Lost Lake tell me what the rain knows

for @Bane and backdated to May 4th <3

Leaving Neel for even a moment was the most difficult thing Eidolon had ever done in her entire life - even more so than leaving her brother had been. But he'd be safe in Fallen Tree Cove, and the den would keep him warm enough until his mother could come back. She was barely outside the borders, anyway, and was out there for one purpose and one purpose only - Bane. She wasn't sure why her friend had returned to the mountains, but she had heard him howling for her on the day she'd given birth, and it had helped her feel better that he'd been nearby. She hoped he was still around, only two days later. If he wasn't, then she would simply return to her den with Neel, disappointed. But she did want to see him again.

The little Cove wolf padded out alongside the still-mostly-frozen lake and tilted her head back up to the drizzling sky. It was morning, hardly daylight, really. She decided to wait a little longer to call for the dark-furred wolf, and let herself rest by the lake for a few hours so that the sun could climb higher in the sky. She wondered, briefly, if Bane would be disgusted with her for getting pregnant, or if he'd want to speak with her, but then chastised herself for the idea. If he didn't want to see her, he wouldn't have called for her the other day.

The sun eventually rose higher, breaking through the clouds in the sky, and Eido got to her paws and tipped her head back again. She let out a short howl to call for him and resolved herself to sit and wait for a while. She doubted, in her normal pessimistic way, that he was still around. If he was, it would do very well to lift the young mother's spirits. A familiar, friendly face was something that she desperately needed - especially now.

Leaving Neel had been the hardest thing the young woman had ever done and yet, she had done it, if only to wander out beyond the borders of her home and out to search for Bane. And Bane waited. Why? Well it was not like the man had anything else going on in his life. Both of his former Leaders who he cared so deeply for were now dead, their mates included. The only other woman in his life who he loved he had not truly felt she accepted the fact. She was hidden in the depths of the Thicket of Secrets. A place he could not bring himself to go to ever again. Bane had time and much of it to wait. 

Bane had not known that Eidolon had ever left the pack she had mentioned she was a part of when he first had met her, perhaps he never would. Though even more so he did not realize she had herself a significant other and had to admit, he was surprised to have caught her scent so strongly with that of childbirth. He was happy for her. When they had met before and she had spent the night with him in order to guide him off the mountain in the morning, she had mentioned how out of place she was here. How unhappy she was in this land though the wolves in her pack were friendly and accepting. Now she cared enough for someone to have a family so perhaps things were looking up for Eidolon. 

She called for him then, as the sun lifted into the sky to bring about a new day. Up here on top of the mountains, it was easy to see the whole of the sky. It was more beautiful at night, with the full moon and the brilliant stars. In the day, the sun was much more harsh up here then in the forest and it beat down on his coat heavily. 

Bane would offer his young friend a howl in return, short and sweet to let her know he was near. His pace moved quicker now on the mountain, having claimed it a second time around now. His tail would wave gently behind him when he saw her, trotting to where she settled along the edge of the Lost Lake where they had met. Bane comes in close and as typical fashion does not speak. His nose reaches out, brushing at her shoulder affectionately in greeting. 

Eido, with her paler coat and accustom to the harsh environment of the mountains, didn't care so much that the sun was beating down on her. It wouldn't bother her nearly as much as her dark-pelted friend, who was used to the shade of the trees to shelter his black fur from overheating. However, that wasn't at all what she was thinking of at the moment, as she waited for him to respond. She was much more concerned with if he would reply at all, or if he'd simply moved on and she might never see him again.

Her fears were quickly put to rest, however, as a short howl responded to her own. Her tail waved happily behind her as she sat to wait for him, her body still quite sore from childbirth.

The black wolf was quick to arrive, standing out starkly against the grayish backdrop of the mountainous world. His tail was wagging and she smiled in return as he approached her. She was fully intent on giving him a happy, excited greeting, when he reached out to touch his nose to her shoulder - the only real, willing contact she'd received from a wolf since Reed and Gitano nearly two months prior. Coupled with the shame that still burned under her fur from her mistake, plus the chaotic postpartum hormones, caused the normally-bubbly wolf to simply lose it.

