to her uncle, and nods. "So it is." She lowers her forequarters, slowly stretching herself, and then stands up again. Her head tilts at Coinin's question, and she gives a small, fur-shaking shrug. "The day finds me, and here I am." She smiles. "Perhaps there's more of it to be found. Perhaps not."
Lexus pauses with a mouthful of food as his ears perk at Coinin. Oh dear, if that is what he thinks it is then he'll have to stop ignoring the issue again. He gives Niyt a quick glance before looking back to Coinin and nodding slowly "Erm, yes. I imagine we should"
Coinin gives Lexus a smile and a nod and then turns his attention back toward Niyt, "No major plans then for the day huh?" he asks. It might well end up just being one of those quiet days. He would welcome that after the rather busy day that was yesterday.
Niyt tilts her head, considering on Coinin's apparent need to talk to Lexus, and then laughs. "Perhaps I should find some, it seems!"
Lexus grows uncomfortable. He doesn't want to make Niyt go but he wanted to talk to Coinin and at the same time he didn't, it was all very awkward but it wasn't like Niyt didn't already know "It's fine, you don't have to go. It's probably about Rayen"
Coinin glance back and forth from Lexus to Niyt and then back to Lex. Perhaps Niyt already knows, in which case it wouldn't make much differece if they talked about it with her here or not. He just doesn't want to out Lex if he isn't ok with it. Knowing that Niyt can't see he mouths the words, 'Does she know?' slowly and clearly to Lex. Better safe than sorry.
Niyt perks up her ears to Lexus at the mention of Rayen, and smiles. "She seemed nice enough, when I spoke to her."
Lexus simply nods to Coinin's silent question and pretty much forgets about his breakfast. Yes Niyt knows, she's the only other wolf who does but she doesn't yet know how much of an utter coward Lex is being about it all. He smiles faintly at his young niece "I'm glad you approve...Coinin offered to speak to her as well" he glances back to the other wolf, expecting news.
Coinin figured, but its better to be safe than sorry, "Well I talked to her, and she seems to be free of any relationships or anything. She also said that she would like the one who liked her to simply tell her that." She seemed like a rather practical gal in that aspect. And while he had talked to her for a considerable length of time, basically that is all he managed to learn without outing poor Lexus as the one who liked her, "So there you have it."
Niyt nods at her uncle's mention, and then tilts her head to listen to what Coinin has to say about it. At the end, she smiles. "I suppose you should have a talk with her, then..." she says. "Maybe take her for a run first, so she's too tired to race off and will have to listen!"
Lexus raises his eyebrows at Coinin after a few seconds like he's checking there's not more to it. Clearly not, he looks thoughtful. Not having her eye on someone else was at least good "Mm, the talking to her continues to prove the difficult bit" he murmurs back before there's a not of amusement for Niyt's suggestion "She can keep up with me, she may never tire"
Coinin chuckles at Niyt's response, well Rayen certainly does seem to be able to move quite fast, "Well I thought the conversation sounded pretty positive. She didn't get all nervous or anything that someone in the pack might like her...so I think that's a good sign too."
Well, of course she can run. Lexus with a stolid non-racing wolf would never ever work out. It'd just be doomed. That's one more hurdle dealt with! Niyt smiles to her uncle, and nods. Hmmm. "Take her somewhere anyway. It'll be easier when it's just the two of you. Or... heh. Tell her the person who likes her has gotten over his fear and wants to meet her someplace. Ask her to go there for 'him'... then run there yourself by a different route. It'd be all cute and romantic!"
Lexus glances back to Niyt and once more he's thoughtful "I suppose the lack of witnesses if it goes horribly wrong would help" he sighs "I've never gotten the hang of this sort of thing, near eight years of experience and I'd never considered running could end up considered romantic"
Coinin has a great deal of confidence that if this is to work out that it will. Besides there is little more than he can do here. The rest seems to be completely up to Lex, "Lex don't be so down on yourself. You are a really nice guy."
Niyt pads over to Lexus and nuzzles her cheek to his, smiling. "Maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. But you won't know unless you try."
Lexus accepts the nuzzle happily at least but his appetite is a little lost due to nerves "I know, I know" he takes a deep breath and offers a quick nuzzle back "I'll see what happens next time I run into her"
Coinin gives the pair of them a smile, its nice to see that family matters so much here. The pack seems to be growing in members, but he hopes that as it grows it won't lose the family atmosphere. That would be something of a tragedy.
Niyt nods. "Let me know how it goes," she tells her uncle. She'll be wondering!
"You'll probably be the first to hear of it, though if you hear my skipping around like a pup you can likely jump to conclusions" Lexus responds as his attention shifts back towards the main bulk of the sleeping pack "You just wait until it's your turn" hiiiiiiiint "See how easy it is then"
Niyt smiles. "I'll keep an ear out for any howls of joy," she says. "Or the ones that mean you might need a shoulder." Then she sighs. "Wonderfully easy, when it works. Terrible and heart-wrenching, when it doesn't." Though her situation wasn't quite the same, and yet... oh, she knows the sort of heartbreak love can bring.
Lexus looks a little sorry when she sighs. He knows some heartbreak, it just sort of happened or couldn't depending on the way he looks at it. There was no asking involved though. One of his life's little secrets anyway and he goes to lick her ear "You're young, you'll have that again sometime"
Niyt smiles again a little at the lick. "Maybe," she answers. She's not terribly sure of it - after all, it's taken how many years for her uncle Lexus to find even a chance of something? - but she supposes it's possible.
Lexus prefers not to mention that, though to be fair it also took him that long to find someone who could keep up with him in a race and the two aren't unrelated "Course you will pup and I'll be there to judge him horribly"
Niyt laughs at that. "You and Anoki both," she says, with a fond smile for her uncle and the absent brother.
Coinin hadn't said anything because he didn't want to interrupt the rather cute family moment the pair of them are having, "I'm sure Anoki will have a great deal to say on the matter." he says. In fact Anoki already has said a great deal on the matter. Mostly about him for some reason that he can't even begin to fathom, "Speaking of Anoki where is he?" Coinin had wanted to teach him how to defend himself and how to hunt.
Lexus chuckles back at Niyt before his eyes do a quick search around the sleeping wolves in sight for Coinin's question "I'm sure he's around here somewhere, he'll be getting hungry I imagine"
Niyt tilts her head to Coinin when he speaks, and smiles. "He's off taking care of something, but he'll be back," she answers, through a combination of big-sisterly knowledge, spiritual perceptions, and having heard it for herself.
Coinin gives them both a nod. He isn't overly concerned. In face the fact that the young wolf is willing to go off on his own after all he has been through is something that is rather pleasing for him to hear, "Alright. I'll try to catch him when he comes back."
