Yelp's ears twitched thoughtfully as Gemini answered him.
"You're smart to ask."
Well, that felt nice to hear. He wasn't sure he'd actually been smart about anything really. Mostly he'd just been confused enough to say the first thing that made sense in his head. Still, her answer sat with him. It wasn't exactly like she wasn't telling him to trust her. She was telling him not to trust anybody.
Was... was that really how some wolves had to live?
It felt strange. Back home, the worst thing a stranger had ever done to him was be boring or annoying. He'd grown up surrounded by wolves who already knew his name, knew his parents, and watched him stumble through life with endless patience he felt he didn't deserve. There'd never been much reason to imagine hidden motives behind a smile. But now two seemingly reasonable wolves stood before him offering completely different roads.
Be careful. Come along.
Neither sounded like a liar. He honestly couldn't imagine them wanting to hurt him in any way. Or at least it was hard to explore the concept...Maybe he was the weird one.
"Come with me or go with her. Go with your gut, I guess."
Yelp frowned at the sand. He wasn't sure he even knew what his gut was telling him. That would've been a whole lot easier to decipher if his gut ever said anything useful. Most of the time it just complained when he skipped breakfast or something.
"...Huh."
Then something else snagged his attention.
"As soon as night falls, I'll be able to read the stars..."
Read them? His head slowly tilted upward. The afternoon sky stretched above them in one endless sheet of blue. He cleared his throat as he snatched his gaze back to the others. Obviously, she meant at night time. But still. Read... stars? His mouth parted, multiple questions ready to roll out.
How? Read what? Do they have words? Do stars move around? Can everybody do that?
Yelp's jaw clicked shut again. Maybe he'd ask later. He'd already blurted out asking what a horse was. Before that he'd accidentally admitted he'd never seen the ocean. And before that he'd practically screamed at sea. Part of him worried they'd eventually get tired of explaining every little thing to the clueless boy who apparently hadn't been anywhere before. So, just this once...he kept the questions. Instead he found himself looking back at Maral and the enormous grey animal beside her. So, Horses were food, friends. Both Yelp's brow furrowed in confusion. "...How d'you..?" He stopped himself before the words escaped. How did they choose? Did somebody just wake up one morning and point across a field? Yup, that one's dinner. And that's my bestie Joe-Schmoe over there.. His imagination immediately fired up.
If I was a horse...I'd be making friends with everybody.
He pictured himself, except ridiculously tall, covered in silver fur, and somehow with hooves, walking around introducing himself to every wolf he met.
"Hi! I'm Yelp! Let's be friends! Don't eat me!"
His tail gave one amused swish in the sand behind him. Seemed like a solid survival strategy he had to admit! His attention returned just in time to watch Möngön shove Maral hard enough to nearly bowl her over, causing Yelp to blink as he observed. Maral seemed to answer the beast as if she understood somehow,it actually looked like a conversation. How bizarre.
"Wow."
The words escaped him in quiet amazement. That prey had to be smart. Were all other animals smart like that too? It was kinda incredible.
Then Maral looked back toward them.
"You shouldn't place your trust in someone you've only just met."
Her eyes settled on him.
"And neither should you."
Yelp's ears slowly folded flat. "...Heh yeah..." He glanced away, a bit embarrassed a sheepish grin tugging at one side of his muzzle. "Sorry." Yelp wasn't sure what for exactly. Maybe for his apparent ineptitude? He laughed awkwardly. "I just thought you both seemed alright." And it was as simple as that. No grand reasoning or judgment. They just seemed nice. The admission left him feeling oddly exposed, though his smile lingered anyway.
He wondered, not for the first time today, how wolves ever managed to make friends if this was normal. Did everyone just spend weeks glaring suspiciously at each other before deciding they weren't murderers or something? That sounded exhausting as hell.
Maral's next suggestion pulled him back before he wandered too far down that train of thought.
A compromise.
