Oak Tree Bend They went into my closet looking for skeletons, all they found were beautiful shoes

for @Kyna

Being the only one to give birth and have a man left to fall back on was a blessing, that he too was limited in his capacity to provide assistance to the rest of the pack was unfortunate but still managed to work in her favour. She could leave the children with @Triell and drag home whatever carcasses she could find, she could restock her herb caches, and charge @Quentin with finding those herbs she could not. On a fine day like today, she could even make it around the borders before she had to get back to her tree to feed her growing children. Give them another two weeks and they'd be ready to join the rest of the pack at the main den.

@Serach was somewhere ahead, ever vigilant in his patrols, though that didn't stop her from adding her own mark here and there. If nothing else it was a relief to stretch her limbs, but there was another scent out here too, one that was familiar and at the same time foreign. Oh, how tracking the girl down might prove to be a thorn in @Aponi's side. Naira smiled to herself, never failing to delight in her daughter's fiery temper. If they just so happened to cross paths who could blame them for stopping to have a chat. They were family after all.

Naira might have been looking for her daughter, but she was about to come across a wolf somewhere in the line.  A bit redder, a bit taller, but it was becoming increasingly obvious just who Kyna’s mother was, even without the same surname or a proper introduction.  Aponi was in the way she walked, the way she carried herself, even the way she tilted her head just so.  There was poise and grace, and while the Aquila woman might have worried a childhood spent with Phineas would result in a lack of spine, it seemed there was one growing there all the same.

Kyna was out and about, as she usually was.  Staying in one place too long put an itch in her paws, and where she might not be ready to depart from Oak Tree Bend altogether, she found the need to move all the same.  Patrolling the borders often seemed a good way to stretch her legs and support the pack in one single task – she was quite mindful of the duty when she came across Naira’s scent.

Shortly thereafter, she came across the woman in question herself.

Brows raised upwards as she chuffed, drawing the older female’s attention.  “What are you doing out here?” Didn’t she have puppies to care for?

A wild dissertation appears!

It was there in the way the younger wolf moved, even the way she spoke. Naira answered her question with a delighted smile. "Trying to pick up the slack with @Triell being injured. I thought I'd do a pass of the borders while the children are amused by their father." It was a luxury the other mothers were missing, but truthfully it was the first time in all her years that she had somehow managed to avoid disaster shortly after giving birth. She wasn't about to let the opportunity pass her by so easily. Eyes passed over the girl once, then twice, the smile never leaving her face as she took in all the family resemblances.

Openly staring might have been considered rude but she was an old lady and it could just as easily been written off by a casual observer as slowly failing sight. "You look like my brother, a lot more beautiful of course, but the resemblance is there," she finally said, her smile losing a little of its joy but still remaining on her face. Whatever had happened to Kanosak to drive him to steal her child had never been revealed, and his eventual fate was unknown to his sister who was convinced that he had died the night he tried to steal her son. She could only wonder how the girl might take her statement. Had @Aponi told her of their relationship?

Pick up the slack, huh?

One of Kyna’s ears shifted, but she had no reason to believe the older wolf was lying to her.  She supposed she could not rightly blame Naira for getting a little free time for herself – after all, she’d watch Lila on occasion, and allow her mother to do the same thing.  Idly, she wondered if Sahalie was expected to do the same thing, given the litter shared their father with Hal (and Drift).  She’d have to ask her friend.

“Oh.”

The sudden compliment--  Was it even that?  An observation, more like.  The sudden observation caught the yearling off guard and her mind drew to a halt as she tipped her head to one side.  Like Naira’s brother.

“I suppose that explains a lot of things.  My father was grey, too.  Like Aponi.”  Well, white, really, but whether that was from age or he was born like snow, the young woman had not the knowledge.  She didn’t look like any of her brothers or sisters, however – they could have taken after their own mothers, though it did limit the possibility of the bright red color coming from the Argyris line.  “What was he like?  Your brother.”

Perhaps they were alike in more ways than one.

A wild dissertation appears!

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

It would be clear from the hint of a grimace that things had not always been well with her brother. Oh, but she had asked. "He was a sweet boy when we were younger, perhaps a little hot-headed..."she dared to laugh "But that comes as much from your grandfathers line as mine..." Not that she wished to bring Rhysis into the conversation. She could only guess that he had fathered either of her daughters, she could just as easily be the grandchild of @Triell... What a tangled web that had become... Oh to hell with it, she dared to smirk, "Although I never did figure out just which one it was..." But they weren't talking about Aponi's father were they? No they were talking about her brother.

