Oak Tree Bend branches, roots, and family trees

For @Fenru with the possibility of @Sahalie to join in. This takes place almost immediately after Fenru's Join thread

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
Serach could not breathe fast enough. He was moving far too fast for his lungs to properly fill themselves with air. The flurry of leaves, grass, and twigs underfoot was thunderous in his ears; no creature nearby could have possibly ignored his sprint. More than once the wolf caught a hurried speck of motion in her peripheral vision as he darted past, but he had no patience to stop and see what he had scared from its den. His thoughts were focused entirely on the scent and the sound. He had once known both as intimately as he knew his own; and it had been well over a year since he had given up hope of ever experiencing either ever again. Serach had been so elated to discover that @Kisla was alive and well, but he never would have imagined that he would once again be reunited with Fenru.

The boy barely had time to process. The howl had sent him leaping to his feet as he raced towards its origin, deviating in his path only as the associated scent grew stronger. @Spieden's was there too...She must have met him at the borders. Did she know him? He couldn't remember. It had all been too long ago, and he had been too plagued by his mother's death to truly remember all the comings and goings of his pack mates.

Sudden stop. Sides heaving.
His salmon tongue hung out of his mouth as the wolf panted for breath. His golden eyes stared resolutely at the figure in front of him. He had set off towards the howl without hesitation, but his journey across the pack's domain had been accompanied by a nagging feeling at the back of his mind....that he might be mistaken. But the familiar coat of gray, creme, rust, and black motley was exactly as Serach remembered it. He wasn't close enough to tell, but he could clearly see in his mind's eye the fiery orange eyes that dominated the Tainn family-line. There was no more doubt, not now. "..Fe..Fen..Fenru?" he called out, his voice wavering as he tentatively began to walk towards his sibling, his heart beating a million miles per hour against his rib cage.

Fenru relayed every ounce of gratitude to @Spieden as she allowed him entrance and left him to his own devices. For starters, he opted to begin reacquainting himself with the lands, traversing the borders and re-establishing his place as one of the family. He had not even raised a paw or even scratched at the ground beneath the trees when he heard it. The frantic footsteps of someone approaching. He poised himself appropriately, all too ready to bow his head and bend his elbow and knees if they required it of him. A smile even dared  to present itself on his masked face, a wordless cue that he was obviously someone 'friendly' to whoever had come.

Though as soon as his ears had pin-pointed just where the newcomer was coming from and his eyes had focused, his smile fell away into a look of awe. "..Fe..Fen..Fenru?" The lad's voice had matured since he last saw him; and, from a distance it was hard to tell just which of his baby brothers stood before him now. When he had last saw them, they were just a little older than his youngest cubs; they had just acquired their winter pelage and even then it had been hard to tell Serach from Sceral.

He nodded quietly, regarding the youth, confirming that it was indeed him. The young man came forward and Fenru did the same, covering at least a third of the distance between them. Only then, did it become clear to Fenru just who this was. There was no mistaking those yellow-green eyes. "You've... grown," his smile recovered. "How are you, Serach?"

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

Can he see my heart racing? It wasn't so much a conscious thought as it was a gut reaction as the two brothers' eyes met. There was no mistaking it now - the fiery orange Tainn eyes were filled with recognition, and shock. Fenru moved towards Serach, closing the distance between them. In response, the younger brother continued his walk, his steps increasingly eager until he nearly skipped the last few. They were muzzle to muzzle now, Serach's nostrils flaring and shaking as they took it all in. Fenru's own scent was as distinctive as ever and familiar, but clouded by so many other strange and foreign scents. A reminder that his older brother had been gone a long time.

