Drooping Willows Magpie singing in the dead of night [BWP]

Open to WR members only. || Light rain, late evening

Enoki Ashrelle

How could she have allowed herself to be so naïve and swept away from the one place she truly felt earned the title of home? The guilt that gnawed at her stomach intensified as her amber gaze never drifted from those familiar boughs that formed an umbrella shape, weighed down currently by the falling rain that dripped off their vibrant green leafs. The sun slowly making its descent behind the horizon. A low whine emitted softly within the back of her throat while her teeth nibbled at the leather of her lips, uncertainty leaving her paws clued to the spot although a large part of the magpie wished to charge forward and tackle all those she had left behind in order to search for her daughter. A fruitless search that instead left the worried mother worse for ware and alone.

But she couldn't. Her body couldn't. Time and the stress that had ebbed at her aging bones had not been too kind to the dappled lady. Nearly her entire muzzle and the patches of fur around her eyes had reached a silvered phase, the rest of her once glorious ebony fur dull and given another year or two would probably easily blend into the patches of white adorning her body. The only part of the woman that would remain an eye catching sight spare the set of amber eyes nestled in the center of her face. Ribs began to protrude from her lithe sides and offered insight to the lack of proper meals she secured for herself. A bum hip from an old hunting accident resurfacing during the frigid winter and plaguing the aging Ashrelle ever since with a constant dull ache if she tried to move too quickly. There was no such thing as graceful aging. Unless you were Elettra Archer in Enoki's opinion and the memory of the former Ridge matriarch had a deep frown etching itself upon her maw.

She had failed her beloved friend who had bestowed upon her the greatest honor and trusted her to keep the Ridge alive. Was this even the Ridge still, or had it finally crumbled to ashes and a new pack risen up in its place? Her husband, her children. Had Adeltra managed to return and Romanov not resent his mother for leaving him to be raised by another? Ravenna. Did she step up in her stead and protect her home? Maybe even produce her own Archer cubs now that spring had come back around.

Lungs inhaled a slow and deep breath before exhaling it into the scattered rain, a swift shake of her head flinging the droplets of water that clung to the ends of her coat and slid down the length of her muzzle. No, she couldn't wait anymore. Not knowing the answer to anything was eating away at her and had mother nature and father time not withered the magpie enough? 

Shaky limbs trudged slowly forward through the mud and grass at a pace her body could handle until her sense of smell was bombarded by the familiar odor of a pack border. The same agonizing pace that made her journey home take so painstakingly long. Craning her head back slowly, the patchwork wolf sang again for the first time in what felt like a millennium. She sang to her mate; unaware of his fate, to her children, to her family here as a whole. Sang her return. The magpie was home. She hoped.

Word Count: 577

Ashbash 2017 - Sebastian Unrau 

(This post was last modified: Jun 12, 2018, 09:36 PM by Enoki.)

She’d left Leotie’s den to allow her to get some rest once Avella and Scully had finally settled down for a nap. She needed to do her rounds anyways, make sure none of those pesky coyotes were sticking their noses where they didn’t belong. They’d have to be stupid to come any closer anyhow, now that the Ridge’s numbers were higher. It smelt like the borders were stronger than ever before, the members within proving to the world that the Ridge would prevail. Her steps felt lighter.

A howl rang into the air.

She stopped cold in her tracks, head snapping in the direction of the call as her heartbeat sped up. She knew that voice anywhere. It was the first voice she’d memorized when she’d come into existence. The voice that had soothed her wails and hummed as she drank the sweet milk the voice provided. It was the voice that she heard in her dreams, gently intertwined with her father’s. The dark Archer took off, strides desperately large for her smaller medium size as she tried to cover ground to get there faster. Damn her short legs!

As she neared, the scent was unmistakable. Different in a way because the Ridge no longer clung to it, but comforting and achingly familiar all the same. She slowed, her breathing coming in quick gasps before the woman finally came into view. Ragged and disheveled, holding none of the grace that she remembered as a youth and the same grace she frequently held herself. She was all protruding bones and gaunt angles, but the eyes were the same. Fiery and beautiful.

“Mom,” she whispered, her lips quivering and eyes stinging as she stood feet from the piebald. She felt like it was a dream, but everything was too real. No, this was reality. Sweet, sweet reality. The girl ran forward, colliding with Enoki’s chest despite the other’s fragile appearance. She covered her muzzle in kisses and whines, body wriggling with the excitement she felt. “Momma, momma I missed you so much,” she gasped out, breathing in the scent she had longed for.

