Poison Path don't drown in nostalgia

For Staleek and Tauza. Ahkna won't be joining this reunion, she'll meet them later :)

The air was cool, the skies grey with promised rain. Partway up, her feet had remembered the way and Bella would have been helpless to stop them, so they had brought her back here. It smelled stale, empty, dead, though her eyes saw only verdant mountain life, saw the familiar shapes and lines and paths and every turn brought more recognition. But her nose told her it was dead. The disconnect made her head buzz.

Any moment she expected to see Ash appear from around that rock, to hear Athena call to her from behind, or to spot Adonis lurking by that crevasse or Ava strolling towards the cache or Datura to -

The den was empty, cold, unused, forgotten. She could smell several species inside, the space used as shelter by almost anything other than wolves these days. Gone, abandoned, dead. She wandered from landmark to landmark, tracing the oft-used paths between them, nose pressed to the ground now and then for any signs of life. It had not been unexpected. Ash had told her of the desertion, and she had warned her heart not to be disappointed, but it could not help itself. When she thought of what could have been, of what she left behind, the ache was real. Was it selfish to regret so much, to wish to be able to turn back time, when her impact on the present was very real and very much loved in its own right? When she looked behind her and saw her pale son trailing along beside her, the disconnect buzzed louder, for this wasn't his place and he wasn't meant to be mingling with these old memories, he was a totally different part of her life. How could she yearn for two realities at once? But here they were, together, and as the wind picked up and the young, brittle grass swayed, she felt a hint of home blow into her soul.

"Are you ready?" she asked softly, taking careful note of how he steeled himself before nodding. Trust them. Taking her place outside the small birthing den where she had been born, and encouraging Duckweed to sit next to her, Bella tipped her head upwards and let loose a long, soft song for her children, those she loved more than anything else in this world, her priority above all else. They would breath life into this forgotten place, their presence an explosion of colour on a sad, lonely landscape. Come back to me.

(This post was last modified: Jul 14, 2015, 04:30 PM by Belladonna.)

so I was wondering how far away poison path would be from fallen tree cove so I found and old map and here is the results hahahah
also this sucks sorry xD

She trotted gleefully among the nightshade bushes towards the summoning she had been waiting for. She didn't need her mother but she was desperate to see her again. She told herself it was because she was curious. What would mother say about the neighbors to the north east, the scent trails that brushed up against the lands her mother had claimed had belonged to Poison Path? The neighbor's stench wove through the deer paths and through the bushes. No doubt the heard the cry of Belladonna at their doorstep. They passed through all the time. Did this warrant a response from her frustratingly neutral mother? Did it rub salt into the forgotten, freshly opened wounds of her mother's past? Because Tauza was sure that there were wounds. The pale girl swore to bear witness to these wounds, to the attitudes her mother displayed. 

She needed to know.

The dark matriarch sat, for whatever reason, next to a crude hole in the ground. Tauza sniffed cautiously. The scents of dead and stale creatures greeted her, but there was no cause for concern. Though Tauza had to wonder why here of all places. Her eyes swung about. Deadly red berries hung from the trees. She stared innocently at her youngest brother before turning her eyes back to her mother. "Little loud, don't you think?" Tauza never had time for greetings. The girl was always driving into the heart of things. "Those other wolves are close." Besides the one brief glance, Tauza had nothing she wanted to share with her runty brother. He was just a wallflower anyway.

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@Belladona - @Tauza

staleek "snakeroot" calor

careful, there are snakes in the garden

Amusement hinted in his features when he heard his mother’s obnoxiously loud call for him and his sisters. He would start to walk towards her, taking his time to reach her with a smug expression on his face. He couldn’t wait to watch his mother roll over and accept the fact that someone was in her former home, squashing her dreams of growing a future on the lake. Staleek had a hinting impression that when she discovered the truth, she would ask to join the mountain pack and they would all follow like good children, however, he had very different plans as to why he wanted to join the pack. These were plans he had already discussed with Tauza earlier when they first discovered the pack resided there.

