Jasper Rocks euphemism

Private for @Veho <3 Can be set whenever you like during her brief stay.
RE: Quickly melting snow has turned rivers into rapids.

The pools here had never been any kind of exciting, which perhaps is why they had made for suitable burial grounds - calm, dignified, quiet. The snows had been disappearing faster than they could fall for a short while now, just another telltale sign of the coming of spring, but there must have been some serious melt going on further up the Heartleaf - what was normally an ordinary creek was flowing with rather more gumption than usual, and the Jasper Pools were overflowing with all the extra incoming water.

Having quickly discerned that there was no real power behind the flows - while it poured steadily into the pools from the narrower creek, it flowed out of the pools from all sides, lessening its strength. Trisden had strode up to the point where the earth normally met the pools and stood there, knee-deep in steadily moving water, just idly amused by the unique happenstance. It would all go back to normal eventually; with time, everything reverted back to its natural state.

Besides, this was where she had requested the great Veho Macieo to meet with her, this man who had taken command of Grizzly Hollow when her brother had failed it, and Trisden never let something as trivial as weather change her plans.

It was not in Veho Macieo’s nature to ignore a request of his presence, much less that of a Lyall heiress.  What Rook’s older sister wanted from him, he was not entirely certain.  If he were a betting man, he’d put his cache on her interest in the pack’s welfare; Grizzly Hollow was a Lyall legacy.  Without Rook (or any number of his siblings, though far be it from the medic to simply hand leadership unearned) at the helm, he could understand where she might be worried—

Still.  The wolf was curious, if nothing else.

As the sun worked its way across the blue skies, the alpha realized it was time to move were he to make the meeting on time.  A few moments later and he found the rapidly moving pools, and the elder female not far off.  He greeted her with a soft chuff, tail held high as it wagged gently above his haunches.  Ears perked forward, and the silvery male halted a few lengths away from the woman, dipping his head down in a gentle greeting.  “Good day,” he murmured quietly, pale eyes searching her face.  “I hope I have not kept you waiting long.  What is it you need, my lady?”

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

Caught in this peaceful moment, she had heard the subtle sounds of someone approaching several long moments before the wolf finally chuffed to announce his presence. She recognised his voice, the voice of this man who was in the position which was supposed to be Rook's (not that she felt resentment about that fact, more a simple curiosity) and when his smooth, polite greeting touched the air, one of Trisden's ears flicked back to acknowledge it, but she did not otherwise appear to react.

In the water she stood, enjoying its movement over and around her lower legs, able to feel the hint of power there, if the current ran a little harder or a little higher. She mulled upon the extreme formality of his words, and wondered if it was for her benefit or was just indicative of @Veho's nature - from what little she had seen of him already, the second was not exactly far-fetched. Was he worried about what she wanted, anxious to hear what had prompted Rook's older sister to specifically request his presence? Trisden had made no secret of the fact that she was here for her father, and not to make some ridiculous claim on a pack she didn't want, so hopefully he did not fear that she was about to challenge his authority.

Though the longer she waited to reply, the more he might feel slighted, so before long she did twist her head around so as to fix him with one calculating eye. "To meet you," she said, straightforwardly. "When Ryvet came to tell me of my father's death, I decided to pay my respects - as you know. I'd also intended on seeing how well my baby brother was managing leadership." She paused, and smiled, because they both knew how well that was going; the proof of it was stood beside her now. "As I understand, you've been with the pack for a while - close to Rook for a while. I just wanted to better know the man my brother trusts so much. How does Grizzly Hollow suit you, do you enjoy these woods?"

   

Ah.  It was to be an interrogation, then.  Veho’s expression never faltered, though inwardly he wondered if his own sister would treat Rook much the same were the situations reversed.  Probably not, he supposed – he’d always been the protective one himself.  “Your brother stepped down shortly after your father’s death,” he murmured.  “Between the loss of Borden and Cinder, his mate’s sister, he felt he could not serve the pack as it needed.  A very responsible decision on his part.  While I had found the change to be overwhelming then, we have wintered well.  Grizzly Hollow suits me.  And I would like to think I suit the pack well in return.”

