The Wildwood Grace Period

Lost, that was exactly where she was, not physically as she knew where her paws had carried her but she was at a loss as to what to do with herself. For so long she'd had a pack to work for and she had moved up the ranks and had been proud. Now she was no one, just another line out there trying to scrape by just enough to survive. Her appearance was starting to show the signs of being on her own too long as he coat had grown dull and some tuft's of fur we're sticking out everywhere. She no longer held the weight she once had but had grown thinner.

She ate when she felt like it but more often than not she went without and not because she didn't have the opportunity. The agouti woman just didn't have the appetite she once had and she knew exactly why. She grinned for all the things that she had lost which was probably why he found herself in the Wildwood once more. She kept a wide berth of the draw but the woods surrounding it had been her home for a long time. She missed it and needed a chance to say goodbye to it one last time before she decided it was time to move on.

To what she didn't quite know yet but she felt that by the time she left she would have figured it out. At least she hoped she would so that she could have some sense of where to go with her life. She once again found the place she'd discovered with her betrayer's and had she not been so thirsty she might not have even gone there but she was there now preparing to get herself a drink when she heard the pawsteps of another. Leotie hoped it wasn't one of her former packmates but she prepared herself for it anyway.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2017, 01:04 PM by Leotie.)

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won't you light my lonely way back home?

Treyah Tainn

A familiar scent had crossed her path on and off since her mother lost her mind that day and it was with equal parts worry and shame that Treyah avoided it. She should have gone after the former second earlier and explained, she's not okay, don't worry about it, just come home! She hadn't expected that @Kerberos would follow her mother's orders so explicitly, that she would even make such demands to start with and if she had been home at the time she would have intervened then and there, so when the familiar scent crossed her path once again, she decided it was time to suck it all up and go seek the woman out.

She found her by the water, back turned on the yearling and her heart wrenched at the sight. She didn't want to draw any closer in case she invoked the woman's ire but she allowed her tail to wave happily at her back none the less. "Leotie," Her voice was far smaller than she intended. "Y-you should come home. She doesn't even remember. I should have told you sooner, told @Maera and Kerb... Most days she doesn't even remember she lives here at all." Things were about to be shaken up in the Draw, that much was clear, and if she could at least make peace with Leotie, let her know that it wasn't her fault then perhaps she's be left with one less of her mother's burdens to bare.

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

She stood looking at her reflection in the water for a long time before finally deciding to bend her head for a drink. It was stupid of her to return to the Wildwood, for what really? She'd wanted to say goodbye to what had been her home but really what was the point of it all. Everything she had worked for taken from her, she was no longer proud but disappointed in what her life had become. Everything she cared about was gone to leaving her all on her own and there were still things about all of that she didn't understand and probably never would. Just as she was about to get her drink Leotie realized she wasn't alone and any hopes she had it was someone other than one of her former packmates was soon dashed just like everything else.

It was Treyah, Leotie had hoped that if it was anyone from the draw it would be Kerb but it wasn't. It seemed he was too much of a coward to face her after what he'd done. The girl was asking her to come home and Leotie scoffed, a sound that was so foreign coming from her. “What home Treyah?” She asked finally turning to face the daughter of one of her betrayer's. “You want me to come back to a place where I thought I had a family, wolves who cared about me but…” she trailed off shaking her head. Leotie remained quiet for a moment, looking at her paws. She wanted so badly to tear into the wolf before her and send her back home. Let the girl tell them what happened and why but Leotie found she didn't even have the fight left in her for that. “You think the fact that she doesn't remember just makes it all better?” Leotie finally asked of Treyah meeting her gaze.

~Table by Switch

(This post was last modified: Jul 02, 2017, 12:52 PM by Leotie.)

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'Cause nobody can save me

Treyah Tainn

The girl was quickly growing exasperated. "Of course it doesn't make it better!" she snapped in response. It was beginning to feel like nothing would ever be okay again in her life! And maybe it was because she was just a yearling and wasn't so good with feelings, or empathy, or whatever, but she was growing sick to death of trying to cover for everyone else’s supposed shortcomings. "Kerb was just doing what he was told, I'm sure it eats him up. One day soon she's going to wander off and I won't be able to catch her and it'll serve her right, but I miss you, and I'm sure dad does too..."

