Castles in the Sky

S

he was up early again that day, as was typical of the almost-adolescent, but today, it was for a very, very important reason. Outside of the home she shared with her family, Willow paced restlessly, doing her best to summon her patience as she waited for her mother to be ready. It was not a long journey -- in fact, Willow had accompanied her mother to this special place before. But today, today was different. Now it was her turn to go to the College and learn... or, more specifically, to prepare to learn. What could be more exciting than that?


The eastern sky was still painted in shades of gold and scarlet and indigo, but it was a warmer autumnal day, absent of the cold wind that had marked the passage of the seasons. As soon as she heard her mother nearing, Willow’s tail began to wag wildly behind her with obvious enthusiasm, barely able to contain herself as she danced around on diminutive paws. ”I’m ready! Are you ready?” The words had scarcely left her mouth before Willow was pointed in the direction of the path that she and her mother would follow. The youth felt so grown up, despite her childish enthusiasm. Soon, she would be just as smart as her mothers. At least, that was what she hoped!

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Kylar glanced up at the clouds, carefully looking for the telltale premonitions for rain. For the moment, however, the sky was a demure, powder blue. But, like a robin's egg, it could crack at any moment. She had grown to be wary of Rionnach's weather, especially when there was a crisp chill in the air. It nipped at her nose as she hobbled out, ruby eyes warming as she saw her daughter. Tawny and tipped with black, Willow looked the most like her -- so similar that Kylar often allowed herself to forget that Willow had been found and not born. Green eyes met those of red and a smile cracked over Kylar's face. "Of course I'm ready!" She said with a laugh. "I've been waiting to see if some classes will be a match for your energy!"

Where Anthe was quiet and shy and Luca was lazy, Willow was a chikadee always chirping and wiggling around. She had wings that were desperate to fly and, as Kylar limped along the trail, she half expected her daughter to run circles around her. Hopefully there would be no tripping this time. Willow had grown out of that a few months ago, though it hadn't been a wholly uncommon occurrence during her first few months of flight.

...

The arboretum began to come into view. The trees were taller here and the brambles had been dug out and replaced with leafy plants. Beneath their paws, the dirt trail had been well-worn and manicured. "Have you thought about what you'd like to study, little Willow-bee?" The nickname was a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Fritz family's oldest friend, the woman that had officiated her wedding with Nephele.

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T

he worn path beneath her tiny paws was far less interesting as the clouds, which continued to fight for her focus, even as they drew closer to their destination. There was so much to see here, and it was even better that she got to share the excitement with Mom. The question was posed "Have you thought about what you'd like to study, little Willow-bee?" At this, the normally chatty girl fell silent.... For a second or two, anyway. ”I want to be smart and know all sorts of things, Mom, like you and like Mama.”


Willow continued: ”I figure it would be good to learn even more about plants.” She had, after all, been grown in the family nursery, and who was to say their family wouldn’t grow even bigger, now that she was practically a grown-up!


Vivid green sights turned upward to the sky again, where enormous, puffy white clouds were still building in the sky. A gasp parted her thin lips again. ”Oh, lookit that! Mom, do you see it, too? That cloud looks just like a great big mushroom. A giant mushy in the sky,” she marveled as her active imagination seized her attention -- at least for now. Her “visions” caused the girl to laugh with excitement. ”Oh! And that one, right over there!” She gestured with her little muzzle. ”It’s a chipmunk!”


The girl’s entire body turned in one fluid, nearly graceful motion to face her mother and gauge her reaction, to see if she could see the same images there, shaped out of puffy clouds. Then, like an epiphany, the youth got an idea, which was immediately blurted out: ”Is there a class all about clouds, Mom?” Or, you know, weather?