The alpha paused there, kneading his claws into the ground as he rolled around in thought.  For a moment, he did wonder how far into detail he should go.  Trisden was Rook’s sister – and yet that familiar suspicion crept in as it did when Hocus appeared on his borders all those moons ago, demanding to see his daughter, Piety.

At least he did not act upon it, now.  With time came wisdom.  “I am keen on this forest.  I was raised where the land is flat and there is not a tree as far as the eye could see.  I was raised to walk among man.  It is different here, but it is good.  My Ancestors set the path for me to walk, and I would not stray from it.”

Veho was one cool cucumber. Whether he was normally so controlled, Trisden could not know, but she appreciated his calm manner, even if she felt as though there were the barest hint of defensiveness woven into his face and his words as the leader of Grizzly Hollow replied. He had been gracious in answering her request to meet like this - for she was less than nothing to him, really - so she was polite and listened in turn without interruption. And it was a good thing she had decided to be polite, for the moment Veho so pointedly mentioned Rook's responsible decision she had to fight back the urge to make her own equally pointed retort. Instead, she just smirked, though that faded as he went on to describe his own past.

The word man made her brows shoot up, followed just as swiftly by some mention of ancestors. Instantly her mind flitted to Kiche and all she had learned from him, but the wolf before her now was not even nearly like the pious creature she knew so well, who lived with her in the Reach still. How funny to think that this man creature still had their claws in the Hollow, however faintly. Knowing how it had twisted Kiche's mind, Trisden decided to be a little more lenient with this Veho in case he was stunted in any of the same ways; it was unfair to treat an animal like Kiche like any ordinary wolf.

"You do seem to suit it," she mused, coming about to face him a little more squarely. She couldn't resist.  "I'm glad Rook gave it over to you - finally something undeniably responsible." The smirk never came back, but perhaps he heard it in her voice. Perhaps it was a tease, a test to see how Veho would react, because oh, she'd heard the rumours. "You mention Cinder - his sister-in-law. What of this mate of his? When I heard he had a son, I'd looked forward to meeting this latest conquest."

Veho chose not to respond to the dig on Rook, recognizing the elder Lyall’s comment for exactly what it was.  He only smile and inclined his head, years of being a travelling medicine man had trained him well in the art of comity and social graces.  He should have known, really, that such a comment could only lead into the next question – about Cinder.  About Quil.  The truth source of Trisden’s curiosity, he surmised, but he was well beyond the point of secrecy.  @Rook was to be the third parent to his pups, as it were.

“Quil – she is a very pleasant woman, though I am afraid I did not get to know her terribly well before Borden’s death came upon us.  After Borden went Cinder, and I am not certain Quil could handle such a thing.  She did not return with Rook.  Whether she is still looking or she simply did not chose to return, I cannot say.” He rolled his shoulder with a soft huff. “I do not pretend to understand her design, leaving Tomen behind.  Rook had planned to explain our relationship and see what we might make of it.  Whether he ever did or not?  I do not know.  I did not ask.”

He paused for some time.  “If Rook wished me to know, he will tell me.  Though you cannot meet Quil, I imagine there would be no qualms if you wished to meet Tomen.  The boy is sharp.  Observant.  He will become something, someday.”

There was a name now, at least. Quil. But it sounded rather unlikely that Trisden would ever meet this once-sister-in-law, so ultimately she had to cast it out as little more than trivia, nothing more than the name of a wolf Rook had rutted with last year. And what of this son that had been left behind by his mother? Sharp, observant, destined to be something - she didn't bother to hold back the smirk. And what would that be, with someone else at the helm of what was supposed to be his family's pack? Being a Lyall didn't mean shit in this forest anymore, that was obvious enough.

But that wasn't the part of his speech which she was focused on.

