Wild Rye Fields Farewell, My Friend

For @Reyes . Backdated to 10/4, before Reyes and Askan left WRF. Abundance of squirrels due to pack RE. Morning. Overcast Clouds. 55.4 ° F, 13 ° C.

Neko was never that good of a hunter by any stretch of the imagination, but with the sudden abundance of squirrels, even she couldn’t fail at catching them. Today, she had eaten her fill and even caught more than she would want to eat herself, so why not cache them? Since she was not much of a hunter, she usually didn’t contribute much to the food cache. In fact, she probably ate significantly more than she contributed, but she didn’t really feel any guilt, having been busy throughout the summer with gathering herbs.

She carried a couple of surplus squirrels to the cache site, but wasn’t quite sure what to do with them when she got there. Should she just bury them as they were? Or should she let them dry out like she did with her plants before she cached them? Perhaps it wouldn’t matter. Maybe they would get eaten before they had a chance to spoil. She might have known what to do if she had paid more attention to what she getting whenever she ate from the caches, or even watched or listened to the others when they cached food, but she had failed to pay attention on both counts.

She sat there for a bit, holding the squirrels in her mouth, staring at the cache site, trying to figure out exactly what she needed to do.

On some level, Reyes knew it had to be done – not exactly from prior experience, because Blackwatch Canyon didn’t ended, and he didn’t decide to leave – but because he was a goddamn adult, and he wasn’t like the drifters that came and went. Askan was taking care of the alpha situation; wasn’t like Reyes was particularly close to either, especially after Jessie had the gall to call his mate stupid, but there was one wolf he did need to seek out. The one, the only one he had recruited himself (because regardless of if Cottongrass was his friend first, Askan was the one who’d pulled the trigger on that wolf).

It wasn’t that difficult to find her.

Reyes rumbled softly, jogging over to where Neko stood. She had a mouthful of rodent, and she looked…confused? The dark wolf forgot about his purpose for a moment, tail giving a wiggle as he tipped his head to one side. “What’re you doing?” he asked, stopping about a length away from the younger wolf. That was too much to eat in one bite, anyways, but maybe that wasn’t the point? “You need help with something?” His tail continued to sway behind him, ears pressing forward and back.

Neko’s tail thumped the ground when she heard Reyes approach, and she set the squirrels down to greet him. “Oh hi, Reyes.” When he asked her if she needed help, she said, “Well, it seems like there’s been an awful lot of squirrels around here lately, and I kinda killed more than I could eat, so I thought I should cache the leftovers. It would be a shame to kill an animal and not eat it.” She figured Reyes probably knew her well enough by now to know that she considered life sacred and valued it above all else. In her mind, it would be a terrible sin to let even a rodent’s life go to waste, not to mention that she had not forgotten how hungry she had often felt when she was on her own before she joined the pack.

Unfortunately, telling Reyes her problem would also mean admitting that she had not been contributing to the food caches. “It’s just that... well... I’m not really sure what to do. I let my plants dry out in the sun before I cache them. That way they don’t spoil. I wasn’t sure if I needed to do something like that with these so that their meat doesn’t go bad.” She gestured towards the squirrels. “Or should I just bury them like they are?”

It still surprised Reyes, sometimes, that not every wolf had an upbringing as practical as his own. Whilst he only had one parent to raise him, at least he had one, something that Neko was not so fortunate to have. Something like guilt twisted up in his stomach as he listened and the male huffed, trying to will the thoughts away. Focus on the present. Do what needs to be done. “Nah. Don’t leave ‘em out. A coyote or the crows will come and pick the bones clean long before they dry out – ain’t nearly hot enough here.”

Frankly, he wasn’t sure it was hot enough anywhere to preserve food before the scavengers got to it, not unless a wolf was willing to sit beside his kill until it was ready. “You just – bury it like that. I mean, it ain’t gonna taste like a fresh kill anymore, but it’s not so bad. Once you get hungry enough, doesn’t seem to matter at all.”

