Once upon a time there was a railroad line

When he sank to the ground, he landed on a soft bed of pine nettles just at the edge of a beautiful forest. He'd come to just as he'd been set down gently, but had stretched out his long, feathered legs as though to reach back into the skies so that he might soar some more. But...Instead, he was set gently onto the earth, and as soon as his white feet touched the snow, he felt himself experiencing weight for the first time. 

He was no longer weightless- and the memory of what that was like faded away eith every breath that he took. Gingerly, he took a few steps and ended up stumbling forward, as he'd moved with steps too assured, too quick for one who was experiencing his new state for the first time. He bent his knees, tested the strength of his long, beautiful limbs- and leapt up into the air. 

He rose several feet into the air, but hesitated only long enough to realize that he would not hover, and then gracefully fell back to land on his feet again. Gravity- it had him now. 

He could still feel the cool, atmospheric air in his pelt so he shook it out- and it felt as though as the warmth settled in, he lost something. Something like a whisper, or a thought, or a memory. He wasn't sure what it was, but with that loss came an understanding that amused him. 

He was no longer a pilot, capable of traversing both the mortal and immortal realms. Wherever it was that he was now, it had the beauty and brightness of being above ground, and not in another realm but...Even on the "topside" as he called it, he should have been...Lighter. 

It amused him to suddenly be shackled with mortal constraints- but he did not mourn the shift in state long. For he began to frolic, and within an instant he found freedom and power in the long legs he had, that could carry him, send him whirling over the snow, whipping past trees and soaring over snowdrifts with effortless grace.

His winged heels were only feathered now, but still- he was as fleet as the breeze, and that was a welcome consolation.
the staff team luvs u

For all anyone knew, Persephone included, it was all chances and whims that had lead her here today, exploring the reaches of the forest that she was coming to love so dearly. She knew @Hades was somewhere near by, perhaps with @Poseidon, but other than that, the little honey wolf was on her own, traversing the forest with a bounce to her step. The prospect of staying here had fully settled in and, while she wasn't going to get her hopes up too far, Persephone's mood had brightened considerably.

She was in the middle of climbing a fallen evergreen when she saw the red blur, startling backwards and off the tree trunk with a light yelp. Into the snow she landed, thankful that it had not all melted away as she found herself unharmed, for the most part. Just spooked, was all.

---

+1 formation

the staff team luvs u

He dashed and zipped, careening through the woodlands with a bounding stride, occasionally veering off in a different direction simply on a whim, enjoying the taste of the wintery air on his tongue. Such speed did not come without effort, of course, and he panted with great, deep breaths as he flitted along, eventually settling into a lope meant to cover distances without exhausting him fully. Occasionally he'd give in to the urge to sprint- and it was on one of those sprints that he accidentally surprised a fellow creature, enough to cause it to tumble off of the fallen tree it had been climbing. 

His tall, pointed ears swivelled at the sound of the soft thump and exhale, and he whirled around to trot toward the tree. There were wolf pawprints in the area, and a scent that he recognized immediately. With a movement deft and swift, he leapt from the ground and landed to perch atop the fallen log she had tumbled off of, and crouched- looking down at her with an excited grin. "Sephy!"
the staff team luvs u

Sephy!

Was that --

Her neck craned, peering up at the copper colored wolf that stood upon the very tree she'd just fallen from. A girlish squeal left the little honey wolf almost immediately, who scrambled to her feet to pounce on him in her excitement. “Hermes!” A bright laugh left her as she stood and pranced around him, tail waving happily at the discovery of her friend. The fact that she remembered him completely slipped her mind; he was one of the few others that she'd interacted with semi-frequently, his work often causing him to cross paths with her and Mother.

“Hi!! When did you get here?!”
the staff team luvs u

While the evergreen forest was unfamiliar to him, he'd seen enough of them that it could have been like any other. Now, considering how much travelling Hermes had done in his lifetime, and how much it had been expected of him to know one forest from the next, he could tell that this wasn't a forest he'd been to before. He would've known these trees, and he would've known this fallen log. The mortal realm hadn't kept much secrets from him, in all the time he spent speeding from one place to the next. And there were fallen logs everywhere, sure- but when it came down to having to track down a very specific wolf in a very specific forest in a very specific den? He had to know all the details. And this place- while it was beautiful and calm, and had a lovely smell to it- it was very new to him. 

So it had surprised him to find Persephone, of all creatures, here. He wondered if perhaps she wasn't so out of place, given the fact that he had been sent here too, though he wasn't sure who had chosen to land him here, and why he could no longer flit about as he wanted to. All the same, his world brightened immensely considering the fact that Persephone had appeared, and that she was happy to see him. Why wouldn't she be, after all? Despite the fact that they found themselves in a forest that he didn't know, at least they were both there together. 

