Willow Ridge reevaluation

Broken Clouds, 6.8 ° F, -14 ° C

She had good days.

And she had bad days.

Today happened to be the latter. She had awoke disorientated and so far back in time that she still felt as though she should have yearlings and cubs around her. Alas none were to be seen. She could only assume that the older siblings had been kind enough to take their younger siblings out for the morning. Which meant she had plenty of time to tend to her other matters.

She limped along through the willow trees. Marked a few places here and there until she found a rather old and abandoned medical den. A soft tsk escaped her.

They need to recruit better medics.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

@Vanadis tag because of thoughts!

'Cause we're just a couple of kids

The teen had been so pleased with himself for finding Vanadis’ old stomping grounds just a few nights earlier, that he had made the trip back. It had been so late that night, and he had gotten distracted with riddle games, that he hadn’t properly looked around. Today he would go, really get oriented, hopefully find the old den, and then he would bring the woman back to show his truly impressive tracking skills. That had been the plan anyways.

Instead, what was supposed to be a fun solo adventure had turned into a frantic search. The scent of Valle had hit him like a ton of bricks and there was no way that was the remaining smell from his visit. This was fresh, and female, and oh so familiar. Viorel’s heart immediately began to pound in his ears, the rushing sound reminded him of the ocean of his home. Unfortunately, he wasn’t actually as seasoned of a tracker as he liked to pretend and it took him longer to find the pawprints in the snow than would have been ideal. Sprinting along the weaving trail it seemed like he was running in place, no matter how fast he went he couldn’t get sight of her.

Finally, he was met with the looming entrance to a wide cave. Peering into the darkness, squinting and waiting for his eyes to adjust he called out, ”Grandma Katna?” How the hell did she wind up in this place alone?

When I'm wrapped in your arms

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2021, 12:52 AM by Viorel. Edit Reason: typo )

Nothing she nudged around would have been salvageable. Everything was old and left behind. Untended for and left to the elements in this place's abandonment. Nothing would do any good. Soon spring would be upon them, mothers would need to be cared for and  —

"Grandma Katna?"

It jarred her mind some. Grandma. Familiar like an old friend or her dearest brother. Tenderized her heart that often felt cold these days. She moved out of the poor conditioned den to see who had called her such a thing. Prepared to scold an unruly subordinate or her youngest children but...

This was not what she had expected. Oh, she knew this face. One that she would call her favorite — although it was entirely likely she did that with all of them, healthy competition if you asked her — out of her rowdy grandchildren. A reminder of Italia even if he had come from...one of her girls.

"Oh, Viorel." She spoke calm and warm. "Aren't you cold, boy?" A soft tsk escaped her and she motioned for him to venture inside as well.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

'Cause we're just a couple of kids

Viorel was not entirely sure what kind of response he had been expecting to hear back from the cave. It was still dim but he could make out the face of his grandmother peeking out of a dug out offshoot, looking grumpy. Thankfully the irritation on her maw melted into affection and he breathed a sigh of relief. It had been two months since he had seen her, or any of the Valles who had not shown up in the first few days. He was just so happy to see that she was alive.

Blinking a little in surprise he stuttered, ”Oh, um. I’m not cold, but… okay.” Ducking his head a little to avoid bonking it on the stone above he stepped into the cave gingerly. Getting closer, and now that his yellow eyes had finally adjusted he looked her over. She seemed thinner than he remembered, and a little unkempt but there were no obvious injuries or anything.

Looking around at the strange cave, which he guessed was what he had been looking for today to begin with, he furrowed his eyebrows. ”So, how did you get here? Are you okay?” She didn’t stink like the two legs like the rest of them had, but he wasn’t sure how else she could have just appeared out of thin air.

When I'm wrapped in your arms

She would have not accepted any sort of rebuttal to her invitation, good for them he listened well. Another reason for her to have surely dubbed him a favorite at one point or another.

Once inside, it seemed he had plenty of questions. Cubs always did. However she struggled to pinpoint them. How...had she got here? Did she not belong here? Rule here? Another tsk left her before she responded with words. "I've been here." She stated matter-of-factly. Her mind was a land of confusion for the moment. She had half a mind to give him a good scruff for not knowing better, but she lacked to energy to act.