Lexus raises his eyebrows at Niyt "First I've heard of it" the amount of time he spends out hunting it's hardly surprising that he misses a lot of news though. Finally his attention returns to the rabbit by his paws and he gives it a sniff "So long as he stays safe"
Niyt nods to Coinin, and smiles to Lexus. "I'm sure he'll be careful."
Coinin is sure that Anoki will be most careful, "Do you know where he's gone off to Niyt?" Not that he has any real need to know, but there is a certain curiosity that has entered into his mind about it.
Niyt smiles. "He can tell you when he gets back." Because, well, she remembers being an adol, and that burgeoning urge for privacy. There's something about Doing It Yourself, even if it's not ultimately that important, and so as long as it's not a matter of danger... no, she's not going to tell, because Anoki isn't a pup anymore. No spying!
Coinin chuckles. So thats how it is. Alright well he won't press any further, since its unlikely that he will be successful in convincing her to say. Besides the curiosity he felt wasn't all that deep to begin with, "Well alright then. I will." he says. He gets to his paws and walks a bit closer to the pair of them, "How is Helaku doing?" he asks. He figures Niyt might know since Niyt and Hel are close.
Niyt tilts her head at the question. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since the heavy winter snows, though there have sometimes been traces of his scent." She shrugs her shoulders, and smiles. "I haven't gone looking."
Coinin thinks that to be a rather interesting turn of events, "I spoke with him the other day. He is planning on staying with the pack. I think he is going to ask Tariro to become an official member." He had some part to play in that himself, but still in the end it is up to the other wolf.
"I see," says Niyt, and considers on that for a moment before nodding. "I suppose we'll see what comes of it, then."
Coinin nods and guesses that we will. One way or the other. He has come to rather like the other wolf, even though he feels that he needs a great deal of effort to get to know. His mind shifts again to the previous day. He may as well share the news with his friends. After all these two are his friends, "Something happened the other day." he says. Something indeed, "...Tariro and I talked and he made me the beta of the pack." He isn't trying to brag or anything like that, but he does want to share the news with them, "..I don't think its general knowledge yet, so I'd appreciate it if you guys could keep it to yourselves."
Niyt tilts her head in a listening posture as Coinin begins. Something, is it? Something like... oh. One ear flicks, as he reveals the news, and her face goes still. The first reaction has little enough to do with Coinin's own nature; it is simply that her father was once the beta. If Coinin is to be beta now... that means that Shag is not. Shag no longer has his place in this pack; he is gone, as surely as her mother. The silence from Niyt stretches on for several moments before she takes a deep breath. "Congratulations," she manages to say.
Coinin knew the news would be hard for Niyt to hear. Which is the reason he wanted to tell her himself. He didn't want her to hear it as some big announcement, "Thanks..." he says quietly, but that isn't really what he wants to focus on, "Niyt. I can't replace your father...I told that to Tariro yesterday. I can't replace anyone that is gone. I don't intend to try."
Niyt lifts up her head. "No," she says. "You can't. But Tariro would not have chosen you if he did not think you would make a beta. Being a beta is only a part of my father. It is only a part of you."
Coinin doesn't really feel like being a beta is any part of him at all, at least not yet. It's all so new and while it is exciting, its also scary, "I have faith in Tariro..." perhaps a bit more faith than he has in himself for sure, "..but Niyt..in all honesty I never wanted this. And just because this has happened doesn't mean that your father might not come back." Granted the chance seems small given what Neero had said, but still a chance is a chance.
Niyt's expression goes still again, a careful lack of emotion, and she gives a single nod.
Coinin sighs, he knew this was going to be hard, but part of him wanted it to go easier than its going, "Niyt. I'm sorry." he says, and he means it. There is nothing else that he can really say. He can't undo anything that has happened.
Sometimes, things - even horrible things - take a while to become real. In this case, they just did. Niyt lets out a sigh, and shakes her head. "The times they are changing," she says softly. From talk of romance to reminders of how things end, all in the space of a few words. She lifts up her head, and speaks somewhat more loudly. "The world goes on. So will we."
Coinin can't argue with anything that she has said. Things do change. Sometimes in ways that we expect, and sometimes in ways that are surprising. We have to take the good with the bad, and vice versa. That doesn't make it any easier though, "Yes we will." he says softly. He offers her a gentle smile, "I think we will all need time to get used to change, and it's ok to feel however we feel about it."
"I think," says Niyt slowly, feeling out the words as she says them, "There's something I need to do." She's silent for a few moments, considering on that, then nods as though she's reached her decision. "I'll be back in a few days." With that, she turns, and begins to move away, traveling away to the south at a walk that soon turns to a lope.
Coinin is a bit torn about what to do. She is after all his friend and the thought that he had any part in making her sad does hurt him. This makes him want to follow after her to try to talk through it. The other part of him realizes there is nothing that he can say, and nothing that he can do to help her feel any better about this. Not being able to decide between the two options he sort of half runs and half walks after her, but doesn't really say anything.
Niyt continues to move, at a steady lope of a wolf that has some distance to travel. She doesn't say anything further; neither telling Coinin to stop, if she even notices him, nor showing any signs of stopping and coming back for more of a chat. She's just... going.
Coinin has something of a moment of realization. He could command her to stop and return. That surely was within his power now. It also seemed to be hollow and stupid idea. He doesn't want to control anyone, surely not his friends. That's not his business. He does want to help if he can. He had felt bad about not going with her when she went to rescue the pups and so he resolves to follow after her. He picks up speed though stays some distance behind her. He guesses he is off on something of an adventure. Hopefully Lex will be able to tell everyone where they have gone...or at least in what direction, and why.
---Trickling River---
Along runs Niyt, through the familiar reeds and trees of this region. For all her lack of sight, her paws are sure on the ground, and she moves with grace and ease. Nothing stops her; not the trees and boulders, not the swampy wet places, not Coinin's unspoken words. Just her, and the wind in her fur, regardless of the other wolf trailing behind. She runs until she reaches the river, and she splashes into it, swimming to the opposite shore as the current pushes her along and makes her path a diagonal one. On the other side, she shakes the wetness out of her fur - and then keeps running.
Coinin isn't one to give up easily once he has set his mind to a task. Being beta he feels is being at the service of the others in the pack. To ensure their safety, and to help them with their problems if he is able to. He doesn't view this as running off, rather he views it as something of a test. He too races along the river, and then swiftly swims through it, following after Niyt.
---Wind-blown Lowlands---
On the other side of the river, the reeds and trees give way to tall grasses. Niyt keeps running as she reaches the prairie, stirring the grass with her passage like the wind does above her. It ruffles through her fur, a breeze that grows stronger as the wolf continues on at the untiring, ground-devouring pace of her kind, moving like a small stormcloud caught on that very wind.
