Whitestone Monadnock all of your tears will dry faster in the sun

With his advisor at his side, Wraith pads towards the familiar sight of home with hope in his heart. His meeting with the other packs could have gone worse, he supposes. And, at least in one respect, it was nice to finally put a name to a face when it came to Askan. The man didn't live up to the boorish reputation around him in the manner Wraith had expected and found himself pleasantly surprised by the revelation. He never thought Craw to be one for exaggeration, but apparently it was so.

Weary from his travels, he shared a warm if not tired smile with Roosemooth as the Monadnock rose above the lowlands in stark profile against the sky in its refusal to be denied. Even from this distance, it was beautiful. And a reminder of what they'd traveled for in the first place; the protection of what was theirs. Home.

By now, words need not pass between the two males for they'd shared plenty on the journey. All that mattered was returning to where they belonged. As the first of the territory markers were passed underpaw, Wraith lifted his muzzle and howled out a greeting to his pack and eagerly awaited the return calls. Obviously, his ears strained to hear one crystalline howl over the others. Only once he heard it could he truly find serenity.

We are home, his howl seemed to sing, And home is with us. It was a reminder that the pack was not whole without all of its pieces in place. He intended to make it whole once more and found his heart light in the knowledge that he had not disappeared as his brother had from these lands.

The morning had been rather productive for the small agouti which she felt had earned her a chance to lay about. She usually kept busy patrolling or familiarizing herself with the territory among other things. It wasn't often she could be found lounging about but this day she was going to take full advantage. She'd found herself a nice deer antler that she’d stored away for just such an occasion. Gnawing on it just outside the communal den entrance was exactly what she'd been doing when she heard the call.

It seemed like such a long time side Wraith and Roose had left on their mission. It seems so long that Cheedo had been worried about them, it felt rather weird to be worried about Roose. A smile had crossed her features at the sound of Wraiths voice, Piety would be pleased. Her tail thumped the ground as she raised her muzzle I to the air to answer the call with a 'welcome home’. She then rose to her feet and stashed her antler in a safe place.

With her chew toy nice and safe the small agouti made her way to the border to greet the men. She was glad to have the pack back together, it gave her an unsettling feeling not having the men around.

OOC!

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Word Count: 301

The last little while of their journey had passed in companionable silence, something Roose considered an achievement. He had a lot of thinking to do about the meeting, and he was sure Wraith did as well. He supposed it definitely could have gone worse, as their future was looking bright. He also was glad the leader was comfortable enough with him to have such a silence; there was no awkwardness, no strange half-glances trying to figure out what was going on in the other’s head. It was the very beginning of trust.

And that was all the advisor wanted; his leader’s trust.

He returned the offered smile as they approached the Monadnock. Roose had yet to think of any one place really as ‘home’, but he supposed this was as close to a home as he would get. He was planning on spending the foreseeable future here… besides, he liked it. But wasn’t that how it had been before, when he’d first met Craw? He had been there quite a long time.

But things were different now. There was no constant scheming, no ruse to cover up a coup. All that remained for the old man was to get rid of Morelli, but he was biding his time. He needed to wait until the weasel made a slip. It just needed to begin as whispers. He would be fine.

He was drawn from his ponderings by Wraith’s howl. He joined him, greeting the land he had grown so familiar with as of late. It wasn’t long before he heard Cheedo’s reply, and then saw her form coming to join them. He offered the girl a friendly smile. He was not one to show affection, but it was certainly more than she had gotten from her elder before. He was making progress.

"Speech" Thought

Though Cheedo arrived ahead of his mate, Wraith offered her a smile, a nod, and a wag of his tail as he quickly passed her by to greet his wife, leaving the female and Roose in the dust. Hearing Piety's howl, that welcome home, lit his heart on fire and it blazed with the strength of his love for her. Traveling without her had been difficult. While Roosemooth made for good company and didn't expect him to hold lengthy conversations, he was certainly not his mate and could not fill the void left at his side at night. While the males were comfortable enough to sleep together, Roose's pelt just wasn't the same when pressed against his back.

He'd missed the conversations they would have. It was never small talk as he was always heavily invested in everything Piety had to say. There was always teasing and laughter, something that had been sorely missed on the road. A few laughs had been shared, but nothing like he and his mate knew. The stress of visiting the packs put a damper on their travels, but it sure made returning home all the brighter.

Rounded as she was, Piety made good time. He slowed quickly before he reached her, careful not to jostle her too much in her current state. The last thing they needed was for her to lose her litter because he'd been careless in his affections. Wraith touched his nose to hers, tail wagging high with pleasure before he dipped his head down so their foreheads were flush and they breathed the same air.