Reyes allowed himself a small laugh, tail swishing behind him as he sat. But he didn’t come just to stare at the yearling. “Hey – I wanted to talk to you about something. Me and Askan are gonna leave the Fields. He’s gone to tell the alphas.”

(This post was last modified: Oct 25, 2017, 02:33 PM by Reyes.)

Neko felt rather silly as Reyes answered her question and explained why, but it made sense to her. She started pawing at the ground looking for a good spot to dig when Reyes informed her that he and Askan were leaving. She immediately forgot about what she was doing and turned to face him, eyes wide and ears erect. “You mean, like you’re going far away and will be gone a long time? Or leaving for good and not coming back?” She more or less knew the answer even before she asked the question.

She knew that things hadn’t been the same for them since the incident involving the river pup, but she had hoped everything would go back to normal after things settled down. She loved her new home and her new family, and more than anyone else, she had Askan and Reyes to thank for how well she had settled in. She wasn’t sure whether she thought of them as uncles or brothers, but either way, the fields just wouldn’t be the same without them.

With a tear welling up in each of her eyes, she ran to him and pressed her nose into his flank. “I’m gonna miss you. Both of you.” She pulled her nose from him and sniffled, then said, “May the gods’ blessings follow you wherever you go. And... and if I don’t see Askan before you leave, can you tell him... can you him I said goodbye?”

“We’re leaving for good.”

It felt heavy on his tongue. That was something Reyes had wanted for quite a while – had given up on, at least for the time being, whilst his mate was so taken with the alphas of Wild Rye Fields. But everything changed in time. It seemed like even Askan was not immune to the passing of each moon. Before he had the chance to explain, the yearling had started to sniffle, pressing up close. And for a few moments, the gamma had no idea what to say. What to do. He just rumbled, deep in his chest, and nibbled on the yearling’s ruff gently.

“‘course I’ll tell ‘im. I’ll, uh-- Miss you too, kid. Wouldn’t have brought you along if I woulda known he’d want this. Seems wrong. But you’re welcome to come see us. Visit. Or stay, if you need. We’re heading east. Near Hearthwood River.” That’s where they’d start, anyway. He had no idea where Askan’s wandering paws were going to take them. “…you gonna be okay, chica?”

Neko took a few steps back, giving Reyes some space, then sat down and sniffled again. She had tears in her eyes, but she offered a genuine smile and said, “Yeah, I’ll be okay. I... I’ll just be sad to see you and Askan leave. Both of you have been good to me, and... and thank you for telling me.” She had certainly lost loved ones before, but it never really got easier to say good-bye. At least this time nobody was dead, and she still had the rest of the pack (or at least the ones who haven’t disappeared yet), so she wouldn't be alone.

She gazed at the sky for a few seconds then turned back to Reyes and continued. “I’ll definitely try to find some time to visit you, but I’m going to stay here, at least for now. I did kind of promise Jessie my loyalty, and I wanna help make sure the pups get a chance to grow up too.” She didn’t want to say so, but she was also concerned about Drestig making it through the winter. She just thought sometimes he seemed tired, but maybe it was her imagination. She wasn’t exactly very experienced in the healing arts.

After she finished, she sat quietly. She knew it was time for her to let Reyes leave and move on to the next chapter of his life. She would bury the squirrels after he left.

“Yeah…yeah. Like I said. Recruited you – didn’t want to straight up abandon you.”

The wolf sighed softly, giving a small shrug. He hated goodbyes. They were fucking shitty. It wasn’t like either of them were going to go and drop dead, but it kind of felt like that. He reached over, nattering on her shoulder for a minute or two. It let him think. Kind of. Let him listen, at least, to what Neko had to say. Honestly, she didn’t need to defend her actions – but he was glad she took her word seriously, even if it meant he and Askan would be without a healer. Jessie might be a better influence for her, anyways.

“So…yeah. Guess that’s it. It was nice meeting you, kid. And remember – you need something, you come over. No questions asked. Comprende?”

Fade.

(This post was last modified: Jan 04, 2018, 02:24 PM by Reyes.)

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity