Grizzly Hollow empty chairs at empty tables

@Rook primarily, and @Quil too if you want <3 Hope the PP-setup is okay!

The young boy had waited up last night despite his mother's urging to sleep, determined not to bed before his father. It had been the first such night, for while he had noticed his father's increasing absence, never had he mentioned it, thinking that there must be some good reason. But last night would have marked the third night in a row, and trying to discern the emotions on his mother's face had been difficult, difficult because there were feelings there that he simply hadn't realised that moms had.

It had not proved to be a third night in a row; while later than normal (on the nights that he came back at all), the leader had emerged from the trees, and Tomen couldn't help it; his tail had beat hard against the ground as he moved to greet his parent, ushering him inside, believing that everything was okay now that he had come back. That was the problem after all, so surely that would fix it?

Caught up in his pleasure at having both of the wolves he loved most in the same den, Tomen hadn't really clocked the not-quite-as-excited reception that Rook had received from Quil, for the boy had been too distracted in trying to find the most comfortable spot in between the two adults. He had fallen asleep quickly, content, oblivious.

When he opened his eyes, it was still dark out, and there was a nagging feeling somewhere in the base of his skull - like a dream he had just experienced but couldn't recall, or an event the previous day which was deeply important but eluding him. Unable to shake the feeling, he fidgeted, the spot between his parents warm and cosy but now that he was awake and agitated, he just felt smothered. Wriggling carefully out of the way, for he didn't want to wake them unnecessarily, he went to move towards the den, when he changed his mind. Scooting over to his father's side, furthest from his mother so as not to disturb her, he pushed his nose in a large furry ear. "Daaad," he whispered, jabbing his father's cheek this time. "Daaaaaaad."

if I risk it all, could you break my fall?

A meadow had been laid before him, the grasses adorned with morning dew beneath his feet. The sun at his shoulder warmed his back and illuminated the forest in beams of sun-glow. This could have only been home. He searched through the trees, certain that he would find someone to keep him company. It had only been a moment when two black wolves emerged from the depths of the Cedarwood, tails aloft in the air with a hearty wag. He smiled, knowing that he could have picked them out from a million other dark-pelted wolves. Them. @Titan and Beren.

They drew close enough to press their temples to his shoulder, to lick his chin and whine in submission, when yet another dark wolf emerged. @Quil. He took a step forward when another individual came upon him, a gray blur from the corner of his eye, lavishing him with 'kisses' and 'nose nuzzles.' His beloved, bathed in the morning light gracefully watched from afar and Rook, again tried to close the distance between them. There was a nip at his side, a tug at his ruff, a growl in his ear... but he did it. He touched his nose and lips to hers and, in the most softest of whispers, he told her, "Good night."

In obvious confusion his brow furrowed - in the waking world, he actually did this - before he felt himself being forced down into the pine needled floor. The bit of gray he had noticed before finally focused and he looked sadly into @Veho's face. There was something uttered but Rook couldn't hear. Beren and Titan shoved him to his side, a declaration of "He's obviously sick..." stated loud for all to hear. Rook shook his head, looking from Quil to Veho and back again. "I love you," he cried, feeling the sting of teeth upon him again and again. "Quil, I love you!"

His eyes shut tight for a second and when he opened them again, he saw Veho on the ground, the porcupine quills manifested back onto his face in a mess of red, white and gray. Quil was nowhere to be seen and he assumed that he been left there to die. He tucked his chin closer to his chest, finding that he could not move his legs. He was about to call for help when two stark black paws came to fall just inches from his nose and he gazed up into an adult Tomen's face. Rook began to cry, a string of apologies leaving his lips while his son merely looked down upon him...

- - -

"Daaad," the lad's voice was still young and cub-like, just as he had always remembered it. Rook, as he laid at one side of the den, finally woke as he felt Tomen poked at his cheek with his nose, inhaling with a gasp of air as though he had been held underwater for a long time. "Daaaaaaad." He lifted his head to regard the traces of the gangly boy at his side, brought back to the present with a clear reminder that he had been asleep in the den and that he was safe. In what little light was available, he took in the size of Tomen's paws, the sight of his mate on the other side of the den, the circle of dark forest just beyond the mouth of their little burrow, and the comforting darkness that blanketed them. It had only been a dream.

