Horizon

It seemed the rain was petering out as he ventured out towards the geysers.

But the fog was relentless. Orion was surprised by how absolutely thick it was. It made navigating the trees difficult, though now he was here, less so. He could hardly see the blistering rockets of water bursting from below ground, though he could hear them, and feel the steady increase of heat beneath his paws, warning him to veer his path.

The warm stone was nice in the cooling early evening air. A warning of the impending winter. Out on the hills a few days ago, he could see the faintly snow capped peaks of the mountains and it sort of gave him a strange hollow feeling in his gut. The same feeling that settled now, in the thought of impending winter. The thought of impending loneliness. Ugh, stop it.

He would convince himself it was sheer instinct ramming it into his brain and then into his gut. It wouldn’t change anything, of course. Instinct would drive him to follow his nose and then his brain would go into overdrive against itself, telling him to make the proper choice. But…what if he didn’t? What winter came and went and there were pups at the end of it, and a wolf he hardly could remember the name of? Hardly a happy ending. That wasn’t the kind of father he wanted to be.

Anyway, he smiled in spite of himself and settled into a comfy horizontal position, warming his belly and waiting for the sun to disappear.

It had been a minute since Rabbit had been to the Geysers, and he found that now that the rocky terrain was in sight, his paws easily leading him along a well worn path. The water broke through the surface with its usual roaring, but Rabbit was all but used to it now.

He gave a chipper little yip as his excitement grew and grew, only growing more when suddenly there was another wolf within his gaze. He had seen the wolf multiple times before, and with a wag of his tail, he went to meet with Orion.

“Hello, Orion!” Rabbit called out.

Upon hearing the voice of another, Orion thought he might feel that startled prickle of surprise, and yet he didn’t. Perhaps he had grown used to the idea that there were far too many wolves around here to leave one alone for too long. He had his moments of silence. But they were typically short-lived. But, Orion liked Rabbit. It had been some time since he’d spoken with him, but that just made seeing him now all the better.

“Hello, Rabbit!” Orion woofed back, pushing himself up into a sit.

Orion greeted him back, and Rabbit closed the space between them with a quicker pace so that they may speak on an easier note, rather than yelling across to one another. “What is Orion doing so far out today?” Rabbit inquired once he grew closer.

“Just taking a long walk. Haven’t been out here in a bit,” He told Rabbit, keeping an eye on the geyser nearest to him. It was still a few yards away, but he didn’t want to get himself startled in the midst of the conversation. Stray scalding drops might find their way over, too. Didn’t wanna risk it.

“Plus, it’s nice and warm out here. What’re you doing so far from the Caverns?” He countered, playfully at his Kin.

Oh, Orion was just taking a walk, and Rabbit could totally relate to that because he was doing the same thing! Also it really was warm out here, and that was just perfect, because soon the whole forest would be cold, not that Rabbit was complaining, but being warm was nice. It produced a strange cozy feeling, and reminded him of home with mama.

“Rabbit is doing the same.” Rabbit replied back, arching his back out in a stretch.

“Rabbit hasn’t spoken to Orion in a long time. Is anything new with Orion?”

Figures. Orion chuckled a little and looked out at the hills and the forests in the distance. Rabbit was just so kind. Orion never really understood him, but he was trustworthy and just…kind. As though there wasn’t a single terrible bone in his body.

“I went to visit north of here. Help a dad find his kids,” He wondered if Bali and Rota had found them yet. “But other than that…Not really. I’ve been thinking about wandering to the Glen.” It had been ages since he had visited Cree’s grave. Well, really not since he had first seen it. It was with a clearer mind that he would visit again. But…well, that wasn’t something he would tell Rabbit, so he would need to come up with an excuse pretty fast.

Orion was truly the best for helping the father. He could never imagine what he was going through, cause losing a child was never fun. Rabbit remembered one time when he had gotten lost and Mama had been just worried sick. She had searched for him all day and all night, and when she found him…

Rabbit involuntarily shuttered. He would never run away again.

Orion was going to the glen though, and Rabbit remembered just how cruel they had been. Would they be as cruel to Orion as they had been to him? The leader certainly hadn’t seemed like she was changing any time soon.

“The glen is dangerous though?” Rabbit inquired, more of a question than a statement.

Orion knew of their broken alliance with the Brotherhood, and yet he couldn’t believe that they would prevent him from visiting the grave of a friend. Especially after burying her within their pack lands. Seemed cruel.

“It’s just to visit a friend. Or I hope they’re still a friend.”

That felt like a decent enough angle, narrowing avoiding the topic of death. “I couldn’t imagine they would keep me from saying hello.”

If it was to see a friend Rabbit hoped that what Orion said was true. It was never good to be prevented from seeing a friend, and he could not imagine what it would feel like to have it done to him.

“What friend does Orion have there?” A friend of Orions was a friend of Rabbit’s after all.

“A…dead friend,” Orion was dumb, thinking Rabbit wouldn’t ask. He was a friendly wolf, sociable and giving. “She’s buried there.”

His demeanor dropped, tail, gaze, ears. He didn’t want news to spread. The slip of a name. An unfortunate happening. It was better than spreading more sadness.

A dead friend? Rabbit’s ears immediately went down, and a sad looked crossed his yellow gaze. He knew what death was, and he knew nothing good about it, for once you were gone you never came back, and that was a terrible thing. “Rabbit is very sorry for Orion’s friend.” Rabbit whispered, wishing there was more that he could say, but knowing there was nothing he could.

“She didn’t deserve it, no matter…” His voice trailed off and he exhaled, casting his sad demeanor aside to smile. That was enough. Plain and simple.

“You don’t need to hear my sob story. Tell me what you’ve been doing,” because most anything was better than Orion describing, in detail, his feelings.

Rabbit shook his head, sorry all the same. Orion seemed to wish to move on to a different topic, and Rabbit was more than happy to abide, for he never liked to force another wolf to think about sad things.

“Rabbit has just been exploring, and thinking.” He replied, looking off towards one of the exploding holes.

Orion was trying to think about the difference between friends and Kin. Though not family by blood, they were certainly family by association. And it seemed odd to call your entire family your friends. So perhaps friends were another, more personal level to be achieved. There are certain things he simply wouldn’t share with his packmates (i.e. Cree). But to be friends, it seemed most important to be honest with one another.

Unfortunately, Rabbit did not fall under the friend category. It felt cruel to say, but maybe it was redeemed by the fact they were, essentially, family.

“Thinking about what?” Orion asked, looking over at Rabbit. Something about hearing the man “thinking”, seemed…strange. Ominous. He didn’t know much about him, so it could mean any number of things.

Rabbit shook his head. He wasn’t thinking about much, just considering where he was in life, and how mama would see him now. Would she be proud of him, or would she be disappointed in the lives he had taken since his time here? Rabbit wasn’t quite sure, and although he doubted he would ever see mama again, it still worried him.

“Just about how Rabbit has been living until now.” Rabbit didn’t know how else to explain it.