Riddle Heights Life doesn't have to be perfect

Since I have no idea how this might pan out I'm giving it a go IC'ly :) No real rush.

we stopped checking for monsters under our beds
when we realised they were inside us

Magnolia Glen. She had to get back to the Glen.

She had seemingly left them without a word. That damn mountain pass! She had travelled south and there was still no way around. But she would be damned if she didn’t make it back to them. There would be new children to dote on, she could only assume Borlla’s injuries still plagued her. Her original plan could still work! Yes, all she needed to do was find them.

East she had travelled, towards the mountain, keeping it to her left shoulder the closer she got. The memory of how pained she had felt when she realised her way was blocked pushed her to attempt to cross through the heights. It would be no less of a challenge but as fortune would have it, perhaps she wouldn’t have to go all that far.

A familiar scent teased her nose, brows drawing down confused as she considered the implications. She travelled with her head down, following on the white wolf's trail, only pausing when she hit the wall of scent that warned her this was hallowed ground. Her skin itched as she processed all the unfamiliar scents amongst those that laced about. Her docked tail tucked as the cogs turned in her head. Perhaps this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

But she owed him an explanation. Stepping back, her posture fell, her spine curved and her ears sat flat against her skull. She tipped her muzzle back and beckoned @Phineas forth. She had finally made her way home.

Magnolia Glen was a place that truly haunted him. At times, he wondered if the pack should have weathered their pain and kept themselves rooted there -- Celandine might not have been so angry with him.. Hypatia, Takis and Evy might not have left. Perhaps, even, Aesire never would have found them, and now she might not be dead.

And yet, it was hard to regret the moments in his life that had also given him Kyna. Aponi had left, and the girl was newly clinging to him -- and it would have been a lie to say he didn't completely thrive on the attention now.

Thus had become his life.

And so, upon rounding the borders, the male did not take in the familiarity of the summoning howl with much thought. Instead, his paws lead him in the direction without thought -- as if his mind only followed the mundane tasks of his life now.

It took him a bit to find her, but, eventually, the ivory form emerged from the foliage that littered itself among the foothills of the mountain. His bright eyes did not hold their same spark, but nostalgia seemed to stir within them as his gaze finally landed upon the ebony memory before him. Eek was a wolf he had not thought of in what seemed a lifetime now -- the days of Borlla, Lucero and Inkheart. Much fonder days than the dark ones that clouded over them now like a storm. "Eek," he greeted, though his tone held a hint of a question. It had been so long, he had considered her for the dead.

(This post was last modified: Sep 25, 2015, 02:11 PM by Phineas.)

we stopped checking for monsters under our beds
when we realised they were inside us

He moved towards her, a ghost of the past. Her joints liquified as she folded down submissively, her stump of a tail waving so furiously that her entire back end vibrated. Her ears were pinned against her skull, her tongue snaked across her nose as her head dipped, her body rocking forwards to greet him but freezing when she remembered just how long she had been gone.

He remembered her name.

“@Phineas.” the response was barely a whisper, submissive grin concealing her teeth as she crept closer, still staying clear of his personal space while searching for some hint that she might still be welcome among the ranks of his pack. “I never meant to leave.” she breathed, her appearance had never been one of a well kept wolf but now she was positively skeletal, the fur over her shoulders and hips sticking out wildly, making her appear half feral although she was still well within her mind. “I went to search for ginger, and scrub pine for Borlla.” she began to explain, neglecting to add her want to gather whatever nightshade she could carry to keep the leaders mate dependent on her. “The storm. I couldn’t get back. The mountain was impassible.” her voice had taken on a pleading tone. “I never forgot about my family… I got lost trying to find a way around. To find a way home.” Her eyes were wide as she looked up at him, her body having lowered so drastically during her explanation that her chin almost rested in the gravel at his feet.

It would only take a gust of wind to knock her over.

The man took in her words, and while he was surprised, he did not reveal so. His wolfish brows lifted perhaps only a small notch, his fiery eyes sweeping over her form as she submitted to him. She had only been with them for such a short time, it seemed odd to him that she now sought them out once more – especially after so much time had passed.

Of course, it became apparent the likelihood of what had occurred. She simply sought them out now because wherever she had ended up before hadn’t worked out for her – and coldly, he shifted his weight then. “The family you knew is no longer here,” he murmured, his eyes locked upon her as he studied her reaction to this news. “All of them are gone – Borlla, Lucero, Inkheart, Zia..” He trailed off, not even recalling exactly who had been in his ranks any longer during her brief stay with them. “You had only been with us a short time. Why are you coming back now?”

He didn’t expect honesty from her – and given the turmoil the pack was in currently, he wasn’t even sure he would let her slip past their borders once more. And yet.. who was he to turn away a healer?