Fallen Tree Cove Bone of contention

@Lunette Leotie is maintaining a safe, respectable distance from the border.

It had taken her more than a few days to figure out what to do next after having been ousted. She knew this betrayal would follow her for the rest of her life but getting by in the Wildwood wasn't getting her anywhere. Leotie thought of Sven, she still hadn't seen him and she felt he should know what kind if wolves we're in the draw. If they wanted to question her alliance and betray her why couldn't she do the same to them? Leotie knew exactly why she couldn't but she did feel Sven at least needed to know why she no longer belonged to the draw and why if he asked. She remembered Lunette and how much she had liked the draw so she thought to visit the cove once more.

Since she had no one to answer to anymore Leotie set off early the morning following her decision. She traveled up the mountain taking the same path she'd taken all those weeks ago to help Lunette return home. Her thoughts of what she should do now we're always going but but the time she’d reached the border of Fallen Tree Cove she still hadn't quite made the decision but she wanted to speak with Lunette the young girl needed to know what would await her in the draw should she ever try to return there.

She had a moment where she hesitated, what if Lunette never planned to return and things were good with her family? The agouti woman paused just a moment longer thinking it through before stepping to the border once more but keeping the respectable distance. Surely by now Lunette would be able to smell it on her coat that she hadn't been in the draw for awhile. Leotie rose her muzzle into the air and let out one long sorrowful note that asked Lunette to join her on the border.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: May 26, 2017, 04:09 PM by Leotie.)

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A call was the last thing she had expected.

She'd been napping in the sun, doing.. nothing at all, honestly. She was rattled and confused—by everything. The snake. Kajika. Her mother. Life in the Cove was quiet, and it didn't fit her, with the storm roaring in her skull. She wanted something to drown it in. Motion. Fighting. Anything. But all she got was long days soaking up the sun, solitary hunts, or fear so deep she couldn't wrap her mind around it, or she'd dissolve on the spot.

It was an unpleasant way to live. She alternated between frustrated and angry, to melancholy and avoidance. She wanted to start fights just for the sake of yelling at someone, but whenever she could, she didn't, because she was afraid and had no idea how, either, and a small voice in the back of her chaotic mind said it's not their fault, don't drag them into it—and on some nights she wondered, how could it not be their fault? They and this place had raised her, how did that make them not responsible for what she'd turned into?

On the outside, she was still and calm and at peace on her rock shelf. Within, she was screaming. She wanted to pace. She wanted to throw herself in the lake and drown. She wanted to find Kajika and bury her nose in his nape or maybe even bite him and worry her teeth against him because maybe he'd do something and they could run along the mountain until she was so tired she collapsed and things would maybe make sense—

She never dared to. She was afraid of what she was to him. She was afraid of not being someone who was likable anymore. She was afraid of changing into something he didn't want. She was afraid of him losing his patience with her.

The call was confusing only because it was for her. It was, if she recalled correctly, the first time someone had asked especially for her on the borders—and it wasn't Kajika. Slowly, Lunette sat up, trying to shove the anger and the raging thoughts aside. It had sounded like Leotie. Why was Leotie here? And why did she sound so.. so sad? Had something happened in the Draw, to Reiko or Triell?

Fear made her heart pound uncomfortably. Claws rattled against the rock as she stood up, and loped in the direction of the call.

Leotie looked worn, in some way, as if her posture had changed. Lunette didn't slow until she stopped, slamming on the brakes almost in Leotie's face and looking at her with concern and worry. It was, perhaps, disconcerting, to have her in your face, and suddenly so.. well, intense. It wasn't like her, but then again, she didn't know what was like her either. She was changing, and into what, she didn't know. "Leotie?" she said, her breath a little harsh from the exercise. "Is something the matter?"