It was comically fast and dramatic, how quickly her expression changed from happy to crumbled and tear-stricken. Her breathing picked up and her shoulders gave a couple of quick jerks as she tried to reign in her emotions, wanting to seem far more excited to see him than she appeared. She opened her mouth to apologize, but what came out instead was, "Wh-why is eve-everyo-one being s-s-so ni-nice to m-me?" Her words were trembling, broken by the sobs and despair of a wolf who was entirely ashamed of herself, regardless of the fact she loved Neel and wouldn't change what she had done. "Wh-why did the-they take m-me ba-back in? I br-broke the ru-rules and-and-and-" She broke off, nearly hyperventilating, and forced her breathing back under control.

"Sorry," she croaked after a few moments, tucking her tail and sending orange eyes looking up at her friend in despair. "Two months of being alone and beating myself up over making a mistake has made me crazy or something." Her voice still wobbled a bit, but after her logic ha kicked in, she could speak far more clearly. Her expression became more hopeful as she tried to make eye contact with the man. "You don't think I'm gross?" It didn't occur to her that she hadn't completely explained why she'd had a sudden outburst, but perhaps he could read between the lines. He was smart, after all.

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

She was so very happy to see him, this much she could tell and as he came to her front to touch her shoulder, he would then step back in order to look her over. She was darker then before, a bit more pale browns and ginger hues showing tough her coat with the warmer months. She was thinner, however, which he had not expected and if it was not from the differences in her stomach, then her scent alone would allow Bane to confirm that she was a new mother who had recently given birth. There was a fleeting thought of Nina then. Of the fact that this year around would be another that he would not be blessed with watching her beautiful children grow. Children that could have easily been thought of as siblings to him and yet despite the years of Bane feeling as though Nina was his true mother, he never made the cut into being a part of her family further then that... 

Then he thinks of @Inali. Thinks about how she was the one and only reason why he had returned to Relic Lore. The only reason why he had bothered to find a purpose in this world without Nina. And he had said he loved her and he did. And he had not seen her since. They did not have a family. Perhaps he never would. These thoughts were fleeting, enough to cause a frown on his expression, one that deepened with Eidolon's sudden break down and then he frowns further as she crumbles before him. 

It was something that had been done before him many and many times before. Nina had cried to him. Inali had. Minka had. Now Eidolon. They all had took such comfort before him, yet he still could not find a way to hold onto them. He, like he had with all Nina's children, had simply not made the cut...

She spoke of how she didn't know why everyone in the pack was being so nice to her after breaking pack law and breeding. Explained that she had wondered off from the pack, likely after she had bred and had intruded the whole of her pregnancy outside of the pack and in shame until just recently. It was a wrong which Bane did not agree with and never would. Bane had kept it safely 'in his pants' every year and kept at bay from any and all temptations. It was not like anyone had sought him specifically out, anyhow. Maybe he was not at handsome as Nina had always suggest? Mothers always said that to their children even if it were not true, didn't they? 

She pulled back then and looked to Bane, to which he offered her his full attention. "I'm sure they took you back in because they care for you... You made a mistake and you paid for it. It was hard but maybe, since it was your first strike, they are giving you a second chance?" And then he paused, his head tilting slightly and a furrowed brow lifting. "But why would I think you gross?" Although he had caught on to the majority of what she had said as she had broken down to him (which he took quite well as usual) he did not understand this part. So she had given into temptation, which was not at all good for the pack if it was breaking the law... but what did that have to do with being gross? Thinking that she had ran off and shagged with the first good looking man with pretty words was definitely not something he would have thought of her. Then again, he did not really know her all that well. 

(This post was last modified: May 28, 2017, 09:09 PM by Bane.)