Promise (Audas)

[Nymph]

No matter where she went, Nymph felt a tugging to come back to this place and reminisce. Her first meeting with wolves other than her family. She felt like she expanded her family, filling a hole left by her brother with the sweet Kismet. But there was someone else, Audas. 

The somewhat tragic male won her trust without even meaning to. She felt a strong connection with him, but she was unsure he saw her simply as a shoulder to lean on. But if that was all, she was fine with that. She promised she would help him with whatever he needed, did he know she meant it?

There she was, a little arctic female, fur the color of moonlight and eyes the hue of the forests that surrounded her. A white speck on the map, hardly to be noticed by anyone. She didn't mind, even though she wasn't incredibly fond of being by herself - she was getting used to the solitude.

She curled her thick banner around herself, set it atop her paws and looked down at her reflection in the cold water. She had lost a little weight due to her lack of hunting success, but she wasn't starving. She was resourceful enough to carry through and survive.

She pushed a little pebble into the water and watched the ripples play on top of the glassy surface, distorting her face in an almost humorous way. She wasn't a vain female - she could laugh at her imperfections, even if it wasn't real. She smiled until the ripples smoothed out and the river continued on its course, completely forgetting her disturbance.

The little female looked up and around, seeing if anyone witnessed her silliness. But she saw no one. She shrugged to herself and looked back down. Closing her eyes, she listened to the sound of the water, how peaceful it sounded but she knew it's power was frightful.

Even though some time had passed since she met Audas, she felt drawn to where they met. This place felt......special. It felt good to be here.

Word Count: 361

OOC: I'll be better next post, promise.

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[Audas]

Audas strode at a steady pace towards the river as he crossed the Shydar, his brown form naturally adapting to the changing surface as he approached the forest that lined the edge of the Nytyte River. He felt a weird sensation as he began to make the trip to the river not long ago, almost as if the long tour of Anikira was coming to a true end. It was that very river that he first met Nymph and Kismet on his very first night, and he felt like a journey was ending and a new one about to begin.

Surprisingly, Audas was in a good mood, his meeting with the Beta of Airilla, Huxleyi, could have gone a lot worse, but Audas' change in attitude upon memory of some age old advice from father, Everest, had made for quite a pleasant encounter, and he left with a little more respect for the pack wolf and maybe Airilla as a whole then what he would have normally gathered.

Afterwards, Audas felt an urge to look for Nymph, at least just to talk with her, he knew that he was walking around her home region on the continent, but the question was where? Audas needed to refresh himself anyway and break from the forced upon routine he had recently followed, and decided to return to the river, quietly hoping he would see her on his way there or at the river itself. He had no idea why he wanted to see the little arctic wolf, but he felt like he had to.

Cutting carefully though the thin forest, he prepared to emerge into the open, where the river flowed northwards towards the coast, he noticed a brief glimpse of white on his left, North facing side. Pausing, Audas curiously and cautiously turned and crept forward into a bush, and peered ahead.

Fate had a mysterious personality if it has a living being, if there was such a thing, for much to Audas' surprise, a small, white arctic wolf stood at the edge of the river, green eyes looking at the wolf's reflection from the water.

'Nymph'

Audas' choice had seemingly paid off, either that, or he was incredibly lucky.

He watched Nymph for a minute, who sat in her usual posture with her tail placed atop of her paws, she pushed a pebble into the water, smiling as she watched the ripples move. Audas couldn't help but give his own slight smile as he watched.

Finally, Audas rose to his feet, and stepped into the open, but some distance away to her side as if not to spook the female. With a conscious deep breath, Audas slowly but passively approached. As he did so, he recognised two taller trees standing dominant over the others, they marked this section of the riverbank, it was the place they first met.

Still a decent distance away, Audas finally spoke quietly, but in a friendly manner. "Nymph, it's been a decent amount of time, how are you?".

Word Count: 502
OOC: Excited about this! Reply soon.

[Nymph]

A quiet voice caught the little females attention. At first she didn't react, thinking the voice came from her head because of how soft the words were uttered. It sounded like Audas, the very wolf she was thinking about. It has been some time, hasn't it? The very tip of her tail moved in a gentle up and down manner at the voice, the first words she has heard in quite some time. A lovely sound. 

