The smell of lavender and a strange tickle on her nose awakens her. A curl of red hair heavy with sprigs of the purple flower have stuck to her face in the humid heat and that is what is tickling her and putting a halt to the dreams that make her sigh and stir fitfully in her sleep. Dreams she doesn’t want to remember but flashes of them will mark the hours of the day with subtle reminders of cream fur and the flash of teeth and a full moon.
May climbs to her feet, the bed of ferns and rich loam forgotten as she shakes the nighttime debris from her skin, or tries to. Much of it remains, held fast by sweat and dew to her painted skin. This is what makes her think of rinsing off, cooling off, in one of the many rivers but the loud thunder of the waterfall reminds her of a different place to bathe. One that holds a bounty of beauty, and May smiles, sparing one glance around to see that she is, of course, not alone.
Flint and his mate lay nearby, curled together and never far from where she sleeps. It is rare that she lays down for such but she was pulled by the familiarity of home, and trusting her wolf companions to look after her in the dark as she knew they would. It would be cruel to wake them, but she doesn’t have to - they’ll stir the moment she goes far enough from them and they’ll track her down, counting her as a pack-member if not the outright leader of their now small pack.
May began to creep away from the two wolves anyway, even if it only garnered her a few minutes without being followed. She could have made them stay but knew that was reckless and mean, they’d enjoy the waterfalls too as she had not yet shown them the entirety of her birthplace. Still, she is glad to suck the air deep into her lungs and set off through the jungle, admiring the verdant look of it from vine to leaf and the bright spurts of color that pop out as flowers. She has no idea why she ever left, well… does and doesn’t but pushes those thoughts far from her mind.
Before she knows it, the paint is standing before the waterfalls and to the left of her is another mare. “Beautiful isn’t it?” she breathes, breaking the moment with her soft breathy question. May would never tire of this sight as an ear bends back to hear the faint rustle of foliage behind her, she doesn’t have to look to know that the pair of wolves flank her. “The falls are even better from up close,” she adds, remembering playing in the cavern behind them and feeling them splash down over her head as she grew tall enough to swim out to them.
@[Beryl] ❤️