He would draw a deep breath, keeping his mind clear as he plastered a very noticibly fake smile on his face and broke into a trot. He was eager to see his mother’s reaction towards what had happened on her mountain and that was the only interest he held in the call. He would arrive, dipping his head in greeting. “Mother. Tauza.” He would greet the both of them with a short and concise greeting, simply stating their names in harsh tones, though Tauza’s name was said with a matter of elegance as he stood beside where his sister was. He kept amusement in his eyes as the rest of him fell to the impassiveness he felt so comfortable in, almost as much as he did when he was mad or filled with the desire to rip something apart.

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@Tauza @Staleek

so yeah I hadn't realised the whole proximity thing and I'm assuming that Bella was just blinkered by 'poison path memories omg' so she don't care... at the moment.

We could wrap this up quickly (as in not many rounds, no pressure to reply promptly) so we can start a more up-to-date one?

It was cold, still, quiet, but inside her head was buzzing with all that she had lost. It still tore at her that she regretted this fate, but as her mind wandered to the reality that was a reunion with her children, the nostalgia faded to be replaced with a gentle warmth. It is impossible to change what was. She had no power to breathe life into these dark holes, not truly, not yet, and she would have to think long and hard before venturing down that path. For so long, to simply stand upon her mountain once more had been her purest goal, to share it with her loved ones, but she supposed that the Mountain of Dire, Lost Lake and Poison Path were all one in her mind. To come back and find two of the three still present and vibrant, but the third little more than a ghost... it unsettled her. It felt incomplete.

They came. The sight of her Foxglove, her pale fur and distinct mask, her unique trot, the way that the breeze brought her gentle scent back to her mother's nose - almost instantly her melancholy dissolved, for while she had placed her total trust in the three to make their own way, to see her here, truly, was relieving. "My love," she breathed, standing to receive her daughter, stepping briskly forward to welcome her as though she hadn't heard the blunt greeting. She swept a kiss onto her child's nose quickly, knowing that it would have been avoided otherwise, and looked up to see her other distinctly-marked offspring answer her call. Swiftly she approached him to embrace him, pressing her cheek against his neck, inhaling him and his presence. It was all okay; all was right with the world. Bella would have expected nothing less than to see her Snake and Fox within moments of each other.

Of course she also knew that her affectionate greetings were not wanted, but no matter how much of Wolesh they carried, she had kissed him too all the same. Turning about, to face all three at once, her eyes moved from one to the next until she was satisfied, and relaxed with a long breath and a smile, and finally addressed Fox's valid concern.

"I found the borders too, but we're not trespassing." If anything, they are. "We're okay here for now." Ears forward, she looked between Fox and Snake, still finding their presence, here, in the middle of her childhood, pleasantly absurd. Her pleasure at the reunion was evident on her face, though they were missing a member yet. "Did Crow find you? Where have you been staying?"

My Love.

Tauza longed to hear this but knew it was just the borrowed phrase more commonly meant for the Weed. Her eyes flicked back at him, narrowing. In the moment's distraction she had not prepared herself for her mother to swoop in so suddenly to peck her on the nose. Tauza stood very still. She was all about appearances, no matter how bad she seemed to be at maintaining them. She knew her mother knew.

Staleek, too, received his own special coddling as well. A smirk flickered across her face as she wondered at his reaction. Staleek was much less likely to tolerate affection from anyone, especially their mother. He had barely even afforded his mother a single word, and the amusement in his eyes, she knew, was not because of all the squishy emotions inside him at being reunited. Staleek had ideas. Staleek was in his own world. It happened.