In the distance there is a large pack of coyotes howling.

My heart but other WR wolves are still welcome to join in ;_;

Anxiety gradually mingled with the guilt that festered within her gut with each passing second that ticked by while she awaited the arrival of someone to greet her. If there was one thing the Ridge had always been well known for it was the rapid response to the presence of others at their doorstep be it friend or foe. Slowly, the woman lowered her head and listened to the notes of her song fade into the rhythm of the pattering rain. Waiting, wondering if she would even be given the time of day to explain herself. A dull, ebony ear twitched as a chorus filled the air not long after her own song grew silent, but these were not the voices of her loved ones upon further inspection. These were the howls of coyotes.


A portion of Enoki's snout began to wrinkle in distaste for her nose; although failing a little more each day at detecting scents, couldn't miss the pungent odor of their cousins contaminating the lore the moment her paw first touched the familiar soil. However, the coyotes would be given no more attention as a figure manifested through the naturally depressive looking boughs. Dark in coloration and withholding such grace in the way they approached. A trait she had only ever come to witness in an Archer and once the younger wolf came to halt mere feet from where she herself stood, realization hit her like a freight train.

Mom.

Immediately her eyes began to prick with the sting of tears before the floodgates were let loose, glossed over gaze watching her beautiful daughter she had spent countless weeks searching for surge forward to eventually collide with her chest. Enoki ignored the pain that thrummed in her fragile bones as the weight of her beloved daughter sent her far too easily onto her side on the ground, mud splashing in the wake of her fall. But that didn't matter. A loud series of whimpers and whines filtered off the former matriarch's lips as each and every kiss her daughter offered to the greyed muzzle was greedily accepted, the ivory dipped tail at her rump working overtime slamming the ground in the overabundance of happiness flooding her veins.

"My baby girl. My beautiful baby girl." Her words were choked out between sobs that racked the woman's chest as a front leg hoisted itself around her daughters shoulders in an attempt to bring her closer. Unable to fathom the fact that here she was. Alive. Grown. Despite her mother's failure at finding her. "I searched…I.." The magpie couldn't finish the thought as another sob stole the words from her, covering every inch of the girl she could reach in kisses. Refusing let up on her hold should she somehow disappear and this all just be some sick delusion brought on from her deteriorating state. 

(This post was last modified: May 21, 2018, 08:00 PM by Enoki.)

She’d waited everyday for this moment. Everyday since she’d gotten lost, everyday since she’d gotten home, every moment since her father’s passing and Rom’s disappearance. She never stopped waiting, never stopped searching, had always imagined herself being the first to greet the piebald woman and it was finally true. It wasn’t just a hope anymore.

Sobs filled the air, courtesy of both. The girl was pulled to her mother’s chest and not an ounce of her fought it. She nestled into the wolfish hug, every part of her aching in joy and in pain. Joy at having found her, but pain in the knowledge that the girl held. For the moment she pushed away the pain, storing it for a time that would surely come. Enoki stuttered out words and Addy nuzzled them away. “I know momma, I know. They told me, they told me you never stopped. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” she choked out, vaguely shaking at the force of the emotions she held within her.

Enoki's frail attempts at speech between sobs was whisked away by the gentle touch of Addy's nuzzling, an attempt to soothe the woeful mother and the resurfacing of her guilt. The emotion glistening in the flowing river of tears that streaked her silvered cheeks. Finally managing to find her voice again after another exchange of affectionate touches to the girls cheeks with the tip of her nose to wipe away her daughters own tear stains. "I had to find you no matter what. I couldn't give up." 

It was a mothers job to protect her brood and raise them to shape the future of the world around them. Teach them the wrongs from right, the necessities in order to survive the cruelty life so easily threw at those it deemed unprepared. Deep down Enoki harboured the idea she was unfit for motherhood. In the end it was both children she failed and her mate to boot. Speaking of the Archer men, why hadn't they arrived to the border yet?

After a few moments her grip upon Adeltra released, carefully and slowly rolling onto her stomach before gradually hoisting back onto all fours with a few cracks and groans. Mud caking her left side that had been planted across the ground from the tackle of her child. The echo of their sobs now replaced with the wily chatter of their mangy cousins and far too close for Enoki's comfort, the amber hue of her eyes spotting a couple figures in the fading sunlight darting to and fro about the willows if she squinted hard enough. Have they always been so ballsy here?