A moment or two later, she realized that the voice wasn't from within her - it was here, it was around her. Fluffy ears swiveled in an attempt to locate the source. But the voice didn't speak again. Dark green eyes broke their staring contest with her own reflection and looked around. It wasn't long before they focused in the eye-catching colored pelt of Audas. "Audas!" A huge smile graced her features, she stood up and practically bolted to place herself in front of him. "I am doing quite well. How have you been?" She found now that she had actually been worried about him. Most would think she was silly for worrying over him, of course he was obviously equipped to take care of himself especially when compared to herself. Why be concerned over him? She didn't know the answer.

The curious spirit within her made her look down to his shoulder just to see how he fared since the last time they saw each other. It looked good and a wave of relief came over her when she saw that it didn't hinder him.

Every shred of loneliness she was experiencing was gone and replaced by joy at seeing her friend again. "You'll be glad to know I've managed to keep myself out of trouble. What have you been up too?" Hopefully, you've been safe. The energetic snowball of a wolf tried to put thought to words, but she was still so surprised and happy to suddenly see him again that her efforts to act appropriately weren't exactly paying off. She was confident she would improve once her excitement got under control.

Word Count: 345 

            

[Audas]

When Nymph initially didn't respond, Audas began to think he was having an hallucination, just imagining the little femme standing before him rather than actually seeing her, as if he was going mad, thankfully, that feeling wasn't present for long. Suddenly, the arctic wolf's white ears swivelled and the forest coloured eyes soon followed, locking on to larger grey wolf. Nymph's response was one that Audas certainly did not expect, as the female recognised him, gave a enormous smile and closed the remaining distance that quickly Audas nearly tripped up backwards in surprise, a stunned look imprinted on his face as he quickly stabilised himself.

"I am doing quite well. How have you been?" the young female quickly asked, and Audas allowed a small grin in reply, "I have been faring well since returning to the mainland", explained the brown furred male. He felt relieved and pleased to see Nymph, the one wolf here that he could truly trust. He saw Nymph glance at his shoulder-the one that was wounded in a fight- and saw relief cross the little femmes face. It was thanks to Nymph that Audas was able to recover from his injury.

Nymph continued, "You'll be glad to know I've managed to keep myself out of trouble. What have you been up too?"

Audas felt a newfound sense of relief and joy at such words, glad to hear that Nymph was fine. "I am relieved to hear that Nymph.", smiling briefly as he said this. He didn't expect himself to feel so joyous, and he felt a slight warmth within him as he thought of this. "As for myself, I was just getting into a routine to stick with in Canrus." Soon, the grey wolf felt like he had to decide whether to tell Nymph about his meeting with Huxleyi and his bird companion Isna. Making his choice, he decided to speak about it. "Not but a few hours ago I met another wolf, one from the Airilla pack why not." He let out a slight chuckle as he finished his statement, "It seems like Kismet had a good perspective on that pack, perhaps it may be a decent pack after all."

Audas was curious to what Nymph had done after their departure from Ina'mos. Audas simply headed straight back to Canrus, only cutting for a few moments through Shyia for easier access into Canrus via landing on a beach then swimming round to the mouth of the river. "I am curious, what have you done? Did you come straight back to here or have you travelled somewhere else?"

This young conservation had emptied the loneliness from his heart and refilled it with an unknown joy, Audas would like it to stay that way.

Word Count: 457

[Nymph]

The Arctic female listened attentively to Audas' short narrative, grateful that he finally seemed like he was settling into his new found home. Making acquaintances and possibly a newfound friend in whomever this pack member was. She knew about Audas' cautiousness when it came to other wolves, the fact that he even interacted with them was incredible.

When he asked about her experiences, she struggled to come up with anything of substance. "Nothing exciting has really happened. I stayed on the island for awhile to explore a little. I haven't met anyone new, which I guess is both a good and a bad thing. I have stuck to the northern half of Anikira, trying to avoid the dark pack that Kismet told us about. I guess you could say I have had a lot of time to myself to think and learn. Certainly not as ignorant as I was when we first met." She beamed up at him as she finished her speech. She has grown up. There was no longer the ignorant, lost little female that showed up that day, now she knew she was capable of taking care of herself and figuring things out without relying so heavily on the need for companionship to feel safe.