Fenru's own astonishment and comment on Serach's growth hit him harder than the scents had, and he found himself taking a step backwards and rebuilding some of the space between them. They were siblings, and that would never change, but staring into those familiar eyes now while taking in all of those other unfamiliar signs, Serach realized that for all intents and purposes, the two were strangers. Ignoring Fenru's question, he decided to ask one of his own. "Where have you been?" he asked, exhaling as he realized that he had been holding his breath in anticipation. "You never found Kisla. She told me, when she came back." That had been the whole point of Fenru leaving, at least, that's the reason that he had held on to in his mind and heart for so long. "She's gone too now. So is Sceral. I'm the only one left." It came out in a hurried rush, an explanation that he felt Fenru needed to know. It certainly answered his initial question far better than an, "I'm fine. How're you?" response would have.

Fenru held still in his place, still rather unsure of what to make of Serach's greeting. If he could take his own adolescence into account, he remembered the days when he could spin on the spot, be absolutely fine one moment and aggravated the next. Given that his own yearlings at home were now exhibiting these behaviors, he wondered if the brother before him might have resented both his absence and return. Either way, he had disrupted the youth's life just by leaving... and now, he had come back to shake the foundations of home once again simply by being there.

Those Donata green eyes scrutinized him from head to toe and a sense of uneasiness crept into his face. He had anticipated an onslaught of complaints, words that were meant to sting and make him feel guilty for leaving after Corinna's death, but they didn't come. What was offered instead was a question, followed by a few declarations of where the rest of their family had gone off to; and, it was clear now that Serach had hoped that Fenru would have brought Kisla back home with him.

"I've just been away," he lent with a small smile that begged for his sibling's understanding. "Arlette and I... we... didn't find Kisla. We didn't find Ice. Aiyanna, though, is-" For one reason or another he stopped himself, suddenly realizing that Sceral and Serach had not even been born when their dark-furred sister had taken her leave. "She's fine." He finished the thought regardless.

"I'm sorry." He wasn't sure what else to say or do. "But, I'm here now." There was an attempt to make his simper into something more of a relieved grin with a wag of his tail but all he did was look longingly at Serach. The last time Fenru had seen him, he had only just survived his first winter after they both lost their mother. If only Fenru had been ready, perhaps he and Arlette could have stayed and raised their family here. As his little "Rissa-guide" saw fit, however, his fate had been tangled up elsewhere and all that was left for him now was to make sure that everything was still thriving in the place that he had abandoned.

"My son reminds me of you," he commented, opting not to try and ask how Serach was again, "when you were little. I... would have brought him with me but maybe some other time. I wasn't sure of who would be here to receive us. The woman who was just here, is she?" It was clear by the expression on his face that he was trying to draw lines from one family member to another, "Is she with Uncle Triell?"

Taekwondo (M, W, F) | Rapid-Response Day (Tu) | WoW Nights (F, Sat, Sun)

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

Never before had she seen a pack mate so excited, so animated. Weirdest of all, perhaps, it came from Serach who might have very well been the most inconspicuous wallflower in the meadow of Oak Tree Bend. But at any rate, there he went, racing right past her through the forest so loudly that he scared away the rabbit she had painstakingly stalked for the last half hour. 

What on earth?

Sahalie wanted to be mad about the rabbit, but it seemed much more important to get to the bottom about what all the hulla-balloo was about. Was he running from something or to something? Only one way to know. In an instant she was up on her paws and moving as fast she could manage without tripping underneath her gangly legs that had sprouted out of her in the last few months. She prayed that they would be fast enough to get her to Serach. She wanted to feel his excitement, too. 

Yards ahead of her she saw the pale man skid to a stop and abruptly she applied the breaks as well and dove to her left behind a tree. She did not know why she did this, why she did not want her pack mate to see her. It felt... deceptive to follow him and hide, but at the same time she was scared that she would spook whatever excitement he had straight out of him if she gave herself away.

The girl wiggled silently into place underneath a bush and watched.

It was a wolf.

