A white fox and a pale gryphlet, young still and the size of a small cat in spite of her snow-leopard body and snowy owl head, wings, and feathered foretalons, made their way through the Greatwood with unhurried steps. Well. The fox was unhurried, a long-legged, lanky creature with blue eyes and a silken coat. The gryphlet was a young creature, given to pouncing and playing as they journeyed, chasing beetles and leaf-shadows upon the loam of the forest floor.
They were an unusual pair to begin with, made more unusual by the pale green cloth bag that the fox carried in his mouth as they traveled. The Woods had led them a circuitous path, but they had Arduinna's blessing and the lorekeeper was getting the knack of travel beneath the boughs of the Wildwood now, and so their path eventually, almost without them realizing it, led to the mist-draped trees of Ludo's Woods.
When last they had come this way they had been alone, curious and reverent, and their prayers were met with the soulguide's mischievous presence at the shrine. Now, however, white ears pricked forward as the sound of shuffling steps caught the fox's attention, and he mentally called his companion closer to his side as his own dainty steps slowed. Curiosity was his defining vice, and it would be the end of him one day. Perhaps even this day... but still he turned from his path to investigate the source of the sound.
The sight that greeted him was curious but familiar: a grave, an offering, a life left behind to mourn the dead. Thought not, he was glad to see, with tears of loss, but rather with a smile of joy for a life well-lived and well-loved. From the edge of the clearing the fox set his burden down gently and bowed his head in respect, the gryphlet at his side peeping softly in curiosity before being nudged into better manners and echoing his pose.
They were an unusual pair to begin with, made more unusual by the pale green cloth bag that the fox carried in his mouth as they traveled. The Woods had led them a circuitous path, but they had Arduinna's blessing and the lorekeeper was getting the knack of travel beneath the boughs of the Wildwood now, and so their path eventually, almost without them realizing it, led to the mist-draped trees of Ludo's Woods.
When last they had come this way they had been alone, curious and reverent, and their prayers were met with the soulguide's mischievous presence at the shrine. Now, however, white ears pricked forward as the sound of shuffling steps caught the fox's attention, and he mentally called his companion closer to his side as his own dainty steps slowed. Curiosity was his defining vice, and it would be the end of him one day. Perhaps even this day... but still he turned from his path to investigate the source of the sound.
The sight that greeted him was curious but familiar: a grave, an offering, a life left behind to mourn the dead. Thought not, he was glad to see, with tears of loss, but rather with a smile of joy for a life well-lived and well-loved. From the edge of the clearing the fox set his burden down gently and bowed his head in respect, the gryphlet at his side peeping softly in curiosity before being nudged into better manners and echoing his pose.
