autumn hearts

@Leo

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She was floating through this land like a feather in the wind, going from place to place with no knowledge of where she was going but she found herself not fighting against the wind. She would go where it would take her yet happily she found herself in a grass land, trees here and there with mountain ranges to wonder upon. Kore wasn't a girl who found herself missing things, thinking that things happened for a reason and what happened was meant to. Yet... rarely she found herself missing the forest. The trees called to her so eagerly that the girl sighed wistfully as she moved, flouncing around on the tips of her toes as she thought that she would end up back within the clutches of the trees soon enough.

When, she did not know, but she would accept it heartily. Her lengthy tail curled against her back as Kore touched her nose down in the ground and snuffled through a pile of leaves, coloured so beautifully in Autumn that she smiled softly in appreciation. There was no scent of rabbit and though she was hungry, her stomach giving a gentle rumble in reminder, Kore supposed that no rabbit was meant to die today if she couldn't even scent one.

Another life saved, she supposed, though soon she knew she would need to seek out another trail. Lifting her nose beneath the pile of leaves, she threw her head up and giggled as the leaves danced around her as they made their way upon her head, spine and back to the grassy floor. ^^

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Note to myself, this is dated in November right as Leo left Nightwalker lands to find a pack of her own

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She had only been away for a few days since setting out on her own to find a pack that didn't smell like death and shrouded in a gloomy shroud of mist 24/7. Though the days were only a few, she was already missing her children @Anai and @Ceria. She kept wondering if they were keeping up with their grooming and if @Aries was doing his part to raise them for a little while on his own.

Speaking of that jerk - she found herself missing him too every now and then. As much as they butted heads, he did pull his weight near the end of it all. Showing he wasn't a total asshole when it came to children.

Perhaps once she settles down somewhere nice she would make haste to go and update them, see if either of their children would be willing to follow her back to the new pack she would find - and maybe... maybe extend the invitation to Aries too.

Tiptoeing through the autumn leaves that decorated the grounds, some sticking to her paws as moisture clung to them and her. This time of the year was always her favourite, the leaves matched her own coat in a brilliant warm array of a burst of colour. The autumn petrichor already smelled better out here than within the mist.

Speaking of bright colours, someone else bathed in the warmth of autumn - a younger girl with creams upon her coat that Leo's sunkissed own lacked. She was playing in the leaves. No pack was upon her as she smelled like any other loner from this distance - such a carefree soul in a dangerous world for loners brought a small smile onto the drama queen's lips. “Is this your first autumn?” She was young, at least from what she seemed - it was a safe assumption judging by looks.

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She was never really alone, Kore knew, for the sprites, Gods and fairies were always around yet they were well hidden. They had the ability to remain out of sight or disguised, but wolves had no such skill. Someone came forth, a question falling from their lips and Kore smiled knowingly as she cast her mismatched gaze towards the sunkissed maiden, fur ruffled from her play. "In this life, maybe," she wagered, "I'm sure I have experienced it in another." Though Kore could not recall this, she had always believed in reincarnation and the fairies were not known to let go of those that they favoured. Forever was she tethered to their world, for better or for worse. The girl turned through the leaves to peer to the older woman, ears cuffing forward with interest, "do you want to play, Sunkissed?"

Kore, despite her age, sometimes acted older, wiser -- like she had truly an older soul in her body and at other times... well, she certainly acted under 2. "It is the best part of Autumn. All the leaves, the fairies will join us I'm sure," her voice carried an airy tone as she glanced to the tree tops, the grass and the heaps of leaves -- they could not be seen but she was sure that they were here, enjoying the youth of autumn alongside her. ^^

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Leo was going nowhere and so to stay here and chat with the yearling about whatever wasn't really taking any time out of her day. If anything it made the sickness from missing her children and their little rambunctious ways a little easier. “So you believe in reincarnation huh?” The thought was amusing enough to have Leo sit for a moment. Take a load off and hear this little woman talk. “What do you think you were before this?” The mind of a child, for Leo she was there herself not too long ago.

“I remember thinking I was a beautiful Phoenix in a life prior to this. Golden feathers shinning in the warmth and beauty of the morning sun.” Throwing her head back as though she was already basking in the warm golden light. Imagining her wings spreading out with glittering gold and reds just as she was painted now.

“No thank you, a little too dirty for my liking.” Turning her blues back toward the girl playing amongst the leaves, Leo was once as imaginative and playful before but now she had a figure and appearance to uphold. And rolling around in dirty leaves with the ground was not on the agenda any time soon.