As Enoki attempted to lick away her daughter’s own tears, Addy thought they would continue anew. She felt so overwhelmed with emotion, though for once in the past few months it wasn’t negative. No, quite far from it. She was so glad to have the woman back, even though she knew realistically it wouldn’t be for long. Enoki was strong, but time was stronger and she was in no fair condition. At this point the girl was no stranger to death, and it wasn’t that she had come to terms and accepted it but she no longer could afford to ignore it.

The scent of coyotes also evaded her senses and her hackles bristled, the yearling quickly getting to her paws and moving protectively to her mother’s side. Addy was smaller on the spectrum of medium but she’d be damned to leg a mongrel touch the former matriarch. We should move inside the borders, she announced, gently nudging the older woman the way she wanted to to. She held back the lump she felt in her throat, because the direction they headed was one that she dreaded but she knew her mother needed to know. Needed to know of her son and the fate of her mate. She led her toward the willow tree.

The presence of coyotes was not dismissed by her attentive daughter who's body reacted immediately to the invasive scent after lifting to he paws again, her hackles bristling like the quills of a porcupine ready to prick the first foolish canine that dared step too close as the young Archer took to her mothers side in an act of protection. A silvered ear pivoted in response to Adeltra's proclamation before the gentle nudge set paws into motion with no resistance, well aware that in her current condition the chance of defending herself with minimal injuries was out of the question. Nor could the duo take on the number the air painted for them in the sliver of light that remained. Soon to be replaced with that of the moon. It was wiser to follow her daughter's lead so Enoki did just that. Another time and in better health the magpie would have ripped those yappy mongrels a new one.


Achy paws; slow and steady in their attempt at keeping up with Adeltra's effortless pace, continued in their guided trek through the muddy willows as the pitter-patter of rain kept a steady tune and curiosity remained a constant at the forefront of her mind as to why her child had chosen to lead her this way rather than straight toward the heart of the pack. Her body may have been starting to fail her, but her mind and memory were still in tact. This way led to the old willow where those that led before them took their final rest. For a moment smoldering amber eyes narrowed between silent steps to try and piece together what Adeltra was trying to say without her words, but Enoki was at a lost. What could have happened that she felt such a powerful urge to lead her?

Silence reigned further between the duo as the elderly willow began to come into view. It's green draped canopy triggering both comfort and grief within the piebald's heart at the memories that resurfaced once the grass covered mounds that marked the final resting place of Angier, Elettra and Adele. The two woman that gave her daughter the unique moniker she bore. But it was the addition of a fourth mound, the grass yet to fully cloak the churned earth that caught her attention and caused her throat to tighten. The pieces to the puzzle she attempted to solve on the walk here slowly falling into place, but there was only one sure way to ensure the parts fit.

"Why did we come here." Her voice was eerily soft and knowing despite the question resting on the air between them, turning her gaze from the piles of dirt to the face of her daughter. Awaiting the arrow that would pierce her heart to this tree for eternity once its specificity was declared.

Her paws, previously so light, now felt like they were stuck in mud. Each step felt harder and harder as she led them toward the place she visited so often. She hadn’t been as often since the birth of the pups, but she felt like Nicolo would understand. Felt like he wouldn’t want her hovering over his grave like she had been.

The dark girl had spent everyday for weeks curled up upon the mound she had helped dig before placing the former leader’s body within. She talked to him about everything and nothing, jaws chattering seemingly endlessly like she had when he’d been alive. She never knew how much he’d understood then, so in and out of himself, but she’d found it comforting nonetheless and thus she’d continued on. Sometimes she’d lay there and say nothing. Just nap and pretend the earth, growing warm beneath her body, was the warmth produced by his side. Or she’d stare up at the stars. She’d also spent time talking to Elettra, or Adele. Perhaps that had been part of the reason that she’d been so quiet to the rest of the pack, she’d been so talked out speaking to the dead.

