still blue tides turned silver and cream as their backs caught the sun's light, rime and seafoam curling at the edges. delicate as lace. smooth as satin. sharp as a dagger blade tucked beneath the folds of a dress, effervescent in its ethereal beauty. that was what he saw in the girl's eyes; in eyes of a sculpted sea scape frozen in time, hiding untold depths neath crystal roots that glowed in every delicate detail. and yet, they were not quite frozen in time- that suggests a cold finality that she does not possess- no, more of a delay, a pause. a mask. but everyone wore masks, that he knew well, so he decided to leave that piece of intrusive information in the dirt and move past it with her at his side for the time being. a warm presence, a delicate bond threading together. a friend, he hoped.
and as she tasted his full name, rolling it off her tongue, testing it with a curiousity he was sure would greet him many more times after this, he still felt a warmth prickling up his spine. like it somehow made him feel special, like someone important for just a moment, and he loved every moment of it. "i..." he bit off his words, leaving nothing to the wind but a soft syllable that could have been a sharp breath for all he knew.
as she went on, the older boy listened with care, even as the tingling warmth faded to a more comfortable glow under his skin. her name- it was harepaw. though when harepaw gave him her name, it sounded bland, unwanted maybe. a little confused at this, his brow furrowed and pale whiskers twitched and shifted forward with renewed interest, "most cats call me howl anyway, or wolf, but i like howl better," a pause; a bated breath, "but, why do you say it like that? like... you're unhappy with your name? hare-paw... harepaw... it doesn't seem so bad to me." shades of blue seaglass met her calm baby breath blues, holding nothing but a childish sort of wondering that he had yet to mature out of.
"i mean, hmmm," craning his neck, he glanced over the scenery with a searching expression, settling on the little game trail they found themselves on. a curious tone hummed in the back of his throat for a beat and he cracked a grin at harepaw, "well, why not change it? if you like my name, then it wouldn't be hard to think of one for you... path of nimble hare?" a quick glance at her and he shook his head, "rabbit might be better. but what do you think of path of nimble rabbit for a name?" he waited for her reply, worry in his eyes though he was just trying to be helpful.
"oh, right! i come from the tribe of rushing waters. we- they live past darkclan territory, towards the mountains where w-they used to live," a knot curled in his throat and he swallowed shyly, hating how his heart was still pained by the mention of the tribe. anything that reminded him of mum. "can we not talk about the tribe right now? maybe later..."