But maybe she was just wasting her breath. "Dad's sick, Reiko's gone. Zerxes left." It was all she could do to manage a shrug. "You're probably better off away from there anyway." And what more could she say? She had tried (albeit not very hard) but she was exhausted, emotionally and physically. She could feel the weight of it all dragging her down and she didn't know how much more she could take. A sigh left her lips as she turned away. They never should have left the Bend.

Blue eyes widened at the girl's sudden tone as she snapped back at the agouti woman. She remained quiet for a moment trying to decide how best to go about this. As much as she might want to send Treyah back as a message to them for what they had done to her she knew better. “What your mother and Kerb did I don't know if I can ever forgives them for that. You know how hard I worked for the Draw and you know how much I gave and they turned around and ousted me for what? I still don't understand because your mother's reasons were unfounded. Do you know she accused me of being a traitor and wanting to challenge her?” To Leotie these were the reasons she'd been ousted because that was where the conversation had gone.

The mention of how much what happened eating at Kerb caused her eyes to narrow, “It eats him up so much that he hasn't even bothered to find out if I'm even okay. He was alpha at the time he did not need to take Naira's orders. He could have spoken against her if he did not agree. Instead he let it happen, he is just as much at fault. However, I miss you too Treyah and I am sorry that we never had the chance to really get to know each other. Maybe someday things will be different. I miss your father too, he had always been good to me and helped me so much when I first came to the bend.”

Treyah then spoke of how her father was sick, Rieko and Zerxes were gone. Leotie sighed, “I'm sorry Treyah that you have lost Zerxes and your brother and even more sorry that Triell is sick. You know if I could I would be there for your father. I would return for him but right now It's not a good idea not with your mother still being alpha.” She would return for Triell, she owed him that and he was her friend who’d always accepted her as she was even when she was a poor excuses for a wolf.

Leotie frowned as Treyah spoke of her being better off, the agouti woman stepped forward. She sighed, “I'm sorry this has happened Treyah. I never wanted to leave you do know that right? I know it feels like you're losing a lot right now but you are a strong girl and I know you have it in you to make it through this.” Leotie did t know if her words would mean much to the young Tainn but she hoped that they would help Treyah see the strength in herself to get through this. “You have to be there for your younger siblings they are going to need you. For what it's worth I don't know ow where I will end up. The Wildwood has become my home and I am finding it hard to leave but I am here for you. When I am finally settled I will come and let you know where I am in case you need anything.” She promised before brushing her muzzle across the Tainns, “It means a lot that you tried.”

~Table by Switch

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'Cause nobody can save me

Treyah Tainn

She turned back towards Leotie, her head tilting as she sighed. It pained her to see @Kerberos copping so much flack and her lip pulled down in response, "He still thought he was just filling in for dad and you've seen my mother? You think he's dumb for deciding not to cross her? She's pushed people off mountains and killed her own brother, what do you think she might have done to him, being so out of her right mind?" If nothing else, her mother was a very scary, domineering woman. Hell, even she had spent more than a week looking over her shoulder after she had pushed her into the dirt. "The way she is right now... You never know which one you're going to get." Of course, she liked it best when she was calm and knew where she was, but those times were growing fewer and farther between. It was like something had crawled into her ear and was messing with the control panel. She didn't quite know how to explain it.

"And I'm sure he's just so busy. There are four cubs, his mate, two sick old wolves and just me and Mae to help him hold it together. It's like he's fading away in front of me and there's nothing I can do to fix it..." She was surprised they'd hung on this long at all. "I'm sure if you came by he'd be happy to see you, he's just... very tied down right now."

Again the big problem was her mother. "I'm sure Maera means to challenge soon. I'm worried I might be what's holding her back. I should probably have a talk to her, and let her know it's okay." Although why her feelings should factor at all she had no clue. "Do you wanna try and catch something together? It's really the least I could do..." She really wanted to make things better. Leotie had been with them since before she was born. Surely it didn't have to end just because her mother was crazy.