His tail at the back of the den swept across Quil's as she slumbered and he regarded the little lord warily, his murmured question slow and heavy with sleep, "What? What is it?"

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

She had nestled down with her son at the end of the day easily enough. With darkness descended on the cedar forest, she'd found the spot in the den where her body had worn a comfortable depression in the dirt beneath the blanket of leaves, plopped down, and welcomed Tomen's warmth as he'd cuddled up next to her. Rook had yet to make it home for the night, but to this fact she knew better than to pay too much attention; he came and went as he pleased or needed to, and she'd made up her mind by now that she would be okay with that. Quil had learned the hard way that most expectations were too easily unmet, and that it was easier to go with the flow with Rook. Hunkering down, she buried her face in her son's fur and actually found little trouble drifting away into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

Rook hadn't woke her when he'd come home, somehow slipping inside and finding his place beside her without much commotion. It wasn't until Tomen's tiny whispers finally roused her that her eyes heavily fluttered open. "Daaaaaad," he'd peeped, and it was then that her mate's scent met her nose and she let her eyes drift closed as a smile touched her lips. Quil breathed in deep and moved to stretch her long legs with a tremble before rolling over to drape a hind leg over Rook's back, peeking in the darkness to look upon his face as he woke to Tomen's snout in his opposite ear. She said nothing and only wriggled closer to him, as close as she could before nestling her nose in the tuft of creamy fur on his chest.

No matter what, she was happy to have him home.

 

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity

Completely oblivious to the tumultuous dreams he was disrupting, Tomen waited impatiently for his father to wake up, not wanting to risk bothering his mother as well. In truth he hadn't yet 100% decided what the very important matter was that he was using as a reason to disturb his very important father's sleep, but there were so many things rattling around inside his head that it was quite likely he would be able to pick one.

The boy's face lit up with pleasure at the sight of those mismatched eyes opening, but it fell again as he realised that his mother was moving, closing the gap that had been between his parents. Tomen cringed as he watched her, trying to tell if she was awake too or not, but it was really difficult to tell in the dark. She might've been shifting about in her sleep like everyone sometimes did, and when she said nothing, settling back into the warmth and comfort of her mate, Tomen decided she was probably asleep. His hesitation lasted just a moment longer as he took in the fact that they were cuddled together, the simple affectionate act reassuring a small, worried knot that lived in his chest.

Focused back on his father's face, it was time to announce just what the very important matter was. Taking a breath, though careful to keep his urgent tone as quiet as possible (though there was really nobody left to disturb), he said, with utmost sincerity: "Why don't I have a secret name?"

if I risk it all, could you break my fall?

His head moved backward slightly, as if thunderstruck by such a question. The cogs in his head slowly turned, his brain likened to a machine that had to remain running for a few moments longer before being able to function properly. Then, rather sleepily, Rook laid his head down between his wrists on the cold den floor of soil and moss. Feeling Quil drape a hind leg over his confirmed his decision to remain within the den and, ultimately, try to keep Tomen within it as well.

"Because you, my son, have no need for one," he answered back in a whisper, his right golden eyes closing while his blue one remained focused on Tomen. "You are the heir of Grizzly Hollow and that in itself is something special. You will never have to hide or pretend you are someone else."

It probably didn't make any sense and, perhaps, the little lord might have thought he had made a mistake for waking his father up in the middle of the night, but Rook did try to make himself come across as serious, regardless of the grogginess that threatened to pull him back into the comfortable lull of sleep. "Your name is special, Tomen, and everyone within Relic Lore will one day know your name."

A tired smile overcame his maw and he closed his eyes, only half-wondering if the cub might prod him awake again, "You'll understand when you're older."

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.