Fallen Tree Cove Ties that Bind

@Lunette All Fallen Tree Cove members welcome
  Lunette has finally returned home.  She and Leotie are just outside the border. Come welcome her home!

It was time for Lunette to return home to Fallen Tree Cove, Leotie hadn't ever been so was looking forward to going. She was sad to see the girl leave the draw since living with them seemed to really agree with her. One thing Leotie did understand was the need to be where she felt she belonged. The agouti woman felt she belonged in the draw and would always return there because for her it was home. For Lunette the cove was home and she needed to be there. She also thought that the young girl's family and packmates would be missing her by now so it would be good for them to know that she was okay.

When they had set out Leotie had known it would be some distance up the mountain they would have to travel. It wouldn't be the first time she had traveled on a mountain so she wasn't very worried. What she was a little nervous about was the fact she would have to travel back to the draw by herself. The farthest she had traveled from home since moving to the draw was Willow ridge to see Sven after his rank challenge. She'd been so worried about him and wanted to make sure that he was okay. She'd become a lot more comfortable traveling by herself but she hadn't ever traveled as far as Fallen Tree Cove.

Getting Lunette home safe and sound was Leotie’s top priority since the girl had already been lost. She didn't want her to get lost again however the agouti woman didn't know where the cove was. She hoped that Lunette would know the way once they were a little closer and she was there to help if needed. The trek up the mountain wasn't too bad and the time was filled with conversation which made it go a little faster. The agouti woman kept an eye on her surroundings for when she would have to return home. Leotie wasn't going to get lost from the draw this time like she had in Oak Tree Bend.

She had learned from that experienced not to travel in dog so thick she wouldn't be able to see and to trust her nose more. She had become more confident and refused to let something like that get the better of her again. Leotie kept checking with Lunette to see if she recognized anything that would indicate they were getting close to the coves borders.

Finally Leotie's nose told her they were getting close to a pack border, she could smell the markers as the approached. “It looks like we finally found it,” she stated offering the girl a smile and a nod. “Are you ready to finally be home?” It was one thing saying it but when it was time to cross the border it could he a whole different story. “Do you want to do the honors of announcing your return?” She asked the girl thinking it might be best that way.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: Apr 18, 2017, 02:25 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

50 years later... sorry.

It loomed—truly the Mountain of Dire, a stark contrast against the sky. It rose up like a jutting bone, a mighty spire, a finger, a warning; many things and none of them kind. It cast its shadow against the world below.

It cast its shadow across her heart.

Leotie was chatty. She was a nice wolf, honestly. She was kind and caring, a little sun of her own, a reminder of many things Lunette was not, but one that she could bear. In her company, she did not feel lacking. She could be quiet, and it was okay. She could look at her paws, and it was okay. She.. she could wander off into the forest, stare at the Heartleaf Creek and hunting fish, and that was okay, too.

It was bittersweet to walk through the Wildwood, heading ever closer to that shadow-mountain, the entire range like a barrier between her and the sky. It felt like the last time, a slow walk towards an even slower end: death, for the spirit. Everything was gathered like a murder of crows—a tempest, lightning bolts—around that mountain and all its jagged teeth.

Still, the silver girl climbed her mountain of doom at a steady pace, never once quite faltering. She was more sure-footed than she remembered, had ever dared to guess or hope, but with each step closer to home the ache in her heart tightened—old demons came back to life. They wore her siblings' eyes and her sister's teeth. They put on her old worn coat. What unconscious pride had rode along her spine faded.

She didn't even notice.

She just felt the air grow heavier and heavier in her lungs.

She knew the way to Fallen Tree Cove like a compass pointing at magnetic north. Where Leotie went off the right track or gave her questioning looks, she just pointed her nose towards Lost Lake, guided by vague memories and scents and some strange sense of direction that somehow always kept her from getting lost. She just knew which way was which, and it was her guide now, though she occasionally found herself wishing it'd be wrong—and feeling so guilty she might die each time she did. Why wouldn't she want to get home..?

Finally, they stood at her pack's borders. They smelled of Mama and Papa and Kajika, familiar, but not wholly comforting. Besides, there were.. other things in the scents, things she didn't want to place, and thus, didn't. Instead, she turned to Leotie, and offered her a shy smile, but she couldn't quite hide the shadow in her eyes. "Mmh," she simply hummed, before raising her head to the sky and—hesitating.

She didn't want to think about everything, so she did her best not to—did her best to think only of Kajika, his black fur, the safety of his embrace. She drew in air. It was cold against her teeth. Cold in her lungs. She closed her eyes, and expelled it in a mournful howl, calling for her family.

She was back, and she was broken already.

Everything had been a blur the past few days for the beta and for the first time he completely refused to do anything but visit Moonshadow. Sometimes of Tagg didn't return he would lay in the communal den for a long time with her not saying anything. Her presence has been a comfort after discovering Des was gone from his life. Anaia was there for him to in a way he hadn't expected but as welcome as their support was there was one whose company he craved. He'd kept looking for her as much as he could since he'd been back but he still hadn't found Lunette, it bothered him.