"I missed you, Piety." It was spoken with simple honesty. "Remind me how traveling is not worth it the next time I decide to be noble. Ah, it did seem to be a success," he added quickly, so she would not think the trip had been an actual waste. "Seems my time as Morganna's and Craw's advisor served me well."

She was happy to have the pack back together now that Roose and Wraith we're back from their trip. Though she liked the pale Alpha's company she had been worried about the men even though she knew they could take care of themselves. It didn't stop the worrying the small agouti had been doing over the past days they'd been gone. She also knew Piety had been worried as well though the woman had never said but how could she not be when they had packmates away.

She felt it important to greet the men home despite her mixed feelings toward Roose. She'd quickly made her way to the border. Before she made Piety's howl reached her ears but she continued on knowing it was to greet the men home. As she neared the border she was passed by Wraith who offered her a greeting as he passed. She gave him a quick smile, “Glad to have you back,” the words carried with him as he went to see Piety.

She went on until she came to a stop where Roose was, “Welcome home!” She greeted cheerfully. In their agreement to try and start fresh she felt it necessary to greet him just as happily. Though in her happiness to have them both back in Whitestone she didn’t find it hard to be kind to the man. “Did it go well?” She asked hoping that his words would confirm that it had but she remained cautious that he would answer in the negative.

OOC! Sorry for the wait guys.

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Word Count: 212

It had been a longer journey than the advisor liked, but he supposed more journeys would be this way now. He was getting used to the softer life of the Monadnock; it was by no means easy, but it was certainly nowhere near as hard as his last home, where they had to worry about being killed in their sleep or run off the cliff and into the deadly falls. Things here were peaceful – or they had to potential to be, at least.

So when he saw Cheedo running to greet them, he was pleased that she had taken their deal so seriously. She returned his smile with one of her own and greeted him as enthusiastically as she had their leader. Her question was met with an irritated flick of his ears; had Wraith not just answered that? Still, he suppressed his desire to lash out at her. “It would appear so.” He nodded once. “Our new leader has much better social skills than the last.” The words were true; Roose thought the new leading pair had great potential, and could possibly be even greater leaders than his old protégé. They hadn’t disappeared yet, which is something the spider had done twice now.

He would not be forgiven a second time.

"Speech" Thought

It felt better to have her fur mingle with her mate. She had missed him while he was out there even if his cause was a noble one. "I missed you too, Wraith." The pale female couldn't stop her tail from thrashing behind her with eagerness. A small bubble of laughter came up as a smile spread across her scarred face. "Isn't that why we have a scout in training?" She used a joking tone besides being a bit serious. Piety was positive that once Cheedo was a bit more familiar with the land and had her confidence up a tad bit more she would be a good messenger so that Wraith wouldn't have to leave. Especially with children coming soon. "I am glad to hear it went well and I didn't doubt your skills for a moment. You've always proved yourself more than worthy to do the job." She planted a few kisses on her mate's face.

The pale leader reluctantly pulled away to look towards Roosemooth. "I've heard good things already but I would certainly like to hear your end of things." She winked and nudged Wraith. Piety trusted both of the men (obviously her own mate more, but still) yet she wanted to know what Roose would have to offer in knowledge about the whole ordeal. He had spoken about wanting to be and advisor and this was a chance for him to work on that role a bit.

He laughed as she mentioned a scout in training. "That would have been a cruel errand and far too much stress for poor Cheedo to be saddled with for her first mission." Wraith shook his big head. "Nah, relations were already strained. It was definitely something I needed to do myself. I'm not the 'sit back and delegate' sort of Alpha anyway," he teased, nuzzling his nose into her ruff. The black man took a deep, bracing inhale as if to fully saturate his nostrils with her scent.

Her open praise was rewarded by a toothy grin and his tail wagged quickly in obvious pleasure. It was good that Piety had faith in his abilities. His own confidence was still suffering, but the success of this mission was going a long way to restoring it. Honestly, Wraith almost felt like the wolf he'd been before he left the north. Well, more than the wolf he'd been then. He was so much wiser now.

As Piety asked Roosemooth for his opinion on how it went, Wraith moved to greet Cheedo more appropriately now that his wife was adequately adored. In the easy manner he had, Wraith brushed shoulders with her and draped his head across her back to lick gently at her opposite ear in obvious affection. "I trust you kept everything under control while we were away," he said with a wink. "Difficult task to keep those pregnant wolves in line," he jested, winking over at Piety with wicked delight.

Wraith circled the group and urged them towards home. They could walk and talk; he was ready for food and then the den.