"I have tried to focus on getting better with my hunting skills." Her eyes dimmed a little at the end of her sentence, "It hasn't worked out as well as I hoped." A short pause was broken by a smile, "I have gotten quite good at fishing though."

Thinking back to something Audas said, about a routine. "So, are you settled in with a den and everything?" This news was surprising to the little female, she pictured him as a roving nomad, feeling like he never truly belonged to anyone or anything. This new routine was such a good sign. "What made you choose this area over all the others to start setting a pattern for yourself?" Certainly there are more spectacular areas then this..

Word Count: 333

[Audas]

As the brown furred male finished his tale, Nymph was quick to bring Audas up to speed about what had happened to her since they separated at Ina'mos, the grey wolf listened to the little femme carefully, and upon hearing about the pack, nodded in understanding. Audas had no honest idea about what was behind that packs motives, and during his period of paranoia on Ina'mos he briefly considered that the tundra wolf that injured him there was a member of this pack, but he eventually put his theories aside, to focus on recovery.

"I have tried to focus on getting better with my hunting skills.", Nymph soon explained, her eyes dimming slightly as she soon stated her poor luck at hunting, and Audas quickly became concerned about this, but the smaller arctic wolf's smile followed along with her statement of improved fishing skills, provoking Audas to quietly chuckle in response, "It all just takes practice, and occasionally a little bit of luck, you will get there with the hunting, you will have to show me your fishing though it would be curious to watch."

But soon, Nymph soon caught wind of his mentioning of a routine, and asked about if he had settled down yet, shortly followed by her question about why he chose Canrus over the other regions. Now, it was Audas' turn to struggle with his own answer, one that would not provide much comfort, but one he knew he had to provide.

The brown furred male quietly breathed out and began to explain, "No, not that far. I've mainly been just trying to live, settling down didn't cross my mind.", the male sadly stated, now he turned towards the water and looked at his own reflection shimmering at him, the joy that had briefly filled him was now buried, "Just hunting, moving on, sleeping, moving on, hunting and repeat." he muttered, he didn't know why he was saying this now, he was ruining the moment.

"I just wanted to break out of that routine, even if it was for just a day, so I decided to come down back here. Just for a change."

He spared a look at the white furred female, just for a moment to gauge her reaction, before turning back to the water, should he tell her? The male clamped his eyes closed and gave out an embarrassed sigh, tail flicking as he did so. "I... I was hoping to find you here or on my way here... Just to... Just to talk... or... something..."

Realising that he would likely carry on spluttering like a fool, Audas gave out a sharp breath of annoyance at himself, and turned back to Nymph, an apologetic look imprinted on his face. "Look... I'm sorry, I'm just being ridiculous here.", Audas explained, feeling rather sorry for himself and ashamed at the same time.

"Sorry, I hope you can understand..." Audas trailed off embarrassedly and lowered his head in apology.

Word Count: 493

[Nymph]

She felt a little bashful when Audas stated that he would like to watch her fish, knowing his skill would most likely outshine her efforts. Still, he was sweet enough to encourage her. "I promise to not give up on hunting. I think I'll need more than my fair share of luck, though."

Her smiled dimmed a little as Audas shed more light on his living situation, not exactly what she first thought. Strangely, he looked a little ashamed of himself. She didn't really know why, he was trying.

If a wolf could blush, Nymph was doing so as he mentioned that he came here in hopes of seeing her again. Why? was the only coherent thought in her mind. "You wanted to see me?" Giving vocal evidence to her surprise, the little wolf tilted her head and looked into his brown eyes with interest.

"Please, don't be embarrassed. I have my own confession to make: I was just thinking of you before you got here. I'm here because it's where I met you. I think I understand what you're trying to say, I'm just surprised you wanted to see me." She saw his embarrassment as he spoke. Her heart went out to him but she tried to encourage him with a smile, "You should know me well enough now, that you don't need to apologize to me for telling me what you think. Frankly, I'm glad that you feel comfortable enough to try."

Questions started pouring into her mind, but she managed to keep them from bubbling forth. Instead, she lowered her head to catch his attention, hoping he would look back at her. "Audas?" Her voice was quiet as usual but concerned for her friend. "Audas, why did you want to see me?" She hoped it was something like he just wanted to see a friendly face and not a tragic subject such as: he was still not really finding peace in his life. She knew he struggled with some inner demons, hopefully they stopped tormenting him.