Coinin isn't deterred by the pace. He has set his mind to this and will not change it. He will follow wherever she leads. He isn't going to let her wander off and be alone when she is in pain. That isn't what a friend does. At the present moment he is probably about 10 wolf lengths behind her. Even if he were to lose her he would be able to follow her scent trail.
---Sweeping Steppe---
Wandering implies rather more randomness than Niyt's journey; she carries on, her course nearly straight ahead even when she has to veer for the rocks and gullies as the land grows uneven. She knows where she's going, and so she travels onward, letting mile after mile vanish underneath her paws as the hours do the same and the sun moves in the sky. She's not unaware of Coinin's presence behind her, and yet she seeks to put it from her mind. She closes her eyes as she runs along, through the rolling prairie and then to where the lands gets rougher, the waving grass sparser. The air is getting drier as she travels, the scents on the air sharper.
Coinin is growing tired, but he isn't going to call out for her to stop, and neither is he going to stop to rest. He too rushes along the ground. He isn't necessarily built for running like Niyt and her uncle, but he has a mission before him and he won't let his weariness deter him. He has talked to her enough about where she was from to at least have a guess about where she was headed.
The wind above gives Niyt strength to run; the sand beneath her feet does the same, burning from the sun's heat beating down on it through the day. Evening is approaching now, but the desert is still hot; for that is where she is running, where sands are swept along by the wind, where the small lizards scuttle behind rocks and strange birds stare down from cacti. The rough lands of scrub and steppe give way to that, to the sweeping desert lit by the setting sun, colors of of orange flame and purple haze. Still she runs.
Coinin pants as he runs behind her, wow can Niyt run. It must be a trait that runs in the family. The last thing he wants to do right now is keep running. His legs are burning from all the running and he would very much like to find some water and rest for awhile, but all of that is at this present moment dependent on Niyt and her stopping. He isn't going to call our to her and ask her to slow down or stop. If she needs to run, let her run.
---Storyteller's Butte---
Niyt doesn't stop. She runs through the desert, as the day's sun slowly sinks below the horizon. Around her are the stirs of the creatures of these barren lands, emerging as the heat begins to fade. The mice, the small foxes; the desert comes alive at night, and night is coming. Darkness is coming. It makes no difference to Niyt. Her feet can find the way as easily amidst the black of night as during the light of day. She runs on, and she comes to a place where a great spire of stone rises up to the sky, shining red in the final light of a falling sun. It is there that Niyt stops. She lifts her muzzle to the darkness, to the final crescent of the sun giving way to night, she breathes in - and she howls.
Coinin is about ready to collapse by the time that she finally stops. By that point he is now something more like 20 wolf lengths away from her, so he had lost sight of her. He hears her first before he sees her. When she finally comes into sight he lowers himself down and lays down to rest. He still says nothing, but just listens to her howl. He has a guess that this place has some special significance to her.
Niyt howls, and the sound fills the desert. Niyt howls, and the wind swirls around her, picking up her voice and echoing it. The wind howls, and the sound fills the desert. The wind howls, and it spins around Niyt, picking up dust and sand to hide her from sight as the darkness falls; and to those who can see, there are faces in that swirl, and to those who can hear, there are voices, picking up her howl and carrying it, adding their own to it. They speak with tongues not those of wolves or of any mortal creature, and Niyt breathes in again and howls out, her voice growing eerie like theirs.
Coinin doesn't really have ears to hear such things or eyes to see such things. The only thing he hears are Niyts howls. He knows she is howling becuase she is sad. Sometimes you have to just let things out to feel better. There is nothing wrong with that. Besides. At this point there is little that he can do to add to anything being rather exhausted himself.
Niyt's howl grows strange even to physical ears, the cadences unfamiliar ones, the rhythms chaotic. Glossolalia of a wolf, as words seem to emerge and yet fall apart before they quite resolve, syllables and phrases like babbling. The wind swirls around her, the desert sands blowing around to hide her from sight even even as the growing darkness makes that veiling unneeded. The sun sets, and there is silence.
Coinin is put off by the strange sounds. He doesn't know why Niyt is howling in this fashion. Though one in grief can certainly do odd things, and Niyt has never been exactly normal in the sense of everyone else that he has met, "Niyt?" he calls out. Ok he is going to be the one that finally breaks the silence. He calls out partly to let her know he is there, though she likely knew that already. But also to offer her the invitation to talk if she wants to take him up on it.
There is silence from Niyt. The wind dies down, and the desert is still. Then an insect chirps, and a bird calls, and soon the noises of the desert start up again, all seeming perfectly natural and calm. Yet still, Niyt says nothing. She sits there, her posture erect, her body still save for the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. She says nothing. Her eyes are closed. She doesn't even respond to the sound of Coinin's voice.
Coinin can still smell her there, so he knows that she hasn't run off. Ok. If it is silence she needs. Then silence is something that he can give her. He lowers his head to his paws and rests. The road was long and through unfamiliar territory. At least some of it was unfamiliar. Some of it he had passed through when he made his way up from the south those many months ago.
Time stretches on, but Niyt does not respond. The sun is gone; in time, the moon begins to rise. Niyt does not respond, for Niyt is not here. Her body is, yes; sitting there on the sands. Niyt has gone, to that place where the wind blows from; to that place where the full moon that rises tonight shines down on the paths, where the silvery fog surrounds everything. Her body remains here, breathing slow and shallow, and her spirit wanders. There are dangers to this; but who can help her? She is alone in spirit, though Coinin is physically near her. Niyt's spirit wanders the silver paths, the fog upon the wind in that place where motion is as much a matter of changing the world as anything. Still her body sits there, for she is not done yet.
What can Coinin do but sit? Not much. He will certainly keep watch over her to make sure that nothing disturbs her, but beyond that there is little that he can do. He can't even rightly guess what she is doing. Though he is most certain to ask her about it later. They, after all, have their separate beliefs about the nature of things anyway.
You can find anything on the paths of the moon, in the place the wind comes from. Anything.
Everything has a price.
Niyt travels those paths, and she sees all the things that might be; that could have been. She has had pain, yes. The pain could go away. It could never have been. Voices whisper, and beneath those moonlit pools there are things that might be shadowy figures or might merely be reflections of another self. It's easy enough to find out. Just lean in, and see.
Niyt doesn't lean in. She keeps in motion, until she comees to a place where the fog has cleared; where there are stars, scattered through the sky and reaching down, until the entire world is surrounded by stars and she stands at a point in space as they twinkle around her in the blackness of nothing. In that place, she speaks; but her words are taken by the blackness between the stars, and they do not escape it.
For a time - an interminable, unknowable time - Niyt speaks to the darkness and the stars around it. The sky is eternal, and yet; for after she has spoken for a time, a single star leaves the heavens, slowly falling down from its place toward Niyt. It drifts to her, and then it touches her forehead and burns there brightly. A moment; and then the star turns to a withered thing, a dried seed-pod, and it flutters down to rest atop her muzzle.