She leapt toward him and he raised himself onto his hind legs so he could embrace her, allowing her momentum to push him over backwards so they could fall off the log together. He let out a soft ooof when he hit the ground. Right; he couldn't hover, so it made sense that when he got tackled, now, their momentum and gravity would send them both to the ground. This would take some getting used to. 

"I just got here," He said. "Kind of weird- I don't think I was sent here to do anything, because I have no message to deliver that I can think of, but here I am anyway," He said with a shrug. "I don't recognize this forest, either, which is like...The first time in FOR-EV-ERR that I've been somewhere new," He said, glancing around. He'd forgotten what novelty was like; so it meant that there was lots for him to discover about this forest, and whatever land it was that the forest was in. "How'd you get here? And when?" He asked.
the staff team luvs u

There was an odd sensation as she leapt upon him, almost like they should have never hit the ground, as though all the times that she'd thrown herself at him before he'd caught her and they'd... floated? The memory was fuzzy and confusing, but Persephone could swear she remembered wings, even as she got off of him and pranced about, waiting for Hermes to get to his feet too. Her skipping stopped as Hermes tried to recollect his memory of getting here, much as she and Hades had tried to do when they'd first met. With no message, did that mean... Hermes wasn't a god anymore? Because he'd been a god, hadn't he? And... And she had too, she was pretty sure...

“Hm??” He'd asked her questions. “Oh! Not long ago. A couple weeks ago, I think. I'm really not sure how I got here though.” Paws shuffled beneath her as she tilted her head. “I remember... Mother being mad. And crying, and then... I woke up at a lake nearby. That's where Hades found me.” It didn't occur to Persephone that the two might know each other. “We've stuck together ever since. You really don't remember why you're here?” That alone, was odd to the little honey wolf, as Hermes had the best memory of anyone she'd ever known.
the staff team luvs u

It appeared as though despite the fact that he was normally very, very punctual, he was a bit later finding this forest than Persephone was. He couldn't recall how he'd ended up in this realm, but he knew it was unfamiliar. The fact that Persephone, a goddess, was here was at least somewhat reassuring, though he still wasn't sure where his powers had gone. 

Something to worry about on another day perhaps; all he knew was now was that at least for the time being, he was unemployed- and he rarely ever had time to just spend with those he wanted to see. 

She mentioned Hades and he blinked. She'd found Hades, who was also here, which surprised him. Didn't the big guy have a bunch of responsibilities? Then again...If Hermes didn't have a mission...Did that mean Hades's life had been upset too? It seemed that Persephone remembered little of her past but...She'd remembered him. He wondered, then, how much she remembered of Hades. 

"Well, I don't remember being sent here," He admitted, "Everything was just pretty normal and then I just kind of POOFED and then I was here. Not like my usual travel style," He said with a grin, lifting up one foot to dangle nothing but tufts of fur on his ankles. "But I assume I was probably summoned here to do something, I just wish someone had messaged the messenger, y'know?"
the staff team luvs u

He's... poofed? Persephone tilted her head, bubblegum eyes peering at her friend curiously. He had never been one that had been terribly keen on teleporting, from what she could remember, so... What was going on? She wondered if they'd ever figure it out, if they'd ever get to the bottom of this particular mystery. Then again... Did she really want to? Lips pursed, Persephone huffed gently, wishing she could sort out how she felt about... everything, really.

“Well, neither Hades nor I summoned you... And Poseidon didn't either...” She paused, frowning gently as she looked at him, ears switching back against her skull. “You'd tell me if it was my mother, wouldn't you?” While they were friends, Demeter could be very... convincing, when she wanted to be. And not in a nice way, either, which was why there was not much love among the gods for the Goddess of Harvest. “Nevermind. Of course you would, sorry.”

“Come on. I'll show you around?” Her tail waved gently, wanting to move past the very topic that she'd been the one to bring up.
the staff team luvs u

Hermes was fairly certain that if someone had summoned him, then he would know about it. Typically, he was the guy who knew the things- he delivered messages, after all, and was a servant not of one God or another, but of all of them. And generally, when he was summoned, he knew exactly where to go but...This time, it felt as though something different had happened. Not that different was bad, but it did seem to be pretty confusing. But- ever the optimist, he was willing to make the most of it. 

He blinked again when she mentioned her mother. Normally, Hermes wasn't exactly permitted to take sides, nor was he permitted to dabble in the business of others and relay messages to the wrong wolf, or pass gossip. He could collect as much information as he wanted, but if he was put on a task that was meant for a private audience, then he couldn't go telling just whoever asked him about it. So when Persephone asked about being transparent about any plans her mother had, it made his heart twinge. Some secrets were just better kept as a secret. But he had truths to speak as well, and those were always easier. "It wasn't your mother," He assured her, and he hoped that that would be enough. 