Yelp's ears perked at that, his head immediately turning toward Gemini, green eyes brightening with cautious hope. "That doesn't actually sound too bad, does it?" His brows pinched together almost pleadingly. "Just one day?" He glanced between them. "And if it gets weird or something, leaving should be easy, right?" It seemed so easy. He hoped Gemeni would agree, though he would understand if she wasnt all for it. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure what he wanted anymore. Yes he wanted to go home, but even in a matter of these minutes it all felt so impossibly far away. The thought should've hurt more than it did. Maybe it would later. But right now his mind kept refusing to sit still long enough for it to catch him. Instead everything ahead of him now was far louder and hard to ignore.
Bigger world.
Unknown lands.
Unknown wolves.
Unknown... everything.
How terrifying. And strangely... His chest tightened around a feeling he couldn't quite name. Something was waiting for him, not just his home. And it was his responsibility to find it. For the first time in his life there wasn't a parent walking a few steps behind him. Nobody telling him not to worry. Nobody gently insisting things would work themselves out. It was just him. He had to be able to handle this. He knew he could. Probably. Hopefully...Maybe.
His thoughts were interrupted by Maral's next offer.
"If either of you grows tired, Möngön is strong enough to carry passengers."
Yelp's eyes slowly climbed the impossible height of the stallion all over again.
".............."
He imagined climbing onto that thing. Then imagined immediately falling off that thing.
Absolutely not.
"Pffft." He waved a paw dismissively before anyone could mistake the wide-eyed look on his face for interest. "I'll be fine." A confident nod. "It's only one day." Besides, walking sounded a whole lot less embarrassing than needing somebody to carry him. He wasn't some helpless pup...Even if his legs were already wondering how long "one day" actually was. Yelp quickly ignored those thoughts, instead his eyes wandered back to Maral and Möngön. The horse had turned away with the single most offended expression Yelp had ever seen on well, any prey animal. He marvled at Marals ability to understand the beast so clearly once more. " He really understands you, huh?" Yelp murmured, unable to keep the wonder from his voice. His tail gave another slow wag.
"That's." He searched for the word a beat. "...really cool."
"You're smart to ask."
Well, that felt nice to hear. He wasn't sure he'd actually been smart about anything really. Mostly he'd just been confused enough to say the first thing that made sense in his head. Still, her answer sat with him. It wasn't exactly like she wasn't telling him to trust her. She was telling him not to trust anybody.
Was... was that really how some wolves had to live?
It felt strange. Back home, the worst thing a stranger had ever done to him was be boring or annoying. He'd grown up surrounded by wolves who already knew his name, knew his parents, and watched him stumble through life with endless patience he felt he didn't deserve. There'd never been much reason to imagine hidden motives behind a smile. But now two seemingly reasonable wolves stood before him offering completely different roads.
Be careful. Come along.
Neither sounded like a liar. He honestly couldn't imagine them wanting to hurt him in any way. Or at least it was hard to explore the concept...Maybe he was the weird one.
"Come with me or go with her. Go with your gut, I guess."
Yelp frowned at the sand. He wasn't sure he even knew what his gut was telling him. That would've been a whole lot easier to decipher if his gut ever said anything useful. Most of the time it just complained when he skipped breakfast or something.
"...Huh."
Then something else snagged his attention.
"As soon as night falls, I'll be able to read the stars..."
Read them? His head slowly tilted upward. The afternoon sky stretched above them in one endless sheet of blue. He cleared his throat as he snatched his gaze back to the others. Obviously, she meant at night time. But still. Read... stars? His mouth parted, multiple questions ready to roll out.
How? Read what? Do they have words? Do stars move around? Can everybody do that?
Yelp's jaw clicked shut again. Maybe he'd ask later. He'd already blurted out asking what a horse was. Before that he'd accidentally admitted he'd never seen the ocean. And before that he'd practically screamed at sea. Part of him worried they'd eventually get tired of explaining every little thing to the clueless boy who apparently hadn't been anywhere before. So, just this once...he kept the questions. Instead he found himself looking back at Maral and the enormous grey animal beside her. So, Horses were food, friends. Both Yelp's brow furrowed in confusion. "...How d'you..?" He stopped himself before the words escaped. How did they choose? Did somebody just wake up one morning and point across a field? Yup, that one's dinner. And that's my bestie Joe-Schmoe over there.. His imagination immediately fired up.
