The Wildwood heaven help a fool that falls in love

Sven picked his way through the Wildwood, ears forward and pale eyes ever watchful. It had been so long since he had wandered through the twisted new growth and amongst the black ash. Seeing the land now again brought back quite a few memories, most quite fond to the man. Most of all, however, he thought of Leotie and @Kerberos, wondering after them and their whereabouts. Questioning himself fruitlessly whether or not he should dig up the bones of the friendships that most likely had bleached and weakened under the sun of his absence.

Yet Leotie's scent was now on the wind, and he worried for her more than anything. Even if she were angry, which she likely wasn't, it was worth risking her ire to assure himself that despite the time between now and then, she was doing well. Her distance from the Draw did not go unnoticed, and his steps quickened as he neared her. Past the charcoal fingers of the forest, he saw a glimpse of her, tawny standing out amongst it all.

He called out to her, a muted keen that was meant for her ears only. It was unlikely that they were in company of any other wolves,
but he intentionally sought privacy all the same.

She hadn't left the Wildwood since the day she'd run into Kerb and she'd had that moment where everything that had happened came crashing back. Maybe she had left she wasn't sure where her paws carried her anymore and more often than not she no longer cared. She'd given up, letting the voice in to make it all go away. She didn't want to remember how badly her life had turned out. She'd begun to feel the hunger that ate her stomach but the thought of eating only nauseated her. She moved through the trees that surrounded her always staying just outside the scents of her former packmates. She had long ago stop wondering if they had noticed her scent in the area.

“We’re plenty far away,” she told the voice when it told her she was getting too close. If there was one thing she did pay attention to it was her distance. “You know why we can't leave,” she spoke again when it told her she needed to leave the Wildwood. It had begun to tell her that more often, it had given up but she hadn't, she believed he would come.

As if in cue a voice cut through the fog that was her mind, she knew that voice, it belonged to the only wolf she knew she could trust. “I told you he would come,” she told the voice when it told her to ignore the voice that had called out to her. Her head turned in the direction that his voice had come from as a tear slid down her cheek. She was suddenly embarrassed by the way she looked because she knew she looked horrible. Even still she had waited for the day Sven would return for her and she could not turn and run. Instead she moved slowly toward him with her head and tail down a whimper leaving her throat.

She turned toward him, and his paws hurried to carry his scarred body closer to her. The nearer he drew, the more he saw of her, details sharpening into clarity and striking him with the dismal state they pieced together of her being. She whined, and the sound was echoed from his own throat, a sympathetic and concerned sound. Forgetting any concerns of her apprehension to his presence, he swiftly moved past the realm of amiable conversation and stepped directly into her personal space without reservation. His tongue snaked out to clear the single tear drop from her cheek before setting to work, methodically beginning to clean her tangled and dirty fur.

He would've never known she was so horribly off, and who on earth had she been speaking to? His ears picked up and swiveled like tiny radar dishes, but he was certain that there was no one near enough by for her to be conversing reasonably with. His stomach was dropping further and further into a vacuum of concern and... guilt.

This was the tragedy he had been waiting to find when he returned. Sven knew that things could not have gone so smoothly without him there, that his absence would cause some measure of misfortune. Life never lacked consequences, no matter how benign the intentions.

"What happened to you?" he asked between his tending laps.

His whine echoed hers as he came toward her more quickly than she had gone to him, the state she was in the way her life was it was all a joke. How could he still want her in his life? Many times she had dreamed that he would come and take her away from it all. Now as he entered her space and licked the tear from her cheek all she wanted to do was hide. She couldn't, he brought her hope back. Hope that maybe she could be better that her life could he repaired. Mostly she had the one thing that meant more to her now than she had ever realized before he was gone. She leaned into him as he began to clean her fur a task she had given up a long time ago. His warmth was so familiar and comforting, she had missed him.

Then it came again the voice warning like it always did but this time she knew it to be wrong. “He will take care of me,” she told it, “He always does.” In that moment and for the first time in along time she wanted the voice to leave her alone. She didn't need it now that Sven was there, all she needed was her friend who hadn't let her down. All she wanted was to hear his voice instead of the one she'd been hearing all this time. She did not have to wait for he asked her what had happened and everything came back once again but this time it was okay because She was there to help her through it.

“I was ousted,” she told him as calmly as she could, “Naira ordered me out and Kerb escorted me to the border.” She buried her face in his fur as fresh tears fell from her eyes. Even though it had been months since it happened it was still so upsetting to her. “I missed you. Went to Willow Ridge and Enoki told me you were missing,” she informed him. To be ousted and then receive the news that Sven was missing only days later had broken her, she hadn't recovered but maybe now she could. Maybe now she could he free of the voice.

“I'm so happy to see you,” she whispered as he continued to clean her fur.

Sven was still confused as to who she was speaking to, but now it was more than clear that it was not a bodied person. It hit him harder than it had the first time as he realized just how broken she must be to converse with herself, and the words themself were tiny daggers against his chest and the heart beating within. He always does, except that he hadn't been around to do so. The cold embrace of self-assigned onus was almost welcomed by the youth who had always lived within turmoil and knew little else. It was easiest to blame, though it had rarely before been himself, not since early childhood when he thought, at the very back of his skull, that he was at fault for @Piety's disappearance.

