Star Gazing [Me and Mousen]

[Jobie]

Every once in a while Phoebe enjoyed going out in the forest and just doing nothing. Yes, nothing. The little aelur loved observing the night sky with her assistant, Dove, but tonight she was just out to enjoy the forest. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the cool breeze ruffling her fur. She could also smell the pine trees and feel the dirt beneath her paws.

She had decided to leave Dove home on this night, mainly because she wasn't out to observe the stars. Phoebe didn't really need her on this familiar terrain anyway. She wandered her way up a small hill that opened up to the night sky. The trees provided the perfect view, if only she could see it. But she sat down with her tail curled around her and looked up at the sky, her sightless eyes open and staring.

She pictured the stars as she had seen them as a small kit. They were beautiful, and the aelur missed seeing them. She continued to look up at the sky, her attention fully absorbed in the memories.

[Mousen Heath]

It was a clear night, there was but a single cloud hanging in the deep sky. It sauntered lazily over the moon, obscuring what little light it cast into the forest, there was one advantage to this though. Up in the stratosphere a million pinpricks of light were visible, and it was hard for even Fenris not to wonder what else might be out there. Each pinprick was a sun, one which might support planets and worlds, counties and towns far beyond even his own imagination. On that particular night, he was not there to consider philosophy, but rather matters slightly closer to home.

He felt rather like his own shadow as he slunk through the darkness and it was hard to distinguish his deep blue pelt from the surrounding forest. Eventually, he came to the place he was looking for. It was one of his many thinking spots deep within the forest, and just about a secluded as you could get. Well... Most of the time. It was with a certain amount of incredulity and disbelief he came to the realization that there was already someone there: an aelur.

"... And what brings you to this spot? I doubt it's somewhere one chooses to... ah, socialize." He spoke quietly, but was easily heard within the near silent forest. "My apologies for disturbing your peace; I hadn't anticipated that this spot would already be taken."

[Jobie]

Phoebe heard the footsteps of another creature, but chose to ignore it until the voice spoke. She turned her head to where the voice came from. From his scent she could discern that he was a male jackalope. If she had to guess she would say that he was a spirit. She smiled kindly at him before she spoke. "Oh, um, I didn't know anyone else came up here," she offered. "I'm just remembering," she added with a shy smile. She didn't like to admit it, but she missed her sight very much.

"It's quite alright sir," she continued. "I don't mind the disturbance." Actually, she welcomed it a little bit. But she had come out there to be alone. Nevertheless, she wouldn't be rude to the jackalope. There was no reason to be, he hadn't been rude to her.

[Mousen Heath]

Fenris chuckled softly. "I did not know of anyone else who knew about this place either, an odd blind spot for someone such as myself, perhaps." Well, he could hardly be expected to know everything that went on within the forests, nor would he want to for that matter. "It's a good place for thinking things over." The spirit agreed. "You must remember the stars? From your youth? Sometimes, I think that your ancestors were not so wise after all... To give up their sight, but you might disagree with me. After all, I'm sure you'd know better than I."

He left the remark hanging in the air before continuing. "I am Fenris, of the forest. It's always a pleasure to meet one who knows the forest well enough to discover my favourite points within it." His voice was deep and rumbling, the accent implacable. He walked towards the aelur, and sat a few feet away from her, looking out toward the dark, star-strewn sky.

[Jobie]

"It is a nice spot," Phobe commented, wishing she could see them once again. She sighed sadly. "Yeah, they were my favorite thing when I was younger," she added. "I study them, with an assistant, of course," she continued. She wished she didn't need the jackalope's assitance, because she liked to be independent. But that wasn't the case.

"Hmph," she said to Fenris's comment about her ancestors. "Fools to give up eyesight for fortune telling. Heck, the most I've ever gotten in a small prediction, and only because I observe the stars. It's a shame that all aelurs are blind, we don't all like foretelling the future. It's a scary place." Phoebe found herself babbling to the spirit, and felt herself blush slightly.

She heard the jacklope move, and sensed the movement closer to her. She faced him, "Oh, I've heard about you. You're one of the spirits, yes?" She asked the question a little too eagerly. She had heard rumors of them, but never actually met them. "It's nice to meet you, nonetheless," she added. "I'm Phoebe."

[Mousen Heath]

"I see... My sister is blind too, she misses the lights of her village the most, I think. The stars too, because it's so cold we have very little cloud, unless it's snowing." There was a long story behind all of that, but it wasn't something he felt like revisiting today. He hadn't said anything, but he was finding it more and more difficult to blame Oddin for what had happened. He was a curiously difficult person to stay angry at.

Fenris understood this much, he'd never been able to predict anything himself, but Bjorn often had slight moments of intuition. 'Feelings' as it were. "I understand. I don't know many aelurs myself, nor why they made that choice, perhaps you could take it up with Oddin. I'm sure he knows." The aelurs were supposed to live at the peak, after all.

