& the sun is shining [open/eplidia]

[anyu]

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[atrb=background,http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/Wonderwhy_wolves/rostyn-1.png] It was summertime, and the sandbar that led to Talyn Island was easily accessible, if you knew how to find it. Rostyn did know where the sandbar was, and it wasn't hard for him to find it. Rostyn's paws slipped on rock has he made his way to the edge of the stone path, but he managed to find the sandbar immediately and step onto it. While it was a solid way to cross the water, it was slightly damp and Rostyn's paws were soon wet and sandy. It only took a minute to cross to the Island. The waves were calm today and the crossing was easy. There were few waves to batter anyone attempting to cross. Once on the small Island, Rostyn paused and looked around. There were only three or four trees on the Island, all evergreens that thrived well in many different environments. However, they were small and undernourished. Living on an Island, these trees had little water, but they still managed to survive. The rest of the plants were bits of bushes and scrubs that somehow managed to survive. The ground was sandy and rocky. Rostyn began to walk again, not stopping until he had reached the center of the weather-beaten Island. Once there, he sat, looking towards the entrance of the cove, his eyes watching the horizon calmly. It was summer and the sun was shining. There were no visible storms in the distance. It was a good day and a good season. Perhaps it would see some growth in the pack.

[Eλπiδiα]

Elpidia appeared like smoke. She moved gracefully through the billowing haze of thought. Her form tickled against it, blowing and merging with it until she would sometimes slip into a doubt that she was actually separated from her world—so abstract that she would get lost when it was at its most concrete. Her pawsteps faded into the thoughts of ground. Her ears flickered in the thoughts of sky. And her golden eyes shone like beacons through it all. She made it to Rostyn’s mind. He accepted her readily into his mind now. Her advice was priceless, gathered from centuries of existence.

“Salve, Rostyn,” she said in tender words as she found a spot to settle, her R trilled beautifully like a short chord of harpsong. Soon, what he saw became her world and she could forget that she wasn’t corporeal. Only alone. Sometimes she would pretend that Rostyn was the Harbinger and she was the Lupus wolf. Her mouth opened and light would shine out, like a lantern’s bright escaping the dark. Weather beaten island. It was gorgeous. The sun was bright. Despite all the thoughts and landscapes that were dreamed, nothing was more beautiful than that which was always naturally occurring. Elpidia saw the beauty in what the Great Spirit created.

“Plenus sententiae esse videris. Me dic de his sententiis, amabo te, Rostyne.” She smiled. You seem to be full of thought. Tell me about these thoughts, please, Rostyn. Her words doubled up so that he could catch the meaning behind the Latin phrases she so loved to use. It was a call-back to the good old days, when she was a Goddess among wolves.

She stretched herself and then billowed close to him, whispering a touch that she hoped he felt. Oh, how she wanted him to imagine her as corporeal. So that she and he could share the feel of sand between their toes. She wondered if he saw her as a friend and she couldn’t help but feel that she felt more for him than he did for her. Not love, mind you, but a sort of dependence.

[anyu]

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[atrb=background,http://i909.photobucket.com/albums/ac298/Wonderwhy_wolves/rostyn-1.png] Rostyn welcomed the presence of Elpidia in his mind now, though it was still difficult for him to grasp the idea of a Harbinger. There were doubts in his mind as to her existence, and more than once he had worried that he was losing his grip on reality and that was why she had appeared in his mind the day that he had begun the pack. Still, he did not fight her presence. He liked her and had grown to trust her and value her advice. And, though he could not see her, he had begun to picture her in his mind, though only occasionally and to no degree of consistency. Her voice calmed him, as did her presence, and as she spoke he felt his shoulders relax slightly. The sound of the waves and the warmth of the sun and sound helped, too. He slowly sank down to the sand and lay on his side to better absorb the warmth and to let his legs relax a little. Summer was perhaps his favorite time of year, and his white coat was certainly excellent for it. Rostyn didn't answer right away. His thoughts swirled around in his head, most of them being concerns about the pack, his future as a wolf, and his sanity. Though she had spoken in Latin, Rostyn understood her now. That was still strange to him, but he didn't question it. He also felt a soft touch, one that was barely there. Perhaps he had imagined it. he wasn't sure. "My head is always full of thoughts," he stated in a matter-of-fact way. "I wonder if my pack will ever grow beyond the size it is now, and how long it will survive if it does not grow. I wonder who will take over when I am gone." He stopped there. It was strange to talk to the empty air. To combat the feeling, he tried to picture Elpidia in his head, so that perhaps he could act as if he were speaking to the picture, rather than to nothing. Unfortunately, Rostyn was not creative when it came to imagining things that he had never seen before. The wolf he pictured was drab, with little variation in color. It didn't fit what he knew of Elpidia. With a frustrated sigh, he tossed the image from his head. "Elpidia, what do you look like?" he asked, curious about what she had to say on the matter. Perhaps her answer could help him form something that he could talk to.