The lost feeling that seemed to have consumed the agouti woman persisted even after she'd chosen a course of action. She knew she should have gone to Willow Ridge first but she feared what she would find there and she didn't want to have to face it. Not yet, not while the sting pain if her ousting was still so fresh and the wound so easily opened. There had to be a reason for Svens absence in her life and she wasn't sure she was ready to learn what that was just yet. Unless Naira had something to do with it, that thought had come to her more than once. It left Leotie wondering what she had done to the woman that would cause her to ruin her life as she had.

Reaching the borders of Fallen Tree Cove she had been hesitant to do what she had come to do. In the end however she knew that Lunette had a right to know what the draw had turned into since Triell had become sick. Run by the Tyrant Naira she didn't feel it was a place that her cove friend could return to. She feared what would happen to Lunette of she so much as visited the draw wolves. She’d finally called for her young friend and in the time that she had to wait many things raced through her mind as they always did when she had a few idle moments.

Finally as her friend came into view he tail gave a few small wags as she was happy to see the young woman. Lunette didn't stop until she was nearly on top of the former draw member which didn't bother her in the slightest. It was clear that Lunette could see setting was wrong but the agouti woman didn't bother hiding it from her friend. She nodded as her name was said, “It's me,” she said quietly and nodded in response to the second question. How was she to tell Lunette what had happened, Leotie hadn't thought this far in advance but she couldn't go back now.

She took a deep breath, “I came to tell you that I'm no longer a member of the draw. Something has happened to the pack and I've been banished.” She was still sorting through it all in her mind because still didn't understand why it had happened. She felt the punishment for what she had been accused of was too harsh. However she also felt that there were plenty of other reasons that old bag of bones wanted to get rid of her.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: Jun 14, 2017, 10:31 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

There is a family of deer nearby. Hunt Opportunity

She was scared, but she didn't know what she was expecting—news of someone passing? Going missing? Her heart was racing in her chest, worry for the kind pack who took her in devouring even her insecurities. That the "kind pack" would be the cause of the misery, and that the misery was far more personal, hadn't even crossed her mind. In her mind, Triell could do no evil.

The words that came out of Leotie's maw were confusing. And hurtful. Lunette froze, her brown eyes going a little wide as she stared at her friend. Banished? But for what? What could Leotie possibly do to get banished? Was she not as kind as Lunette thought—had she just been a naive child, and Leotie was the kind of wolf who tried to eat sleeping pups..? Her right ear burned with the memory of the encounter.

But no—surely not Leotie. "What?" she finally got out, taking a small involuntary step backwards and falling into a slouched sit. "But—why? I thought.. Triell..." Helplessly, she stared at Leotie, trying to add two and two but never getting four. Something was wrong. Either it was her judgment, or something had happened.

She'd come to Fallen Tree Cove to warn Lunette of what had become of the draw and tell her about being ousted. Part if hoped that maybe her friend could help her in some way. That by coming to see Lunette she would feel better and she'd have hope that one day things would be good again. Maybe Lunette could convince her that everything would be okay and that she would make it through this because the agouti woman couldn't see how this would be okay.

She’d always thought that once she had told someone she would feel better. Once she got it out she didn't feel better at all and in fact it only made it more real. She’d lost her home and her friend, the rank she'd worked so hard for but most of all she'd lost the family that she'd never had as a pup. All that remains was the question of what she should do now.

She wasn't sure how she thought Lunette might take the news but as she blurted her immediate response Leotie knew she was shocked by it. Leotie shook her head at the mention of Triell’s name, “I don't think he had anything to do with it. He's been sick, Kerb took his place. I am not really sure what happened. One moment I'm being questioned about where I've been and then they are questioning my loyalty to the pack. Naira asked me if I was going to take her rank and the next thing I know she is having kerb escort me to the border, he didn't even stop it. He was my friend Lunette and he couldn't find it in himself to help me,” she explained. Tears once again threatened to fall. A few deep breaths later and she'd managed to control them.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: Jul 28, 2017, 11:50 PM by Leotie.)