Niyt turns from the darkness, then. She keeps that ashen star-husk balanced on her nose as she walks out from the starry night, traveling once more along the moonlit paths of nowhere. Her journey takes a different course now; she is climbing, moving ever upward along an indeterminant thing, a spire of reddish stone whose walls are nearly vertical - and yet she climbs them, walking up until she stands at the top of that pinnacle. There she stands for a long moment, the husk of a single star balanced on her muzzle.
Niyt jumps. She steps off the edge of that cliff, closing her eyes as she tumbles through the air. The withered star falls with her, tumbling down together as the motion of her falling ruffles her fur like the mightiest of winds. She falls down from a great height, toward the hard ground below.
Niyt opens her eyes.
Coinin has been waiting through all of this. Of course none of it made any sense to him, nor did he see the things she 'saw' or anything of the kind. All he saw was her sitting there motionless, apparently lost in thought. He also doesn't notice that she has opened her eyes, but if she wishes he is most definitely still awake. After all he wasn't going to just let her sit there.
In her body again, Niyt has been sitting for a very long time after having run quite intensely. She slowly stretches and then stands up, hearing the complaints of her body, the stiff muscles and worn flesh, her hunger and thirst. For a start, she continues to stretch with slow, careful motions, paws scuffing at the sand as she moves.
Coinin lifts his head when he hears her moving about. Considering all the running they had both done today stretching is probably a good idea to make sure that the muscles don't cramp up, "Niyt?" he asks. He has many questions of course, but lets start at the most basic, "Are you ok?" he asks. This was the question he had wanted to ask her after she started running but had never had the chance.
---Isolated Oasis---
"Come with me," says Niyt. Not that Coinin hasn't done that already, of his own accord, for quite some distance. "There's an oasis nearby. We can drink." She, at least, has a powerful thirst, enough so that her voice has a faint edge of hoarseness. Not surprising, but taking care of it is another good idea. Niyt pads off at a slow, leisurely pace, heading south to where the desert holds an oasis, the rich smell of water and the plant life surrounding it rising up into the night as the moonlight reflects off the water.
Coinin does as he is told, at this point what else can he do? In for a penny in for a pound. This is most Niyt's adventure and he is just sort of along for the ride. He raises himself to his paws slowly. His paws hurt, and the pads of his feet are worn and cracked. He walks haltingly after her toward the oasis. He is most definitely pleased to see the water. He had hoped there was some nearby, but it was by no means a sure thing in the desert. He lowers his muzzle to the water and drinks for a good long moment before raising his head again to watch her, "Niyt are you ok?" he asks again.
Niyt drinks herself, letting the water soothe her throat after the dryness of the desert and the long journey. A few drops drip from her muzzle back into the pool, and she's quiet for a few moments after Coinin's question. Okay. What does that even mean? Is she? Is anyone? The word sounds almost meaningless, or like an echo twisted by canyon walls into random sounds. Still. He's waiting for an answer. She closes her eyes, remembering the starry sky, the darkness with its points of light. Is she okay? "I will be."
Coinin means it in the conventional sense of are you physically and emotionally alright, but as with most things about today you have to take that with a grain of salt it seems, "Ok. Good." he says. At the moment he is unsure about pretty much everything. He doesn't regret coming along, but he doesn't know exactly what he is supposed to do here. He lowers himself back to the ground and lays by the water watching her, "What happened?"
All is not right. The status is not quo. And yet Niyt intends to carry on. Is that 'okay'? Perhaps it is, because it's been a very long time since everything was truly right with the world. If it ever was. Yet Niyt carries on. At the other question, she shakes her head, avoiding answering the question. Perhaps it's too personal, or perhaps she hasn't untangled it for herself yet. Instead, she lowers her head for another sip of water, then says, "This oasis was where I met Tariro the first time."
Coinin keeps his gaze fixed on Niyt. He isn't sure what happened, and he isn't even really all that sure he wants to know, but he is sure that something odd has happened here. He lowers his head to his paws, but doesn't close his eyes, "I see." he says. He isn't going to ask any more questions or attempt to make sense of this. At least not today. All he is going to do is be here for his friend, and let her deal with things in her own way.
The world changes. This place holds memories for Niyt; connections to how things once were. No longer. She steps back from the water's edge, padding along slowly over the shifting sands back to where a sandblasted-smooth boulder provides some shelter. She settles herself down there comfortably. "What of the others?" she asks - not why did he follow her, but what about the rest of the pack?
Coinin watches her move over toward the boulder and offers a slight shrug as she asks her question. What about them? He is quite sure that they will be fine without him, just as they were fine before he arrived. Besides Tariro is there to keep an eye on things, and even if he weren't things would probably flow smoothly then too. Everyone in the pack can take care of themselves and he doesn't have any big concerns about them, "I'm sure that Lexus will tell them that we are gone. They will be fine." He is glad Lexus was there though, it might have been odd if they had just vanished.
Of course, Niyt was fine before Coinin arrived too. The argument only holds as much weight in one direction as it does in the other. She makes a small hmm and nods, but doesn't otherwise answer that, simply lowering her head as she rests against the boulder. Not important now, but when the sun rises? Ohyeah.
Coinin sighs, he hadn't expected this to be easy, but he wasn't really expecting her to run so far, or go through such an odd experience. But the unexpected is very much a part of hwo things have been going lately. Sometimes its not a question about if someone would be 'fine' or not with, or without someone. Sometimes its a question of simply being there for a friend if they might have need of you. Sometimes things are pretty simple.
Niyt - female wolf
Lexus - male wolf
---Two-River Fork---
Coinin sits in the spot he was seated in last night. The events of the previous evening had given him a great deal to think about. He hadn't expected anything like that to happen to him when he had woken up yesterday. There is a part of him that is very happy about it, elated even. After all what wolf doesn't like to be recognized as having qualities that are useful to the pack...even one that doesn't like to be in the spotlight all that much. The other part of him is rather terrified. After all this isn't simply some honor, but is rather a large responsibility. He has spent the morning thinking of his fellow packmembers and his friends. In some small way he is now responsible for them, and that is a rather large burden. He is thankful though that Tariro is here, he won't have to do anything by himself unless there is an urgent need.
Niyt rests amid the reeds, a spot she came to late last night. She slept; now she is awake, listening to the sounds of the rivers and the earth. After a while, she slowly stands, padding out from the sheltering vegetation toward the bank of the river to lower her head and drink.
Lexus has, as usual, been spending a lot of time hunting and wherever he was last night it wasn't sleeping with the rest of the pack. It's not until the morning that he quietly pads back with a couple of rabbits all to show for the night away. He spots the others quiet easily but his greeting wuff is a little muffled by the food.