"I am a spirit, yes." He replied with a nod. "... Ah." The spirit said slowly after a moment, turning his attention away from Phoebe, his ears flicking about him. "Would you believe it? It seems it's a night for the aurora. Bjorn, my sister that is, she claims that the Borealis has a sound... 'Like singing, but not quite.' According to her, it's a faint sound that is infinitely more beautiful than any sound a living creature could make. I wouldn't know, I've never heard it. My hearing isn't that good, I'm afraid." He told Phoebe hesitantly, as he watched the green light wave across the sky like a ribbon.

[Jobie]

"Perhaps I will, once day," Phoebe commented. It had never occurred to her to ask why her ancestors had made the choice they had. It would be interesting to find out the answer, but now was not the time.

"The aurora?" Of all the nights Phoebe had been out with Dove the jackalope had not mentioned it. Perhaps she just didn't want to upset the aelur, or maybe they hadn't been out when it was yet. She closed her mouth and listened intently for the aurora. Fenris was right, or his sister was, the sound was very faint and even hard for her delicate ears to catch.

"It is very hard to make out," she commented excitedly. "But I can hear it, if I really listen for it. It's such a beautiful noise." Her face looked up at the night sky, but she could not see a thing. But she listened and heard the singing of the aurora borealis. She remembered what it looked like from her her younger days, of course. But listening to it was a whole other experience than seeing it had been.

[Mousen Heath]

Fenris smiled. "Ah, so you can hear it." He said quietly, feeling as though he shouldn't detract from the noise. "It seems to me that there is some beauty left in the sky for you, after all, Phoebe." Looking out towards the sky, he could only imagine what she young aelur was hearing, and she in turn could only guess at what he was seeing. Though, there did appear to be some middle ground for them both.

"I think you and my sister would be good friends, you know. She can be a little, ah, loud sometimes, but her heart is in the right please. Really, she is a much better person than I." He found himself rambling again. Mostly thinking aloud rather than talking to Phoebe. "She forgives more readily than I do... It's never good to hold grudges, you end up doing things you regret... Oh! My apologies. Sometimes my thoughts run away with me."

[Jobie]

A small smile played across Phoebe's face. "Yes, there is," she said. Until this evening, she hadn't really listened for sounds in the night sky before. She was glad to have run into Fenris, because now she could really listen for the aurora.

"I think I'd like to meet her," Phoebe said as Fenris continued to talk on. The others sister seemed like an interesting character to meet. "I'm sure you're a better person than you believe," she added as she continued to look at the sky. Fenris's voice seemed to be fading off, as if he was now not talking with her. She could still catch his words, but the apology was louder than the others. "Oh, it's quite alright," Phoebe said. She could sympathize with the jackalope, her thoughts often ran away with her as well, although she was better at keeping them silent.

((Sorry for such a wait, my muse has been dead-ish. -_-))

[Mousen Heath]

Fenris gave her a slight smile. "Thank you."

After a moment's thought, he turned to her again. "I'm sure that can be arranged, she will only be in the village. It's a short walk from here if you'd like to leave the aurora for awhile? The creatures of Brandr are quite the hospitable bunch, they love decorating their burrows in case of guests. They're also brilliant cooks, have to be in this weather. It's not like they can settle for the grass that's two foot below the snow." He chuckled slightly, remembering their wonderful stews and various other dishes that they were rather famous for. Perhaps he was just getting a little bit hungry after the trek up here. Well, even though he was a spirit he still had to eat!

"It's not that late yet and I'm sure that Bjorn wouldn't mind the disturbance."

[Jobie]

"Oh, really?" Phoebe couldn't hide the excitement from her voice. She was so used to meeting other creatures who were not blind, and to meet someone (other than another aelur) that was intrigued her. Her ears perked up and she smiled at the jackalope. "If you really think it's okay," she added as an after thought. After all, she didn't want to disturb Bjorn if she were sleeping.

"I haven't been to the village," she added a little shyly. Most of the time she just went straight to where she was going, and the village was either passed by or avoided somehow.

[Mousen Heath]

"Don't worry about it, Bjorn is quite the night owl." Fenris said with a slight smile. It was rare that Bjorn actually went to sleep before sunrise, some days. She had a lot to think about, and she found the quiet atmosphere of the night easier to do that thinking in. "It's all right, the village isn't far." His footfalls weren't silent as they had been on the way coming up here, it should have been no problem for Phoebe to follow.

She'd sensed her brother walking in to her territory, they were quite good at that sort of thing, as spirits. Bjorn, however had tuned the vague feelings she got whenever something unusual happened in her village to a fine art. She practically knew whenever someone was coming or going. She waited for him in the main path through the village, what she'd failed to notice was the creature behind him, but her steps soon did. Bjorn's ears pricked forwards. An Aelur, clearly. Someone else like her. She'd always felt an affinity for the creatures, having their vision there then having it taken away wasn't an easy thing to go through, even if they didn't always remember having their sight in the first place. Bjorn smiled as her brother came closer, he didn't often venture from the edges of the forest and it was exceptionally rare for him to bring visitors. The aelur must have really impressed him. "Hello brother, you've brought a friend with you." She stated.

"Yes, indeed I have. This is Phoebe. Phoebe, this is my sister, Bjorn."

"Hey, nice to meet you? Fenris is normally such a grump that no one goes near him, I'm surprised you've managed to put up with him for this long."

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