A word was spoken, a name. The fluttering quality of Serach's voice took her breath away. What was this property and what did it mean? The stranger, Fenru, spoke warmly with a curious familiarity. At first her interest had been mostly directed at Serach's behavior, but now it was becoming clear that this dark man should be of interest to her as well. The intrigue deepened. There were more names coming from Serach now, names like Fenru, ones she had never heard before now — though she might have known Kisla's had she bothered to pay attention at the meeting. Maybe she had been mistaken in her belief that Nayeli was just one wolf. Maybe it was many. Many wolves who had gone and disappeared, that mattered a lot to others and had the strangest, most indirect impact on Sahalie's life.

Why was Serach the only one left? A small frown creased her face. This seemed a very important fact that had been left out by all the wolves she had known. Only one left of what? Where her packmates looking for the other ones? Did they care? Her heart thudded heavily against the ground she was pressed against.

Arlette, Ice, Aiyana.... so many nayelis. So many wolves that the search had ended for. She etched these names into her heart. Fenru had a son, but his name wasn't given. Sahalie wondered about this boy only in the sense that he might be the same age as herself.

Indirectly, there was a mention of Spieden, whose scent still lingered in the air. Her ears perked up. The way Fenru pronounced with had a strange emphasis on it, as if it did not mean the normal kind of with. Which made little sense to a girl who knew nothing of mates and love.

With awe, her gaze turned back to Serach. Hungrily she awaited his response.

(This post was last modified: Oct 26, 2015, 10:04 PM by Sahalie. Edit Reason: extra paragraph spacing >_> )

Serach wasn't really sure what kind of answer he was expecting. His heart was beating against his ribcage so hard that he thought it might burst out of him. For so long, he had dreamed of this moment. But he had never imagined it with the kind of tension that was there now. Worst of all it, was all his fault - he knew that much. Fenru had been excited to see him, but Serach's anger and frustration at having been left alone by so many of his beloved family had boiled over unexpectedly and there was no going back from that now.

The youth listened with an uncharacteristic alertness. He knew that Fenru had not found @Kisla, and he assumed the same for Ice, the father that Serach and Sceral had never really known. He was surprised to hear about Aiyana, though he had never met his other sister. She had gone the way of all the other Tainns in the family - seeking out her own adventures.

"I'm sorry." Fenru offered. He could not see, although he would probably understand if Serach had cared to tell him, about the internal struggle that was going on inside of him. So he merely nodded, unable to trust himself to speak as Fenru continued on. His grim facial expression gave way to a look of surprise, his lips opening to a small "O" as Fenru spoke about the other family that he had left behind. For a moment, the boy's heart soared just as it had when he had learned that Kisla had also had her own family, but it plummeted once more when the realization of what exactly that meant set in.

"You left your son to come back here?" He asked quietly, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. "I guess that means you'll be leaving again." He looked at Fenru, his facial expression somewhere between mournful and accusatory. He should have suspected as much. With a disgruntled sigh, Serach fell to his haunches, his shoulders drooping and gaze on his paws. "That woman is Spieden. She's the pack's leader. Took over after Triell's mate, Nayeli, left. Or was kidnapped, or something like that," he explained, his tone sullen. "She came back for a bit, long enough to have another litter. She left again, though. Triell left too - he's trying to find her. Hopefully he comes back, he's got two young pups - Sahalie and Drift - to care for. Jessie is still here, though she hasn't been the same since her mate, Hotei, died earlier this year."

Had the boy known that Sahalie had followed him and was easedropping, he might have stopped well before divulging that particular bit of information. But he was oblivious to her presence, being too entirely focused on Fenru and his own internal anxiety over what his returned brother was doing. "Drestig is leading in Triell's place now. Dunno if you ever met him," he shrugged his shoulders; he had never been able to keep the timeline straight. The previous year when Drestig had arrived and Fenru had left had really been a blur to him. "Kisla lives north of here now. She's got her own pack, and pups of her own. I'm sure she'd love to see you, if you want to visit her before you go back home." Home, he thought bitterly. Something that everybody but me apparently has.