Coinin is taken from his own thoughts by the sounds of Niyt and Lexus moving nearby. A smile spreads across his face as turns to see them both. He is pleased to see Lex in particular because he has some information that he wants to give him about the conversation that he had with Rayen. He thought it had gone relatively well but that will likely have to wait because he doesn't want to betray Lexus's confidence to Niyt, even though he knows that Niyt probably already knows because the pair of them are close, "Hi all." he says.
Niyt lifts up her head after the drink, ears flicking in turn at the sound of Lexus and of Coinin. She smiles. "Hello," she replies. "How has this day found you?"
Lexus drops off the rabbits but keeps one for his breakfast before he walks towards the others, going to flop down nearby with the rabbit by his paws "Morning" he greets properly and sniff over his food before answering Niyt's question with a small chuckle "It found me hungry, then it brought me food. Handy really"
Coinin can't really complain at all about the day so far. It seems that most of the slush is gone and spring is really here. Which is certainly an improvement over the winter, "I'm well enough." he says to Niyt, "How about you?" he asks. He hadn't seen her around in a few days. He then briefly turns his attention toward Lex, "Hey Lex...when you get the chance later on we should talk." He says no more for the time being.
Niyt laughs to her uncle, and nods. "So it is." She lowers her forequarters, slowly stretching herself, and then stands up again. Her head tilts at Coinin's question, and she gives a small, fur-shaking shrug. "The day finds me, and here I am." She smiles. "Perhaps there's more of it to be found. Perhaps not."
Lexus pauses with a mouthful of food as his ears perk at Coinin. Oh dear, if that is what he thinks it is then he'll have to stop ignoring the issue again. He gives Niyt a quick glance before looking back to Coinin and nodding slowly "Erm, yes. I imagine we should"
Coinin gives Lexus a smile and a nod and then turns his attention back toward Niyt, "No major plans then for the day huh?" he asks. It might well end up just being one of those quiet days. He would welcome that after the rather busy day that was yesterday.
Niyt tilts her head, considering on Coinin's apparent need to talk to Lexus, and then laughs. "Perhaps I should find some, it seems!"
Lexus grows uncomfortable. He doesn't want to make Niyt go but he wanted to talk to Coinin and at the same time he didn't, it was all very awkward but it wasn't like Niyt didn't already know "It's fine, you don't have to go. It's probably about Rayen"
Coinin glance back and forth from Lexus to Niyt and then back to Lex. Perhaps Niyt already knows, in which case it wouldn't make much differece if they talked about it with her here or not. He just doesn't want to out Lex if he isn't ok with it. Knowing that Niyt can't see he mouths the words, 'Does she know?' slowly and clearly to Lex. Better safe than sorry.
Niyt perks up her ears to Lexus at the mention of Rayen, and smiles. "She seemed nice enough, when I spoke to her."
Lexus simply nods to Coinin's silent question and pretty much forgets about his breakfast. Yes Niyt knows, she's the only other wolf who does but she doesn't yet know how much of an utter coward Lex is being about it all. He smiles faintly at his young niece "I'm glad you approve...Coinin offered to speak to her as well" he glances back to the other wolf, expecting news.
Coinin figured, but its better to be safe than sorry, "Well I talked to her, and she seems to be free of any relationships or anything. She also said that she would like the one who liked her to simply tell her that." She seemed like a rather practical gal in that aspect. And while he had talked to her for a considerable length of time, basically that is all he managed to learn without outing poor Lexus as the one who liked her, "So there you have it."
Niyt nods at her uncle's mention, and then tilts her head to listen to what Coinin has to say about it. At the end, she smiles. "I suppose you should have a talk with her, then..." she says. "Maybe take her for a run first, so she's too tired to race off and will have to listen!"
Lexus raises his eyebrows at Coinin after a few seconds like he's checking there's not more to it. Clearly not, he looks thoughtful. Not having her eye on someone else was at least good "Mm, the talking to her continues to prove the difficult bit" he murmurs back before there's a not of amusement for Niyt's suggestion "She can keep up with me, she may never tire"
Coinin chuckles at Niyt's response, well Rayen certainly does seem to be able to move quite fast, "Well I thought the conversation sounded pretty positive. She didn't get all nervous or anything that someone in the pack might like her...so I think that's a good sign too."
Well, of course she can run. Lexus with a stolid non-racing wolf would never ever work out. It'd just be doomed. That's one more hurdle dealt with! Niyt smiles to her uncle, and nods. Hmmm. "Take her somewhere anyway. It'll be easier when it's just the two of you. Or... heh. Tell her the person who likes her has gotten over his fear and wants to meet her someplace. Ask her to go there for 'him'... then run there yourself by a different route. It'd be all cute and romantic!"
Lexus glances back to Niyt and once more he's thoughtful "I suppose the lack of witnesses if it goes horribly wrong would help" he sighs "I've never gotten the hang of this sort of thing, near eight years of experience and I'd never considered running could end up considered romantic"
Coinin has a great deal of confidence that if this is to work out that it will. Besides there is little more than he can do here. The rest seems to be completely up to Lex, "Lex don't be so down on yourself. You are a really nice guy."
Niyt pads over to Lexus and nuzzles her cheek to his, smiling. "Maybe it'll work out, maybe it won't. But you won't know unless you try."
Lexus accepts the nuzzle happily at least but his appetite is a little lost due to nerves "I know, I know" he takes a deep breath and offers a quick nuzzle back "I'll see what happens next time I run into her"
Coinin gives the pair of them a smile, its nice to see that family matters so much here. The pack seems to be growing in members, but he hopes that as it grows it won't lose the family atmosphere. That would be something of a tragedy.
Niyt nods. "Let me know how it goes," she tells her uncle. She'll be wondering!
"You'll probably be the first to hear of it, though if you hear my skipping around like a pup you can likely jump to conclusions" Lexus responds as his attention shifts back towards the main bulk of the sleeping pack "You just wait until it's your turn" hiiiiiiiint "See how easy it is then"
Niyt smiles. "I'll keep an ear out for any howls of joy," she says. "Or the ones that mean you might need a shoulder." Then she sighs. "Wonderfully easy, when it works. Terrible and heart-wrenching, when it doesn't." Though her situation wasn't quite the same, and yet... oh, she knows the sort of heartbreak love can bring.
Lexus looks a little sorry when she sighs. He knows some heartbreak, it just sort of happened or couldn't depending on the way he looks at it. There was no asking involved though. One of his life's little secrets anyway and he goes to lick her ear "You're young, you'll have that again sometime"
Niyt smiles again a little at the lick. "Maybe," she answers. She's not terribly sure of it - after all, it's taken how many years for her uncle Lexus to find even a chance of something? - but she supposes it's possible.