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Kore gave a soft hum as she tilted her head, a knowing smile playing on her lips. "Something like that," the girl replied loftily, her mismatched eyes glinting as she wondered what the sun-kissed maiden before her might have been once upon a time. The older woman's question had her casting her gaze towards her, an intrigued expression settling upon her youthful features, "oh, I think I might have been a Griffin." Kore knew not many would know much about Griffins, if they did at al, her Elders and her culture more advanced in lore than many others that she had come across. "In my culture, Griffins symbolise much more than being a beast."

It was the other wolf's own words that had Kore blinking curiously, enchanted by her own thoughts of her own past life. "I would agree," Kore mused as she eyed the golden-furred woman throw her head back as if she were lifting her majestic fire wings to the sky and about to take flight. "My Elders told me tales of the Greek and how the Phoenix was the immortal bird that would be reborn, never truly dying," Kore's smile was vibrant as she wagged her tail, happy to be in the company of someone who had the same thought process as her regarding reincarnation. "Rebirth associated with the sun and by the beautiful sun-kissed fur that you wear, I would be daft to think you would have been something else," she giggled, soft and delighted. "How unique," she breathed, thinking that perhaps the wolf before her had a touch of the Phoenix left inside her after all.

The girl giggled, "I am sure I might find something you will enjoy to do with me." Dirt was certainly not a bother to Kore yet she knew others did not like it and really, the sun-kissed woman looked beautifully groomed so she was not overly surprised to learn she didn't like playing with the autumn leaves. "I hope to find many who will enjoy my company so that I might bring more magic to the world," Kore sighed wistfully, mismatched gaze drawing back to the canopies. ^^

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“A griffin! I would have never guessed!” She squealed lightly, playfully as though she was told something completely unfathomable! Shocking! “Sounds pretty terrifyingly majestic, what did they symbolize for you?” A part of her was intrigued by this girl. So full of imagination and pure-hearted childlike nature. The girl wasn't annoying by any means with her wild imagination but more... entertaining to say the least. Like she could sit here and listen to the girl talk all day about what she saw in the world and not have a problem with it at all.

When the girl started talking about Leo and how she saw herself as a phoenix in life before, well, Leo liked the compliments. It had been a while since she felt truly seen and bathed in the torrent of positive feedback she was getting. “Oh darling say less!” She'd say while fluffing up her own cheeks and fur around her collar in a sort of bourgeoisie grooming. “You'll make me blush~” Completely unaware that maybe the way she spoke wasn't something the young woman might be able to catch.

“Yeah? I wouldn't mind something cleaner if you can figure something out.” She was adorable and Leo wondered if her own children would like this one if she were to bring them around one day. Definitely better than the greaser and bullies where Aries called home. Certainly, her children would become strong but... hopefully not disgusting like they were. “I think you can, do you have an idea of how to do that?”

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Kore was enchanted by the other quite easily, from her fiery fur to her illuminating personality, her mismatched gaze twinkling with mirth and prickling with acknowledgement -- they were meant to meet. "Duality, strength, gentleness, loyalty," the girl responded soft, "the Griffin is said to be the perfect balance of light and darkness." Which fitted Kore just fine, really, for she was capable of both and harnessed the middle ground quite naturally. The girl was happy the other seemed to take some sort of interest, keen to question the meanings.

She could not help but giggle in the way the other responded, delighted and perhaps exuberant but thoroughly approving of the words Kore graced her. "I think perhaps less is not truly your desire," she cooed softly, playfully, wondering if the other had an ego that needed to be stroked with affection. Kore could do that, especially for the Phoenix. It only served to be accurate thus far, didn't it? Though Kore was not a girl who would fluff up delightedly with compliments, she knew the importance of giving them - and receiving them.

"Oh, they will find their way to me," Kore stated easily, knowingly. "And if I am drawn from my usual path with no real decision, then I know I am being steered where I need to be. To who I need to find," Kore believed everything to happen for a reason, that the fates knew who she needed and who needed her. "I will create my Pack and those that call it their home will have been destined to find me and I them," she breathed, her smile curling on her lips almost secretly. "Not everyone believes in God's and Fates but they are me and I am them," though she would never force one to believe, they would need to accept her for who she was, the same as she would accept them. Inviting them to her culture was just that, an invitation but one that could be declined. Declining it did not mean they wouldn't have a place with her but it would require respect, no matter.

