Grizzly Hollow away from all of reality

RE: The stars are unusually bright tonight. Maybe because it's also unusually cold.. brr.

neverland is home to lost boys like me

January 9th; Early morning, just hours 'til moonset; Clear; -15 ° F, -26 ° C.

Yvly - Crystal - had ushered him back over territory lines. To Rook, in the way she had walked without looking once over her shoulder at him, she seemed like an angry mother whose scolding was to come later that night when everyone was asleep and everything was still and quiet. Even now, hours after their meeting, Rook's ears remained flat and his skin prickled whenever he thought he heard someone coming. She hadn't left him at the den, but he didn't just leave him at the old fox hole either. He felt he had no choice but to find the nearest tree (some distance from the communal den), sit down, and remain there 'til morning. The minutes dragged and the air seemed to grow colder but the sandwolf would not yet seek him out. He had managed to curl up into a ball as best as he could when his mind began to wander.

That night when he had returned to the borders after meeting with Veho for a fleeting moment last time he was home, he should have remained at the Leader's side. Instead, he crept back towards the borders, making an excuse to do one more patrol rather than saying 'good night.' Then there had been shock, slicing pain, and blood - lots of it. For a human, it might as well have been something like a paper cut, but for one such as Rook, who had never even truly bled before, it was traumatic. Who knew that foxes weren't just cunning but dangerously territorial too? Obviously, not Rook.

It was this moment that kept the white around the Lyall's eyes and his ears pointed skyward. His mind went to the days after and the days after that... and the days after that. One sudden shudder and the thoughts were gone. He owed the amateur medic who had cleaned the gunk from his muzzle and kept him company when he felt he couldn't come home like a child with a scraped knee; but, to the medic and Leader he had left back at home, he knew he owed an explanation...

With his mismatched eyes trained on the places where moonbeams could not reach, Rook drew to the back of his head, longing for sleep with no one but the stars to keep as company.

this'll be Nineva's only post here, just would like to establish her reaction to Rook's return. <3

Nineva had become a quieter personality in the days that followed Deacon's betrayal. The pain of having trusted so wrongly, the affirmation that vulnerability was not a virture, resounded with her still. While she would not make the mistake of staying apart from the pack for as long as she had after Kenelm's vanishing, she allowed herself this stretch of withdrawal. Just a short bit of time to gather her thoughts.

Still, of all wolves that she expected to cross paths with only to solemnly nod to and move away from, was Tomen's father. She froze in her steps as she saw him, head and ears lifting to take him in. He carried Yvly's scent, and had not been chased from the territory but rather welcomed freely in. Again. Nineva's throat tightened as she had to wonder how many times this would happen, it there would ever be a time that Rook Lyall was taught a hard lesson rather than coddled for being Veho's lover.

Her eyes hardened with judgment and her tail climbed higher until it curled over her back. Their lack of male members instantly put Rook as the pack's beta, but he would receive not an inch of respect from the yearling. With a snort of indignation, she turned on her heels and departed without a word. If others kept letting the cat in to piss all over their floors and walls, she would at least keep her door closed so that it couldn't damage what was important to her.

Pip, having missed these repeat instances by Rook, took no offense to his return. Spotting him there under a tree, her orange eyes softened. She'd always felt a fondness for the male, though their interactions were scarce. The last time she'd seen him, he had looked more miserable than she thought any wolf could possibly look, but had been unable to determine the source. Her energy was drawn enough as it was already by being up and moving - she refused to stay resting in the den as was encouraged multiple times - and so she didn't bounce around in an effort to make him smile.

Instead, the little mute walked up quietly and lowered herself to the ground, gently touching her nose to his larger one. She hadn't missed Nineva's irritation and had no doubt Rook saw it as well. The tawny girl was exhausted by the continuous animosity within the pack as she was unable to dissipate any of those hard feelings on her own and certainly not while in this condition.Though it pained her enough to leave her ears pressed against her head, Pip reached with her injured shoulder to place her paw over Rook's in solidarity.