Lexus prefers not to mention that, though to be fair it also took him that long to find someone who could keep up with him in a race and the two aren't unrelated "Course you will pup and I'll be there to judge him horribly"
Niyt laughs at that. "You and Anoki both," she says, with a fond smile for her uncle and the absent brother.
Coinin hadn't said anything because he didn't want to interrupt the rather cute family moment the pair of them are having, "I'm sure Anoki will have a great deal to say on the matter." he says. In fact Anoki already has said a great deal on the matter. Mostly about him for some reason that he can't even begin to fathom, "Speaking of Anoki where is he?" Coinin had wanted to teach him how to defend himself and how to hunt.
Lexus chuckles back at Niyt before his eyes do a quick search around the sleeping wolves in sight for Coinin's question "I'm sure he's around here somewhere, he'll be getting hungry I imagine"
Niyt tilts her head to Coinin when he speaks, and smiles. "He's off taking care of something, but he'll be back," she answers, through a combination of big-sisterly knowledge, spiritual perceptions, and having heard it for herself.
Coinin gives them both a nod. He isn't overly concerned. In face the fact that the young wolf is willing to go off on his own after all he has been through is something that is rather pleasing for him to hear, "Alright. I'll try to catch him when he comes back."
Lexus raises his eyebrows at Niyt "First I've heard of it" the amount of time he spends out hunting it's hardly surprising that he misses a lot of news though. Finally his attention returns to the rabbit by his paws and he gives it a sniff "So long as he stays safe"
Niyt nods to Coinin, and smiles to Lexus. "I'm sure he'll be careful."
Coinin is sure that Anoki will be most careful, "Do you know where he's gone off to Niyt?" Not that he has any real need to know, but there is a certain curiosity that has entered into his mind about it.
Niyt smiles. "He can tell you when he gets back." Because, well, she remembers being an adol, and that burgeoning urge for privacy. There's something about Doing It Yourself, even if it's not ultimately that important, and so as long as it's not a matter of danger... no, she's not going to tell, because Anoki isn't a pup anymore. No spying!
Coinin chuckles. So thats how it is. Alright well he won't press any further, since its unlikely that he will be successful in convincing her to say. Besides the curiosity he felt wasn't all that deep to begin with, "Well alright then. I will." he says. He gets to his paws and walks a bit closer to the pair of them, "How is Helaku doing?" he asks. He figures Niyt might know since Niyt and Hel are close.
Niyt tilts her head at the question. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since the heavy winter snows, though there have sometimes been traces of his scent." She shrugs her shoulders, and smiles. "I haven't gone looking."
Coinin thinks that to be a rather interesting turn of events, "I spoke with him the other day. He is planning on staying with the pack. I think he is going to ask Tariro to become an official member." He had some part to play in that himself, but still in the end it is up to the other wolf.
"I see," says Niyt, and considers on that for a moment before nodding. "I suppose we'll see what comes of it, then."
Coinin nods and guesses that we will. One way or the other. He has come to rather like the other wolf, even though he feels that he needs a great deal of effort to get to know. His mind shifts again to the previous day. He may as well share the news with his friends. After all these two are his friends, "Something happened the other day." he says. Something indeed, "...Tariro and I talked and he made me the beta of the pack." He isn't trying to brag or anything like that, but he does want to share the news with them, "..I don't think its general knowledge yet, so I'd appreciate it if you guys could keep it to yourselves."
Niyt tilts her head in a listening posture as Coinin begins. Something, is it? Something like... oh. One ear flicks, as he reveals the news, and her face goes still. The first reaction has little enough to do with Coinin's own nature; it is simply that her father was once the beta. If Coinin is to be beta now... that means that Shag is not. Shag no longer has his place in this pack; he is gone, as surely as her mother. The silence from Niyt stretches on for several moments before she takes a deep breath. "Congratulations," she manages to say.
Coinin knew the news would be hard for Niyt to hear. Which is the reason he wanted to tell her himself. He didn't want her to hear it as some big announcement, "Thanks..." he says quietly, but that isn't really what he wants to focus on, "Niyt. I can't replace your father...I told that to Tariro yesterday. I can't replace anyone that is gone. I don't intend to try."
Niyt lifts up her head. "No," she says. "You can't. But Tariro would not have chosen you if he did not think you would make a beta. Being a beta is only a part of my father. It is only a part of you."
Coinin doesn't really feel like being a beta is any part of him at all, at least not yet. It's all so new and while it is exciting, its also scary, "I have faith in Tariro..." perhaps a bit more faith than he has in himself for sure, "..but Niyt..in all honesty I never wanted this. And just because this has happened doesn't mean that your father might not come back." Granted the chance seems small given what Neero had said, but still a chance is a chance.
Niyt's expression goes still again, a careful lack of emotion, and she gives a single nod.
Coinin sighs, he knew this was going to be hard, but part of him wanted it to go easier than its going, "Niyt. I'm sorry." he says, and he means it. There is nothing else that he can really say. He can't undo anything that has happened.
Sometimes, things - even horrible things - take a while to become real. In this case, they just did. Niyt lets out a sigh, and shakes her head. "The times they are changing," she says softly. From talk of romance to reminders of how things end, all in the space of a few words. She lifts up her head, and speaks somewhat more loudly. "The world goes on. So will we."
Coinin can't argue with anything that she has said. Things do change. Sometimes in ways that we expect, and sometimes in ways that are surprising. We have to take the good with the bad, and vice versa. That doesn't make it any easier though, "Yes we will." he says softly. He offers her a gentle smile, "I think we will all need time to get used to change, and it's ok to feel however we feel about it."
"I think," says Niyt slowly, feeling out the words as she says them, "There's something I need to do." She's silent for a few moments, considering on that, then nods as though she's reached her decision. "I'll be back in a few days." With that, she turns, and begins to move away, traveling away to the south at a walk that soon turns to a lope.
Coinin is a bit torn about what to do. She is after all his friend and the thought that he had any part in making her sad does hurt him. This makes him want to follow after her to try to talk through it. The other part of him realizes there is nothing that he can say, and nothing that he can do to help her feel any better about this. Not being able to decide between the two options he sort of half runs and half walks after her, but doesn't really say anything.
Niyt continues to move, at a steady lope of a wolf that has some distance to travel. She doesn't say anything further; neither telling Coinin to stop, if she even notices him, nor showing any signs of stopping and coming back for more of a chat. She's just... going.
Coinin has something of a moment of realization. He could command her to stop and return. That surely was within his power now. It also seemed to be hollow and stupid idea. He doesn't want to control anyone, surely not his friends. That's not his business. He does want to help if he can. He had felt bad about not going with her when she went to rescue the pups and so he resolves to follow after her. He picks up speed though stays some distance behind her. He guesses he is off on something of an adventure. Hopefully Lex will be able to tell everyone where they have gone...or at least in what direction, and why.
