Turtleback Lake And clearly I don't see myself upon that list

Five of you? Incredible. Mace had missed so much of his mentor's life, and identified readily with Inna's pride. Regret pooled hot and bubbling in the pit of his stomach. If he hadn't been such a foolhardy youth, seduced away from home and hearth by the promise of adventure, then he might have got to see Maksim's children grow up. He might have been the grizzled leader's right-hand wolf, as Maksim once was for Kade and Ava. Maybe he would have been the savior of a Baranski child lost in a thunderstorm. That was time he could never get back.

Abruptly, he was consumed with a desire to lose no more time. Tinley would be fine with the Bloodbreakers. She'd been with them her entire life, and Mace knew the mercenary clan would take good care of her. Mace wasn't getting any younger, and he had debts to repay yet. The resolve to make up all that lost time to Maksim ballooned in him, and then deflated with the heavy news that Maksim was no longer among the living.

This settled into the Attaya's gut like an ice cube, and he swallowed thickly. What? The air went out of him in a warm rush, leaving only a cool emptiness behind. No, he can't be, Mace said, and in him there was still a boyishness as he said it, a sadness as he grappled with the loss of a man he could never repay. He... I had so much I needed to say.

You lost your chance, his inner voice whispered, and Mace's figure slumped under the crushing sense of loss that gripped him then, and the guilt that he hadn't even been there.

(This post was last modified: Apr 27, 2017, 10:44 PM by Mace.)

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A smile formed on the young Baranski's maw as he spoke of she and her siblings. “Yes, three girls and two boys,” she stated not really knowing what else to say about her siblings since things were far from perfect with them. With Lekalta and Aleksei being back in Hearthwood she often wondered what Karina and Orren were doing and if they would ever come back. She wondered if Kisla would let them back in because they had been gone so long. Inna would like to think that she would because they were her children and she loved them. The Ebony Baranski was convinced that was the only reason she was still in Hearthwood.

Inna’s heart grew heavy and a sadness she hadn't felt in a long time came over her at the thought of telling Mace of her father's death. Never before has she been the one to give the news and a great desire for her father to appear so that she wouldn't have overcame her. She sighed not really knowing how to say it so she felt it best to just get over with and then she could deal with what happened next. As soon as she had said it though Inna realized she didn't like being the one to give the news. To admit to complete stranger that she had lost her father and that he was never coming back.

The news was taken about as well as could be expected she supposed and idly tried to remember what she had been like when her mother had told her. “I really am sorry. He became ill after receiving a injury last year and never recovered,” she explained letting her gaze fall once more. She couldn't imagine what Mace must be feeling as she wondered how long he'd been looking for Maksim. She had decided she wouldn't go into more detail unless he asked, no point in causing more unnecessary pain.

Then he spoke of having so much he needed to say and though she didn't know Mace or the relationship he really had with her father she felt a twinge of guilt for the man. Before his death she'd made many visits to her father and said what she had needed to say though there were often times when she felt she had so much more to tell him. “I know that it's hard having so much to say, there are are times I feel like that too. I don't know if it will help, I mean nothing can replace saying it to him directly but he his buried just outside of Hearthwood River maybe going there and speaking to him there will help?” It was a suggestion that she didn't know if it would help Mace or hurt him but she felt she should at least offer it.

Inna stepped toward the man and brushed her nose lightly against his cheek hoping it could be some small comfort. “It helps me sometimes to just go and talk to him and if you would like I can show you.”

(This post was last modified: Apr 28, 2017, 12:33 AM by Inna.)

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A silence yawned between them momentarily in the space of time between Inna telling him of her siblings and her apology. In that span, Mace's ears fell slowly toward his head and his brows grew closer together until he was lightly frowning into the distance, half-focused for a split second of time. This threw a wrench in things. The last wolf to see many of the Attayas was undoubtedly Maksim Baranski. He was not only a man to whom Mace owed his life, but he was the heir's number one lead in the hunt for his family. That he had died was a variable Mace had never accounted for. The whole idea was preposterous.

Yet here they stood, black-furred Attaya and Maksim's dark-haired daughter, feeling the weight of loss both in different ways. His could never amount to hers. When she apologized, his chest heaved in a humourless chuckle and he shook his head. No, he said, voice heavy with a sensation he couldn't put words to, it's not your fault. I should have been around.

But should have and would have wouldn't get Mace far in life, and he found himself studying Maksim's daughter, searching for the similarities while attempting to plan a new course of action. The welling of a desire to devote his life to Maksim's children was sudden and strong, but at the same time, they were fully grown and could take care of themselves, if all were the same age as Inna. They hardly needed a deadbeat Attaya to help with that. So he stayed silent, even though an oath lingered on the tip of his tongue.