If I was a horse...I'd be making friends with everybody.
He pictured himself, except ridiculously tall, covered in silver fur, and somehow with hooves, walking around introducing himself to every wolf he met.
"Hi! I'm Yelp! Let's be friends! Don't eat me!"
His tail gave one amused swish in the sand behind him. Seemed like a solid survival strategy he had to admit! His attention returned just in time to watch Möngön shove Maral hard enough to nearly bowl her over, causing Yelp to blink as he observed. Maral seemed to answer the beast as if she understood somehow,it actually looked like a conversation. How bizarre.
"Wow."
The words escaped him in quiet amazement. That prey had to be smart. Were all other animals smart like that too? It was kinda incredible.
Then Maral looked back toward them.
"You shouldn't place your trust in someone you've only just met."
Her eyes settled on him.
"And neither should you."
Yelp's ears slowly folded flat. "...Heh yeah..." He glanced away, a bit embarrassed a sheepish grin tugging at one side of his muzzle. "Sorry." Yelp wasn't sure what for exactly. Maybe for his apparent ineptitude? He laughed awkwardly. "I just thought you both seemed alright." And it was as simple as that. No grand reasoning or judgment. They just seemed nice. The admission left him feeling oddly exposed, though his smile lingered anyway.
He wondered, not for the first time today, how wolves ever managed to make friends if this was normal. Did everyone just spend weeks glaring suspiciously at each other before deciding they weren't murderers or something? That sounded exhausting as hell.
Maral's next suggestion pulled him back before he wandered too far down that train of thought.
A compromise.
Yelp's ears perked at that, his head immediately turning toward Gemini, green eyes brightening with cautious hope. "That doesn't actually sound too bad, does it?" His brows pinched together almost pleadingly. "Just one day?" He glanced between them. "And if it gets weird or something, leaving should be easy, right?" It seemed so easy. He hoped Gemeni would agree, though he would understand if she wasnt all for it. Truthfully, he wasn't even sure what he wanted anymore. Yes he wanted to go home, but even in a matter of these minutes it all felt so impossibly far away. The thought should've hurt more than it did. Maybe it would later. But right now his mind kept refusing to sit still long enough for it to catch him. Instead everything ahead of him now was far louder and hard to ignore.
Bigger world.
Unknown lands.
Unknown wolves.
Unknown... everything.
How terrifying. And strangely... His chest tightened around a feeling he couldn't quite name. Something was waiting for him, not just his home. And it was his responsibility to find it. For the first time in his life there wasn't a parent walking a few steps behind him. Nobody telling him not to worry. Nobody gently insisting things would work themselves out. It was just him. He had to be able to handle this. He knew he could. Probably. Hopefully...Maybe.
His thoughts were interrupted by Maral's next offer.
"If either of you grows tired, Möngön is strong enough to carry passengers."
Yelp's eyes slowly climbed the impossible height of the stallion all over again.
".............."
He imagined climbing onto that thing. Then imagined immediately falling off that thing.
Absolutely not.
"Pffft." He waved a paw dismissively before anyone could mistake the wide-eyed look on his face for interest. "I'll be fine." A confident nod. "It's only one day." Besides, walking sounded a whole lot less embarrassing than needing somebody to carry him. He wasn't some helpless pup...Even if his legs were already wondering how long "one day" actually was. Yelp quickly ignored those thoughts, instead his eyes wandered back to Maral and Möngön. The horse had turned away with the single most offended expression Yelp had ever seen on well, any prey animal. He marvled at Marals ability to understand the beast so clearly once more. " He really understands you, huh?" Yelp murmured, unable to keep the wonder from his voice. His tail gave another slow wag.
"That's." He searched for the word a beat. "...really cool."