---Trickling River---
Along runs Niyt, through the familiar reeds and trees of this region. For all her lack of sight, her paws are sure on the ground, and she moves with grace and ease. Nothing stops her; not the trees and boulders, not the swampy wet places, not Coinin's unspoken words. Just her, and the wind in her fur, regardless of the other wolf trailing behind. She runs until she reaches the river, and she splashes into it, swimming to the opposite shore as the current pushes her along and makes her path a diagonal one. On the other side, she shakes the wetness out of her fur - and then keeps running.
Coinin isn't one to give up easily once he has set his mind to a task. Being beta he feels is being at the service of the others in the pack. To ensure their safety, and to help them with their problems if he is able to. He doesn't view this as running off, rather he views it as something of a test. He too races along the river, and then swiftly swims through it, following after Niyt.
---Wind-blown Lowlands---
On the other side of the river, the reeds and trees give way to tall grasses. Niyt keeps running as she reaches the prairie, stirring the grass with her passage like the wind does above her. It ruffles through her fur, a breeze that grows stronger as the wolf continues on at the untiring, ground-devouring pace of her kind, moving like a small stormcloud caught on that very wind.
Coinin isn't deterred by the pace. He has set his mind to this and will not change it. He will follow wherever she leads. He isn't going to let her wander off and be alone when she is in pain. That isn't what a friend does. At the present moment he is probably about 10 wolf lengths behind her. Even if he were to lose her he would be able to follow her scent trail.
---Sweeping Steppe---
Wandering implies rather more randomness than Niyt's journey; she carries on, her course nearly straight ahead even when she has to veer for the rocks and gullies as the land grows uneven. She knows where she's going, and so she travels onward, letting mile after mile vanish underneath her paws as the hours do the same and the sun moves in the sky. She's not unaware of Coinin's presence behind her, and yet she seeks to put it from her mind. She closes her eyes as she runs along, through the rolling prairie and then to where the lands gets rougher, the waving grass sparser. The air is getting drier as she travels, the scents on the air sharper.
Coinin is growing tired, but he isn't going to call out for her to stop, and neither is he going to stop to rest. He too rushes along the ground. He isn't necessarily built for running like Niyt and her uncle, but he has a mission before him and he won't let his weariness deter him. He has talked to her enough about where she was from to at least have a guess about where she was headed.
The wind above gives Niyt strength to run; the sand beneath her feet does the same, burning from the sun's heat beating down on it through the day. Evening is approaching now, but the desert is still hot; for that is where she is running, where sands are swept along by the wind, where the small lizards scuttle behind rocks and strange birds stare down from cacti. The rough lands of scrub and steppe give way to that, to the sweeping desert lit by the setting sun, colors of of orange flame and purple haze. Still she runs.
Coinin pants as he runs behind her, wow can Niyt run. It must be a trait that runs in the family. The last thing he wants to do right now is keep running. His legs are burning from all the running and he would very much like to find some water and rest for awhile, but all of that is at this present moment dependent on Niyt and her stopping. He isn't going to call our to her and ask her to slow down or stop. If she needs to run, let her run.
---Storyteller's Butte---
Niyt doesn't stop. She runs through the desert, as the day's sun slowly sinks below the horizon. Around her are the stirs of the creatures of these barren lands, emerging as the heat begins to fade. The mice, the small foxes; the desert comes alive at night, and night is coming. Darkness is coming. It makes no difference to Niyt. Her feet can find the way as easily amidst the black of night as during the light of day. She runs on, and she comes to a place where a great spire of stone rises up to the sky, shining red in the final light of a falling sun. It is there that Niyt stops. She lifts her muzzle to the darkness, to the final crescent of the sun giving way to night, she breathes in - and she howls.
Coinin is about ready to collapse by the time that she finally stops. By that point he is now something more like 20 wolf lengths away from her, so he had lost sight of her. He hears her first before he sees her. When she finally comes into sight he lowers himself down and lays down to rest. He still says nothing, but just listens to her howl. He has a guess that this place has some special significance to her.
Niyt howls, and the sound fills the desert. Niyt howls, and the wind swirls around her, picking up her voice and echoing it. The wind howls, and the sound fills the desert. The wind howls, and it spins around Niyt, picking up dust and sand to hide her from sight as the darkness falls; and to those who can see, there are faces in that swirl, and to those who can hear, there are voices, picking up her howl and carrying it, adding their own to it. They speak with tongues not those of wolves or of any mortal creature, and Niyt breathes in again and howls out, her voice growing eerie like theirs.
Coinin doesn't really have ears to hear such things or eyes to see such things. The only thing he hears are Niyts howls. He knows she is howling becuase she is sad. Sometimes you have to just let things out to feel better. There is nothing wrong with that. Besides. At this point there is little that he can do to add to anything being rather exhausted himself.
Niyt's howl grows strange even to physical ears, the cadences unfamiliar ones, the rhythms chaotic. Glossolalia of a wolf, as words seem to emerge and yet fall apart before they quite resolve, syllables and phrases like babbling. The wind swirls around her, the desert sands blowing around to hide her from sight even even as the growing darkness makes that veiling unneeded. The sun sets, and there is silence.
Coinin is put off by the strange sounds. He doesn't know why Niyt is howling in this fashion. Though one in grief can certainly do odd things, and Niyt has never been exactly normal in the sense of everyone else that he has met, "Niyt?" he calls out. Ok he is going to be the one that finally breaks the silence. He calls out partly to let her know he is there, though she likely knew that already. But also to offer her the invitation to talk if she wants to take him up on it.
There is silence from Niyt. The wind dies down, and the desert is still. Then an insect chirps, and a bird calls, and soon the noises of the desert start up again, all seeming perfectly natural and calm. Yet still, Niyt says nothing. She sits there, her posture erect, her body still save for the slow rise and fall of her chest as she breathes. She says nothing. Her eyes are closed. She doesn't even respond to the sound of Coinin's voice.
Coinin can still smell her there, so he knows that she hasn't run off. Ok. If it is silence she needs. Then silence is something that he can give her. He lowers his head to his paws and rests. The road was long and through unfamiliar territory. At least some of it was unfamiliar. Some of it he had passed through when he made his way up from the south those many months ago.
Time stretches on, but Niyt does not respond. The sun is gone; in time, the moon begins to rise. Niyt does not respond, for Niyt is not here. Her body is, yes; sitting there on the sands. Niyt has gone, to that place where the wind blows from; to that place where the full moon that rises tonight shines down on the paths, where the silvery fog surrounds everything. Her body remains here, breathing slow and shallow, and her spirit wanders. There are dangers to this; but who can help her? She is alone in spirit, though Coinin is physically near her. Niyt's spirit wanders the silver paths, the fog upon the wind in that place where motion is as much a matter of changing the world as anything. Still her body sits there, for she is not done yet.