He worried she wasn't coming back and that he would never see her again. He wondered if she had followed her sister or maybe even him and had gotten lost. Kajika found himself curled up on his makeshift den when he heard the call. It was like with Des, he knew the voice but he couldn't believe it was her. Had Lunette really come home to the cove, to him?

Kajika felt he needed to get that out of his head when he didn't even know what she would be like. Had she changed or was still the same Lunette. Maybe she had been able to overcome the monster or maybe she was mad at him for leaving her. The beta knew he would have to go and see her to find out so he didn't waste any more time making his way through the cove to meet her at the border. Her voice had sounded so sad causing him to want to make it all better for her.

When he reached the border he didn't rush to embrace her but he wanted to like he had before he had left. She looked different he had noticed but he couldn't tell if she was different. There was another wolf with her, “Hello, I'm Kajika,” he greeted the woman before turning his attention to Lunette. He stepped forward but stopped short, “Lunette, I've missed you. I've looked all over for you, I've been worried.”

(This post was last modified: May 05, 2017, 03:52 PM by Kajika.)

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There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

As they made their way up the mountain Leotie didn't mind that Lunette was quiet and didn't share much about herself. The agouti woman. Was just glad she could help the cove wolf return home. There had been a time when Leotie had been desperate to get back to her humans. When she thought she couldn't make it on her in in the wilds of the lore. She'd been thinking a lot about that time lately, her first days by herself. The scuffle she had with that female, she knew she would need that memory kept close in the future.

Even now as they made the trek to Fallen Tree Cove knowing she had defended herself in the past could come in handy. Especially if they came across a wolf that meant to do them harm. She had come so Lunette would get home safely and also to meet the wolves of the cove. She needed to start working in gaining her scouting role. It was important to her and now that the pack was established and breeding season was over it was time she focused on it.

Since Leotie want exactly sure where they were going she had to rely on Lunette a lot more to help her find the border. The young cove wolf had found it easily enough and once they had come to the border she checked with Lunette to make sure she really was ready to return home. With an affirmative answer Leotie also let Lunette announce herself to her family and her pack.

It didn't seem like a very long wait before a dark figure appeared moving toward them. Leotie looked to her cove friend to see if she knew the man. He spoke almost as soon as he had come close enough speak introducing himself, “It's a pleasure to meet you Kajika, I'm Leotie Rhys from Charred Ash Draw. I've brought Lunette home,” she explained after introducing herself. She'd never done anything like this and it made her a little nervous. The man soon turned his attention on Lunette telling her he missed her and had been worried. She expected this but she wondered about the girl and bow she would receive the man.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: May 05, 2017, 03:53 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

Her howl died out into a silence heavy with all the things she tried to keep within herself, but she felt them, in the the sky, the clouds, the ground, in the mountain itself beneath her weary paws. They pressed against her, they rode in her blood, they echoed in the silence between each breath, and grew into a lump in her throat. She couldn't quite swallow it, nor spit it out, and just stood silent, trying to mask it with her breathing. It quivered just a little. Her eyes were on the ground.

The steps approaching were familiar, as was the scent. They lanced into her heart and mind, and rattled her—her gaze flicked up, and he stood there, in the flesh. Black fur and pale amber eyes, greeting kind Leotie, who greeted him back and accidentally stepped on what little confidence Lunette had left. Brought her home. It was true—she had doubted she'd be able to get herself home safely, or even go there if no one had been looking at her every step of the way—but it still stung, and spiraled her deeper into her black hole. She couldn't do anything without somebody's help or rescue. Hop down the mountain? Yeah, and realize she was lost and exhausted and hungry in a dangerous world. She had had to be rescued by another child her age. Get back home? She needed to be brought. She needed a guard.

And Kajika took a few steps forward, but that was it. No hug. No warm welcome. That he had missed her and looked for her and been worried didn't help, either; it just made the bitter, wounded creature inside raise its head and hiss you didn't look well enough, but knowing how he had beat himself up for not looking for Des when she left.. it didn't matter how much she hurt, but she couldn't turn that against him.

"Kajika," she mumbled, head still lowered, and took the few, heavy steps across to him, and dutifully placed her head against his throat. There were some things she couldn't do to him.

Protective Papa coming your way. <3

Vespertio Vuesain

Clearly, Vespertio had to have been imagining things and his ears playing tricks on him to ease the pain and guilt that festered within the confines of his gut each and every day that passed with no new results in their search for the missing princess. Day in and day out the father and various members of the pack had searched far and wide for both missing girls, eventually returning one day with just the ebony female in tow. Yet, as russet ears listened to the song that filled the sky; broken and bloated on the air with emotions untold, there was a part of the man that knew it had to be her.

Without hesitation the plush end of a squirrel's tail was swiftly released from the former vice like grip it was pinned between, the lifeless body crumpling at his paws in the last bit of snow refusing to melt away and admit defeat against the onset of spring while cream limbs propelled the bulky man forward like a bull in a china shop toward the fading sound of his daughter's broken cry that she was finally home. Eventually, coming upon the trio of wolves, his second in command unsurprisingly beating him to the punch.

