[ AW ] This is the Beginning of the Rest of Your Life

T

here was something very exciting about being at the College, a place that was at once familiar to the young girl, and still very foreign. Her mother Kylar was often found around these parts, but today, Willow was there on her own. It was her very first day of class, something she had been waiting for for as long as she could remember. Despite her youthfulness, the girl was very eager to learn.


The only issue was, it was proving more challenging than she imagined to just pay attention. Her focus was constantly pulled away from the grown-up trying to lecture, and in spite of her best efforts, Willow found herself constantly trying to rein in her brain. But the shapes of the maple trees’ branches, barren and gnarled, was so interesting. And so were the big, ominous clouds gathering in the eastern skies. And how she could she not take quick glimpses of her classmates, most of whom seemed older than herself?


When finally class was dismissed, Willow was grateful, though feeling a bit guilty, as if she had somehow let her mothers down by not being fully present for her first College course. She slipped away from the group as swiftly as she could, exhaling a deep, dramatic sigh. ”I knew College would be hard, but that…” She muttered to herself, shaking her head. ”That was a lot.” A frown crossed her tiny muzzle. Maybe she just wasn't cut out for this education stuff, after all.

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

While Grigori’s market adventure has earned him a cozy den and a friend’s promise to spend more time together later (something he found himself looking forward to quite frequently), for now the blonde brute was left to his own devices. Still feeling rather lost in Rionnach, he lacked ideas for any kind of purpose-driven activity, which led to much aimless wandering. The College wasn’t as grand as he expected after seeing the city’s stone structures – it had a much more natural charm instead, which was actually to the outlander male’s preference. Melrose already was pleasantly temperate and plentiful, so the Arboretum could easily be called its verdant heart. But for all its beauty, it was still intimidating in its own right.

For the most part, it was thanks to feeling like he stuck out like a sore thumb. Grigori seemed to be the opposite of most every other wolf around. They were here to learn things he never dreamed of existing, and he was just trying to settle in. They appeared to be quite active, moving from class to class, while he was loitering. Finally, his physique certainly was an exception. That last difference he imagined was the main reason why he attracted so many glances. Mostly curious ones, not suspicious or unwelcoming, but it was still enough to make a man feel exposed.

But it’s just a matter of getting to know people, right? And Grigori was willing to try; it’s not like it’d be much easier elsewhere, and even if Aryth was his only friend here forever.. it still felt like a good deal. So when he spotted a wolf that didn’t appear to be busy with something much more important than his company, the blonde male decided to approach. “Howdy.” It was a young girl, barely more than a child.. figures, probably even kids are smarter than him here. Hopefully he won’t make a fool of himself, it was embarrassing enough in front of Aryth, and the age difference was less there. “Everythin’ alright?” She seemed disgruntled about something, so it was a polite thing to ask, right? That, or he was prying needlessly. It’s always so difficult to tell the difference. His own expression was stoic, maybe a little quizzical at most – he was still too uneasy to remember that smiles go well with greetings.


„*”

F

irmly trapped within her own self-conscious mind, Willow did not notice the presence of the blond wolf until… “Howdy.” The unexpected sound of the masculine voice caught the girl off guard, as evidenced by a loud yelp, coupled with a startled jump. Her head turned sharply to see the unknown male, and she exhaled a noisy breath as she gathered her nerves, hiding her surprise beneath a sheepish smile.


“Everythin’ alright?” It seemed it did not matter that the stranger was not sporting a gregarious expression on his steely facade. He had asked, and that was more than enough for Willow to begin speaking. At first, her voice was steady and controlled, but as she continued, her tones became more frantic, faltering:


”I’m so new to all of this school stuff, you see, and my mom -- well, one of my moms -- she comes here quite a lot, and -- and I thought it was going to be, um, a little bit easier, I guess? But now,” here, she paused for only a second to sigh with adolescent mournfulness. ”Now, I just… I just don’t know. Maybe I’m not cut out for this learning stuff, not when my mind is in a million billion other places at the same time…”


Finally, with her words spent and tears beginning to well in the bright green sights, Willow seemed to have a moment of awareness that, yes, this was a stranger who she had not even introduced herself yet, and yes, she had just shared way too much information with said nameless stranger. Her face felt warm with embarrassment and her vivid gaze fell to her own small paws. ”I -- I’m sorry, that was --" Rude? Inappropriate? Willow was horrified and for a second, contemplated simply running off without looking back to see the stranger's face.


