Pure Moonlight (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"Come, sit and I'll fix you each a bowl," the tiny woman ushered them on to an open space in the grass where Kreston gladly settled. It was only a couple minutes before Mrs. Aoli returned with two large bowls that were filled with baked venison, greens, potatoes, and slices of apple on the side. She pressed a small scroll into Kreston's hand, speaking to him in Lunar. Kreston smiled and nodded, kissing her cheek before she left. That must've been the favor he mentioned she fed people for.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena looked down into the bowl, her mouth watering at the smell that greeted her. She had to admit that this place was amazing and she was glad that Kreston had finally talked her into coming with him. She began eating as Aoli came back and pressed a sheet of paper into Kreston's hand, speaking to him softly before she kissed his cheek and left.

"We should probably go find Ruben after this. I'm sure your family has other things to do then watch him." She said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

"We'll see if we can find him. Knowing Dad, he probably took Ruben fishing," Kreston smiled softly. "Those two love each other so much." He leaned over to kiss her cheek before they tucked into the meal. Afterward, he brought their bowls to the outdoor kitchen and Mrs. Aoli wished them well. On their way, Kreston slid the paper under a door along the street marked with a Lunar 'H' and a carved image of a large pine tree. He explained as they went that it was a request for more firewood from the head lumberman whose men worked outside the village.

They came back to the little lake at the end of the valley and, as Kreston had guessed, found Ruben and his grandfather there, fishing.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena kissed her son as soon as she saw him, ruffling his thick fur as she sat down on the bank beside him. "Have any luck with the fish this morning, love?" She asked him, glancing at the bundle of fish that they had already caught.

 

[KieranSoares]

"They're mostly grandpa's," Ruben nodded.

"They might be, but the biggest are his," Volgo smiled as he rose to stretch. "Dayja sent us out to fish because we were getting on her nerves with a few little shenanigans."

"You mean nearly setting the kitchen on fire again?" Kreston raised an eyebrow.

"You sound just like her. Sometimes I wonder if you're on my side."

"Never," Kreston chuckled and scooped Ruben up. "And how about you? Setting fire to the baking again?"

"It was grandpa's idea," Ruben said quickly.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, you know what that means, right?" Selena asked, looking at her son as Kreston picked him up. "You get to go apologize to Dayja and help her remake anything that you might have destroyed the first time, Ruben."

 

[KieranSoares]

"We only burnt a loaf of bread," Ruben insisted.

"So you're going to help her make more," Kreston smiled to himself and headed for the house. Volgo watched them go and grinned to Selena.

"I love that boy... but I'm afraid I'm a bad influence," he picked up their bundle of fish and followed.

 

[heartofcourage]

"You aren't a bad influence, Volgo." Selena said as she walked along the path back to the home with the wolf. "Ruben needs to be a little boy that gets into mischief. He spent too much time being afraid of his own shadow."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Hard to believe he was ever like that... he's practically the leader of the pack around his new friends his age," Volgo smiled, taking her arm in his own. "He might've been shy... but he's a natural leader, and it's easy to mistake his steadfastness for stubborn pride. I'm... guessing he gets that from you, considering what Kreston's told me about you."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Well, I will admit that I can be stubborn from time to time." Selena said as she looked at Volga with a grin. "My entire family is. Ruben reminds me of my youngest brother Ashien. He was so shy when he was little, but now he's the kind of man that anyone would be proud of."

 

[KieranSoares]

When they arrived back at the house, Ruben was making up bread dough, and even though he wasn't too messy, the flour that got on his fur shone clearly against the inky black. Dayja was watching over him with a small smile of a woman clearly adoring of her grandson. She almost looked too young to be a grandmother, whereas Volgo looked the part.

When Ruben finally put the bread in the oven, he cleaned up the table and his fur before taking up a broom to sweep the kitchen for his grandmother.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena watched as Ruben worked meticulously, his focus on remaking the bread that he had burned with his grandfather. When he was finished baking and sweeping the floor, Selena kissed her brow and beamed proudly at her son.

"Thank you, Ruben. Now, you can help your grandfather scale those fish. Your Da is one of the best cooks when it comes to fish that I've ever met in my life." Selena said, looking at Kreston and winking at him.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Where do you think I learned it from?" Kreston nodded toward Dayja as Ruben raced outside to help Volgo.

