[Skylar]

speech ♚ thoughts

A bird landed within the grass of Gemini, chirping and tilting it's head at the yearling.

Skylar tilted his head back, light blue eyes glimmering gently at the bird. "Hi!" he barked back, tail wagging behind him as he smiled. Most small critters knew of the boy's gentle nature by now, so the bird was not scared off. Instead it hopped in front of him, singing happily to him. He giggled, enjoying the music. Sometimes he tried to sing along, but found he preferred listening to the birds instead. Lifting a paw, he scratched at the ground, kicking up small bugs that the bird liked to peck at and eat. Chirping happily, it began to feast as Skylar watched on, taking on the role of protector for the moment.

The boy had grown over the last few months. He had gone on many adventures, mainly with his sister, and had also witnessed a lot of changes within Gemini. Naturally he missed his father still, and had not seen his mother Lev lately. He worried over his family, but right now he was hiding it behind the smile he now gave the little bird. "I hope you have a wonderful day~" he told the bird, and it gave a small chirp before flying away. Skylar watched it fly away, realizing a feather floated back to him. Gently catching it in his jaws, he dropped it on his front paws to look at it. It was a pretty feather, gray in color with a thin blue line along the middle.

"Hm."

His ears perked, listening to the sounds around him. Gemini was living its life around him, and he enjoyed it all. The breeze kicked up and ruffled his fur as he plopped onto his back. Like when he was younger, he curled up his paws to his chest and looked up at the sky, tail swaying below him against the grass. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and closed his eyes. Skylar found he could connect to the world when he did that. Be free. Be alone. And yet perhaps not be alone. That was up to the fates.

[Gaven]

“Pray tell, what do young wolves dream about?”

The Starreaver’s voice was low and soft, it’s rhythm matching that of the grass swaying around his feet. He seemed to naturally belong in this moment just as much as the birds and the breeze; Gemini claimed him. Leaning on the pole of his spear, many-eyed mask perched on the back of his skull, he looked down at the yearling with the relaxed tiredness of someone also in desperate need of a breather. There was too much to prepare before winter and even more he needed to catch up on since his sudden departure. A lazy moment was a blessing.

He drove the spear head-down into the earth and propped his mask on the butt before collapsing in the grass next to his newfound friend, regardless of whether the company was wanted. Thick clouds lazily rolled by and Gaven could see the appeal of resting here. He rested on his back with his arms crossed under his head in a makeshift pillow and watched the sky. The breeze was kind here.

“I never got to ask Kariya,” and he never would. “Maybe you can tell me. Ahh, but it is nice to breathe, isn’t it? It’s the little things like this that go missed in busy lives. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I’ll allow you to ignore me, just this once.”

[Rook]

It’s not like she particularly cared about kids, or watching them goof around, but since her … “recruitment” … Rook felt it necessary to at least acquaint herself with Gemini’s residents. She might be here a while – she glanced a pained look at her hurt leg – so she supposed she needed to learn to cohabitate.

So when she saw Skylar prancing around, chirping like the very bird he introduced himself to – she grinned, then, wondering if the little boy would appreciate her name – she stood still within the shadows, smile tugging at lips, giving herself away to such a gentle, innocent display that life isn’t all sabers-eating-people’s-legs and red, red blood.

Until, of course, someone very much not on four legs appeared.

She froze. What the fuck, was she seriously about to witness a young life snuffed right before her eyes, right after all that soppy Disney bullshit a few minutes ago? Fate was cruel, too cruel, but fate could always be diverted. Always.

Even as the human laid himself beside the puppy and the puppy wasn’t screaming and running away (god, Rook made a mental note to find this kid’s parents later and chew their ears off, both figuratively and literally), Rook was not fooled. Kids were naïve, and they think humans are cute with their thumbs and bipedalism, and they ask their mom if they can keep one, and then the next thing you know they’re being worn as fancy fur coats and roasted over spitfires.

“Back off!” She would snarl, the hairs around her neck flaring out, claws gripping the ground as she tried not to shit herself at the same time. She’d never been up against a human before, but it’d be a cold day in hell before she’d let a pup take a hit instead of her.

“Kid, hey, boy, towards me. Now. Slowly. Don’t be scared. I’m here to get you out. Keep both eyes on the human and walk towards me.”

[Lev Malakh]

“You’re mighty hard to ignore.” she teased, walking up from behind Gaven, her golden eyes peering at the frightened wolf who seemed to beckon Skylar away from the strange human creature. Yes, Lev might’ve also been wary or aggressive with her son next to such a weird being, but Gaven had aided Gemini. Lev Malakh remembers him when they moved from the marshlands to the ocean, journeying to get away from Saboro as the smoke burned their lungs. He carried the seeds of the Grandfather tree, an old entity she knew nothing of.