He listened to her, ears quickly shooting back up as the words shocked him deeply. Naira had indeed seemed... off, when he and Enoki had visited her, but she'd still seemed nothing less than amiable. Kerberos he was more certain was meant to be close to Leotie, to care for her. What caused them to turn on her? It was difficult to imagine the girl doing wrong, she'd always seemed so loyal, so dutiful. What the hell had happened in his absence?

She spoke of coming to the Ridge, no doubt seeking comfort and probably shelter with him, only to find that he was not around. It hadn't been his fault, and yet he couldn't help but blame himself. If he had been stronger, faster, he could have made it back to his own pack and the Archers could have handled the rogues then and there. He'd still have his unmarred pelt, his crown, and he would still deserve Leotie's faith.

"I missed you too," he whispered, finally abandoning the lengthy project of attempting to clean her coat. The muscle that was his tongue ached and he knew that he would never accomplish the task. Sven would need to lead her to a river and help her wash off before tackling the tangles throughout her coat. All in due time.

"I'm sorry, Leotie. So sorry that I wasn't here when you needed me. But I'm here now, and I swear to you, I'm not leaving again. The hounds of hell themselves could not drag me away."

It kept talking to her with it's warnings but as she leaned into him she ignored the voice with it's warnings she knew to be untrue. She knew that it wasn't just another one of her dreams that Sven was there, she could feel him against her his tongue against her coat as he cleaned the dirt from it. He had never hurt her and she believed he never would as they stood there he was taking care of her. Doing what she had felt to be a pointless task before but now with new hope in her heart. Many things went through her head as the fog had started to clear with his voice. She needed to be there fully for him for herself as he asked what happened. Leotie wanted him to know as much as she could tell him because some of it was still so jumbled. Even before she had started talking to the voice she hadn't understood where it had changed and ended with her being banished.

She started with what she knew for sure she'd been ordered out and her supposed friend was the one to take her to the border. The rest was she thought she'd been in trouble for being gone for too long but she understood that was not what she had been punished for, she'd at least figured that much out before she had gone away from herself.

She wanted him to know that she had come looking for him when he had stopped coming to visit. She had feared the worst but the one thing she could remember through all those months she had been alone and not always there was that she always hoped he would return to her.

Her heart swelled when he whispered to her that he missed her. “I know that it wasn't your fault,” she told him, “I know you wouldn't have left me like that, not on purpose.” It was what she believed after they had talked when he'd finished visiting with Sahalie. She thought he needed to know that. He spoke again words that once again gave her the hope she needed to hear.“Please Sven don't apologise, I know you would have been here if you could and you would have made this better. I'm sorry you have to see me like this but it's not your fault, you didn't take everything away. I have you back now and that is all that matters, I know you won't leave again.” And for the first time in a long time she smiled, it was small but it was there.

Leotie made it clear that she would not settle blame upon his shoulders, but it rested there atop them all the same. Placed by himself, he would be the only one to remove them, and never had Sven been so self-forgiving as to do so. His ears leaned back sorrowfully as she spoke the words 'take everything away.' She was utterly lost, wasn't she? He wanted to ask why she hadn't sought another pack, moved on, but he was fairly certain he knew. Her loyalty bound her to these woods still, taking advantage of her confusion to leave her completely mired.

That was going to change, now. Sven would be sure of it. Leotie would have a place where she was appreciated and safe.

"Come home with me, Leotie," he urged, touching his leathery nose to her muzzle encouragingly. "Join the Ridge. We'll get you back on your paws. We won't ever betray you."

He wouldn't allow anyone there to do so. Sven had every intention of reclaiming his throne, but not in the same rush as he had before. There was much to do beforehand, lessons had been learned from Renier's departure and @Nicolò had earned a good measure of respect from the pale paladin. Regardless, he would not cease to see the Willow-coated lands as his, and would never hesitate to apply his influence where he sought fit. Leotie's protection certainly fell into that realm.

For so long she'd held out hope that he would come find her but as time passed her grieving for the life she'd lost had sent her to place she could not get out of. Repressing it all had seemed the best option until it had gotten out of control and she didn't understand what had happened to her anymore. His voice was her beacon, his return was her hope that things would get better. Now she had to fight harder than she ever had before. The voice had a strong hold on her but she wanted a better life, that had never changed. Now was her chance and she didn't want to lose it. The thought of being like she was wasting away until she finally was out of her misery was never how she wanted to end up.

He like Enoki had done months ago was offering her a place to call home, she'd turned the piebald woman down then. She hadn't been ready to join a pack and pledge herself when the wounds from what her former pack we're still open and bleeding, it wouldn't have been right but as Sven spoke the words promising help and a home where she wouldn't be betrayed again she looked at at the forest around them. He touched his nose to her muzzle and she met his gaze, “I think it's time I left this place and the Draw behind. To move on and get better before it's too late and I want that to be with you. I will go back to the Ridge with you.” She wanted to he better for him but it would take time.

“Didn't want to believe you were dead,” she whispered as she pressed her head into his scruff taking I'm his scent. Even though they had been talking and she'd felt him against her she worried her mind was playing tricks on her. It did that sometimes but for the first time in a long time she felt she was thinking clearly. She could still hear the voice but she was doing everything she could to ignore it.