Romance is in the air...this is probably the most beautiful and scenic place in Blossom Forest. For the athletic and determined to come with their mates, for time away from pups. Only adults may come here; some of the ledges are too far apart for teens or pups to cross and some too high to scale.
::B.e.l.l.a.d.o.n.n.a:: IP: 174.233.141.29 Posted on November 17, 2017 at 08:08:13 PM by Athene
The change in Sabelle was immediate and to be quite frank, odd. She had always been an emotional pup, something that, at the time, Athene had found disconcerting. All those months ago, Athene had disapproved of Sabelle’s emotions that were so easily seen… But this was something different altogether. If the femme was anyone different, Athene would be proud of her - she had become stoic, monotone almost as she relayed onto Athene a shortened tale of her travels. It was her armor, put up to hide behind. A wall Sabelle put up to block. And now? Athene was not privy to anything behind it. If it was any other wolf, she would be proud of her Protegé… But this was not any other wolf, this was Sabelle. Athene had hoped that they still had some sort of bond between them… But what could she expect? Athene had met Sabelle with almost just as much hostility. Or rather, not hostility, but indifference. And it all made sense - after all, so much time had passed, neither of the predators could be sure if the wolf in front of them was the same. Time changed a lot of things… And one must always be careful.
Perhaps if Athene had not been shocked by Sabelle‘s appearance… Perhaps if she had been as focused as she always was, she would have noticed the outreachew paw, looking for the comfort of touch. But she had not even seen it, all she had seen was Sabelle herself, nearly a ghost in front of her. So she had continued on, running through questions, demanding answers. But it was not quite like that was it? No, she was a general demanding a report from a soldier. Is that what time and distance have done to them? Change them from mother and daughter to soldier and general? It was not something that she could dwell upon, not when she had to fight so hard to focus on what Sabelle was saying.
So it seemed that Sabelle’s father had returned home, only to regain the throne that his family had had there. Athene briefly wondered what had happened to his sister, if she had stepped down. But that was not the moral of the story… No, it was Sabelle‘s evolution. The fact that she had come here of her own volition, and was so confident that she had properly hidden her tracks amazed Athene. Regret filled her, regret and perhaps guilt. She had missed all of that time with Sabelle, missed the prime time for growth and development. When had Sabelle turned from an adventurous, intelligent, intriguing but unsure pup into this confident, cold maiden? What had happened to mold her so? The warrior‘s smile grew slightly with pride - apparently, Sabelle had come far in her training despite being far from Athene. And though she was glad for the answers that she received, all that the answers caused was for Athene to have even more questions. If she was the next in line to be the ruler, why had Sabelle left? Why has she come here? Had she been seeking out Athene herself? When did she arrive? What had happened over the past few months? Not just in a bulleted format, general outline… Everything. What happened?
The silence that had fallen after Sabelle had ceased to speak was deafening. Normally, Athene loved the silence. She much preferred watching another‘s actions and body language - she found that for most, they spoke truer than any sentence could. But no amount of gestures, no display could give her the answers that she wanted. And yet she didn’t ask for more information - she didn’t push, she didn’t press. To do so would have been invasive, and she and Sabelle no longer held a relationship in which that would be appropriate. If nothing else, Athena knew well the rules of etiquette. Her weight shifted from paw to paw until finally, she reached out toward Sabelle. Not to touch her skin, nor her pelt. It was not an attack nor caress, but rather a hesitant yet curious gesture. And interestingly, as soon as she put any pressure on Sabelle‘s antlers, they felt from her skull just as Athene‘s had. Athene slowly withdrew her paw and glanced down at the antlers, her smile already faded, her lips curled instead downward into a frown. Unless some idiot had planned the stupidest hoax ever, the land had once again been upset by magic. Be it the will of the gods or not, there was no denying that this was not a dream, or even a nightmare, but reality itself. And Sabelle surprisingly took it surprisingly well - she had not been eased into it like Athene had been, considering she had not lived here for a few months and had not experienced the change. Instead of freaking out with an emotional reaction, exclamations and swears, Sabelle instead calmly asked questions, searching for any information. Athene settled back into her own mask and nodded her head.
“Yes, a long time you have indeed been gone.
A few months ago a change became apparently done.
The terrain had been altered, the packs switched around
All without waking me with so much as a sound.
Each of the territories now has a name anew
And if you tried to say old ones, the new one would instead spew.
There are rumors, whispers floating around
Of monsters and fairies who now walk the ground.
To continue on, yes, I am likewise afflicted.
It would seem the rules of nature have been contradicted
I woke a few minutes ago with an antlered crown
And just like yours, when rubbed, it detached and fell down.”
Athene had no answers - what explanations could she give that would be satisfactory? There was nothing logical that could explain everything. And so she was left to stand in silence, saying nothing more. Despite the fact that her mind had more things to say on the subject… All she really need to know now was where she at Sabelle were. For now, antlers did not mark their appearance any longer, and so it was a problem that they could deal with further on the future. But they were together, two of them now, and have to deal with that first.