"Haven't seen her," the pale girl said with a decisive shrug. She wanted to put an end to that topic, not caring much for her elder sister. Crow spent too much time with Duck. And she did not deserve the name Wolesh had given her. "We've been...." she glanced towards her brother, "Around. We, too, found the borders. And some of the wolves. I met the alpha. Don't think he cared much for Staleek." She rattled away the information, figuring it was a harmless thing to provide to her mother. If anything, it was essential if she were to get a reaction out of her. "They call themselves Fallen Tree Cove, so I imagine they're somewhere along the shore. Some man named Vespertio owns in, along with a woman called Namid." Did these names ring a bell? Did she have anymore names to give her mother? The strange other wolf at the congregation's name escaped her. 

Unfortunately it appeared that was all she had for her mother in terms of facts. Now for some opinion. "Personally I don't like them."

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There is a deer that was killed by a lynx nearby. +10 Health

@Staleek, skipping you as you said we could. Feel free to post at any time. If we come to a natural end to the thread, let us know if you want to get a Staleek reaction/conclusion post in before archiving it. I'll have Bella primarily talk to Tauza in the meantime.

@Tauza

When her warm greeting was met with total cool, Bella knew not to take it too personally. She had learned that a long time ago, and though it pained her that she was not the parent they wished for, it was something that she accepted. It didn't mean they were any less worthy of her protection, effort and love, just because of who they were. Wolesh took half the credit in their making, and so she couldn't blame them for being like him. It was who they were. They were allowed.

Her disappointment at Foxglove's revelation that they had not come here with @Ahkna was evident on her face. Briefly but longingly she glanced out to the west, wondering where her daughter could be, and what had caused her delay. With the slow pace set by Duckweed, she had expected all three of the others to sail on ahead, and had not been surprised to find Fox and Snake here already. Of the four, though, she knew that Crowfoot was most capable on her own, but that was almost why she wanted her last daughter with them so badly. Though Crow contained as much of her father as Fox and Snake, she had tempered it into her own nature, and was a beast less cold than the other two. Bella even thought that Crow had taken on the aspects of Wolesh that Bella had admired (if feared) the most - his resilience, his cunning, his drive. She was a valuable balancing presence in the family, and Bella wondered if she alone would be able to maintain a fragile peace between the siblings.

Bella's attention drew quickly back to Foxglove as the girl continued, her manner perfectly casual, hiding the feelings that Bella knew lurked beneath. They had certainly not been idle. Upon learning that Snakeroot had made a poor impression on their neighbours, Bella glanced at him, seeing the apathy there. She could believe it. If Fox had intended to ingratiate herself to the pack, then bringing her brother had probably been a bad idea. Still, the fact that the pack didn't like her son plucked at a sensitive chord inside Bella, who frowned. Caught up in being here, in the old memories, she had not yet  given much thought as to what was next for the family, but with how uncomfortably close this unknown pack was to her old home, and their attitude toward her child, Bella did not find that she thought on them favourably. To live by the lake was a dream, but she would not sacrifice her children's happiness and her own dignity to do so.

The names meant nothing. They were as empty of life as the dens which she had called them to. Foxglove concluded her summary with an opinion, one that Bella had already guessed, and which she was strangely unashamed to agree with. It was rare that she judge anyone poorly for so trivial a crime, and let alone those that she had not met, but Fallen Tree Cove and their lot were simply unlucky to exist in such close conjunction with her own deep disappointment. Poison Path, dead. What were they supposed to do now?

"Sounds like that was mutual," she said, a little sharply, glancing at Snake once more before addressing Fox again. "So we won't be looking to join them, I assume you burned that bridge. Did you find any other packs on the mountain? Anyone you did like?"

Though her manner was approaching whatever Bella's version of 'stern' was, she drew closer to Fox, almost without consciously thinking about it, and reached forward to clean at a grubby patch of fur by her cheek. It was dustier up here than on the forest floor, but really now.

Eww, mom germs. Staleek tried his hardest to pull away from his mother’s displays of affection towards him, knowing perfectly well that he was not a child anymore and that he had no interest in such things. Affection was only towards those who deserved it. He rolled his eyes in the process, scoffing in the back of his mind over it. It was like he was her child or something.