"It is the same way I believe you were meant to stumble across me, Phoenix."
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“How interesting.” The sunspot would think over the information shared about Griffins. Darkness and light, what kind of darkness could a girl like her have to balance out this blinding brightness Leo could see? Maybe that was the balance she was speaking of, the darkness was just enough to tether her to the ground so that her imagination and light-heartedness didn't have her floating off to space. “I can see it.” She'd finally say with a smile of her own; convinced of her own reasoning for it made enough sense to continue.

The girl saw right through her and Leo beamed. It wasn't like she was really hiding it either. “No, I adore attention~” If that wasn't already obvious. Attention, gossip, drama, all of it. She was a high school girl who never really got out of that phase in her life. Boys, beauty, popularity, she needed it all.

The girl then spoke about a pack of her own, drawing Leo's attention further. “You plan on making your own pack?” But she is so young. “Perhaps you're right about that, colour me intrigued!” The girl was young and possibly completely not ready to make her own pack and lead others who were most likely going to be all older than her. Even if it was just a pack of youngsters who haven't seen their first heat yet; it sounded very risky. “Tell me all about it.”

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She had no idea.

Kore hadn't ever a reason to be anything other than her dreamy self recently, since she had first woken up here, really -- but it was of no doubt that if she had to, she would. Perhaps the Phoenix saw more than what meets the eye, that she looked beneath or at least didn't shut the door on the possibility. It was an appealing quality, in line with how she had spoken of her past life. The greedy part of the girl hoped that this would not be their only interaction, finding the open-minded woman to be of ease to talk to.

She couldn't help but giggle as Leo beamed and declared her adoration for attention. "I'll remember that," the girl cooed with a grin, toothy and bright as she wagged her tail. She had plenty to give and it wasn't like the Phoenix would be undeserving, would it? Though Kore had certainly skipped that stage, there was a rather large possibility it would happen with enough time spent with the Phoenix.

"It has always been my destiny," she stated simply. "I was lost for a while when I woke up here after my brother murdered me, housed with a Pack who's leader found me, fresh and spluttering water. I was only little," the girl mused as she spun her tale delicately. "My path has always been written and the first stop has been met and passed. Now I am walking to the path of my Pack, where home shall be and those that want to, will be welcome," though open it may be, it wasn't going to be for any and all. "My home holds my culture, my knowledge, I intend to bring it here with me. To teach anyone who would want to and simply let it house those that don't," Kore did not remove her attention from Leo, thinking that despite some air of secrecy she would want in the future, it was not needed with her.

This was the start, she could feel it. "It is a Sanctuary where the Old Magicks can come alive, where the fairies can fly and the sprites can dance," she spun then on petite paws, her expression youthful and full of life. "It will... not hold everything to be seen. Somethings are better limited, better to be held close to ones breast and used when and if they are required," Kore tilted her head, looking to see how the Phoenix reacted to that. Like herself, the Pack would be balanced. Somethings held close and dear. ^^

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Leonna was listening along to the girl as she spoke of her past, the pack she planned and all those cute little fairy details - only at the mention of her brother murdering her was tossed around so casually that it took Leo a second to fully grasp what was said. “Oh — Oh my that sounds awful.” She was taken aback, fur bristled in shock like a cat who found a horrible cucumber sitting a little too close. This girl had some vivid dreams! It must be it, right? How else could she be sitting here right now in front of Leo talking to her?

Was... Leo talking to a ghost?

No, that's absolutely crazy. The girl just had a very bad dream and thought it was real. Without her parents to tell her what nightmares were and how real they can seem, that had to be the reason for this!

“Your pack sounds nice.” She would try to focus on that now instead of the story that she was talking to a living dead girl. “Do you have anyone following you yet? If not I would be happy to be the first!” She lit up at the thought, smoothing her nerves from the shock by the reminder of fairies and sprites as though she was a child again being told stories from her mother way back when.

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The idea of death was nothing to be gasping over for the girl, it was spoken of and taught from a young age in her birth-pack, so despite it being momentarily and quietly sad that her brother had killed her, it was nothing she sugar coated. It had happened and what was there to dwell on? The Phoenix was shocked by the standing of her fur and the brief stutter of her words and she smiled softly, "it was meant to happen, just as I was meant to arrive here after." The girl divulged, looking to reassure her. The idea that she had come back to life somewhere new was perhaps new to the Phoenix but she would not worry; it had happened to others. Even if it had not, Kore would not deny it had happened to her.

Nice, she said, and Kore giggled. Some elements certainly were. Kore's grin brightened and blossomed into something else entirely, welcoming and vibrant all at once. "The first you are, Phoenix," the girl declared as she drew forward, bouncing on her pads as she leaned to touch the edge of her nose to Leo's. "Many things await us," she promised, her eyes twinkling. ^^

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