"So it is true," she mused, eyeing @Veho in a slightly fresh light, appreciating that he hadn't hidden it or played too coy. Was it common knowledge now? What she had mistaken for rumours were actually just fact? She really should have spoken more with the wolves of the Hollow before this, but this whole place just made her uneasy, and Trisden was pretty sure that had nothing to do with her pregnancy. "And this woman, your female lead, Oula, she is a part of your - what did Torvald call it - ménage à trois? This arrangement, it makes Rook happy?"

“Yes.  It is true.  We’ve made no secret of it.”

This, Veho suspected, was the true reason for the Lyall matriarch’s visit.  How far word had spread, he was uncertain.  Had someone else carried back the news to Renegade’s Reach, or had Rook simply hinted at the matter himself?  It didn’t matter much for the alpha – it was not something he was ashamed of.  It was not something he felt he should be ashamed of, and he stood unwavering under Trisden’s gaze.

“I am uncertain what a ménage à trois might be, friend, but I assure you, Oula was made aware the moment she decided to proceed with everything.  We wanted a family.  It is not traditional, but it works for us.” Her last question, however, settled on the man in a heavy silence.  He had not proceeded with Oula without his lover’s good will – he had made sure his partner was completely aware of what went on between Rook and himself, what Rook’s role would be once the pups arrived – but was he happy? 

Shy, he’d said.

A sharp breath whistled through the man’s nose, and he stared hard into the woman’s face. “I am doing everything in my power to make Rook happy.  This is not easy, but I will make sure he is happy, by my Ancestors’ light.”

At least he wasn't ashamed of it. Trisden might not have understood it, but in many ways that went hand-in-hand with her relationship with her youngest brother anyway. They had always been close, she suspected, due to their different natures. The only qualities they truly shared were a love for the family, a passion for what was right, an ambitious drive, but where Trisden fancied herself critical and calm, @Rook had been emotive and dramatic. She had feared it would get him in trouble one day, his passion taking him down roads it would be hard to come back from, hasty decisions made from his heart rather than his head.

That was the crux of it. Trisden was ruled by her head, and Rook had always been ruled by his heart.

Thus she judged the man in front of her, whose cool manner was not quite as she had expected. @Veho was not the first wolf to have caught Rook's eye - and knowing her brother's penchant for fleeting but intense flings, there had probably been other men and women she didn't know about (his absent baby-mama being proof of that!) - and, she had absolutely no doubt that he would be the last. She considered warning Veho of this fact, that it wasn't because Rook was fickle or callous. In fact, it was entirely the opposite.

"Good," she said, at length, having mulled over his response for any sign of deception or fakery. She'd found none. This Veho seemed genuine, and Trisden had had to accept she was no longer her brother's guardian when he had first left the Reach with Bishop. Nor was she his parent, or his lover. Properly navigating those minefields were his responsibility... and yet, try and she might, Trisden would never be able to relinquish the role of protective older sister.

"Considering your relationship, I'm sure you're perfectly aware what sort of wolf Rook is, so perhaps I don't need to warn you. Still, I hope you'll appreciate that I've known him longer than you, since he was born, and he hasn't changed one bit. So please take me at face value when I say - Rook loves hard. He loves with everything he's got, and I've seen it burn out because he can't control himself, can't temper his feelings. It's not a bad thing. I've wished I could love so unconditionally and wholly as him. But it is plain that he has gone through one lover already since he left - has had a child! I will make no judgements as to whether or not your relationship played a part in the breakdown of the one between him and Quil, but... I'll just say it wouldn't surprise me. Like I said, he loves hard, he loves fast, and his self-restraint was always appalling."

Her jaw clenched and unclenched as she considered her next words carefully, having decided to be completely open and honest. Her nose twitched up, for she'd momentarily forgotten that she was far from home, having slipped all-too easily back into the Trisden Lyall of the Reach, that cool, deliberate manner she prided herself on lacing her manner. She did not speak to offend, she spoke to inform - she just spoke bluntly. "That said. I like to think that I love him almost as much. So while I hope your arrangement is a sign that he has grown up and been able to settle down, perhaps found what he was looking for that monogamy never gave him, I will say that if you hurt him, I will find you.

"Rook's happiness is second to none to me. If it is truly the same with you, then we will get on just fine."