He focused instead on Inna's offer, and nodded fervently in agreement. Could you show me? Or point me in the right direction? I think... I would definitely like to speak to him one last time. It's been years. I'm sorry I was too late. Though not a believer in ghosts and spirits, Mace had often spoken to the sky above as if it was his parents when he was young. It was therapeutic, and he hoped being able to speak with Maksim's grave would help lift some of the guilt from his chest, and allow him to go on searching for his siblings without feeling like he (and his absence) was partially to blame for the Baranski's death.

(This post was last modified: May 03, 2017, 05:46 AM by Mace.)

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Maksim’s death had been hard on her so much so she hadn't been able to be there for her mother like she should have been. Being the only Baranski child to remain in Hearthwood she should have done better at being there for the woman who had been there for her. She knew she there wasn't any making up for it but she could do better for Kisla. Inna wanted to be the daughter her mother deserved after she'd been hurt so much. Without her father there she worried about what her mother must be feeling especially with her having gone out and gotten pregnant by a man who was not her father. Inna knew she had no right to judge Kisla for that choice but she did have mixed feelings about it.

The silence between them was a heavy one in which she thought of the day she'd been told about her father. She remembered seeing his body and saying her goodbyes before she'd​ mourned him alongside her mother, Orren, and Lachesis. After it had all become too much and she had run until she couldn't any longer before finally returning to Hearthwood. His chuckle and single word brought her back to the present forcing her to push those emotions back down where she kept them locked away. She sought words to comfort the man. “I don't know what happened that caused you to not but you shouldn't be upset with yourself for not being there. Things happen that keep us from being where we think we should have been. Maybe there is a reason that you can't see right now that you weren't?” Inna didn't know how true that might be but it was something she had started to believe a she thought about not being there for her mother and the life that grew inside of her.

Inna had only just met the man but the fact that he was a friend of her father's and had known him since Darkwater Rapids struck something in her. Lachesis had told her a little of what had happened but Mace had been friends with her father even before all of that it seemed. Of course it would be wrong of her to ask the man a bunch of questions about her father now but maybe if she ever had the opportunity to meet him again she would have the chance. The hope for that might be what led her to make the offer she did.

She was pleased when he accepted her tail sweeping the ground behind her, “Of course I would be very happy to show you. If you come to the border of Hearthwood River and call for me I will come and lead you there when you are ready.” She didn't know if he was ready now or if he needed a few days but she felt he should take all the time he needed. “I think it would help you to find some closure but I don't think you should be sorry you were too late. No one could have foreseen what happened. If he hadn't gotten injured he would still be here for you to find today.” Her father had been a strong man but she supposed that with so much on his paws and then the injury it has just been too much for him.

(This post was last modified: May 03, 2017, 02:55 PM by Inna.)

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That's the worst part, Mace returned with a sigh. There was nothing. I just... wandered away and didn't think about it. He'd been such a foolish and selfish child in that way, leaving when the whim took him and not saying a word to anyone in parting. Truth be told, the man didn't think that had changed much. He was trying to make amends, but it stemmed from a desire to be certain his family hadn't all up and died in his absence. Already he had learned that one had—and rather than devoting himself as he ought to, rather than saying the words on the tip of his tongue, Mace was feeling an overwhelming desire to flee the situation. He wanted to absolve himself of guilt, but he was only finding more of it as he went along. He wasn't sure he wanted to continue down that path.

He was much older now, but not much wiser, and not much more stable. He wondered which of his parents the curse of wanderlust came from, but the thought was fleeting. He couldn't blame them for his poor choices.

Thank you, he said at last, voice emphatic, and tossed Inna a tight-lipped smile and an amiable swing of his tail. Hearthwood River. Which direction is it? I'll come by... soon. He wasn't quite ready. Not yet. He needed some time to mourn the loss of a great man, and some time to sort through his misplaced guilt over the situation. He needed time to decide what he was going to do. Whether he would continue his life as a man who was notoriously unreliable, whether he would turn over a new leaf, or whether he would do something in-between. He couldn't approach Maksim's grave without being certain of that, lest he make promises in a heavy moment he could not hope to keep.

There were more factors to consider than just the Baranski family, after all, even if he would have liked to make that decision here and now. There was Tinley back with the Bloodbreakers. There was Iyes on the mountain. And while he now knew what had become of his mentor and savior, Mace was no closer to knowing what became of the Attayas. There were still many questions to answer.

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As he told her his reason for leaving Inna shook her head, “How could you have known this was going to happen that Darkwater Rapids was going to be destroyed because of a flood? We can't see the future and when you are young it's hard to imagine anything bad will happen.” Inna supposed she'd had a little of that thinking when she was younger but she too carried a guilt with her where her father was concerned. She'd been out finding herself while he was home sick, she should have been there for him throughout​ his illness. She of course wasn't arrogant enough to think her presence alone could have saved him but at least he would have known how much she loved him.