@Grigori

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

‘Don’t ask if you don’t want to know’ is an expression Grigori might have heard before, and against himself he couldn’t help but think of it right now. He expected the girl to say it’s nothing important, or complain about something minor. Instead, she was spilling all of her woes to him. Seemingly trivial ones, at that.. but the blonde male knew the taste of inherent shortcomings and the struggle of finding one’s purpose well enough not to take the situation lightly. Not that it helped much – he wasn’t exactly someone kids should be asking for life advice, nor was it his place give one here, being a complete stranger. Yet as he listened, watching with well-concealed yet steadily growing distress as the young female got to the verge of crying, he realized that walking away would almost certainly be even more disastrous than anything he might say. The cowboy glanced at their surroundings, worried that someone might assume it was his presence that was the cause for this distress. But it seems they were on their own..

His brow furrowed in focus, his chewing of mint intensifying for a moment as he mulled over what might be the right thing to say. The girl’s apology hardly seemed to register on his mind, and at this point, it was too late for it anyway. He couldn’t pretend that nothing has happened. Finally, Grigori had an idea, and a smile brightened his expression. “Ain’t unusual to struggle when takin’ on new duties. Yer young, ye can take yer time figurin’ out what yer good at. It takes more than one try to know.” The blonde brute nodded to himself as he finished, as if to reassure himself that it was a good piece of sagely advice. In truth, it was something probably most anyone could come up with.

With the crisis hopefully averted, he could think back to something else the green-eyed she-wolf has mentioned: having two mothers. She said that so freely.. are such relationships common and accepted in Rionnach? He couldn’t be certain just yet, but at the very least it was reassuring. “I’m, uh.. new ‘round here, too. Name’s Grigori.” The cowboy didn’t mention that he wasn’t here to study, being someone who actually wasn’t cut out for it. God forbid any young students looked up to him and decided to quit because of that.



„*”

T

he words the brute would utter caught Willow off-guard, surprising her enough to stop any tears from rolling down her pale cheek. “Ain’t unusual to struggle when takin’ on new duties. Yer young, ye can take yer time figurin’ out what yer good at. It takes more than one try to know.” The wolf nodded as if he were certain of himself, and Willow’s worried features seemed to sooth. It seemed reasonable enough, as far as she was concerned.


He definitely didn’t talk like anyone Willow had conversed with before, and for a second or two, she looked at the brute with bright, curious eyes before blurting out: ”Wow! You’re smart! Are you one of the teachers here?” In her youthful imagination, this Grigori fellow could be from anywhere in all the world, and along with his odd accent, he was instantly an enigma in Willow’s perception. And Willow was a child who was not adept at hiding her emotions, nor the interest from her small features.


“I’m, uh.. new ‘round here, too. Name’s Grigori.” It was a new name to Willow’s ears, and her intrigue had only grown, much like the girl herself had from her mothers’ garden. ”Grigori,” she repeated, trying to commit the exotic new name to memory after a day full of (attempted) learning. ”Good to meet you! My name’s Willow. I’m new to here here, you know, meaning the College, but I’m from -- well, it’s not too far from here at all.”


Somehow, knowing that the brute was equally unaccustomed to this place made the girl feel a little more at ease, like there was at least one other wolf there who got it. A bright smile replaced the former facade of anxiety and distress. ”So, you’re new! Well, umm, welcome to the neighborhood, I guess!” He didn’t much look like the wolves that Willow knew, much like how his voice was just a wee bit different. But the girl found him fascinating, much more interesting than the boring lecture she had just sat through, uncomprehending! "If you're not from here, then... where are ya from?"



@Grigori

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

To be honest, Grigori never hoped to be particularly convincing; just averting the crisis, even if only just, was good enough for him. Needless to say, the last thing he expected while standing on College ground was to be called smart. Ah, children. They can be so.. impressionable. “Eh, naw. The profe.. teaches are much smarter than me.” That fancy professor title was still too much linguistic gymnastics for him to get right. Regardless, he might only know Aryth when it comes to teachers, and Aryth was still in training. So the full-fledged ones must be very smart, indeed.

Now that his reason for approaching in the first place was all done and dealt with it, the blonde male couldn’t help but recall how poor he was at socializing. It was easy to forget after spending so much time with Aryth, but that seemed to be an exception. The norm was him having no idea what to say, especially to someone so much younger than himself. In contrast, Willow just poured words out effortlessly, in such quantity that it was almost a struggle to follow it all. A simply “Yeah.” was all that he managed to muster in response at first. It didn’t sit right with him though, the girl was nice so it wouldn’t do to be too abrasive. So, after a moment of thoughtful chewing, he added: “Thanks, lass.”