Staleek had decided it would be best to remain silent, knowing perfectly well that he had screwed up in the recent past, most notably the Fallen Tree Cove ordeal, and that it would surely be brought up in this meeting. He kept his gaze sharp and emotionless, a rebel and impulsive child who still found a certain lackluster distaste when it came to anything that made him feel inferior. Personally, Staleek almost wished that his mother and the duckling hadn’t shown up at all, leaving him and Tauza to figure out what they were going to do. Alas, this was not the case. There was the slightest bristle along his spine when Tauza brought up the alpha’s distaste for the boy. It wasn’t his fault, he was simply looking out for his sister.

He thought about muttering something, but he didn’t. He simply remained tense. There was a sense of scolding that Staleek sensed as his mother spoke, saying he burned a bridge. “All I did was ask who they were. Tauza was alone with two pack wolves there!” He found himself defending his actions, though he was not entirely sure why since he didn’t particularly care what his mother thought. “I haven’t seen Ahkna either.” He added at the end, using her father-given name rather than the hippie plant name she had been assigned similar to Snakeroot or Foxglove.

Her eyes narrowed at her mother's insinuation. "I'd like to say we left on good terms." She wasn't the one to burn bridges, she liked her options. They made her feel comfortable. Mother hadn't any mind for their "options" when she decided to rip them away from the only home Tauza had ever known.

Unmoving, she accepted her mother's matronly tidying, withholding even an eye-roll.  Her mother liked to do these sorts of things, and Tauza was inclined to let her. Secretly she enjoyed these small things, but admitted this not even to herself. Yet sometimes it just felt as if her mother was never satisfied with her appearance. Maybe she just wasn't pretty enough. She wasn't a bird song or a sunset. She just looked like her father. With a sigh, she turned so that her mother could survey the other side of the face and find it exceedingly lacking. 

"I smelled another pack on the mountain farther that way," she threw her nose back southward over her shoulder. The mountains got more disorganized there, more like a jumble of rocks than one solid slab. It seemed unwise to traverse there, "I Dunno what they're like. Haven't been down there yet. Should we go?" She was looking at Staleek, but the invitation was extended vaguely to her mother and her leech. There was no point in mentioning the fact that she had spoken to no other wolves. No one else had been worth it. This land was fairly bland.

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@Staleek @Tauza <33

Her attention snapped back to Snake as he spoke, trying to deny his blame in it. While she believed him, she also believed Fox's account, and knew that her son had a manner which was abrasive to many. It was rare that Bella wished for Wolesh back, but at least her mate had kept a good handle on his children, had earned their respect as well as their love. She couldn't help the feeling that she was trying to tame a ticking bomb.

Foxglove spoke up in similar defense, and Bella did not argue, hoping that they were right; while she did not truly wish to join that pack, she did not want to make unnecessary enemies. Such was not her way, but Wolesh had been extremely adept at it, and it had been his end. It worried her that her children might take on that aspect of him. Did they not realise what had caused their father's death, how he had brought it on himself? Could they not fight their own nature to go down that same path?

When her daughter turned her head to sullenly accept Bella's ministrations upon the other side, the mother found her cheek to be perfectly well-kept; hardly wondering at the darker thoughts behind their familial interaction, Bella simply planted a kiss on that side instead.

There was another pack to the south, another change from the landscape she knew. That was a possibility, if only because it let her stay on the mountain without living so tantalisingly close to her old home, but yet... Nodding her understanding of Fox's report, and pulling away to give her daughter back her personal space, Bella glanced between the two siblings and held back her sigh. "Of course," she said, though the question hadn't really been directed at her and they hardly needed their consent. "We'll meet you tonight to the south of the lake, further from this pack. We should be safer there. We can discuss our next move then."

Wanting to embrace them both again, she resisted. She could not hold back the tide they were, or change the blood in their veins. She could only make peace with it. "Remember to keep the Calor name something to be proud of," she reminded them, "and keep safe. I'm glad you made it okay. I love you."