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She didn't know what she had expected of the world. She had brushed evil while still very young, an incident she had never spoken of. Fear and shame had buried it deep, her bright, youthful smile enough to dispel questions. She'd probably just torn her ear in a patch of bramble, not had a wolf close her teeth on it and having had to leave a flimsy strip of skin in a stranger's mouth. But that had been a nameless, faceless terror, a nightmare made real; if it wasn't for the scar, she would've thought it all a bad dream.

But sitting there in front of Leotie, somebody she had come to consider a friend, evil was too close. Too near. It twined its black hands around her heart, dug its thorns in deep. She had demons in her head; others had demons in their lives. Other wolves. A world where not everyone was as strong and just as her father, as caring and courageous as her mother, a paladin like Kajika—a world where others hurt and lied and abandoned. She blinked, not quite seeing Leotie, just the muddle of impressions and vague thoughts.

It also struck her that she was not afraid of Leotie. She was not afraid of her blue eyes, of the words that might spill out of her mouth. Leotie was the only one she could say she knew who wasn't of Fallen Tree Cove. She'd met a few others, but she wouldn't say she was their friend. It was a strange word, lying in her mouth, as her gaze finally focused on the other female. A friend. Something that was hers and only hers.

But that didn't matter. What mattered was Triell being sick, and Kerberos doing Naira's bidding. Lunette had respected Naira, feared her as she feared all authority, and Kerberos had been nice to her, too. Nothing about it made sense. "I'm sorry to hear that," she finally said, her voice quiet, as she chewed it over in her head. Slowly, she stood up again. There was a slight tremble in her hind legs, but she ignored it, and stepped forward to press her nose against Leotie's cheek. "I don't understand why he would do that—why any of them would do that." There had to be a reason, but she wasn't seeing one, and she doubted she'd get one without picking Leotie's story apart, and that seemed cruel. Besides, Lunette didn't know if it was information she had any right to.

"Do you.. do you want to stay here? In the Cove?" she offered, her voice hesitant. She didn't know if it was the right thing to say or not, but it was the only thing she could think of.

It had been hard for her to explain what had exactly happened for her to be ousted from her pack. What had seemed a simple inquiry as to her whereabouts and what she’d been doing had turned into insubordination and before she knew it she was a traitor to Charred Ash Draw. Even more Leotie did not believe she had given Naira to believe that she was a traitor. She doubted the woman had smelled Sven in her pelt for the fact she'd never bothered to build a relationship.

The only one to know anything about Leotie's ties to the ridge wolves was Kerb, had he given Naira information leading to her betrayal by him? Was it his guilt that his information giving had led to her banishment that he had not said a single word in her defense? It was all very hypocritical of her former friend for he too had relationships with the ridge wolves. How was he to be allowed to run off scouting without a word and have friends with the ridge wolves but she not allowed the same?

Her loyalty to the draw had always been unfaltering no matter how much she cared for Sven or how much she might want to be closer to him she did not go. She knew he would understand her loyalty to the pack which was why she believed he'd never asked her to go with him, to bring her home with him. She didn't not have loyalty to anyone anymore save Sven because he had done nothing to her to betray her trust. Leotie nodded, “Thank you Lunette.” Leotie appreciated the sentiment her friend gave. To have someone sympathize with her after being on her own meant something. She'd tried to explain to her friend what had happened but it was so jumbled in her mind as it had been that day she couldn't figure out what exactly had happened. She was certain of one thing, her loyalty had come into question and she'd been labeled a traitor despite her hard work and unfaltering support of the pack. “I do not understand it either it changed so many times during the course of the conversation it was hard to keep up. I had no choice to take the punishment as I am in no position to fight the woman for her rank.” Though in hindsight she thought maybe she should have, maybe she should have put the old bat out of her misery.

Leotie offered her friend a smile and a tilt of her head, “I would like to but I need to get to Willow Ridge, my friend hasn’t been to visit in a while and I am worried about him. I am hoping his packmates will have some information. I will come back though and visit once I find out if he is okay.” Leotie hoped for good news when she reached the Ridge but she feared the worst and wanted to get it over with now that she had started her journey.