Now of course she had another guilt that weighed heavily on her, she felt she had disgraced her father's name by breaking pack law. However, Inna had started to realize she couldn't let the guilt keep her from caring for her pups the right way. Lachesis and Lorcan had both made that clear to her.

Inna nodded, “You're welcome,” she told him with a smile. She would be glad to help Mace find the closure he needed just as she'd been able to do the day Maksim had passed away. It of course didn't make the grieving any easier but getting out all that you needed to was helpful in its own way. She gestured with her nose in the direction she'd come, “It's a couple hour walk to the east. Look for the large Sequoia Trees then you'll​ know you've found it.” Since Kingsfall was the only place she knew of that held the tall trees.

It would be good to if went when he was ready since she didn't want to force him into it. She also had her journey to finish, Inna wasn't quite ready to return home just yet. She hoped she would be there though when he did decide to come to visit her father.

(This post was last modified: May 05, 2017, 11:01 PM by Inna.)

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Inna was right, of course. Mace hesitated to find comfort in the wisdom of her words, but it would remain with him in days to come, and would ultimately serve as a reminder that the world kept turning no matter what you did. Maybe staying in Cut Rock River would have made a difference, and maybe it wouldn't have. Maybe as a result of him, Maksim would have died sooner had he stayed. The wise words Inna imparted did him a measure of good and served to ground him. He shot her a smile that was considerably warmer and unmistakably appreciative.

But on the subject, he said no more. Mace dwelled, but there was a limit to it. He focused on the future instead, his tentative plan to visit Maksim's burial site and what he would do after that. He was torn in four directions. Only time would tell which of them took precedence in his heart of hearts.

His eyes followed the line of the horizon to where Inna gestured, and nodded. He would need to return to this place to find it again, but he would not forget. Thanks again, he said, I really appreciate it. It was really nice meeting you. He turned as if to leave, feeling a need to be alone with his thoughts for a time, but after taking only a few steps, he caught himself and paused. Looking back at Maksim's pregnant daughter over his swarthy shoulder, Mace pointed out, I never caught your name.

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The words that Inna spoke to give Mace some sort of comfort we're born of her own experiences and what she thought her father might say to the man. She didn't know if they helped him to find some sort of solace but they were offered in hopes that they had. While she still carried some guilt for not being with her father through his illness she had taken some comfort in the knowledge that she had imparted on Mace. When she had left she believed her father would recover and be back to his old self by the time she returned. She could not foresee that he would succumb to his injuries and the time she did have with him would be cut short.

The Baranski wished she could offer him more to help but she wasn't sure what else she could add. The only thing left was to show him where her father was buried so that he could say his goodbyes to man who was clearly important to him. Whether she knew Mace well or not he deserved to have the chance to say what he needed to Maksim.

Once she had given him instructions on where to find Hearthwood it seemed that their time was over as he thanked her. She smiled, “You are very welcome, I'm glad to have met you too. I hope to see you again soon.” It was special to Inna to have had this chance encounter with someone who knew her father. She didn't move as he turned to go and was surprised when he looked back at her asking about her name. “Inna Baranski,” she replied with a smile.

(This post was last modified: May 06, 2017, 06:56 AM by Inna.)

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Inna. A simple name, but simple in a different way than those of the Attaya brood. Mace, Rowan, Cinder, and Quil. Kade and Ava. Those names resonated with him because they were simple to say but not basic in their meaning. Inna's name transcended that. He reckoned that in spite of having some trouble remembering faces and names nowadays, he wouldn't forget her name so easily. It was simple, a pop of the tongue, and his smile broadened into a grin.

It's been a pleasure, Inna, he said in parting, and with a polite dip of his muzzle and ears, the man took his leave. He traced the line of the lake away from the dark Baranski for a short time, then deviated away into the woods in the opposite direction of the alleged Hearthwood River. The wolf would seek that out later. For now, he had a lot to think about it before he decided what he would do next.

(This post was last modified: May 06, 2017, 07:36 PM by Mace.)

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Ooc: Archiving

She'd hadn't realized that her name hadn't been given she'd been a caught up in talking about her father. She gave it to him easily, her first name as her last was a given with her father being Maksim Baranski. It would give the man a familiar face when he finally came to the border of Hearthwood in search of her father. With her name given it truly was time for them to part ways with nothing left to say for the time being. She did hope to see the man again soon, a friend of her father's was certainly a friend of hers.

“You as well Mace,” she returned before he had the chance to go but once the pleasantries were over he disappeared. For a moment Inna watched as he moved away from her along the lake. However, she knew she would have to seek shelter for the night instead of heading back herself. She didn't mind, the time away was doing her some good. With one last look at the disappearing form of the man Inna turned from the lake to find some place to sleep for the night.

(This post was last modified: May 06, 2017, 07:57 PM by Inna.)

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