Another spring song {Forte}

Yiska grinned, still basking in the warm glow of her new personality, and swam to the shore. "You're welcome for that," he said. He shook his fur out, then looked around. The waterfall had made a deep impression in the earth. Steep, mossy walls rose up on either side of the waterfall while the stream continued on downhill. They were in a sort of glen, covered and surrounded by greenery. He chose a large rock covered in thick, squishy moss and stretched out on it, tired from his foray into the river, but he didn't sleep. He looked at Placid. She seemed to be thinking about something. He watched her and waited for her to come back to this time and place.

He smiled as she came back, blinking as if stepping into the sunlight from a dark place. He made more room for her on his rock as she laid down and he laid his head next to hers. "Let's stay here a while. It's so peaceful." In Yiska's mind, nothing compared to the peaceful forest sounds of birds, squirrels and the rustling of tree branches, but if he thought hard enough, he could pretend that the sound of this water that, minutes ago, he thought would kill them both, was the wind up on the mountains. A little more relaxing than a raging torrent. However relaxed or unrelaxed the brown wolf was, he felt he could go to sleep now with Placid beside him. But he didn't want to. Something had been nagging him since he had met her. He gathered his courage. "Placid, what were you thinking about just now?"

Yiska lifted his head and looked at her when he felt Placid's body go tense. He'd been afraid of this. He'd hit on a sensitive note and she just didn't want to talk about it. He was about to say "Forget it" when she started talking. Her story was tragic and he again put his face close to hers to try to comfort her. The deaths of loved ones were always hard to bear. He had had packmates die, and in a pack as close-knit as his old one, it had been like losing a brother or sister. But to lose three family members at once? Yiska could understand why it would have such an impact on the little wolf.

However, her next words made him happy. Ecstatic. He would have smiled but after hearing her story it felt inappropriate, so he drew back and looked at her as she finished, trying to say with his eyes what he needed to. "Placid," he began, "I feel the same way about you. You're sensible and level-headed--at least, you were up until today, when you were so playful. And...reckless." He chuckled, remembering their waterfall escapade. "I like both of those sides of you. Most people only have one side, and a lot of the time it's not a very pretty side. I'm so glad I found you in these huge mountains."

Yiska heard her words, but he could hardly make sense of them. It sounded almost like the roar of the waterfall. This great, beautiful wanted him as a mate? Wanderer Yiska? He had known this even would eventually come in some form or another. One that called him to stay for the rest of his life or to leave and never return. Had he left the vagabond's lifestyle far enough behind to relinquish it? He looked into Placid's eyes, but his mind was far away, in the forests of his home, in the distant prairies and shorelines and deserts. Was he really willing give those up, his dreams of adventures in exotic places? A vision came to him. He saw himself and his mate one day bringing their pups to this very pool to play in the water. He saw a thriving pack racing across the windy slopes in hot pursuit of elk and goats, reveling in the companionship and acceptance of their packmates. He and Placid had their own forest whenever they wanted it, and it had become clear today that adventures in her territory still existed. "Yes," he said, all these thoughts having gone through his mind in only a second, and the biggest smile it felt like he had ever smiled appeared on his face. "I absolutely will."

Yiska barely had time to smile at Placid before her eyes clouded and she jerked away from him and rolled down the hill. He jumped up but hesitated, confused, before anxiously bounding down toward the shore and waited beside the water, his eyes on the blurry white form that, thankfully, was surfacing. "Placid--" he began, but Yiska suddenly found himself underwater. He surfaced, coughing, and looked at the white wolf. Was she crazy? Had she lured him into her clutches only to reveal that she was utterly mad? He did his best to laugh convincingly along, but now he was worried. He swam the short distance to the bank and climbed out, his coat streaming water. It had just begin to dry out. "Why don't you get out of there," he suggested.

Yiska nodded in understanding. Visions. Not something he had ever encountered before, but he'd heard such strange things could happen and Yiska had in fact wondered if he'd meet a psychic in his travels. Of course, Placid just saw the past, but that seemed pretty potent to her. He couldn't imagine the grief she felt when those moments overcame her, and for Yiska it cast a nagging doubt on their new relationship. He felt bad that he had now sworn to love a still-grieving wolf, but he would not go back on his promise. Besides, maybe being with him would help her move on. Placid's words brought him relief and he laughed at her joke before returning her affection by reaching over her with his head and drawing her close to him with his chin. "Good," he said. "I wouldn't want to think it was me doing that to you."