Whisper Marsh i bless the rains

for @Modesto only.

Eros was off hunting for something bigger than usual to add to his flurry of make-do caches back home. He'd be lying if he said a part of him wasn't scared to run into another moose or elk alone, but he'd be damned if he'd let such concern stand in the way of him contributing to the pack, of being a real adult. That's what he was now, right? Sure felt like it.

He'd been stalking after the scent of whitetail when he took a breath and immediately thought of his Aunt Modesto. His ears lowered and his determinedly flat affect was marred with a frown. Another inhale, and Eros realized he smelled her. Actually, really smelled her. The thought of prey abandoned his mind completely, calling out into the empty air.

"Aunt Mo?"

"Eros..." Modesto breathes the boy's name in a whispered coo as she closes the distance between them, shifting and moving around waterlogged trunks and tall marshland grasses.

"You shouldn't be here." She spoke, pumpkin eyes looking over his agouti coat, well kept and clean had it not been for his trudging through the nasty lands between his home and her own. Healthy and already far larger then she had seen him last. There was few she missed at the bog, he was one of them. "Your father would be none too happy." Maybe not mad because he was here, but definally because he was here with her.

Her voice returned his call effortlessly quick, still familiar and comforting despite the time and cautions between. His tail began to wag, and it wasn't too long after that he saw her, appearing as though he'd wished her there. Despite what he'd been told had occured, he still felt a wealth of affection for his aunt and was eager to meet her halfway.

Confusion pinched his brows when she warned against his presence, and his ears swept back when the woman clarified.

Your father would be none too happy.

Eros did so hate upsetting or disappointing his father, and strove hard not to do so since getting not just himself but his brother sent away from their first hunt. Banished, so to speak. He met her gaze.

"I can see family all I want," he asserted with confidence. His Aunt Modesto would never harm him, ever. Maybe Dad didn't want her around anymore, but that didn't mean Eros couldn't maintain his own relationship with her. He was his own wolf, nearly an adult. It was his choice, not @Viorel's.

(This post was last modified: Feb 10, 2022, 06:36 AM by Eros.)

An eagle flies overhead and drops pieces of its kill. +3 Health

He was happy to see her, despite what he must have heard. Perhaps given his youth he was kept from all the details- details which Viorel must have given Sharlee with how quickly she had been to spat at her like she were some dirt on her paws. It was so very fickle, the loyalty and care family held for one another despite the years.

Eros ears fell back, unwilling to accept his father's wrath and yet spoke against being kept from his family all the same. Even if Viorel and Sharlee now hated her, it didn't mean he had to.

"Very well then." She spoke as matter-of-factly as he. The matter was settled. Modesto was both happy she had family to enjoy her time with as well as happy that some within his ranks defied him. "Your mother is a good match for my nephew, good genes." An Archer, was she? "Look how healthy and mighty you've grown already!"

She moves around him and as she does so, the ass-end of a rabbit hits her in the head and falls with a thump to the ground. "What on earth!?" Her head rises, looking around in complete confusion. "It's raining lunch on us!"

(This post was last modified: Feb 22, 2022, 03:19 AM by Modesto.)

She did nothing more to discourage him, and Eros relaxed visibly. His tail wagged at his hocks, it's motion carrying all the way into his hips. His Aunt went on to praise not just him but his parents both, and he was all the more confident that he was right about her and all this mess. Aunt Mo was not mean or hateful of Eros and his family! Dad... his mirth flickered briefly as the thought solidified within his mind; Dad just doesn't give second chances. He needed to remember that, lest he be the next one cast from the pack.

He moved to snuggle into her chest, but motion blurred from above and the woman cringed as she was struck.

"Oh no!" he gasped, hoping it hadn't hurt her.

It's raining lunch on us!

Eros' smile returned, along with his exuberant wagging.

"The eagles are tellin' on ya, Auntie," he teased, "they think you aren't eatin'."

(This post was last modified: Mar 07, 2022, 04:32 AM by Eros.)

Modesto wagered she would never lie to the young boy. Perhaps bend the truth a little, but never lie. She would like others to know her side and to agree with her and once upon a time ago far more had, now, it was obvious less so given the fact that she no longer took part in her family’s pack- whatever had been left of it, that was. Eros didn't ask about what happened right now and so she did not tell.

A new generation had bloomed. Out with the old, in with the new! So Modesto figured she would be out then but loose ends, like seeing Eros again and seeing the man which he reminded her of, @Vayko, were of course on her list of things.

"Ah, maybe your right." She spoke, nosing and nipping at the young boy's ear in an acceptance of his former embrace. "How's about I take this rabbit back to my den then and I show you where I live now? I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Spending much of his life at the Backwater bog, Eros had yet to see a body of water so large before. It wasn't the sea, of course, but was the largest body of water in all the Lore (though she didn't quite know that yet) and had a beach. Best she could do for now.

Eros' mood brightened further, all but galloping after her now as she invited him to move on with her to her new home. Each of his worries about the woman vanishing from his life as other members of the family had were swiftly corroded, for what more could solidify an individual's intentions to stay than a den?

"Yes please!" he beamed, "Is it far? I'm so glad you're not gone," the words started tumbling with enough momentum that he wouldn't have been able to stop them even if he'd tried, which the young Valle did not.

"I didn't think I'd see you again, like... like grandma and Aunt Xuli, but, I shoulda known better. You wouldn't leave us just like that."

"Not all that far. Just remember, when you cross through the forest and into the marsh here, just arc around the edge of it. Crossing through takes more time with all the muck. Either way you go around it you'll be in forest until you reach my place." She informed the youth and with that, picked up the half-rabbit and began making way and just in the same manner which she had explained.

After a time, she pauses, settling down the kill. "I wouldn't just disappear on you, Eros. That'd be wrong of me..." Her words trailed off, a grim expression pulling at the corners of her mouth. She'd now ruin the moment, not yet. Lifting back up the rabbit, she shoved playfully into the boy's shoulder and began picking up speed.

Eros dutifully committed the directions to his memory, reciting them internally a few times until he felt confident. It was likely he'd remember, having the opportunity now to follow words with action. That was always how he had learned best, not by lecture but by doing.

I wouldn't just disappear on you, Eros, she went on to assure him. Good. This wasn't the beginning of the end, then. He'd just have to put a little extra effort into keeping contact with his aunt, which the young Valle had no problem with. He could focus on the silver lining, getting to travel independently and explore someplace new... maybe Aunt Mod would even form her own pack like dad had, and there'd be even more wolves to meet and get to know then!

He followed happily after returning the joking prod, pudgy legs determinedly keeping pace.