Oak Tree Bend Generational Gap

The overwhelming feeling of emotion felt by Lena, and the rest of them, was more than clear to Serach. He could not fault her at all - all of this felt like he was moving and walking through a dream. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected to respond to a call at the pack's borders today and discover his father, just like never in his wildest dreams had he thought he would discover his niece wandering in the woods just north of the Bend. Both had been sheer coincidences, but coincidences he was incredibly grateful for in a way that he could only express in the smile that had permanently put itself on his face.

So as Lena struggled to pull herself together, Serach could only touch his nose to her ear in a quiet show of support and understanding. It was overwhelming to him - he could only begin to imagine what all it must have meant to Lena or Ice. For the first time ever, Oak Tree Bend was home to three generations of wolves, joined together by their familial memories and instinctual love for each other and the missing wolves that connected them all. It was such an odd thing, family, but standing in the presence of two of his most direct and closest family members, Serach couldn't help but enjoy the warmth rising in his chest. The rest of the Bend wolves, including his uncle Triell and his children, were family too, but this was something entirely different and was something he hadn't felt for a long, long time.

Listening to Lena talk about her family, Serach closed his eyes with the smile still on his face. He had so many complicated feelings about his brother, many he wouldn't care to share with his brother's daughter, but since his discovery of Lena, a sense of pride had developed alongside the others. It hadn't really surprised him to hear that Sceral had started his own pack and family, but having evidence in front of him was something entirely different. "You do remind me of him. He was always the more energetic of us," he said, opening his eyes to look between her and Ice. "He had itchy paws too, always exploring and getting into trouble. He left the Bend soon after our first birthday, maybe in the fall of that year?" He had never said goodbye, but there wasn't a point in bringing that up now. "I wish he was here, for this," he said again, his voice quiet as he looked to meet Ice's gray eyes.

you do not know who is your friend

and who is your enemy

Joy—and a strange brand of contentment, wonder—bloomed in his chest, spread like sunshine, and made him feel about ten thousand years old. Where every emotion was on the surface in Lena, giggles and sobs and whines, he ..mostly just stood there, a big smile plastered on his face, love in his eyes, and his tail wagging. There was something in him that wanted to start hopping about, but he guessed the shock had robbed his body of most functions.

And watching Serach quietly support his niece, touching his nose to her ear, filled him with a different kind of pride. His son was a good wolf—a true child of Corinna, but he didn't doubt her fire was in him, too. He had said as much, when he'd told her about the pack meeting in which Drestig had suggested a move.

"A good dream," he agreed quietly, the corners of his eyes crinkling and his lolling tongue giving it away as a little bit of a joke. There was no way this was a dream—they were all too real, too warm and close, and no dream of his would tell him that Corinna was dead. It.. not even in his wildest imaginations, and his darkest moments, had he truly believed that she would be, and even now, it felt.. surreal. He chose not to think of it, instead just smiling wistfully as she spoke. Shame he hadn't accidentally come across Sceral on his way south, but that was the way of the world, and while Ice had left before his boys were very old, Sceral had been a handful already back then. And.. gosh, being called gramps—which was quite correct, and he was proud to be her grandfather—made him feel.. twenty thousand years old, perhaps.

"I wish he was here, too," Ice filled in after Serach, meeting his eyes. To find his pack alive and one of his sons was more than he could've hoped for, really—and he was proud, that Sceral, too, had made a life for himself, and that it had brought them Lena. "I'd love to visit them sometime," he said as he turned to Lena, "your mother and sister, and Sceral." But when? He was old, loath to leave when he had just arrived. As a silent reassurance to Serach, he gravitated towards him, pressing his shoulder against the off-white one of his son.

until the ice breaks.

let the stars above shine in your soul

Since Lena is inactive, I'm going to wrap this thread up. :)

In all of his wildest dreams, Serach had never anticipated having a day like this. But watching and listening as Lena and Ice got acquainted lifted his heart and spirits more than he could have ever anticipated, although he could not help but feel the pang of longing for those family members who were not here. His mother and Sceral, of course, but he wondered about the woman that Sceral had created a life with up north and the other daughter that he had sired. He wondered too how this reunion had gone if Fenru and Kisla were still in the Bend, or at least near enough that they could bring their families together. It was wishful thinking, to be sure, but if there was any day for wishful thinking, this was it.

"Perhaps we will all go together sometime," he told Ice, and although there was truth in the desire, the practical reality of the situation said that it wasn't likely to actually happen. But he would not begrudge his father a trip north to visit his other son, even if the selfish part of Serach wanted to keep him all to himself. He would not - could not - do that to Ice, Sceral, or Lena. But those days were long in the future; now was the time to enjoy the present.

And enjoy they did, talking and reacquainting themselves with a familial bond that had stood the test of time and distance.