She wanted to do something to comfort him, but since they have never touched before, she wasn't sure how he would handle it coming from her. Instead, she stayed put and tried to convey her comfort with just her face, but who knew how well she was doing at that.

Word Count: 389

OOC: Lovely awkwardness on her part.

[Audas]

Nymph's surprise about his statement was all but obvious to Audas, he was being a fool speaking out like this, but if surprise was infectious, it had decided to infect the grey wolf now. "Please, don't be embarrassed. I have my own confession to make: I was just thinking of you before you got here. I'm here because it's where I met you. I think I understand what you're trying to say, I'm just surprised you wanted to see me."

Audas raised his head slightly, a look of surprise imprinted on his own face, the fact that Nymph was thinking about him rose many questions, what did she think of him? Who did she think he was like before? The answers evaded his questionable mind. Was it coincidence that they were thinking of one another?

The little femme's next words added some degree of comfort to the brown furred male and pulled his thoughts away from so many unanswered questions. As she explained that she was glad that Audas was comfortable enough to try to explain his reasons. 'Comfortable?' Audas pondered, 'I was blabbering like I was still just a child!' The males head lowered slightly in annoyance at himself.

The female's words however soon brought Audas back out of his troubled thoughts. "Audas?", Nymph asked quietly with concern, prompting the male to raise his head to look into Nymph's green eyes, "Audas, why did you want to see me?". The grey wolf wasn't getting out of it now, 'Pull yourself together!', echoed an new voice within him, telling him to go ahead and try and explain his reasons one more time.

One word came to mind, moments before he met Huxleyi he pondered the word and his own feelings because of that words meaning.

Audas gave out a quiet sigh, breathed in deeply, and began to speak, "I was getting lonely..." admitted the brown furred wolf, "I just needed someone to talk too... Someone I can trust...". Audas gave an apologetic look to the female, "You are that someone I can trust Nymph... It's why I told you more about myself than everyone else on this island who has met me combined knows." Audas blinked several times before finishing with, "Trust is a rare, limited commodity that I rarely give out, yet I trust you here more than anyone else... and that is both new and comforting for me."

Audas lowered his head again and closed his eyes, he had spoke all that was needed to answer the question, whatever response Nymph gave now he would understandably accept.

Word Count: 429
OOC: Now it's Audas' turn to be awkward!

[Nymph]

He finally returned her gaze, but she could see the struggle within him. What exactly the struggle was about, she didn't know.

A few silent moments went by and then he finally answered her question.  "I was getting lonely...I just needed someone to talk too... Someone I can trust...You are that someone I can trust Nymph... It's why I told you more about myself than everyone else on this island who has met me combined knows..Trust is a rare, limited commodity that I rarely give out, yet I trust you here more than anyone else... and that is both new and comforting for me."

Now it was her turn to be silent. She was not expecting that kind of answer. She felt elated that he trusted her, but no words were able to be expressed from her. She practically could feel herself glowing with this knowledge and challenged that back to him through bright emerald eyes.

"I don't know what to say, Audas." A whisper-like sound issued from her throat, "I am honored beyond....I never thought that I would hold such favor in your eyes." She was being completely honest with him, she only believed Audas viewed her as just another wolf who happened to be kind enough to help him. Never flattering herself to think anything else. "I'm always here." She knew she probably didn't need to reinforce her promise she made the last time they saw each other, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

The memories he had, the panic-inducing demons within him made it difficult to find serenity. If she could soothe his tension, then she was perfectly happy with that.

"Was there something in particular you wanted to tell me? Or just a general talk?" She couldn't help her inquisitive nature, but Audas seemed to always have a purpose for his actions. Even if it was just to talk about the weather, she would be more than happy to comply.

Word Count: 331

[Audas]

Audas quietly remained seated, head lowered down and his body relaxed and composed, as he waited for the little arctic female's response to his answer, but initially, no reply came forward, and concern and doubt once again found itself drifting through the grey wolf's troubled mind. 'I've been a fool again, I shouldn't have said that...', he thought, annoyed with himself once more.

"I don't know what to say, Audas."

The words came out that quietly it may as well have been a whisper, passed from one wolf to another like a secret, and his ears struggled to pick it up. Soon, Audas was unable to bare looking away from the female any longer and finally rose his head to it's natural position, to find Nymph's green eyes focused on him, and the poor male couldn't help but find his own brown eyes looking into hers.

"I am honored beyond....I never thought that I would hold such favor in your eyes.", explained the little femme, Audas couldn't help but think that she was still trying to comprehend what he just said, he wouldn't be surprised about that. "I'm always here." continued the female, and now Audas was now the one trying to make sense of the words, he had to assume she meant that on a level of trust... or was it something else in it's entirety?

The brown furred male tipped his head slightly in thanks nevertheless. To an extent he was relieved by how Nymph had responded, it could have gone quite easily the other way.

But soon, Nymph asked another question that gave the male some pause, talking about something specific or general? Audas pondered this carefully, he really came for the company in all honesty, he couldn't speak of anything too specific without setting off any potential flashbacks, but he felt like he should be talking more. Nymph knew a very basic detail of his past, she knew things have happened even though she doesn't actually know what happened, and Audas wanted to keep that part of his life private, no one else needed to know about it, not even Nymph. For her sake at least.

"I... I actually don't know... I was really just looking for company..."

Audas paused for a brief moment once more, then rose to his feet, moved closer to the arctic wolf, and sat down next to her, not close enough to touch without leaning. The last time he got this close to Nymph was when he gave his very basic detail about his past back on Ina'mos.

'Well, if I can't think of something, a bit of humour may do... if it even counts as humour...'

Turning towards Nymph and tilting his head, Audas spoke with a humorous edge to his voice, a slightly rough edge, but one nevertheless, "Ssooo... what do you want to talk about?", Audas asked, emphasising the words 'so' and 'you' as he said it the words in a slightly humorous manner.

He just hoped things didn't get too deep into either wolf's privacy.

Word Count: 509

[Nymph]

His long silence confused her. Was I not supposed to say that? A quiet thought raced around and around in her mind as she waited for some response from the big brown male next to her. But he said it was comforting to have someone to trust...

Flooded with feelings of apprehension, she silently waited for something...anything. What she got in return wasn't exactly what she expected either. She noticed the effort from Audas to keep things on a lighter plane. But the only things coming to her mind were subjects she knew he would not want to talk about. However, she would make the effort to follow his lead. She knew he would answer those questions eventually.

A small smile flashed at him, "I don't know where to start. There's so many things I want to know about. I guess you could call it the curse of the curious." A soft, musical laugh flowed from her mouth and spread out around the two lupines.

Large, dark feathered birds flew over head and caught the little females attention. She looked up at them and watched their wings carry them up and out of sight. Looking back down to the male in front of her, she tilted her head once more - an action she noticed that happens often when she asked questions. "Kismet told me that you were talking to the moon when he first saw you. Do you do that a lot? If you do, why?"

She believed these to be innocent questions. Kismet confessed he did such things before, but the idea was foreign to the snowy female. If Audas would be able to enlighten her a little, perhaps the mystery would be solved completely. She just hoped that Audas viewed it as innocent as she meant.

"You know that if you want to know anything about me, I will tell you. It just seems like I ask so much of you......I guess sometimes I feel its just one-sided curiosity." It was only after she finished speaking, she realized what a loaded statement that was. Audas knew little of her beloved brother, she never mentioned much about him other than his name and that they were close. Did Audas figure out the rest? He was smart enough, she wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Word Count: 387

OOC: Did you still want to have Kaine tell Nymph the story? We can start that thread as well if you'd like. Whichever, just let me know.

[Audas]

Audas was glad when the little female smiled back, "I don't know where to start. There's so many things I want to know about. I guess you could call it the curse of the curious.", but the words were not the thing that unearthed his joy again, it was the laugh, not the quiet laugh that came out when he first met Nymph, nor the standard issue stereotypical laugh anyone could pull off. No... this was a far softer laugh that brought the joy back out of the depths and back to the surface... literally...

The brown furred male replied in kind with a far bigger smile than the small, brief one he would normally show, he had no idea why, was it the soft notes of the laugh? Or was it the sound spreading out around them? Or was it...

'No funny ideas mate...'

It didn't reduce the size of the smile though as Audas reluctantly stopped the thought from developing, what did change his expression was the sudden appearance of large birds flying over them, his head curtly snapping round as he watched the distance increase between themselves and the birds. The arctic wolf's voice soon dragged his vision away from the feathered beings and back towards Nymph, now looking back at him, held once more tilted, "Kismet told me that you were talking to the moon when he first saw you. Do you do that a lot? If you do, why?".

Audas narrowed his eyes in thought, he had his reasons for looking at the moon, simple ones, but reasons nevertheless, before he could reply however, Nymph spoke once more, "You know that if you want to know anything about me, I will tell you. It just seems like I ask so much of you......I guess sometimes I feel its just one-sided curiosity.". The grey wolf bowed his head, "I understand Nymph, I will keep it in mind.", he respected the little femme's choice to reveal anything he wanted to know, well... Maybe not everything he reckoned, but still, he had to assume she meant it.

Remembering the question about the moon, he gladly began to explain, "As for the Moon, it's really about prospective.", Audas lifted his head slightly to look upwards, as if looking for clues in the sky, "In North America, there were many different beliefs about the Moon, or just simple ideas just generally. Some believed that the Moon is the bodily soul of a young wolf. Some believed that the Moon is a counterbalance to the Sun and the most zealous worshipped it."

Audas lowered his head to focus on Nymph again, "As for myself and several others, we just see it as a natural formation, something created millennia ago for reasons we don't know, all we know was it just came into being naturally." Shaking his head slightly, Audas continued, "Sorry, I'm going off topic. The reason I look at the Moon is simply because I see it as a constant companion, one that is predictable, you know when it will appear or what phase it would be in when it does appear, but nevertheless one you can't talk to, but you can direct your thoughts to. I normally find myself asking questions at it in my thoughts, even though I know I'm just thinking to myself, but sometimes I come up with an answer."  Audas chuckled, "That was the long answer, the short and simple version is that it helps me think and put my thoughts together."

Tilting his own head back at Nymph, he finished up his detail, "I wouldn't go actually talking to it, and I am certainly no zealot or fan of old tales and myths, but in the end when you are on the road, the moon is something you can use to put your thoughts together, I can only assume it was a similar thing for Kismet when he was in Europe, though there is no guarantees. I suppose you don't normally think about such things? At the end of the day it all depends on your point of view, in my case, it's just something to help with thinking, though to others it may be quite a lot more."

Audas finally took the chance to breath in, he had barely paused to take any form of breath, and he felt a sense of relief that he finished, "My apologies, that must have bored you, I proberly sounded more like some elder than a two year old nomad."

Word Count: 754
OOC: I will have a Kaine meeting thread up soon, so yeah, he will still be telling the whole story, sorry about the huge amount of speech! I guess I got carried away with writing down a proper explanation from Audas' view point.

[Nymph]

The full blown smile Audas returned to her was dazzling. She never saw him smile like that before. It seemed, for a moment, he forgot every horrible memory and was just a happy, easy going wolf. I wonder if he will ever be truly happy again....

His speech about legends or stories about the moon was the longest discourse she ever heard him utter. He let a glimpse of his personal thoughts peek through as he wove his tale to conclusion.

"Boring? Not in the least! I greatly enjoyed hearing about it. You know I have no clue what North America is like, so I can only learn from what you tell me. Even if it isn't about the land in itself but it's legends or beliefs of it's inhabitants." She smiled again as she let the words Audas spoke to her turn about in her mind. "I never given it much thought. But I could see where using it as your constant companion would be comforting if you know no other creature to confess your thoughts to."

"My only thoughts of the Great Moon, are it's beauty. Certainly I enjoy it more than the sun with it's brilliance and revealing nature. The moon is more secretive and peaceful." Her voice become quieter once more. "Nothing can be compared to the beauty of the moon."

She let her thoughts go back to times when her brother and herself want out at night and played in the white glowing light. Philkin always said his little sister seemed to glow along with the light, like she held a special connection with the night's beacon. Of course, Nymph only rolled her eyes at such a statement, imagining Philkin was only teasing her.

Coming back to the present Nymph said, "Never mind about sounding like an Elder. They are not the only wise creatures."

She was interrupted by a loud splash. A silvery blue flash broke the smooth surface of the river and disappeared almost instantly. "Seems like all kinds of creatures are enjoying the day." A random observation spoken to herself aloud, not directly to anyone or anything.