"Where has everyone gone off to today?" She asked with a hum. Katna had not noticed the barrenness of the land. Perhaps a hunt had taken place early in the morning.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

'Cause we're just a couple of kids

It had been a while since Viorel had seen his grandmother, and while he had definitely missed her, her absence had wiped a few things from his mind. Ironic, since the thing that he had forgotten was how hare brained she had become. It had been something that was just not addressed back at the Estuary but there had been whispers. The yearling was never quite sure how to best address the situation whenever she was confused and tended to just, let it happen.

So, when Grandma Katna stated so confidently that she had been here he just, well, he nodded and said, ”Oh right, okay.” She clearly had not just been here hanging out in this weird old cave which smells vaguely like old plants, but alright. If she wanted to pretend she had just been chilling in here then that was fine. Plus, Viorel had always been taught to never talk back to the matriarch.

At the hum Viorel had an idea. He certainly couldn’t force the elderly woman to leave the cave and he would be too worried to leave her here alone in case she wandered off. But, if he could trick her into leaving with him he could get her back to the others. Smiling proudly he gestured out of the cave, ”Oh! They’re back near the creek. We’ve been practicing our fishing to show you.” Now he could only hope she would take the bait.

When I'm wrapped in your arms

It sent her back in time some. They had been practicing their fishing to show her. It reminded her of when she had to teach her own little ones how to navigate the waters if they wanted anything besides slick fur.

"Well," She huffed with a yellow-toothed grin. "Go on. Let's see their fishing skills. I am sure they don't compare to yours though, am I correct?" She had no problem dotting on her younger kin in that manner of speaking. Healthy competition! She wished them all to grow to be the best they could be.

Someone would take over the Estuary far, far down the road from now. She needed to know that whoever it was was capable.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

one more post each?

'Cause we're just a couple of kids

Viorel breathed out slowly when he saw the familiar toothy grin. It made him want to crawl under her muzzle and nuzzle into the softness of her nape like he had when he was a pup. His grandma had always been such a comfort to him as a child, and it pained him to see her this way now. Thin, confused, alone. It was everything that the former matriarch should not have been, and yet here they were. He just had to get her back to the others, Aunt @Modesto would know what to do, and he could get @Clover to check her over and make sure she was okay.

Grinning back at her praise the salt and pepper tail swayed behind him eagerly, ”Well, you’ve always given me such good lessons.” This was true, or it had been. It had been a long time since Katna had taught him much of anything, his aunts Italia and Iounia had kept her ushered away from the yearlings mostly.

Turning back towards the entrance of the cave he squinted against the sudden brilliance of the sun. His heart still pounded in his chest, he may have successfully gotten her from the cave, but he had to get her back to the creek still. Maybe if he just kept her talking, ”Hey Grandma, what’s the biggest fish you’ve ever seen?”

When I'm wrapped in your arms

(This post was last modified: Mar 09, 2021, 03:00 AM by Viorel.)

She appreciated it, truly, and such words kept her mind young. When had been the last time she had given lessons to her lot? She ought to rally them back together again and make sure everyone could venture the waves well enough.

Admittedly, his tactic would work well enough. Content to move wherever he went as she racked her aging mind and attempted to find an answer to his question.

"Hmm, perhaps one that could not be caught. So far off the shores that it almost seemed like its own island..." A whale, of course. Granted she didn't have such a name for it but she hoped that the tale of it would amuse him all the same.

katna is showing signs of mental decline
as such, she might be unreliable or confused

'Cause we're just a couple of kids

To say that it was a relief would be an understatement. He didn’t have a lot of experience dealing with his grandmother’s illness, that was typically left up to his older aunts. Viorel had really had no idea whether or not his strategy to go along with her confusion and keep her talking was going to work or not. She could have just as easily told him that she didn’t do what he said, or that she was busy sorting through her herbs or whatever. Katna also could have not even recognized him to begin with, but this wasn’t a possibility that Viorel had ever even considered. She had always recognized him before, or if she hadn’t she had never let him know that.

He knew she was talking about a whale, he had seen them many times before in his year plus on the coast, but he was ever the diligent grandson. Widening his eyes dramatically, he gasped, ”Was it as big as an island too?!” He would keep asking her questions about whales for as long as she would let him, before falling into silence as she mumbled incoherently.

Viorel set his jaw in a harsh line, it was the only thing he could do to keep the sadness off of his expression. What was happening to his Grandma Katna?

When I'm wrapped in your arms

FADE