Unlike Kajika though, there was nothing that held back the sudden surge of protectiveness that washed over Vespertio seeing the pale fur of his daughter and the unsettling presence of a stranger. His mind too wrapped up in their own sea of emotions to bother putting two and two of any sort together, any words uttered by the similarly pelted woman amiss. Charcoal fur bristled along the nape of his neck and his body postured in display of his dominance over these parts, the inky lining of his lips twitching in the beginning of a growl while his body refused to halt until it became placed defensively between that of his daughter; now pressed against the ebony fur of his second, and this stranger at his doorstep.

Poor Leotie had only the best of intentions, but it would take some explaining to soothe the instinctual urge to protect his brood before his mind would wrap around the truth. Right now his mind knew mainly bite first, talk later. "Who are you?"

Word Count: 378

The howl elicited from Lunette to call her family and packmates to the border wasn't as cheerful as she would expect of a girl returning to her home. For a moment Leotie wondered if maybe she shouldn't have brought the girl back to the cove. The agouti shook that thought out of her head, Lunette needed to return home and figure things out with her family. That was if she was having problems with them and that was the reason she'd found herself in the Draw.

They didn't have to wait very long for one of the cove wolves who introduced himself as Kajika to appear. Leotie stood back and allowed the dark man and Lunette to greet each other which turn out to not be the greeting she expected. The young girl did go to the man and pressed herself against​ his chest.

Almost as soon as Lunette had gone to Kajika another male appeared on the scene who was clearly asserting his dominance. It was clear this man was the alpha and probably Lunette's father. Immediately Leotie lowered her posture into a more submissive one and gave the man a low now to she her respect for his position. “Leotie Rhys, second in Charred Ash Draw, I’ve come with Lunette to help her get home,” she replied to his question. Her gaze going to the girl I'm hopes she might confirm that to the man.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: May 10, 2017, 03:30 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

It felt like so long since he'd seen Lunette and her outward appearance seemed so different to him he had to wonder if she was the same girl he had left. So much had happened in his life and he expected hers as well, he wanted to hear all about it. He was worried when he saw her that she might now feel the same about him as she once had, that maybe she was angry with him for leaving her. So many scenario's had gone through his mind during her absence that he could no longer keep track of them all.

As he came to the border he of course wanted to run to her and pull her into an embrace like he always used to. What if she didn't want that and she had grown apart from him and all he was to her was just another packmate. It was that thought that caused him to hesitate and tell her that he missed her and had been looking for her. His attention went to the agouti woman as she introduced herself and explained she'd brought Lunette home. “Thank you for helping her to get home safely.”

Kajika then focused his attention on Lunette and giving her the proper greeting she deserved. His tail wagged happily behind him as she came toward him and pressed herself into his chest. He quickly pulled her against him with his chin and gave her a squeeze. “I'm so glad you're alright,” he told her quietly and “I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me.” After a moment of relishing in the fact that she was finally back he whispered into her ear, “I care about you more than you’ll ever know.”

The sound of footfalls behind him didn't cause him to let Lunette go, he never wanted to let her go again. It was Vespertio, he seemed rather perturb by Leotie's presence but before he could tell the patriarch why she was there the woman spoke for herself.

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She was lost in the darkness of his fur—eyes closed and ears flat, trying to be carried away by his pulse and his breathing, and wondering where they would end up. She swallowed. Her throat felt tight and her heart scared. She wasn't sure she wanted to be here (the mountain, not his embrace; she always wanted to be near him), and she wasn't sure how to get sure about it, either.

It would be much, much nicer if some answer could be found then and there, but there was none. Only his pulse and hers and the mountain air in her lungs.

He began to whisper into her ear, and she pressed her neck against his throat even harder. She didn't want to worry anyone. She didn't want to upset anyone. She didn't want anyone to care because that just put obligations on her—and yet she couldn't ever imagine herself without Kajika, her pillar, her sentinel. She wanted his affection as much as she feared it.

She wasn't to be left alone in that state seeking bliss and the loss of time. The scent of her father invaded her senses, and she felt her gut tighten in panic. What was she going to tell him? Tell anyone? That she had walked down a mountain and been unable to get up and stayed away so long and—? How much of a failure was it that she had gone down, but not been able to come back up?

And how was she to explain the fact that she was in better physical condition—she, who only ever lay in the sun or shadows, wishing she did not exist, and dreaming of what it would be like to not be like this..?

She swallowed hard. Smelled his anger. Surely it was at her.

"Who are you?" he demanded, and she opened her eyes. What? Didn't he recognize—oh. He was looking at Leotie, who took it all in stride, shrinking in on herself but undaunted. She explained herself and looked at Lunette, who wished she hadn't, so she could just continue to pretend no one existed—but she owed it to Leotie. Hesitantly, she found her voice, and spoke. It sounded so much smaller and feebler on the mountain. "She's a friend, Papa."