It would seem that, once again, his obvious outlandishness was the most interesting thing about him. Well, Grigori wasn’t about to say that it was wrong, although he hoped he won’t have to be reminded of his homeland with literally every encounter. “From far away. It was hot and dusty, pretty much nothin’ like here.” Having some motivation to change the subject, at last he came up with a question of his own. “So, yer mother – she work here?” It was the first reason he could think of for visiting here often.. while also living close, by the sound of it. Maybe he could find out a bit about what other wolves he might be running into here.




„*”

”E

h, naw. The profe.. teaches are much smarter than me.” She looked at him oddly before she caught herself, but since she did not wish to be rude, she quickly erased the puzzlement from her facade. Instead, she grinned with youthful optimism. ”With all due respect, Mister Grigori, sir, that is not a very nice thing to say about yourself! Because, you know, there are, um, a lot of different ways of being smart, and just because you are outside of the classroom instead of inside, that doesn’t mean anything. I bet you know all sorts of things that they have never even thought about before!” At the end of her little speech, she gave a decisive, wise little nod.


The grown-up spoke of being from somewhere that was far away, as well as hot and full of dust. It definitely sounded like another world, almost alien-like, and Willow looked upon the foreigner with increased interest. ”It sounds…” She paused to find the right word. ”It sounds very nice, indeed. I would like to go there myself someday, I think.” And if every wolf there was as nice as he was, and as interesting, or handsome… Did they all have those neat little freckles on their faces there?


Willow pulled herself out of her straying thoughts as the brute posed a question: “So, yer mother – she work here?” Without hesitation, Willow responded boisterously, ”Yep! We live quite near to here, you see, and the garden I came out of, it is right there in the yard.” The girl did not quite understand the logistics of lupine procreation. ”Your garden -- er, where you come from. What is it called?”



@Grigori

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck

Is there such a thing as trying too hard to be nice? Or perhaps it's just a commonplace courtesy in this land. Either way, while there was some merit to the girl's outlook, Grigori found it naively idealistic. It's true that he had skills the professors here likely didn't - but in a better world, his skills would be unnecessary. Without that, all he has left is strength for physical labor. Of course, the argument goes both ways, and to someone who's focused only on survival, many of the college's studies would be superfluous.. yet that's exactly what made them nobler in the cowboy's eyes. But instead of arguing that, Grigori merely smiled and shook his head. "Well, I happen to know one of 'em - so my mind is set."

As the conversation continued, he became convinced that Willow was just incessantly positive. Doubtlessly few of the wolves used to the temperate climate here would call what he'd just described 'nice'. Well, more power to her, but the idea of going there was something he simply couldn't recommend. "Better not. The road there is.. tough to survive." Crossing the badlands was enough to get even a strong wolf like him in a rough shape for a while. Willow simply wouldn't make it.. though he figured it could be a bit rude to say that out loud.

Garden? Grigori tilted his head to the side in mild confusion. Aryth has never mentioned gardens in unexpected context, so it probably isn't yet another common local peculiarity. Then again, this land might be even more diverse than what the young scholar can showcase. "It's, uh.." Frankly, the blonde male couldn't exactly remember. Fancy names used by those from the center of the kingdom aren't very relevant to frontier daily life. Thankfully, the students seemed to be gathering to head to the next class after the break, giving him a way out. "Ah, it looks like yer break is endin'? Better not be late." If it was any other subject, he'd be less eager to wiggle out of the conversation, but there was a limit to how much he wanted to think about his homeland in one sitting. "Good luck with yer studies, Willow." he offered with a polite nod.


„*”

T

his wolf was proving to be much more interesting than the class she had just escaped, Willow decided. He spoke of the dangerous journey to his own land of origin, and the yearling wanted to know more. But by then, the unusual wolf commented that it appeared class was commencing again, and Willow looked around swiftly. ”Huh? It is?” Sure enough, and to the girl’s disappointment, other students were beginning to gather again. A small pout appeared on Willow’s face as she observed this, for, having not detected Grigori’s desire to get away, she was sad to have to leave. She had so many more questions, and was too naive, too innocent to recognize that it was not her place to ask.


The student looked at the man’s speckled facade once more, squinting a little bit, as if doing so would enable the girl to see this enigma a little more closely, and a lot more clearly. Finally, she flashed a final smile before turning away. She called over her shoulder, ”Have a nice day, Mister Grigori! See you later!” Grinning, Willow was quite pleased with herself that she could remember his name and say it just the way he had… or at least, she had attempted to. With a bounce in her step, she hurried back to the place where she belonged.


/exit Willow

art and code by Yahtzee-Penguiduck