For as long as he intended to stay, they were Pack. She hoped she could help him feel like part of it.

neverland is home to lost boys like me

The snow and frost on the ground alerted him to someone's arrival. Selfishly he had anticipated Veho to come swooping down upon him, smothering his insecurity with nose nudges and assuring him that everything was 'okay' because he had simply come home. The pale coat his eyes raked over did not belong to his partner, but to the cub that he and Veho had taken in: Tomen's playmate (that is, if she could still be called such a thing), Nineva. A fluttered blink and he averted his eyes, pitying himself for putting himself in such a position. She made it all too clear that his presence offended her and he merely laid there, unable to do anything until he was sure that she taken her leave.

Remorse pooled in his belly for wimping out and not chasing the fox away. With a build as burly as his, he could have been intimidating but his nature and mannerisms melted any prospects of that away. That redheaded vermin had apparently picked up on that and now here he was. So despicable.

He moved to cover his snout with his tail but was soon met by another. Still, it was not the Macieo as he had hoped. His gaze lifted just slightly to see another familiar figure approach, crawling up to him and briefly touching her nose to his. For a short while, all he could do was attempt a smile, the corners of his mouth twitching as if the expression greatly strained him. In all the months he had known Pip, he hadn't truly learned of her name, let alone heard her utter a word to him and, yet, it seemed she always understood him.

She touched her paw to his shoulder and he let out a low whine as he lifted his head. "Oh, little bird," he murmured, unsure now as to why she only ever thought to treat him with this sort of heartfelt kindness. He had noticed her folded ears; and, with a tilt of his muzzle, he lightly nudged her paw with his nose. If he could have removed her touch from him, he might have. As it was, he sighed and looked away from her, the guilt ballooning further in his chest. "You don't... You don't have to do that."

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

A lynx has left behind the remains of a deer. +5 Health

His whine would have elicited one of her own were she capable. He was hurting, though she doubted it had anything to do with that new scar on his face and more to do with wounds on his heart. She'd grown quite familiar with those of late. At his touch, Pip allowed her paw to fall back down and smiled with sad eyes.

There were a great many things she knew she didn't have to do. That Rook always seemed to feel she didn't have to be kind would be one of life's mysteries, she decided. Why did he think himself undeserving of kindness? The mute was more determined than ever to offer it until it felt normal. Until it felt so commonplace to be welcomed and loved and admired. He had made mistakes. She didn't need to know what they were to hear them in his tone, see them in his averted eyes. Making mistakes didn't mean banishment, however, as evident by his presence here in Grizzly Hollow territory.

There was still hope. Giving the male a lick along his muzzle, Pip struggled to stand. She knew who to find.

Offering a glance back and a gently wagging tail for Rook, Pip limped her way to the medical den. Peeking her head inside, she chirped to get @Veho's attention and nodded her head to encourage him outside. From the entrance, she could spot Rook still laying forlornly under his tree. All she needed now was for Veho to see, too.

Apart from that, her duty was done.

He was asleep.

It was not a particularly restful sleep, as it were.  So much had gone on in Grizzly Hollow in so little time – their water sources were limited, his daughter had attacked their omega, and Deacon had abandoned group without a word to anyone save Nineva.  And then, of course, there was this.  Rook’s return – his nose had whispered to him, and the alpha had curled up all the tighter, a little wolf roll determined not to let his nose lure him after a phantom wolf in the cold weather.

When Pip chirped, the wolf all but sprang upwards, slamming his head on the roof of the medical cache in his hurry to scramble outside and look over his patient.  “Pip,” he exhaled softly, “are you alright?”  Was it hurting again?  Had something else ha—

Veho’s thoughts stopped dead in their tracks, ears laying back slowly as he recognized the fresh, new scent on his friend’s pelt.  It was familiar and so, so strange all at once, and he knew in a heartbeat that his senses hadn’t been lying to him earlier before.  “I see,” he sighed, reaching forward to nose Pip.  “Thank you for letting me know.”

And so he turned and let his nose do the work, appearing at Rook’s hiding spot a few minutes later, expression a poor attempt at neutral as he whined.  His heart warred fiercely with his mind, and he took one step forward before he got stuck again, dipping his head down low.

“Hello, Rook.”

