Jasper Rocks brideshead revisited

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

Veho obliged and Rook could only wonder now where it would all lead, whether it would push him away like it did with Namid and Bishop or pull him in as it did with Quil. He cast an appreciative gaze over to him then slowly stood up and settled somewhat close to Veho, being just within reach if either of them extended a paw to reach out to one another. The Lyall reclined down on his stomach again, casting his gaze back out to the babbling current before them. Butterflies began to flit around in his stomach, flapping restlessly until they expanded into his lungs and beat about his throat.

"My family used to live here a while ago," he began. "Then something terrible happened and they left. I... brought them back because it... was the last place my father recognized as home. What we had back from where we had come from was great but then--" His voice faltered, "Th-ings started to change." Somewhere behind him, his tail came over to cover his left flank. "Something is wrong with my dad and we don't know what or why." Here, his nose wriggled as though he were holding back the urge to sniffle. "I've asked for help but nothing seems to have worked."

He winced, "A certain mushroom worked for a while, but I'm not so sure it's the answer. He still forgets." A turn of his head brought Rook to look upon Veho's face again in he day's last light, "After everything I've lost, you'd think something would have let up but I'm still losing everything." His eyes dropped to the pebbles between his paws and one of his rounded ears swiveled to one side, "I don't even know who I am anymore. Maybe it wasn't him that needed this, it was me; and, because of this selfishness, everything's gone the way it has. We're ghosts, shadows... nothing like how I remember in the stories. This was all my fault." The other ear came down to mirror the other opposite of it, "I need to know that I can still fix it. I want to know that there is still hope."

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

Ah. So much of this made sense, so much of this was as familiar as a well-worn jacket. It was not his father, but Neha who slowly faded from existence no matter the efforts made. A child could not understand her illness, it was an introduction to loss. While he had no doubt that his companion had experienced death in his past – no wolf made it to their age without witnessing a pack member (or perhaps a sibling or friend) lose their life. It was different, though, watching an infallible parent slowly lose their grip on reality – that was the truth the smaller male was having trouble allowing into his life. "Of course you can fix it. Nothing in life is permanent," Veho rumbled softly, ears swiveling forward as he studied his companion. After a moment, he wormed forward. With legs still tucked beneath him, the male could not reach out with a paw, so he leaned out with his nose instead, pressing against the other wolf's forelimb as he summoned him back to the present. "But you won't, if you harbor guilt wherever you go. You cannot let it color you, moving forward." He spoke as if he had great certainty on the topic – in fact, if he took the advice he was giving Gaheris, he might be in a less transient place himself, but it was so much easier to see it in others than admit to it within himself. "Gaheris – understand that nothing is really under our control on this earth, but under the will of the Ancestors. You might feel that you catalyzed something, but you were also put into that place, at that time, and all that came before you had arranged that very interaction." Veho hummed softly, eyes searching the other animal's expression. "It is up to us to take what we are given and do good in the world. I think that you will – I can see it. The Ancestors would not have led me here if you were not that sort of wolf."

A simple affirmation, a bit of comfort (despite how skeptical Rook was starting to feel about everything), and the gentlest touch to his forearm and the masked youth was struck speechless for the time being. Touched as though he recognized the rogue to be some sort of guardian angel in disguise. Guilt, he came to realize, was the culprit in all of this. At the end of the day he was wholly responsible for everything - for practically uprooting his parents from their safe haven away from Relic Lore, for driving his sister away out of selfishness, for snatching Quil away from Cinder, for turning his family within Willow Ridge against him, for bringing Tomen into being under what he now believed was false love (even though he was certain that it wasn't and that he still truly loved Quil with all his might), for Grizzly Hollow and those who made up its ranks. Then, there was this - with Beren, with Titan, and now with Veho - whatever it was when it came to that insatiable restlessness he felt whenever he thought of them. Rook was guilty for everything he had done since he had come here.

"Gaheris," the utterance of his pseudonym brought Rook's gaze to hold his companion's own pair of pale eyes. His words were wise, worldly even, and for a fleeting moment he was reminded of Kiche, Jaysyek, and Bishop all at once. Perhaps it was true that someone up there had clearly orchestrated this meeting. Veho, quite possibly, could take up the place where they had once been.

The next sentiment brought Rook's eyes to gloss over and he visibly winced, the dark line that ran down his forehead and to the bridge of his muzzle becoming more apparent as his whiskered brows furrowed. "Come home with me, please?" It would seem to him that there was no other way to ask such a thing but, after what had happened with every other companion in the past, he could no longer afford the luxury of beating around the bush for the sake of garnering their trust and sense of loyalty. "If... If this happened for a reason then maybe that is the next step I had to take if you'll have me-" his jaw quivered and he added in haste as if to not make it sound like he exclusively wanted Veho for himself (at least, not just yet; the last time he had done this, he had lost @Namid and @Beren, it seemed, for good), "-and my family."