A new scent caught her attention, Rain. It has been sometime since rain fell here. It didn't bother Nymph at all, she rather enjoyed it. She was unable to gauge exactly how fast it was approaching, but looking up at the skies she saw a few darker clouds reaching out towards them. Must be why the birds left..

She didn't know if she should offer to move their conversation to the cover of the trees or not. From what she could tell, it would not be a heavy downpour. So the Arctic female decided to stay put unless Audas mentioned something about it.

Word Count: 458

OOC: Ok sounds good.

[Audas]

Audas couldn't help but express surprise when Nymph told him that she enjoyed his narrative, and felt a sense pride rise up, bringing up another fresh smile from the core of him, he couldn't help but feel far more comfortable in Nymph's presence, it made him feel... more open... emotional... was that why he wanted to find her? Or was it something else entirely?

"My only thoughts of the Great Moon, are it's beauty. Certainly I enjoy it more than the sun with it's brilliance and revealing nature. The moon is more secretive and peaceful." Nymph explained, and soon went slightly more quiet as she continued, "Nothing can be compared to the beauty of the moon."

Audas couldn't help but look upwards, as of course, there was no moon to look at now, but Nymph's words added some new meaning to the Moon. "I have to confess, I haven't actually thought of that.".

Nymph's next words felt close to a compliment, about Elders not being the only wise beings. Before he could reply however, a loud splash interrupted the conversation, 'Seems like the locals are having fun'. As he turned towards the source though, he noticed dark clouds in the distance, lazily moving in their direction. It was going to rain soon, normally, he wouldn't be bothered, but in this case, he didn't want it to trigger anything, or simply spoil the mood.

"Let's move under the cover of one of those evergreens." Audas suggested, motioning towards the two dominant trees, "One, we likely don't want to get too wet, and secondly... I..." Audas struggled with what to say, rain did bring upon some bad memories, "I... just don't like it, that's all...", he quietly explained with a slight crack in his normally composed voice and rose to his feet, Audas checked to see if Nymph was about to follow him, before walking across towards the larger of the two evergreens, before sitting back down at the base.

After a brief moment, he turned towards Nymph, "You mentioned that elders were not the only wise beings, is that to say I am wise?"

Word Count: 353

[Nymph]

It pleased her to hear her male companion say she brought some new perspective to light, even if it was about something as everyday as the moon. She liked to know he approved of her opinion enough to consider it.

His offer to move elsewhere was all the confirmation she needed to have to travel to an obliging tree for cover. Something seemed to unsettle him, she guessed he still had some trauma from the shipwreck and rain was just an ugly reminder of what happened. This thought saddened her as she took great liking to the crystal-like drops from the sky. However, if she had experienced something similar to Audas, she was able to admit to herself that rain would most likely bring her uneasiness as well.

With such thoughts in mind, she didn't question his motives and followed his lead to one of the two taller evergreens that stood like sentries over this part of the river. After coming under it's protective limbs, Nymph shook out her fur, straightened a few unruly pieces of fur on her shoulder with her tongue, and sat down next to the brown male. Of course, her closeness was at a comfortable distance as the tree was plenty wide enough to give both wolves cover without them needing to huddle close together.

She jumped slightly at his voice, surprised at his speech after only a few moments of silence. She smiled at herself, feeling rather silly for startling so easy. She listened as she wrapped her tail around and over her paws in her usual and almost cat-like manner. She beamed at him as he finished, "Indeed, I believe you are." She waited to gauge his reaction, will he try to argue with me? She then felt it necessary to perhaps explain herself a little, "They call Elders wise for their knowledge and life-long journey of trials and rewards. You have had quite the journey in life yourself, a simple example is making it from North America to Anikira. That alone has presented you with trials and rewards. You know about many things that an Elder in North America would never dream of and the same is true of the Elders here on this island when it comes to things in North America. You have experiences that no other wolf can have or take from you. Wisdom comes from experience and knowledge, I believe you possess quite a bit in both."

She hoped that would be clear enough, she didn't know how to put it another way. She knew she wasn't the best at explaining things all the time. Finished with her little discourse, Nymph looked at him to see what he would make of her opinion this time. He may have issues with accepting her words this time, but she didn't care...It's what she believed.

Word Count: 474