 

neverland is home to lost boys like me

He thought she would have stayed and, yet, he watched after her from the corner of his eye. The little bird left, leaving Rook alone again. His head settled back in the space between his paws, a chill snaking up from his flank to take flight from his shoulder. Crystal should have just let him stay in that fox burrow to teach him a lesson (regardless of whether or not he told her about the attack that had driven him away in the first place). He might have like that better than this, being abandoned somewhere in the heart of the territory for seemingly everyone on night patrol to find.

Rook made another attempt to bring his tail over his nose and try to sleep, but again the footsteps came. He shut his eyes. Maybe this time they would think he had fallen asleep. Veho's voice, however, would not allow his such a thing. In fact, it set his heart thundering and his mind ears ringing.

"Hello, Rook."

A wince formed on his face as he opened his eyes to look upon the face of his partner, unable to read him from his place on the ground. The Lyall sorely wished he had said more, though a reunion like this one would probably be better if taken in slower strides. His ears did not even rise nor did his tail even wag. It was too much. All Rook could manage as he stared at Veho's pale forelimbs was a heartsick, "Hello, Veho."

This was it, if Crystal was anything like a irritated matron, here came father... Veho, the Leader who kept their pack together, was raising three cubs as well as two yearlings that weren't his (which included Rook's own son), was more of a figure of authority than Rook ever was at the beginning of it all. For what standards and morals the pack held close, all Rook could anticipate was the worst. No utterance of 'sorry,' he felt, could make things right and it was better to start at the bottom.

(This post was last modified: Jan 11, 2017, 12:07 AM by Rook.)

Chances are I have a BEN WHISHAW gif for that.

Rook didn’t move.  Didn’t even get up.  Did he even miss Veho, even a little, even at all?  Did he miss the children, or Tomen, or Grizzly Hollow, or—

Easy, Veho, he told himself, closing silver eyes and inhaling deeply.  After this meeting, he would need to dip into his emergency rations for some of those mushrooms and consult the Ancestors.  With so much going on, he was getting knocked further and further off kilter; losing his calm now would be simply unacceptable.  Inhaling again, the wolf took one more moment to make his best attempt at centering himself before stepping forward, closing the space between himself and Rook.

Eventually, slowly, he reached down, and pressed his snout to the crown of Rook’s skull before drawing back into a seated position.  “You’re back.”  Again.  How many times would they have to do this?  “You--  I--”

Rarely did he find himself at a loss for words.  And he had so many questions, questions he wasn’t certain he wanted the answers to.  But the silence wasn’t going to help.  His ears fell and his shoulders dropped further, tail flat against the ground.  Oh, he didn’t want to get his hopes up, and yet--  And yet--  Here was his heart, beating faster, just in the mere presence in Lyall.  “I missed you.  Very much.  I thought you were staying, last time.”

AWKWARDNESS ALL THE WAY TO ELEVEN, GO

Walking along with a barely-disguised spring in his step, Tomen had made a decision and he felt good about it. It was a very important decision, and whether or not he would carry it out right now, or even today, was still uncertain, but that was okay. It was enough that he'd just promised that it would happen, and sooner rather than later. Before the snows melted, he told him himself. That was plenty of time. He had to figure out how to say it, after all.

It might have had something to do with @Deacon leaving, something which had affected @Nineva considerably. Tomen hated to see her so wilted, suffering from the pain of broken trust. And so brazenly, too; Tomen only knew what had happened from her telling of it, and he'd not pried too hard for fear of making it worse. When something happened which upset him, Tomen knew that the last thing he ever wanted was to just talk about it endlessly... but while Nineva was hurt by the pompous prince's betrayal, Tomen (much as it made him feel guilty) felt no such remorse. Good riddance. The Archer-Lyall had been okay, sure, and Tomen was pretty sure that Nineva hadn't had a thing for him, but there had just been something... something which made his jaws clench and his hackles rise. Whatever it was, it had vanished along with the deserter, and Tomen felt light and free and decisive.

Coming from the opposite direction, Tomen spotted Veho's seated figure from behind before he saw anyone else, and trotted forward, tail raising to wag in automatic greeting as he gave a soft woof to catch his leader's attention. "Hey dad," he called, as yet still blissfully oblivious, "have you seen Ninev-"

And then Rook came into view just beyond Veho, and Tomen froze.