(Ok. Well, I'm glad you're ok. Sorry to hear that things have been rough. … Yeah, I do notice when people change their names on the site, and sometimes I do worry about it.)
Gwen sighed a little as she entered the family tent. Jeim had been waiting for her and ran to hug her as soon as he saw her.
The former princess wasted no time in returning the embrace, holding him close. “It’s alright, Jeim. I'll be alright.” she said softly, assuring him… and herself.
flash_on
(yeah.. thanks FanfictionFanatic, and it's good to hear I'm not the only one who worries about user changes sometimes)
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Sirus stood back at a distance, still wary of the small child despite the fact that his parents had been so kind to him.
(You’re welcome.)
“I’m gonna miss you, Gwen.” Jeim whispered, not wanting to let go of her.
Gwen smiled softly and kissed his forehead. “I’ll miss you too, little brother. But we all knew I was going to have to go.” she reminded him. “I just have to go sooner than we thought. It… It's for the best.”
flash_on
Sirus kept his distance, but it was heartwarming to see the interaction between them, it reminded him of some stories from an elder wolf when he was a pup, the wolf was old and lonely, and he had never liked the Alpha's attitude. So he showed Sirus some amount of kindness that the rest of the pack never did simply to show his defiance to the Alpha who couldn't touch him. In any case the elder had mentioned once or twice that Sirus wasn't an only pup… it was always vague but it had made Sirus wonder what it would be like to have a sibling, perhaps someone who didn't hate him.
“I know.” Jeim whimpered softly, still holding her.
Corbin sat up slightly from his bed, watching the scene. He knew this would happen… Though he supported it could have been a lot worse. Had things happened traditionally with the tribe, he would be going with Gwen and his poor son would have twice the tears. “She has to go, Jeim. Things are not safe for her to stay at the time.” he explained gently. “Besides, she'll be able to protect herself and will be well protected as well.” he reminded the family, glancing up at Sirus.
Gwen chuckled softly at her mentor's words and nodded. “He’s right. The longer I stay right now, the more trouble I’ll bring to the tribe… and this family.” she affirmed, a little teary-eyed.
flash_on
Sirus nodded when Corbin looked up at him, silently promising the older man that he wouldn't let anything happen to Gwen, not if he could help it.
"Gwen will be just fine" he said softly, "She's already strong in her own right, and I would imagine there would be consequences from quite a few parties if I allowed harm to reach her." he hummed a bit, "So of course, this wolf isn't going to let that happen, not while he's still breathing."
Corbin smiled gratefully at Sirus’s promise. “Just take care of her and bring her back as safely as you can. No one will expect more than that.” he assured the shifter.
“Bringing me back alive is preferable.” Gwen chuckled teasingly, though Jeim held her closer at that with another soft whine. “There are traditions for the tribe if… If someone doesn't make it through the trials.” she explained softly. She figured Sirus should know about that, even if no one wanted to talk about it.
flash_on
(I swear I haven't forgotten about this and it's not dead, it's just… Really hard to write. Like anything at all. So as of right now I'm not on very much as I deal with some irl stuff and take a break from stressing over English stuff?)
(well, I'm glad to know that this isn't dead but I can understand needing a break. Also sorry to hear about your bad case of writer's block. Whenever you’re ready or able to come back to this, I’ll be here. Take care of yourself.)
flash_on
(Hey! I'm back!
So sorry this took so long, things came up and I started a new hobby playing WoW and I now have a discord account (And I moved some of my RPs over there too cause it's actually easier to access)
Anyway, I'm trying my best to respond to some of the things that I actually want to keep going, and this is definitely one of them. :D)
(Also I'm pulling a bit of a time skip to the next morning when they're ready to head out if that's okay?)
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Sirus yawned a little, having gotten himself up early, his bag packed and ready for whenever Gwen awoke. Of course, he had also awoken before the sun had, the almost inexplicable sensation of shadows setting in disturbing his sleep the night before. The sunrise was almost over now, he figured Gwen should be awake soon, then he could focus on navigation rather than his thoughts.
(Yay! Welcome back!)
(Even though I've never played WoW I've heard how enjoyable it is, and I don't have a discord either so… Anyway, I'm glad you want to continue this with me. And yes, a time skip is fine.)
Gwen had had a difficult time trying to get enough sleep last night. Excitement and anticipation for this quest warred against each other almost constantly, a well as a little impatience. This would be a big step for her in the tribe but she had been wanting to go through with this for a long time. Just under different circumstances…
She sighed a little standing outside her tent, her bags already packed, as she looked around at all the tents and remembering the people who lived here who helped her prepare for this rite of passage.
flash_on
Sirus looked up at her with a soft hum, "Ready to get going?" He asked, rising to his feet and hefting his packs up. "I figure we set out east for a few hours then take a closer look at that map of yours to figure out where we are headed."
Gwen jumped a little when she heard Sirus join her but nodded slightly, readjusting her bag. “That sounds like a good plan. I’m as ready for this as I can be.” she admitted with a slow breath. “Are you ready?”
flash_on
"Ready as I'll ever be for something like this." he said with a hum, hefting his packs on and fastening the straps, "I'll be shifted for most of our journey, just so you know." he said with a hum, before shifting and landing on all fours, his packs secured just behind his shoulderblades and making his fur stick up weirdly in places.
Gwen nodded with a faint smile as he echoed her sentiment. Though it was probably for different reasons than her own. “That’s fine. If you're more comfortable traveling like that…” she shrugged, unbothered by his shift. Though she almost chuckled at the way his bag messed up his fur before she started walking towards the East.
flash_on
Sirus padded at her side, his tail flicking her leg in mock annoyance when she laughed at his fur. If anything she should've been a bit more worried about the burns he had sustained in their earlier encounter with the bounty hunters, as he had stored the medicine instead of using it, ignoring the dull ache across his belly.
Gwen smirked a little as she glanced down at the playful slap of his tail against her. In all the anticipation she had forgotten about his injuries at the moment, but she would likely remember that later. Either when they stopped to check the map or when he shifted back… whichever came first.
flash_on
And no one would blame her for forgetting, as that was exactly what Sirus was going for. In any case, things were quiet for the next few hours as our unusual duo entered the trees, with Sirus becoming more alert, his paws barely making a sound as he walked.
As they entered the woods surrounding the tribe’s home, Gwen also started stepping more softly. She didn't want to disturb too much of the wilderness on their journey until it was time to set up camp or hunt for the night. She didn't really have much of a plan yet other than following the map and staying on guard. Between bounty hunters and wild animals, it was bound to be a dangerous time for both of them.
flash_on
(Sorry for being so slow XP)
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Sirus led the way, for the most part, the shadows' whispers echoing in his ears and telling him which way to go and which path was safe, and every once in a while he nudged Gwen away from a more obvious path because of it. Eventually he deemed them far enough out from the tribe to stop and get a better idea of where they were headed, stopping at a relatively clear place and shifting back, untying his packs and letting them fall to the ground. "You have the map for your quest yes?" he asked, rising to his feet and stretching a little, his packs left to the ground for the moment, "We should plan how we are going about this before we get too far."
(It's ok)
Gwen was a little confused when Sirus nudged her down certain paths, especially when there was a clearer one in front of them, but didn't argue beyond a questioning glance. She just assumed that there was something about either his magic or his wolf form that told him when something was unsafe that she couldn't see. Grateful for the brief break, she nodded at the question and slid her travel pack off her back. “Of course I have it.” she assured him as she took the map out. “I wouldn't be very prepared if I left it behind. By the way, how is your side feeling?” she asked, referring to his burn.
flash_on
Sirus was grateful for her lack of argument, each time he nudged her in a new direction, though if she ever actually questioned him he would be happy to give her an explanation. But for now he was more focused on getting a better look at the map. "That's fair, preparation is certainly a good portion of a successful quest." He hummed, about to ask for the map, before he was stopped by Gwen's second question. "It's fine" he said, lying through his teeth straight to her face, instantly feeling guilty for it. "I took care of it this morning and I adjusted my pack for it already." He shrugged as if it was reasonable for him to do it this way, his focus going back to the map. "Shall we go on and get a better look at that then?"
Gwen nodded, agreeing with his first comment. “Well, I’m certainly hoping for a successful quest.” she chuckled a little as she carefully opened the map. “Really? When did you do that?” she asked as she looked up at him and raised a brow since she hadn't seen him do any of that. She had to admit that she didn't know his habits but she wanted to make sure he was taking care of himself and was healing properly, since she felt partly responsible for him being hurt in the first place. “Yeah. We need to get a good idea of where we're supposed to be going.” she sighed and looked back at the map.
flash_on
Sirus didn't answer her question, instead moving closer so he could see the map, carefully scanning it over before moving back to his bag, pulling out a packet of papers of his own, shuffling through them until he found the right one. "We'll compare that map to one of mine so we have a better idea of where we are going." He said in explanation, tucking the rest of the papers away. Getting up again and unfolding the map he had pulled out, a heavily marked up depiction of the surrounding kingdoms and certain towns, to which Sirus began making note of certain landmarks. "Looks like we will be headed up through this forest and up through those mountains" he said finally, tracing their path and looking to Gwen to see if she agreed.
Gwen furrowed her brow when he didn't answer her question. If anything, that made her more concerned about his health and why he would keep it secret. She sighed a little as she resolved to make sure that he put the medication on once they made camp, if not sooner. “That’s a good idea. It will make things much easier. I'm glad you have one of this area.” she managed to smile softly as they compared the two maps and nodded as he outlined, at least, the first part of their journey. “That looks right to me. And we're heading in the right direction.” she said glancing at their surroundings before looking back at the maps.
flash_on
All along Sirus' map was a clear idea of what the area looked like, but it was also covered in scrawled little notes, random letters, and to the western side of it was a large x in red, luckily they were headed east, but it was still suspicious. As for keeping his health a secret, part of it was he simply wasn't used to people caring. The other part was an ingrained mindset of not needing or deserving the relief.
"I'll make sure we head keep headed east then" he said, letting her look at their route one last time before moving away to fold up his copy of the map. "You keep that one in your pack, I don't want it mixed up with mine." He said slipping the paper away with the others. "How long do you want to keep going for before we settle for the night?" He asked.
Gwen raised a brow in intrigue at the writing and the strange red X on the west side of the map. She so badly wanted to ask what all that meant but now was clearly not the time as she rolled up her map and put it in her pack. “Good idea. If you're up for it, I'm willing to go until near the sun sets before we set up camp for the night.” she admitted determinedly. “The more ground we put between us and the tribe, the better.” she sighed wanting to keep her new family safe from any bounty hunters that were after her.
flash_on
"I can keep going well into the night most days" he hummed, picking up his pack and putting it back on. "But we can start with sunset and see how far we can get." he said, "Let me know when you need to stop for a rest," he added, then dropped to all fours as he shifted, body shimmering briefly as he dropped, the now large black-furred wolf shifter standing beside her ready to keep moving.
“I’m sure you can. I just can't see in the dark as well as you can.” Gwen reminded him with a smirk as she readjusted her pack, ready to get back on the move. She nodded at his request but a part of her was debating on how she would actually go about it. It may have been a petty idea, giving him a small taste of his own medicine with how he seemed to avoid taking care of his injury, but the former princess did want to cover as much ground as possible as well… She shook her head as she decided to think about it while they traveled and started walking a bit more confidently now that they had a better idea of where they were heading.
flash_on
Sirus rolled his eyes, thinking to himself that it was less about being able to see and more about the ability to stay alert and awake. And it occurred to him that maybe he should communicate that out loud, but he didn't want to shift back again, so instead he jerked his head and started leading the way again.
And this they continued on in relative silence, with Sirus leading the way to the best of his ability, showing very little signs of pain or discomfort as they kept going.
