003. the strength of the Wolf is the Pack

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

It's a meadow, surprisingly bright and green and the heat of an early spring sun is just beginning to warm the air.  The grass is tall and green and there are almost more flowers than blades of grass in the area, riots of bright color and pure white hanging in delicate bells or open bursts of petals.  Listening there's the faint drone of bees somewhere nearby, busy with their pollen and even fainter the hint of a stream somewhere, quick with the melt of snow from the mountains that take up the not that distant horizon.  Weathered, stunted trees form a wood of sorts nearby, full of cool shade and the old smells of moss and bracken and last years fallen leaves.  And Cloud -


Cloud is hard to find.


Until you notice the ears above the grass.  Or perhaps a stray breeze blows by and you catch the ripple of gray fur between the swaying blades.  He's lying on his stomach, chin resting across his arms and he's...


Well, he's a wolf.  Grey and furry and lean muscle with eyes the color of the waters off Costa del Sol.  And at the moment, he's watching the whispy clouds overhead, one ear twitching absently at a nearby bird that's trying to decide if he's invading it's nest space or not.

Comments

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Apparently she needs to step up her ice. And she does. There's a flash of light too pronounced, too defined to be a simple trick of the light off the reflective surface of the shards. They glow, and the ball pieces itself back together, stronger this time.

Let him try that one. It'll be like gnawing on something far harder than ice should ever be; she uses ice even as her weapon, after all. And of course, she's still showing off by the simple act of recreating her toy.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

There's a quick lashing of the tongue to get the ice pieces off before they decide to solidify with the rest of the ball and trap him and he glares hard at the Pure Evil that has taken form in front of him, looking vaguely insulted. Legs stiff, he'll circle the newly reformed ball carefully, nosing at it in mistrust. A tentative nibble with the very front of his teeth proves the evil non-crunchiness of it and he'll growl a low sound, forgetting for a minute that there's a world outside Evil Balls of Not Crunchy Ice.

Oh, it's ON now, evil ice ball. It's on.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Evil and ice are her specialties. It won't be easy! Ami leans back on her hands, an unusually relaxed pose for her, as she watches the wolf-Cloud with his new foe.

"Shouldn't you be strong enough to tear it apart again?" she suggests. This will, finally, be possible if he keeps trying at it. Even as he chews and snaps and nibbles, tiny bits are shaved away.

She plucks a flower without lifting her hand from the ground.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

His eyes lift at her voice and he gives her a dry look. Right. Evil Ice Ball is her fault. Crunchy ice is fun. Hard ice isn't. So he'll sit down for a minute with the ball at his feet and study it carefully, tail curled around his haunches, nose tipped down almost against his chest. Finally, apparently reaching a decision, he'll sneeze and stand up. Nosing around a bit, he'll finally settle on a spot. And start digging.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

"Going to bury it?" She doesn't seem to bothered by the idea. Instead, she stays where she is, idly plucking a few more flowers. She has a small bouquet for herself by now.

"And then what? It won't melt even if you do."

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

There's a snort in reply. Not the point, Ami. The wolf part of him understand perfectly. Out of sight is out of mind and chunks of rich smelling earth fly as he puts his back into the digging job.

Because he's a good dog, he makes sure the flying dirt isn't going in her direction.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She conjures another ice ball, this one ready to be shattered, and plays with it awhile; she sits up straight to be able to throw it up and catch it again in her long fingers. Something to do to pass the time, no doubt, until he is ready to pay attention to her again - or demand her own.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take him long. The Evil Ice isn't big and he's got some strong muscles in his shoulders and back. Picking it up, pleased with himself, he trots over and dumps it with dramatic finality in the hole, before turning around and kicking dirt over it. His nose is covered in dirt and so are his front paws with smatters of it on his chest and he looks far too pleased with the situation. Halfway through a kick, he notices the new ball in Ami's hands and his blue eyes rise to follow it as she tosses it. Behind him, his tails whisks lightly back and forth.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She fakes a toss towards the wolf-Cloud, not really expecting to fool him but simply to catch his interest. "Want to chase it? Fetch it?" She's feeling less lazy, and in another moment she'll be ready to run alongside him, across the fields and flowers that remind her of some of her pleasant times walking through the park with someone important to her.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

He jerks at the fake toss, less as an attempt and more to show he's ready. Blue eyes are bright and his tongue is lolling from the side of his open mouth. Sure, he's human somewhere and this would be ridiculous... but he's not human here and he has nothing to worry about but enjoying his time with her. Go ahead, Ami. He'll crouch down in front, tail wagging happily behind him and give a short bark. Play with him?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She's up in a second, running towards the ball; a race to get there first and if it's her, she'll pick it up and throw it again, further. If it's him, she'll just keep running. Leave the ball and everything else behind but the sun streaming its way towards the flowers and their heavy aroma on the air.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

The first time she gets to the ball first but the second time, he does, snatching it off the ground while in full run, long, gray legs working in smooth rhythm. It's good to just run. To simply enjoy the feel of muscles working and air rushing past and no worries in all the world. He keeps Ami in his orbit, running next to her, dashing ahead with his head down to pound out a hard rhythm before arching back around to join her again, falling behind to bound upward near her shoulder before falling back to do it again. The meadow goes on forever and there's nothing to stop them or break their plunge forward. There's only them and this forever spring afternoon.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She runs and runs and runs, feet pounding against the ground She's gone at this pace often, running to one battle or another or to investigate some mysterious situation.

How long has it been since she just ran for its own sake, because she wanted to?

Today, she can. The wolf-Cloud paces her easily, leaping to goad her to go quicker still, and while she's only a normal runner in waking life, here and now her legs feel as though they could keep moving forever.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

The wolf has no problem running forever. For once he's not running away from or toward anything. He's just running to run and in his forever dream there will never be an end to the meadow or a place that forces them to stop. The woman at his side is happy, really happy, and so - so is he. They can run as long as they want and even the melting ice in his mouth is a sweet taste. This isn't about obligation. It's about freedom. And he thinks that neither of them have as much of that as they think. Here, at least, they can steal it for themselves.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

This dream is entirely different from the nightmare of being trapped in the forest, going forever only to wind up caught and trapped in the same place. This is endless, boundless running, the exact opposite. She's not slow to appreciate it. Her mind lets loose and lets her go on running, careless of the flowers she tramples (that seem to bounce back easily anyway).

"Come on!" she calls out to the wolf-Cloud to goad him onward. "We can go quicker than this!"

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

Next to her, he gives a sound that's not exactly a howl but not exactly a bark either and his head goes down. Powerful muscles bunch and release and short claws dig deep into the soft soil for better traction. Intent, he pulses forward, pushing himself and it doesn't matter if in the waking world it would be impossible. In this dream, he has no doubt that she will keep up with him.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She's running faster than a human could. Now, she's running faster than a senshi could, with only the possible exception of the Senshi of Wind herself. She's running like a wolf. She doesn't transform into one, but it wouldn't surprise her at this point in their dream.

She puts on a burst of speed to bring her ahead of him. She wants to be chased; she's always wanted to be chased. To be worth chasing.

"Can you keep up? You'd better hurry - if you can!"

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

He has no problem chasing her now that she's in front of him and he lets out a yelping, happy sound as he bounds forward to catch her. She's fast, fast as any wolf, and he runs close at her heels managing to brush the back of her flying legs once or twice with his nose. Just to let her know he's there and he's not about to let her get away. Birds scare up from the nearby grass as they bolt past. Eventually the two of them will have to stop - but like so many things it will depend on Ami. She's the one in the lead and the only way Cloud could stop her would be to tackle her. He's not interested in hurting her though. He will however chase her to the very end of the world as long as she keeps running and again, his nose taps the back of a passing calf to show it.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

The tap barely makes her falter for a single step, before she has her stride again. She has no intention of letting him pull that little trick twice, and she angles herself just right to avoid it happening again for now.

All good things come to an end, but it won't be until the sun starts to set that Ami finally slows her pace, and flops down on her back on the ground.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

He's panting, tongue lolling happily from the side of his mouth as he skids to a stop and flops down next to her on his belly. The ice ball is long gone. He still has enough energy for his tail to wag though and his ears stay up and happy too. It was a good run. Nosing at the palm of her hand, he then huffs out a content sigh and traps it under his chin as he drops his head to the ground to relax. If that was the way he spent his entire day - it was a very. good. day.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She doesn't bother turning onto her side. She speaks to the sky with her words aimed at the wolf-Cloud.

"Next time, how about a fish?" She could use a day of swimming the way they'd run today.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

Her suggestion gets a happy huff from him and he'll wiggle his chin on her hand to show his approval. He's not used to being careless and carefree and today was... today was amazing. Unaware that it's going to be a very long time before he'll be able to think of freedom and laughter again, he'll snake out his tongue and lick her cheek in a quick brush. Yep. Fish sounds good.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She'll be there when the bad times come, too. Anything less just won't quite be possible. For her, though, it's the opposite; she's become able to relax a little, let go a little, for real, not just as a rare treat. Something has calmed inside her, a little bit.

"You're pretty bold," she teases him for the 'kiss', but she doesn't turn him away.

[findmyownreason.livejournal.com]

He woofs a soft sound at her, blue eyes slit with pleasure as his breathing starts to return to normal. The lick just seemed like the right kind of thing to do to the wolf side of his brain and he's not going to question it. He's happy, she's happy, and there's nothing here to take that away from either of them. After a minute more, he rolls onto his back, imitating her, paws politely tucked up against his chest and he looks at the sky and the way the setting sun gives the clouds colors of their own. He's been teased about his name often enough but here, now, even he has to admit that the white fluffy things above them are pretty. Softly, he repeats his content 'woof'.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Kaylee taught her to take the time to cloud-gaze. Now, it takes on a certain irony with 'Cloud' right beside her. Ami doesn't tease him, though; she's had enough teasing for the moment, from either of them.

Though his lack of speech makes her feel compelled to fill the silence, the urge seems to dissipate as the sun sinks slowly down.

"That one looks sort of like waves," she remarks. The sky as a sea.