He didn't want to seem too eager, likened to a cub-snatcher whose eyes were on a vulnerable youngster, and instead remained where he was. "Our numbers are small and we would be grateful for you to join us."

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

"I-" It was Veho's turn to be surprised, eyes like twin moons against his silvery face as he studied the masked man with open curiosity. Never before had he received such a generous offer – as much as he enjoyed speaking with his new companion, he'd helped other wolves more. Or, at least, assisted them in a more physical manner: curing illnesses, healing wounds, and rescuing lives wherever he could. Once all was said and done, he was offered gratitude and occasionally a meal for his trouble, and then the medicine man was on his way, with only the wind to guide him. After a moment, he closed his jaw, finally aware that he was staring. "I- You'll forgive my surprise, I'm not used to such gracious offers…and I am a bit reluctant to admit, it has been some time since I lived among a pack. My own family dispersed when I was not yet an adult. But-" But he would be willing to give it a try, Veho didn't say, if they were willing to be patient with him and forgive any missteps among the group. A pious, lawful individual, the healer wished for nothing outside of abiding by a group's set standards. Exhaling softly, the older male allowed himself a moment to shut his eyes and center himself before his mouth ran away from him. "I will come with you, but I will ask one thing of you, Gaheris. Do not put a leash on me, that I would not be able to help others in need should the Ancestors call me to it. Trust that I will come back, and I will…but please, do not prevent me from my calling. That is all- All I could possibly ask."

The stutter made Rook's heart skip a beat. Had he said too much? Was it too forward? Maybe he had some how imposed himself on him? All of his fears and his apparently unnecessary questioning were put to rest as Veho explained as to why he had been so surprised. It had merely been because of his wandering or time spent elsewhere, the time spent away from his family or other packs... that his family had dispersed before his own coming-of-age. Rook made a face that suggested his empathy; he, himself, had barely become a yearling when it felt like Renegades Reach had started to fall apart. His brothers were leaving, his older sisters were scuffling between one another a little too often than he would have liked, and his own age mate sister had started to clash with him here and there. Most unfortunate of it all was the deterioration of his father's well-being.

"I will come with you," Veho's words called the Lyall back to the present. It was the subtle lifting of his ears that showed he was attentively listening. "But I will ask one thing of you, Gaheris. Do not put a leash on me, that I would not be able to help others in need should the Ancestors call me to it." In all truth, the young man's heart could have broken - cracked a bit, if anything, but Rook had already learnt his lesson by now. Judging by how much space he allowed Bishop, Namid, Beren, Titan and Quil in turn, obviously, it made sense that if he allowed the distance to come between him and the ones he yearned for, they would remain. Veho asked him to trust that he would return; to this, Rook gave a small nod with a slight sniffle. His gaze went to his companion's arms, wrists, and paws, wondering just how much terrain they had traveled across, how many different types of soil they had trekked, how many riverbeds they had tread. Then, suddenly, all he could think of was how they would feel if he tucked his own forepaws up against them.

"Of course," he whispered back. "I wouldn't even dare think it." As if he were still that cub who was terrified by a bit of lightning, he crawled to Veho's sided on his elbows and heels, angling himself so that - at last - the tips of their paws did touch, but only just a little. Just enough to instill that sense of security back within him. His voice remained quiet, his tone sounding as though it were some delicate melody on the wind, "We'll remain here a while longer before I lead you back. Then..." He paused as if there was something dire that the man ought to know before they continued any further, "I have some things I must share with you."

(Rook fade)

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

"Okay. Okay," the loner whispered in return, a heaviness in the air blanketing the pair of wolves as if a great secret had been shared between the two. While the sniffle had not been missed, Veho knew not how to remark upon it, knew not how to digest the sudden clench in his chest at the notion he'd not said quite the right thing – how foreign it was to the confident youth, this inability to understand or pull himself out of a difficult situation. So he said nothing, shifting just enough to allow the other wolf the space to make himself comfortable before rocking on his belly to lean into the other male companionably. After a moment of thought, he allowed his bushy tail to flop over Rook's as he dropped his chin against his forearms, pale gaze staring outwards in a picture of perfect peace. A shame, really, that it was a completely contradistinction to the violent storm battering the insides of his mind. Allowing himself a heavy sigh, he only tipped his head when Gaheris spoke back up. "Of course," he agreed with little more than a grunt, the tip of his tail flickering in acknowledgment. Conflicted as he felt, taken aback by the sudden wash of unusual emotion, settling on the forest floor was still entirely pleasant. The nearby stream's lullaby was enough to pacify him. Moonlit eyes fluttered shut and the vagrant shifted again, this time wriggling closer to Rook's side as he unwittingly sought out the warmth of another wolf. This, he thought, like this they could stay as long as Gaheris could want. Fade.