@Kylar

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

"All the things huh?" Kylar echoed with a wry smile on her lips, ruby eyes shimmering with warmth. "That'll be quite tough—" the herbalist mused with a soft laugh. "—some things even require sitting still."< A task that, perhaps in a few years, might not seem so difficult. Now, however, it was hard to imagine Willow sitting in a lecture hall and not running circles around her professors. She'd be wonderful at field training though, and Kylar secretly hoped that she'd get to pop into a few of her daughters lessons. It'd be nice to see all of their home-spun education at work. At least where the garden was concerned—Kylar didn't know much about Rionnach's politics or history. Or physics—Kylar much disliked physics.

"The plants would love to get to know you too, bee" Kylar mused, extending her nose to give the girl a gentle noogie on top of her head. Willow was so full of life and love and warmth that everyone would be lucky to meet her, of that Kylar was certian.

As the clouds began to shift and change overhead, tossed this way and that by the breeze, Willow found one that caught her fancy. Kylar paused to glance up and smiled. "Oh I see, I see," she mused, stopping to laugh as more pictures were pointed out in the sky. "And look over there," black-tipped ears perked and her tail wagged. "I think I see your brother when he was a baby, all fat and chunky."

More than the herbs in their garden, the clouds seemed to truly mystify Willow more than anything else. For a moment, Kylar had to stop and think. She lifted a paw to her lips and her brow knit in thought. Then, her brow lifted somewhat. "I do think some wolves try to guess the weather weeks if not seasons in advance," A small smile was on her lips.

"And I'm sure they study the clouds for that."

What an interesting thing! She had almost forgotten about it.

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@Willow

W

illow giggled, still very much like a child, joining her mother’s playfulness as she bumped shoulders with the taller wolfess. Her eyes turned to inspect the massive white clouds that, apparently, looked just like Luca when he was still very little, and Willow laughed. It was funny to think of her brother, fresh out of the garden, as a wee baby.


She saw the hint of a smile on her mother’s lips as the grown wolfess considered Willow’s random idea, which served as encouragement for the girl, who added: ”Yeah! I mean, someone has to, right? It’s -- it’s much too important not to study, I think! Well, I’m not too sure that I want to study the sun, because you’re not supposed to look right at it and all…” She started to walk again, nearly tripping over a branch protruding from the ground as her focus remained upward to the heavens and the mysteries it held.


”But wouldn’t it be so interesting to know all about -- you know, all the different kinds of clouds? Then again, it would be quite useful, and quite interesting, to know more about history. And there is so much to understand about gardening and about wolves.” As she spoke, her walking slowed to a crawl and finally, she had ceased to move at all, save for her tail, which wagged with enthusiasm the more she thought about it. ”I can’t wait.”


For a second, however, her courage wavered, and she looked to Kylar for confirmation. ”Mom, do you think I will do good -- er, I mean, well at the College?” Already, she knew her mother would say the nicest things in response, just what Willow hoped for. Onward she stepped to a new future -- more knowledgeable than before, and following her mother’s pawprints. It was exactly what was expected of her, after all.



/exit



@Kylar

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Curiosity would carry Willow far in life, of that, Kylar was certain. A mind that sought answers was one that would always inspire. She was like a beacon of light, and she shown so brightly that it was no surprise that others were drawn to her. Even amongst her siblings, Willow was the defacto leader. Luca had a mischievous heart and Anthe a soft one, but it was their little bumblebee that wanted to walk to the beat of her own drum. And Kylar was inclined to let her, she just wanted her to be... well, safe.

At the flash of doubt, Kylar's expression softened.

"It'll be hard," she acknowledged. Goodness, it felt like a lifetime ago that she and Nephele had journeyed to Rionnach. It had taken some getting used to, and honestly they might have left, but finding the pups had forced permanency on them. They were forced to carve out a niche, not only for themselves, but for their pups. Kylar poured herself into her lessons in between watching the pups, and she spent many a long night nursing them while Nephele went to school for her clinical certifications.

Those were hard days, that she couldn't deny. "But you're smart as a whip and you're creative. You'll do well," Kylar mused, her smile brightening as she nodded her head decisively. "And if you decide you don't like it, we can find you something else."

Because that was life, a series of beautiful little mistakes that all turned out to be one big picture.

- exit kylar -

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@Willow