"Oh, hardly. It's simple, that's why it's so good. People try to be fancy and ruin it," Dayja insisted.

"I think you just like doing things your own way," Kreston kissed his mother's cheek and she flicked his ear with a grin.

"Damn right I do."

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena smiled as Dayja teased her son. She hadn't grown up in a household where her parents teased one another. Her mother had always showered the family with love, but her father was distant an cold. It was foreign to her that there could be so much love in a house.

"Dayja, is there something that I can do to help you? I feel strange not having anything to do around here." Selena asked the wolf, simply trying to make herself more at home there among Kreston's people.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Keeping Kreston in check is big enough a job on its own," Dayja commented with a smile. "But if you'd like, I need someone to help me tend the garden. Volgo's been avoiding it so he can go to the brewmaster's tavern with his friends."

"Oi, now," Volgo put on a hurt expression, crossing his arms, but with a kiss on the cheek from his wife, he smiled as he watched her head outside.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Just show me the way and what you want." Selena said as she followed Kreston's mother outside, looking over the tidy garden that was growing next to the house. "It's a lovely garden. It reminds me of the one in the keep at Inverness."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Just pick what little is ready and pull the weeds," Dayja told her with a smile. She, meanwhile, took a pair of shears to groom away dead leaves and whatnot, but also a strange honey-colored liquid in a clay pot that Selena saw her dab on the bits of the plant that she cut from. It was a healing mixture made specially for plants developed over the werecreatures' long existence.

It being so early in spring, little was ready, but there were bits here and there. Dayja took her time, which was something that Selena had begun to notice about the werecreatures. They never rushed anything if they could help it. They were quite content to take an hour to do a job slowly and very well, as opposed to fifteen minutes, quickly and well enough to pass. Especially where nature was involved, they spent all the time they could among the green and life.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena went to work in the garden, pulling the little vegetables that were ready for a harvest. She placed them all in a basket at her feet before she also got to work on the weeds that were growing under the plants. Ruben returned after a while, telling her all about how he had just helped his grandfather scale the fish to prepare them for dinner.

"You're a good lad." Selena said, kissing her son on the forehead as she gave him the basket of vegetables. "Take these to your grandmother. Then I think it's time that you got started on your lessons. We've been neglecting them too long because of the move."

 

[KieranSoares]

Even though Ruben did enjoy his lessons, he was becoming more and more like a usual young boy in that he felt being outside was much more fun than writing his letters inside. Once he was gone, Volgo stepped out, having heard Selena. "You know, we have a teacher here in the valley that we send our children to until they're fifteen or so, if it interests you."

 

[heartofcourage]

"It's becoming more difficult to run his lessons on my own. He doesn't have as much interest in school as he once did." Selena said softly as she went back to her duties. "But I suppose that's expected as he gets older. I suppose going to a school where he can be around others would benefit him."

 

[KieranSoares]

"And it'd give you more time with Kreston," Volgo smiled knowingly. "And, perhaps more time to acquainted with the people before we move and everything's shuffled around."

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena looked at Volgo with a small little grin on her lips as he suggested that sending Ruben to school would give her more time with Kreston.

"Sounds as if you are anxious for more grandchildren." She said with a smile as she turned back to her duties.

 

[KieranSoares]

"I'm not the only one," Volgo shrugged with an easy smile. "But honestly, I'm just glad he's happy, and that you chose him. He needs a woman like you." With that, he made his way back inside at an easy stroll.

 

[heartofcourage]

Selena worked until her task was done and she went home to work on some things around Kreston's place. She had all of the sheets out to wash before the boys returned home and she kissed them both in turn.

"Did you get your lessons done, Ruben?" She asked him as she hung the sheets to dry, taking the pins from her son as he offered them to her.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Yeah, but Dad didn't make it easy," Ruben shot his father a look between 'you're going to be in trouble' and 'you're going to get me in trouble too'.

"I just thought you looked uninterested, so I made it more fun," Kreston shrugged as if it were nothing.

"You stole my book and I had to chase you to get it back!" Ruben laughed.

"Made it more interesting, didn't it?" Kreston grinned and ruffled his son's fur before giving Selena a wink.