Yet, as they arrived, her mouth felt dry. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, at a loss for words. How was a child supposed to tell their parent that their spouse had passed? It was never supposed to be like this, it was supposed to be the other way around. But, if Adeltra had done anything in her short life it had been grow up. She’d had to fend for herself to survive, then she’d had to fend for her family, then she’d had to fend for herself with her tumultuous emotions all over again. It was a lot to take in, but it had made her stronger. Her honeyed-amber gaze traveled to her mother and she feared she might break all over again.

Momma, sit down, she said gently. Addy moved to the graying woman’s side, allowing herself to sit as well. She leaned against her mother, gathering up the strength from deep within her to say the words that needed to be said. Rom left without a word in the middle of the night a few months ago. Think he just needed to go find himself or something, no sign that he had been taken or anything bad, she started out hoping that her words comforted the woman. It would be a hard pill to swallow, but Rom was a yearling the same as her and could take care of himself. At least, that was what she had told herself.

She took another moment to gather herself before releasing a breath. Daddy got real sick, old age and everything. We did everything we could but we all kinda just...knew. Tried to make sure he was comfortable when he...when he passed. the words felt like acid on her tongue and her voice was airy. She felt she couldn’t look at her mother less she break apart, and at that moment she knew she’d need to be strong. She’d gotten her chance to mourn and mend, it was her turn to her Enoki.

@Adeltra



There would be no swift answer for the former matriarch as silent air hung heavy between them with the question that would continue to go on unanswered for a short time still, smoldering amber irises in the meantime sweeping slowly from the dark mask of her daughter to the newest addition to the Archer graveyard. Trickles of miniature rivers beading down in some portions where the porous soil and grass had reached its maximum occupancy for the water that fell overhead. In a sense it was like the ground itself was weeping for their losses, the man himself she would soon come to discover resting here weeping that she had to find out too little too late the state he had been in while she was away.


Those same smoldering amber irises watched closely still as the water flowed and words were yet to reach her daughter's lips in order to answer the question hanging heavy like the rain that fell around them, ebony ears pivoting forward once Adeltra's voice did ring through commanding the elderly woman to sit. To prepare. A shallow breath was taken as her haunches slowly lowered and cracked to take up a seated position, the first rays of patchy moonlight that managed to break through the stormy clouds illuminating the strands of silver and white that adorned Enoki's thinned frame before the brush against her side snapped the woman back to reality. Unaware how intently she bore into the saturated soil. She was ready.

Fate was a tricky element to grasp. Everything in this world had an hour glass that slowly trickled away until the final grain of sand took its fall and although a superior namesake that wrought both pride and fear into the veins of those that heard it spoken aloud, Archers were not exempt from this. Father time always had everyone's ticket ready and punched at their scheduled hour. Not a second sooner or a minute later. Everything happened when it was destined to despite how cruel or unfair the picture was painted for others that still had life in their lungs.


A tremor began to wrack Enoki's malnourished silhouette as she remained silent and pressed against her daughters side, siphoning what strength she could from her while listening to the tale of Nicolo's final days and the fate that had befallen their wanderlust son. Whimpers slowly escaped her tightly sealed lips, the first cracks in her attempt at keeping herself from breaking entirely in that moment. "Nico.." The nickname was but a whisper on her lips that flittered through the droopy boughs. The string to the bow was drawn back until it was taunt, ready to let the arrow fly at a moment's notice.


Nicolo had gotten sick and she hadn't been there to help. To say I love you one last time. Rom had disappeared like a thief in the night and she wasn't there to stop him. To provide whatever guidance her years of wandering could offer in his crucial time of self discovery. And then there was Adeltra. Forced to endure what no child should have to in such a short period of time. With so much adversity her childhood had been robbed from her, forced to face reality and grow up way before her time. Guilt was a nasty parasite and Enoki could feel its teeth gnawing vicariously at her insides. Perhaps it was this guilt now that caused the woman to see the changes that had occurred in her daughter. No longer was she the little cub that ran amuck through the willows and grew frightened by the rolling thunder.


No, she was strong. She was brave. And most importantly, she was here. Giving Enoki a sense of closure she hadn't known she needed.


The magpie silently rose to her paws again and slowly padded toward the mound that now housed the decomposing body of her husband. The one man who would be her first, only and last love. All frailness to her current condition was forgotten as her body was laid upon the muddy surface and the sting behind her eyes became too much to handle, tears finally released to join the rivers of rain that trickled down the sides of the dirt she now lay on.  

(This post was last modified: Jun 05, 2018, 07:52 PM by Enoki.)