But he was no foe, he knew that. The wall protected them and the rangers knew what to look for. The Valkyr sat beside the elf and glanced to her son who was now growing into his skin. They all were, and she was proud of them. She was sure Tauro was proud of them.

“I’m sure you don’t know me well, but I’ve seen you before. When we tried to escape Saboro. When we journeyed out to this place and things were new.” So very new and she wished she spent more time with Tauro. Time was irrational, a figment of their imagination for it didn’t exist, but they walked through the tunnel of fate in which led them to the future. A future both grave and beautiful. Lev Malakh wished she had told him that she loved him, and maybe she did at some point but didn’t remember. She didn’t say it enough, but she was thankful to have their children with her.

The Valkyr would look to Rook again if she was still cautious, not believing Gaven wasn’t a horrible monstrosity. “He’s a member of Gemini.” she said, moving to sit by her son now. “Not sure if he’s ever met Tauro’s son.” Lev placed a paw on Skylar’s head and ruffled his fur.

✦ ✦ Speech Text ✦ ✦

[Arkana]

[ oo man I had intentions to toss Archer in here if you don't mind another moons!! if not I can try to snag another one ]

[Moons]

((Toss Archer in, Ark!! I can always reply afterwards c: ))

[Skylar]

speech ♚ thoughts

((I'm gonna reply now to keep this moving, but feel free to enter with Archer, Ark!!))

Skylar heard a voice appear near him and he tilted his head, finding himself looking up at the newcomer. This wasn't your typical wolf. His eyes blinked, then widened curiously at the stick the two-legged embedded in the ground before sitting next to Skylar. Then he laid on his back and watched the sky above them both, while the yearling looked at him. "I never got to ask Kariya. Maybe you can tell me. Ahh, but it is nice to breathe, isn't it? It's the little things like this that go missed in busy lives. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I'll allow you to ignore me, just this once." And he spoke their language! Interesting... but before his mind could think of anything else--

"Hi!" Skylar greeted, welcoming in his tone. Always polite like his Momma taught him. But then he was interrupted by another entering the scene with hackles raised, which only made his own rise in alarm as well. "Back off!" Skylar whirled to his paws and watched the female that was looking at the human as if they were a threat. Were they..? Skylar didn't see anything wrong with this picture.

What did he know, though?

"Kid, hey, boy, towards me. Now. Slowly. Don’t be scared. I’m here to get you out. Keep both eyes on the human and walk towards me." For a moment the boy froze, unsure. He didn't have to make a choice, though, for his mom walked in. "You're mighty hard to ignore." The calm face of Lev Malakh walked in, and Skylar immediately relaxed. "Hi Momma!" he greeted, tail wagging now as his hackles lowered once more. Now he walked, but it was calmly towards his mother so he could sit near her and offer her a kiss to the cheek in affection. "He's a member of Gemini." Well that made sense.

"Nice to meetcha, sir!" he said to the human, tail wagging. "And to meet you, ma'am! My name is Skylar." He chuckled softly at his mom ruffling his fur, not minding the affectionate gesture. Then he remembered the human's words and looked to him once more. "What didja want me to tell you, sir?" Along the way, something clicked in his mind. "Oh, and you're a human, right? Grandma told me about them, Momma," he added to Lev, turning his bright blue gaze to her, happy to share this information.

[Gaven]

The youth was unaffected by Gaven’s strange appearance and Gaven was pleased; pups were so cute and innocent! It was unfortunate to him they couldn’t all be like that, but he supposed small adorable things often struggled to survive in the merciless wilds. He tilted his head to smile at the kid as he greeted him but before he could respond he heard something significantly less cute and innocent snarling at him. He quickly flipped to his stomach the same second the young wolf did, hands bracing against the ground, ready to push himself up. The wolf could easily get to him before he would be able to get to his feet and he felt immensely vulnerable in that moment in which he was left to consider his pounding heart. How wonderful! First week home and already his packmates were trying to get him killed!

“Kid, hey, boy, towards me. Now. Slowly. Don’t be scared. I’m here to get you out. Keep both eyes on the human and walk towards me.”

“Huuuuman,” Gaven hissed in response, eyes narrowed at the red-furred stranger. “I think you’re mistaken.”

Gaven mentally prepared for things to rocket out of control from there, because if Gemini was nothing else it had a knack for violent drama. It seemed he was saved from that horror as someone else neatly inserted themselves on the scene and deescalated the situation…or so it seemed.

“You’re mighty hard to ignore.”

“And who would want to?” Gaven boomed, jumping to his knees before the first she-wolf got any funny ideas about ripping his throat out while he was helpless on the ground. “If I didn’t know any better I would say the gentlefolk of Gemini simply adore me.”

He offered a cheeky gesture at the blue-eyed wolf with her hackles raised, clearly ready to kill him.

“I’m sure you don’t know me well, but I’ve seen you before. When we tried to escape Saboro. When we journeyed out to this place and things were new.”

