Something was wrong with the night...

The night was red.

In fact, this had been such a strange night that even the dire wolf found himself stirred awake and staring up at the large, typically pale orb in the sky with wonderment and confusion. Montauk had never before heard of such a thing as a blood red moon, but the entirety of it had intrigued him so much that he set off to find the nearest bird in the hopes that he would be able to pick its brain about just what was happening. He knew of many a lore that included blood moons in rituals, or in bad omens, but it was something he had honestly not believed until he found himself witnessing it for his own self. What Montauk hadn't expected to find, was another wolf staring up at the sky. The dire's ears perked as he watched the other begin to unconsciously fold in on himself at the sight of it. Interesting.

"Hello, friend," came the low baritone of the male's voice as he approached from behind, gaze holding the back of Akutan's head before returning it to the sky above them, "this is an odd night, isn't it? How strange, that we find ourselves in the midst of such an occasion."


He wasn't sure of protocol when meeting others- usually they found him and started conversations. Yet the dire couldn't help but fall to his rump next to the stranger, eyes plastered to the sky. As silence fell between the two of them, Montauk couldn't help but smirk as he swung his head towards the other male.

"Fate is a marvelous thin--" he began, pausing only to notice the other crying. Why was he crying? Was the sight of this moon that much for this other fellow? Or was it something more...deeply personal.

The dire watched as the other lifted a paw to his own face to wipe away the tears. The boy couldn't help but squint a little at it, his own brain churning quickly in his head as he tried to make heads or tails of the situation. Perhaps this one was missing home? Perhaps he was so in awe by the moon that it brought him to tears. Montauk didn't know, but either way, it was all a very curious sight indeed.

"I see something ails you, friend?" he finally spoke after a moment. The dire shifted on his rump, head swinging from Akutan's gaze to the moon and back. There was a small sense of puzzlement about him but the dire thought better to ask questions or to pry in detail. Instead, he'd offer another solution.

"I don't know what it is that plagues your heart so," he rumbled, offering the other male a gentle look, "but perhaps fate is true enough to bring those together who need it. I am in search for the truth- as I am sure you are as well. You needn't speak; your demeanor spells most of it out. You are searching for something, no?" He quirked a brow at the other. This stranger intended not to speak, but there were surely other forms of communication.

"I'm sure if you were searching, you would nod in agreement, no?" he chuckled.

Montauk just watched in silence as the wold next to him nodded in agreement to what he had to say. The dire's eyes narrowed slightly as he too nodded in silence. It seemed as though they were both looking for something- perhaps entirely different, but they were set upon the same path never the less.

Yet as the dire swung his head once more to speak, the drawings caught his eye. Gaze fell to the other wolf as he drew in the dirt- figures both large and small. Montauk's ears perked and his head tilted as he watched Akutan look sullenly from the drawings to the moon and then back to the ground. Whatever this was, there was a meaning for it. Something that involved these figures perhaps?

The boy didn't know, yet as he settled in to watch the moon begin to fade further in to darkness, he couldn't help but feel a calmness in the air. It was as if the whole world had gone silent in that moment to watch the sky turn a blood red.

"Perhaps," he began after allowing the silence to grow between them, "perhaps this is a new beginning. For all of us. A time to let go of whatever we once thought to be truth and to move on." At this, he chuckled and shook his head.

"Allow me to elaborate, friend," the dire said with the chuckle still tingling on his lips, "I used to believe that birds held a secret language. Something that needed to be learned- sought after and taught. I believed that I...would find that in them if I pushed hard enough. But in the end, it took a crow to show me the ways in which I was wrong." Again, Montauk shook his head though this time he sighed.

"I did not trust a crow until that day, when he lead me to the understandings that I now know." He huffed and his ears fell atop his head. He had been a fool once, and perhaps this would be enough of a comfort for his new friend to seek a new truth, as he did shortly after meeting his crow friend.

"But I moved on from my one track mind- I opened myself up a bit to this creature I detested. And he showed me a whole new world. I suppose what I'm saying is, perhaps this moon is giving us the gift of rebirth. Starting anew. Finding new paths to walk down in the hopes that we reach our end goal with a new found purpose in life."