~Table by Switch

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Whatever had happened back in the Draw, it had come as a shock to Leotie—that much was obvious. And Lunette thought she could understand that. Leotie was a good wolf. A kind wolf. For her to be banished..? It was one thing if Lunette would get kicked out of the Cove—she was useless, occasionally spiteful, all of those things.. she wasn't an asset.

She was a burden.

Her brows drew together over her eyes, a sympathetic, frowning face as she struggled to find logic and rationality in it. She was beginning to understand that despite the fact that her own inner workings were far from rational, she had a hard time accepting decisions based on emotion, and not logic. And the thing laid before her yelled of those things, or at least of things left unsaid, either by Naira and Kerberos, or by Leotie. Lunette found the former more likely.

Slowly, she nodded, burying her disappointment that Leotie hadn't come to stay in the Cove. Part of her wanted to say then why did you come here? but before she had the chance to ruin it, it dawned on her: she had come because she wanted Lunette to know. Because she, probably, cared, but whether it was about the Draw's reputation or Lunette herself, she didn't know, but something in her hoped it was the latter. It was what she'd expect of Leotie.

"I kind of want to ask them," she mumbled, knowing it was a silly sentiment, "but if they threw you out without saying why, they might just bite my face off if I come asking." She mustered a small smile, trying to turn it into a joke, though her soul screamed that it was probably true. One of her ears folded back in contemplation. "Who's your friend in Willow Ridge?" she asked. She was surprised at how casual it sounded. Lunette knew absolutely nothing about Willow Ridge, so whatever name she dropped would mean nothing to her, but.. Leotie had answers, knowledge, about the world, things Lunette was thirsty for but rarely dared to go and find the answers to.

The thing that bothered her most about her banishment was that the reason for it had never been made clear to her. She thought that she was in trouble for not being there before the pups were born. While she understood that they would need protected the draw didn't get many visitors and had no threats. In the entire time she'd been in the Wildwood their biggest threat had been the two lynx they had dispatched when they first claimed the draw as their home. Even still that infraction wasn't bad enough to deserve banishment. That was why she believed her ousting was because Naira believed her to be disloyal to the pack but even that didn't make sense. While she might have often smelled of Sven Leotie was almost certain that Kerb did too and yet he was there to do the woman's bidding.

And Keep with his silence and betrayal, how could he be such a coward as to not recognize that something was clearly off. That what was happening was wrong, how could he not question it and do something about it. He held the same position as Naira, she could do nothing to him so fear of repercussion could not factor into it. Had he been a subordinate perhaps Leotie could be a little more sympathetic after all he wouldn't want to be separated from his family. She felt stupid to put her trust in a wolf such as he. She remembered him questioning her loyalty to the pack right alongside that bag of bones. He should have known better, he should have known her well enough to know how she felt about the pack. Now she had lost trust in them and at times wished bad things on them for what they had done.

The only one she believed didn't have anything to do with it was Triell for he had been sick. Did he know about it and if he didn't what would he do when he did find out. Part of Leotie wished he would find out, she believed he wouldn't be happy at all with what had happened to her. The question remained what he would do to them? She hoped he was angry enough to punish them all but of course she would never know.

“There have been moments I have thought of asking too,” she admitted, “But at this point I have to wonder if it would he worth it. I can't go back to live with them because what if they did it to me again. The only thing I can come up with is Naira had something thing against me. I don't understand why I mean I helped to look after her children and would have the new litters. Whatever she said I remained loyal to the pack to the very end and I cared for them until that day.” A derisive laugh escaped the agouti woman, “The funny thing is I had gone to Willow Ridge to introduce myself to the lead female so that we could have a friendship which I hoped would lead to an alliance which would have been good for the draw.” Yet she had still been banished even though she was trying to set up a good future for the Draw. Lunette wanted to know about her friend in the Ridge, “His name is Sven, he is the male lead there. We met before he became the lead. We grew close and he would often visit but I have not had any visits and his scent has disappeared, I am worried and want to speak with the Ridge wolves to see if they will tell me anything,” she explained.

~Table by Switch

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