What can Coinin do but sit? Not much. He will certainly keep watch over her to make sure that nothing disturbs her, but beyond that there is little that he can do. He can't even rightly guess what she is doing. Though he is most certain to ask her about it later. They, after all, have their separate beliefs about the nature of things anyway.
You can find anything on the paths of the moon, in the place the wind comes from. Anything.
Everything has a price.
Niyt travels those paths, and she sees all the things that might be; that could have been. She has had pain, yes. The pain could go away. It could never have been. Voices whisper, and beneath those moonlit pools there are things that might be shadowy figures or might merely be reflections of another self. It's easy enough to find out. Just lean in, and see.
Niyt doesn't lean in. She keeps in motion, until she comees to a place where the fog has cleared; where there are stars, scattered through the sky and reaching down, until the entire world is surrounded by stars and she stands at a point in space as they twinkle around her in the blackness of nothing. In that place, she speaks; but her words are taken by the blackness between the stars, and they do not escape it.
For a time - an interminable, unknowable time - Niyt speaks to the darkness and the stars around it. The sky is eternal, and yet; for after she has spoken for a time, a single star leaves the heavens, slowly falling down from its place toward Niyt. It drifts to her, and then it touches her forehead and burns there brightly. A moment; and then the star turns to a withered thing, a dried seed-pod, and it flutters down to rest atop her muzzle.
Niyt turns from the darkness, then. She keeps that ashen star-husk balanced on her nose as she walks out from the starry night, traveling once more along the moonlit paths of nowhere. Her journey takes a different course now; she is climbing, moving ever upward along an indeterminant thing, a spire of reddish stone whose walls are nearly vertical - and yet she climbs them, walking up until she stands at the top of that pinnacle. There she stands for a long moment, the husk of a single star balanced on her muzzle.
Niyt jumps. She steps off the edge of that cliff, closing her eyes as she tumbles through the air. The withered star falls with her, tumbling down together as the motion of her falling ruffles her fur like the mightiest of winds. She falls down from a great height, toward the hard ground below.
Niyt opens her eyes.
Coinin has been waiting through all of this. Of course none of it made any sense to him, nor did he see the things she 'saw' or anything of the kind. All he saw was her sitting there motionless, apparently lost in thought. He also doesn't notice that she has opened her eyes, but if she wishes he is most definitely still awake. After all he wasn't going to just let her sit there.
In her body again, Niyt has been sitting for a very long time after having run quite intensely. She slowly stretches and then stands up, hearing the complaints of her body, the stiff muscles and worn flesh, her hunger and thirst. For a start, she continues to stretch with slow, careful motions, paws scuffing at the sand as she moves.
Coinin lifts his head when he hears her moving about. Considering all the running they had both done today stretching is probably a good idea to make sure that the muscles don't cramp up, "Niyt?" he asks. He has many questions of course, but lets start at the most basic, "Are you ok?" he asks. This was the question he had wanted to ask her after she started running but had never had the chance.
---Isolated Oasis---
"Come with me," says Niyt. Not that Coinin hasn't done that already, of his own accord, for quite some distance. "There's an oasis nearby. We can drink." She, at least, has a powerful thirst, enough so that her voice has a faint edge of hoarseness. Not surprising, but taking care of it is another good idea. Niyt pads off at a slow, leisurely pace, heading south to where the desert holds an oasis, the rich smell of water and the plant life surrounding it rising up into the night as the moonlight reflects off the water.
Coinin does as he is told, at this point what else can he do? In for a penny in for a pound. This is most Niyt's adventure and he is just sort of along for the ride. He raises himself to his paws slowly. His paws hurt, and the pads of his feet are worn and cracked. He walks haltingly after her toward the oasis. He is most definitely pleased to see the water. He had hoped there was some nearby, but it was by no means a sure thing in the desert. He lowers his muzzle to the water and drinks for a good long moment before raising his head again to watch her, "Niyt are you ok?" he asks again.
Niyt drinks herself, letting the water soothe her throat after the dryness of the desert and the long journey. A few drops drip from her muzzle back into the pool, and she's quiet for a few moments after Coinin's question. Okay. What does that even mean? Is she? Is anyone? The word sounds almost meaningless, or like an echo twisted by canyon walls into random sounds. Still. He's waiting for an answer. She closes her eyes, remembering the starry sky, the darkness with its points of light. Is she okay? "I will be."
Coinin means it in the conventional sense of are you physically and emotionally alright, but as with most things about today you have to take that with a grain of salt it seems, "Ok. Good." he says. At the moment he is unsure about pretty much everything. He doesn't regret coming along, but he doesn't know exactly what he is supposed to do here. He lowers himself back to the ground and lays by the water watching her, "What happened?"
All is not right. The status is not quo. And yet Niyt intends to carry on. Is that 'okay'? Perhaps it is, because it's been a very long time since everything was truly right with the world. If it ever was. Yet Niyt carries on. At the other question, she shakes her head, avoiding answering the question. Perhaps it's too personal, or perhaps she hasn't untangled it for herself yet. Instead, she lowers her head for another sip of water, then says, "This oasis was where I met Tariro the first time."
Coinin keeps his gaze fixed on Niyt. He isn't sure what happened, and he isn't even really all that sure he wants to know, but he is sure that something odd has happened here. He lowers his head to his paws, but doesn't close his eyes, "I see." he says. He isn't going to ask any more questions or attempt to make sense of this. At least not today. All he is going to do is be here for his friend, and let her deal with things in her own way.
The world changes. This place holds memories for Niyt; connections to how things once were. No longer. She steps back from the water's edge, padding along slowly over the shifting sands back to where a sandblasted-smooth boulder provides some shelter. She settles herself down there comfortably. "What of the others?" she asks - not why did he follow her, but what about the rest of the pack?
Coinin watches her move over toward the boulder and offers a slight shrug as she asks her question. What about them? He is quite sure that they will be fine without him, just as they were fine before he arrived. Besides Tariro is there to keep an eye on things, and even if he weren't things would probably flow smoothly then too. Everyone in the pack can take care of themselves and he doesn't have any big concerns about them, "I'm sure that Lexus will tell them that we are gone. They will be fine." He is glad Lexus was there though, it might have been odd if they had just vanished.
Of course, Niyt was fine before Coinin arrived too. The argument only holds as much weight in one direction as it does in the other. She makes a small hmm and nods, but doesn't otherwise answer that, simply lowering her head as she rests against the boulder. Not important now, but when the sun rises? Ohyeah.
Coinin sighs, he hadn't expected this to be easy, but he wasn't really expecting her to run so far, or go through such an odd experience. But the unexpected is very much a part of hwo things have been going lately. Sometimes its not a question about if someone would be 'fine' or not with, or without someone. Sometimes its a question of simply being there for a friend if they might have need of you. Sometimes things are pretty simple.