The dire's head swung to look at his new friend, a tiny smirk playing on his lips.

"Would that not be wonderful?"

The moon shifted in the sky as it grew only redder and redder until it was fully engulfed. Montauk's tail thumped gently on the ground, his head only swinging to watch as his silent friend rose and began to bolt- only to stop in place and sit back down once more, defeated. The dire's ears perked as he watched, slowly rising to his feet only after the moon began to sprinkle a sliver of it's pale light once more on the earth below. He'd allow the stranger a moment to grieve under the blood red sky, but only as it passed did he approach and look down at the other wolf.

"Breathe," he said in a low voice, golden eyes watching carefully, "you are here. Look up at the sky," Montauk mused, his own head tilting up as the sliver began to steadily grow, his own smile widening as he watched the night sky, "the moon is returning. Everything returns to normal eventually. Whatever it is that plagues you now is gone. Let the darkness that harbors within you, that causes you to grieve so, let it go and behold the fresh face of the moon in all of its glory." He huffed in to the cool air and sat down once more, ears twitching as he settled in again. There was something off about this dark male that left the dire curious to know more. But the other wouldn't speak, so he would do his best to only offer words of condolence in the hopes that the other took them to heart, or at least with a grain of salt and move forward. They were searching for their own paths, true, but that didn't mean there wasn't common ground shared between them.

"You must not blame yourself or others," he said, vaguely hoping he was hitting the mark. He'd noticed a typical depressive behavior amongst pack wolves when they had gone astray- they always put so much weight on things out of everyones control; lest they forget that just like the moon, every tide comes in and goes back out again. Change could be a good thing, could it not?

"The moon is nearly back and full- I believe the birds will soon crow their tales about tonight, just as you and I will one day depart back on our paths and once more cross them in the future." He smirked at the thought of meeting back up with those he'd met along his journey.

"Grieve for what you have lost, friend, but do not let it hold you here in the middle of a field. If fate and truth has led you here then all is as it is supposed to be. It will all pass in time, and you will find your light again to move on stronger; just like the moon."

Slowly, the night began to return to normal as more of the moon began to take back its spot in the night sky. A gentle breeze blew past, and Montauk couldn't help but inhale deeply in to it and exhale loudly with its passing, smiling as he did so. It was as if this night brought a new determination to him that he had since lost with talking to the crow. When he had been told that all birds could understand and speak a common tongue with other creatures, and that they refused to talk to Montauk because of his badgering- the boy couldn't begin to wrap his mind around it. He had obsessed for so long over something so trivial that could have been answered so easily. When he found out, he had spiraled in to an unknowing depression, unsure of where to go with the knowledge that he held. Truly, he was still searching for his own truth, but he had lost his way. He wandered off his chosen path and down a winding road that he did not know. It was a scary time; having lost ones purpose in a matter of moments from one single conversation.

But that didn't matter now. The moon and the night were returning to normal and there was a spark of electricity flowing through his veins as he felt himself reinvigorated by its dark and pale light. He rose to all fours, taking a step forward and admiring the night sky; crickets and other nocturnal bugs slowly leaving their hiding spots and becoming active once more. It was as if the whole world had stopped to view this strange phenomenon and now that it had passed- it was time for life to return to normal. And so it would.

The dire swung his head back to look at his new friend, still unsure of how to address the other, but formalities didn't matter anymore, did they? That wasn't the point in companionship...in friendship... what mattered most was giving all you could. The Truth Montauk sought was out there, somewhere in the void of the universe waiting to be discovered, and he would find it.

"Come," he said in a gentle tone, offering the other male a soft smile in the moonlight, "let us walk and find our truth together. It has been some time since I have been accompanied by another, but I believe an adventure is just the thing we both need." He lifted his head, offering a gentle wag of his tail.

"Let us both clear our minds of things that hold us back. I believe it was fate that has brought us together, friend- and I would like to see our journey through; even if it is just for a short while."