“I’m aware how hard I am to forget, but feel free to continue flattering me, you’ll only earn my favor,” he pulled himself to his feet and offered a wink. “You must be related to Kol Nidre. You’ve the same eyes, spun from gold, how lovely. How shall I call you?”

By then the pup had padded up to kiss and snuggle up to the one who was clearly his mother and Gaven’s congenial attitude faded slightly. How much had he missed? Apparently, a lot, for the next thing the mother wolf told him was the pup was Tauro’s son. Gaven openly frowned a bit in confusion over his sense of lost time. The last he remembered Tauro was only a child.

“Oh…I did not know Tauro had a son…er, children. I have a lot to catch up on, it seems,” He fixed his face back into a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Skylar. I am Gaven, the Starreaver, and Lorekeeper of Gemini. I was going to ask you what you dreamed abo—”

There was that word again. Human. Gaven immediately dipped low and made a hushing sound at the boy.

“Shh, shh! We don’t say the ‘human’ word here,” Gaven told him calmly. “I’m an elf. I understand the confusion. Wolves and dogs also look very similar to me. Did you hear that, Red? No humans here! You can now stop fearing me and immediately come to see how sweet and harmless I am!”

[Razi]

「R a z i 」

I took my fill of the lands as I continued to explore what I could.  I surveyed and analyzed every inch of the land I could reach.  This place was amazing and beyond any words I could ever muster up in that thick skull of mine.  This place was darkness and this place was light.  It had a healthy doze of each to balance each other out.  It was stunning and absolutely beautiful.  A grin slipped along my muzzle.  I was harboring such beautiful thoughts.  It was so unlike me.  I was normally festering on murderous thoughts.  Thinking about all the blood and chaos I could cause; but not today.  Today I was feeling chipper and all that goody mush stuff.  Whatever those little bunnies call it.

But we like the blooding..it's so delicious and..  Really?  I grunted, twisting my head slightly to the side.  "Yea, yea, you like the blood and the guts and all that good shit.  I know, I fucking know.  Jesus,"  I grumbled under my breath as I turned my gaze, frozen in stride as I looked around.  it never failed to amaze me that they would tell me how much they loved the bloodshed.  It had always been like that when I was younger, but they were quieter then.  Yet, I suppose if I had listened to them less, my life might have gone down a different road.  I mean if you don't feed into the things bumping into your head they eventually go away right?  It's like feeding strays.  If you keep feeding them, they keep coming back.  So, if you stop feeding them, they eventually go away.  It was that easy, right?  Wrong.

Maybe if my stupid vain mother would have spent more time trying to understand me instead of pushing me over the edge.  Then maybe my life would have been a hell of a lot different.  Though, as such, that was not the case and my life is as it is now.  I was a big red wolf with murderous thoughts always running through her head.  It used to bother me, but not as much now.  I mean when you live your whole life being shunned just because you're different...well it changes a girl.  I do not give in too much into the murderous urges, well not as much as I used too.  Despite the urging of those things rummaging in my head, I was still sane.  I wanted to stay and in order for me to stay, I had to give up listening to the demons inside my head.

They were still tempting, though.

I turned my head slightly as I shoved my ears forward.  I heard voices not too far up ahead, scents mingling in the wind as they made their way towards my nostrils.  I shifted my weight and pushed my red ass towards the direction of where I heard the voices coming from.  I halted abruptly to a stop as soon as they were within eyesight.  The wolves I could handle, but the other creature converging them was another story.  I was not frighten of this strange creature.  More like I was intrigued and very interested to learn what the hell he was.  He looked, human, but he clearly stated he was not.  Of course now that I actually looked at him, I realized he was in fact not human.  Humans did not have pointed ears like a wolf's.  Was he a wolf that somehow learned to walk on two legs?  He clearly could understand us.

He was an elf?  What the hell was an elf?  He looks delicious, we should eat him..  I rolled my eyes, "There will be no eating of this thing allowed,"  I muttered lowly under my breath before stepping into the fray.  I had to know what he was, what he actually was.  I turned my eyes towards the others, emerald eyes studying each and every one of them.  When I registered that they did not seem a threat, I turned my gaze towards the elf and the pup that was so enthusiastic to meet this strange creature.  "Pardon the intrusion, my name is Razi, and I have to know," I paused briefly, "What exactly is an elf?"

ooc: An elf lol how interesting ^.^ I had to shove Razi into this.

[LK]

I'd be up for continuing this if we retcon Skylar if y'all want... I want Rook to continue screaming at Gaven as is her god-given right

[Razi]

((Would it be easy to do that? I mean I suppose so since everyone is gaunting at Gaven lawls I am fine either way))

[LK]

@Gothy What's your onion on this

And yeah Razi I think it should be fine, we can just say Skylar got BORED of all these dumb grown-ups and just walked away lol

[Gothy]

((skylar is gonna be completely retconned so if you guys want just replace him with Maia who decided to run off))