"Kanosak was a good wolf, but things change. I had to kill him in the end..." or so she thought. She decided to leave it there, but there was so much more to their family. She herself had come from a liter of four, the girl had aunts and uncles and cousins... She needed to get back to the Falls before the weather grew too cold, maybe she would even make it as far as the Pass? "Did you know your cousin lives nearby? Up near the falls. I was around when she was born but I I've only seen her once since. She's a lot darker than you are..."

 

(This post was last modified: Sep 27, 2016, 01:18 AM by Naira.)

Kyna fell into silence, her curiosity finally outweighing everything else that tried to invade her mind.  Orange eyes studied the older female, her inquisitive nature evident in her gaze as she allowed Naira to reminisce and murmur in silence, in peace…  Well, until she mentioned something killing her brother.  Eyebrows shot upwards, ears straining forward as white ringed her iris.  Had she heard that right?  Had Naira actually killed her own sibling?

For all that she hated Celandine and her ugly attitude, she’d never once considered killing the older Argyris.

Before she could ask, the older wolf continued on, removing herself from her memories and plunging into a new topic entirely.  It took Kyna a few silent moments to catch up, ears swiveling hither and fro rapidly while the gears in her mind groaned to life.  After a moment, the statement finally seemed to click, and the girl straightened up considerably.

“My cousin?  I didn’t know I even had a cousin.  My mother--  My mother hasn’t told me much about the family, I suppose,” she murmured after a moment.  “But, I suppose I have never asked, either.” Aponi might not have mentioned, but Kyna never pressed for anything.  Once, she had been satisfied with the simplest of answers.

“Who are they?  My cousin.”

(This post was last modified: Nov 21, 2016, 10:17 PM by Kyna.)

A wild dissertation appears!

The question went unasked but with her currently scattered way of speaking, she answered it anyway. "My brother tried to kill my son, so I killed him first." After all, siblicide, while commonplace among some species was not so common in wolves and was never taken on lightly. But, when it came to a mother's instincts to protect her children, even blood wasn't a barrier to stopping a threat in its tracks. "Your cousin though, her name is Nalda." That much she had committed to memory before taking her leave after the child's birth, a small smile on her lips as she recalled their more recent encounter up near the falls.

The smile that replaced it was a little more slack around the edges and didn't quite reach her eyes as she spoke again. "I'd be surprised if your mother knew much about the family to tell you. As soon as she could walk she was forever running away. She never liked to share, not even with her own sister." But selfish children seemed to be her specialty. Well, was it really any surprise? She wasn't exactly the most charitable or considerate person herself. Not after she finally lost it all.

(This post was last modified: Nov 25, 2016, 11:24 PM by Naira.)

Oh.  Oh.  No wonder Aponi hadn’t wanted her to meet Naira – if she’d kill her brother, who else?  Given, her own mother had thrown a wolf off a cliff (supposedly), but--  Oh, her head hurt.  Already, the wolf regretted her decision to speak with the woman. 

(She couldn’t wait to tell Sahalie all of this.)

It was to Naira’s great benefit, honestly, that she returned to her granddaughter’s actual query, because she knew that name.  That was enough to stun the redhead back into silence, blinking owlishly as she had a hard time believing her luck, that she and Hal had simply run into the other girl while playing in the snow.  All this time they were related, and she had no idea!

“She does not like to share with anyone, not even her own daughter,” Kyna replied waspishly, eyes narrowed by a fraction.  Oh, that was cruel.  Perhaps she shouldn’t have--  But there was no taking that back once it’d gone free to the world.  She sighed softly, shaking her head.  Best to abort the topic of the silver woman.  It could not lead anywhere good.

“But…Nalda.  I know her.  I actually know her.  Is there any other family, that my mother doesn’t speak of?”

A wild dissertation appears!

and i confess, i'm only holding on by a thin thin thread

Naira

There was a barb in the girls tone and all Naria could manage was to smile in an understanding way. The years had made her skin thicker than it ever had been before but she could still remember the cuts of years gone by. A shoulder rolled at the next question, she couldn't know what Aponi might have told her, so she supposed she had best start from the top. "Even she doesn't know about Belladonna, but I haven't seen her since she was younger than you. Then there was her brother, Datura, and Adonis. Her littermate, Nova, and she has two younger siblings between her and this lot, Hemlock and Asphodel." She hadn't even been around when they were born, Naira couldn't even remember if Aponi knew their names.

"I took in two boys the same year she was born, she fought with one of  them and took off with the other before the twins were born, I think she was afraid of the competition." The latter was tacked on with a conspiratorial whisper. "But don't be too hard on her, I'm sure she's done as well as she could. I should have probably tried to make her stay but the world was falling down around our ears. She probably got out at precisely the right moment." Everyone else seemed to sense it too until all that was left was a mother, with two newborn pups alone in a forest full of bones. She had a far away look on her face, remembering the inescapable feeling of dread. They all should have gotten out when Aponi did.