A frown crossed the agouti woman features as Treyah tried to defend Kerbs actions at the time of her ousting. It was clear to her that what her problem with Kerbs actions was something that the Tainn may never understood. She wondered if she should even try but she did anyway. “Risk or no risk, filling in or not would you want a friend to fight for you or let what happened happen?” She asked for that was it. If Kerb had been her true friend and disagreed with what had happened to her he should have done what he could to make it right. He should have fought for her as she would have for him but he had not. He hadn't even bothered to apologize for letting it happen when they had gotten out of earshot of Naira. Instead he was a lump on a log that didn't even bother to comfort her in anyway as a real friend should. So the question she posed to Treyah what kind of friend did she want, one who would fight for her and be there for her or one who did nothing. Leotie didn't have anything nice to say about the condition Naira was in, her feelings toward the woman we're anything but pleasant.

It sickened her that the girl was trying to defend the man who had betrayed her. She had given a lot to Kerb including her deepest secret. She had trusted him with her life and when it came down to it he hadn't cared. “I'm sure. You don't have to defend him as he made it pretty clear where our friendship stood when he betrayed me.” She did not speak with venom in her tone, what was the point what was done was done. “I'm not going to go crawling back. He was the one that did me wrong and he is the one that has to make up for it.” Did she want to see Kerb, Leotie honestly didn't know but she was curious to her at his reason for letting Naira do what she did. Did he too believe her to be a traitor?

As Treyah went on about Maera challenging Naira it struck something in the agouti. Something she hadn't considered when she'd been ousted but she kept these thoughts to herself. “Perhaps you should Treyah. She may be worried you will be upset with her for doing it. It sounds to me your mother is no longer fit to run a pack. I'm glad that you can see that it might be best for Maera to challenge.”

It really didn't matter to Leotie what happened in the draw for she was not a part of it any longer. She did feel badly for Triell that things were going so badly because he had wanted to much for them. “Sure, we can do that.” She agreed to the offer to catch something though. Perhaps it could do some good but Leotie just wasn't sure anymore.

~Table by Switch

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Hunting dem 1/3

'Cause nobody can save me

Treyah Tainn

Leotie's question only showed the difference in the way the two wolves thought, I wouldn't want anyone to risk their life when mine wasn't in jeopardy. But it was already clear they would only talk in circles if she continued to respond so she sighed and shrugged instead, her eyes finally finding the faint trace of rabbit tracks left in the mud, trying to ignore the accusations that were being flung at Kerberos like he had really had any say in the matter. He had a mate and child to consider too, or had they been forgotten amongst the venom of hate and anger the other wolf had let enter into her own veins?

"Doesn't look like much of size is about but at least there's this," she gestured to the tracks and lowered her head to take in the scent, it wasn't so old that it was worth giving up hope entirely, it would at least lead them to the warren, and then they would probably have to wait until the sun went down for the rabbits to show their faces again. At least they could set themselves up in a decent ambush position in case any dared to show their faces early. She waited for some confirmation that Leotie would be ok with this, otherwise, they could always look for something larger.

(This post was last modified: Sep 09, 2017, 03:59 AM by Treyah.)

The former draw wolf was starting to feel that they wouldn't get anywhere in the conversation. Treyah had her views if it and Leotie had hers, she tried to help the young wolf understand but she wasn't sure she could. Surely there were emotions where her mother was concerned and Kerb. Leotie couldn't help but wonder if maybe Treyah knew more about the friendship Leotie had shared with the new father or if she had seen what had happened she might better understand or maybe it was better to just let it be.

She wanted to be angry with the girl and shout at her that she was just like the rest of them and that Leotie wasn't blind to what had been happening long before she was banished. In the end what was the point, it was better to just try and move on from it. She'd made a promise to Triell before they had come to the Wildwood and she would do her best to keep it.

“That's okay, something is better than nothing,” Leotie said investigating the tracks that Treyah had pointed out. It was something that Leotie had learned a long time ago and it had stayed with her even though she hadn't really gone without since then. “Let's see where they take us, maybe it will be more than it looks.”

~Table by Switch

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