"But what we could do, is that we could always say that you did summon me so that I can be 'busy' for the next little while and actually get some vay-cay time with you!" He said, shuffling over to elbow her gently. "I'd love to be shown around- do you know how long it's been since I've been somewhere new?" He asked with a grin.
the staff team luvs u

She hadn't been expecting an answer, and if she had gotten one, Persephone had been kind of expecting the worst news he could have given her. When he gave her almost the exact opposite, the breath she'd been holding whooshed out of her with the gentlest of sighs, thankful, relieved that her mother wasn't behind his appearance. She knew Hermes generally didn't say much about his work and really, Persephone had always been respectful of that. This was one of the few times she could ever remember asking him about it and this time, unlike others, he actually gave her an answer.

Hermes' idea whisked away the nervous smile, replacing it with something excited and happy. She had never been a very good liar, preferring to avoid being caught at all to trying to spin a fable, but for her copper-furred friend, she would always try. “Yes, please!” Another laugh. “No idea. How long?” Persephone frequently forgot how much older than her Hermes was, though she was glad for that. Things were always easy with him.

“Hades and I have been exploring this forest. We're going to settle here. You know you're welcome to stay with us.”

---

+1 formation

the staff team luvs u

"Uh, too long," He replied with a bright, sunny laugh. The novelty of seeing a forest he didn't recognize made him feel full of energy. He wouldn't have been able to say exactly what kind of time had passed since he had actually made a discovery- all the memories he had were of places that he knew so well, he could get to and from them in practically the blink of an eye. No missed turns, no wrong directions. He had an excellent memory and sense of direction, and had had a great deal of experience as a messenger. But now, rather than simply going from one place to another with a mission, he was in a new, unfamiliar forest- and he had no task. None that he could think of, anyway- which must have meant that he was finally getting some time off. 

Needless to say, Hermes wasn't the sort of wolf who could take some time off and simply relax. He was an over-achiever, who had too much energy for his own good. He wasn't a terribly good walking companion either- as he dithered this way and that, investigating scents, leaping over logs, and occasionally stopping to peer up into the trees, as though looking for something. But it was simply how Hermes operated when scouting a new place- he wanted to see everything as fast as possible. And while he would appear quite distracted, he was actually very invested in Persephone and their conversation. 

She mentioned Hades, of course, which didn't surprise him. Her tone did- he noticed how youthful and hopeful she sounded, so he simply accepted it. "Oh, well, I appreciate that. But you know me," He said, pausing to scent-mark a tree simply because it had been mentioned that the forest was being claimed- and he figured that on behalf of Persephone and Hades, he could probably add his scent to the mix too. "Here, there, everywhere. Least I know this is where I can go whenever I wanna find you, though," He said, trotting over to her side to brush his shoulder against hers affectionately before he froze, ears perked, and bounded off in another direction. "Huh. Lookit the size of this one! It's good and old!" He said, having approached a tree that was several times thicker around the trunk than he was. He raised himself up onto his hind feet, bracing his forepaws against the trunk and staring up into the branches. "Well, you've picked a healthy forest, that's for sure," He said, resuming his zig-zag course again.

---

+1 to formation

the staff team luvs u

Hermes' antics had always been somewhat erratic and now was no different. Rather than try and keep up with him as he zipped around, Persephone picked a direction and kept a steady pace, happy to watch him explore the forest. Her eyes averted as he marked the tree, Persephone stopped to investigate a patch of... Was that growing Belladonna? It looked like it, despite the fact that it hadn't blossomed yet.

Making a mental note to warn the others not to eat that, Persephone took a moment to look around, noting where in Winterheart this was. A fallen log with a stone boulder propping it up would serve as her landmarker, fixing it in her mind before finally turning away and moving back towards her friend, smiling as she saw him staring up into the tree. “It's weird, but I think the forest picked us. It's called Winterheart Forest and it's very old.” It had lived through an eruption and everything! “But yeah! You can always find me here. I haven't ventured outside of it much. Not yet.”

Loping after the copperbound male, Persephone smiled to herself, pleased at the sheer luck and happenstance that had brought her friend to her. “Poseidon is here too, by the way. He's stuck close by, but he's around somewhere, surely.”

Persephone was happy to spend time with Hermes, happy to see her friend and the way he flit about the forest, haphazardly -- but happily! -- exploring. They continued like that for some time, wandering and exploring. sometimes talking, sometimes not.

Fade

---

Wrapped this up to keep things current! Can't wait for another thread with you <3

+1 to formation

the staff team luvs u