Turtleback Lake some people call me a space cowboy

All welcome! Ryder has made an escape! heads up to his pseudo-pack @Finley @Flair @Jethro @Siyet @Reika

He'd purposefully waited until his mother had fallen asleep, and then many minutes more. It wasn't until her breathing was deep and had been even for nearly a half hour that the young boy, still half-blind and barely able to hear, toddled onto his feet and ventured to the exit. It was night out, but the moon shone brightly and he still needed to squint as he popped out of the ground. He saw the tail of the great serpent and the backs of the turtles that guarded the lake, and the glow of the expansive night sky, but knew not what to make of any of it... yet.

With each step away he grew bolder, nose twitching and nub of a tail wagging vigorously. There was so much more to smell and feel, thrilling him more than any treat that had ever been brought to him. In that moment, he didn't want to go back home ever.

(This post was last modified: Jun 10, 2022, 06:25 AM by Ryder.)

Since that chaotic day with the geese and the birth of Finley’s sole child, he’d not wandered very far from her, or the rest of his companions. Bringing gifts such as food or water, when necessary. There were things he’d put on hold - mainly, exploring, trying to find the very best place he could to forge a future home. But it was worth it. He’d made a promise, too, and that was something Jethro definitely intended to keep.

He’d been resting nearby when he’d heard the sounds of something scuttling along. And he was mildly surprised when he opened his eyes to spot Finley’s young son already making an escape from her den. Jethro smiled to himself, slowly and quietly rising to begin a half-walk half-crawl towards the kid.

”Hey bud. Where we goin’?” He breathed softly, all but sure the kid had no way of comprehending words, yet. Jet still didn’t really know what he was doing, didn’t know if he should just let the kid keep going or take him back right away. Just a little walk couldn’t hurt though, could it? It was bound to happen eventually, better supervised than not, right?

As much as Finley would let him, he wanted to be a positive influence and figure for the child. Or at the very least, someone else that was around to watch over and protect him. Even if it was just on small trips like this, to start.


ofc I cannot resist..

Siyet was snoozing, she had had a long day and was happily sleeping. She awoke to the sound of stirring through out the area. Because of her and Jethros' travels, she had sort of become a light sleeper.

When she awoke, she let her eyes adjust for a moment and she saw in the distance Jethro moving about. He was with a smaller figure that Siyet could only assume was Ryder. She was curious as to what those two were doing so she carefully moved trying not to make a sound, toward them and listened to what they were saying.

Finny will just be watching, feel free to skip her unless she is needed :)

Finley had woken up from her deep slumber when a tiny pebble had rolled down the entrance and hit her muzzle. The agouti woman’s eyes popped open in surprise, and she was greeted with the sight of Ryder’s form disappearing out into the world. She was a little alarmed by the sight until she heard the soft murmuring from Jethro. A gentle smile spread across her features, he was a good man, he owed them nothing, but he had stepped up anyways.

Scooching forward on her stomach the mother peeked out of the den, head settling down onto her paws. She had no intention of following them or intruding, but she was curious to see the two of them interacting. If she were needed she would intervene, but for now she was just happy to watch her son begin to form his own relationships outside of herself. It wasn’t like he had much blood family to rely on, their pseudo pack was all they had.

Ryder was steadily growing confident that his plan had been incredibly well-thought-out and successful, until a shadow obscured the moonlight and a deep voice surprised him from behind. The young boy spun round to gaze up the bridge of Jethro's long nose and into his gemlike eyes. His own sniffer set to work, taking in the familiar scent as his brain digested the words that had been spoken to him.

He didn't come up with much. The real question, was how to avoid being ushered back into the earth's claustrophobic embrace. His baby blues looked to the side, and he took a tentative step backward. Maybe if he made a run for it....

A pale blur moved in the distance, illuminated by starlight but unrecognizable as anything more than a potential adult. Another step was taken, and then he spotted his mother herself, now awake and peering from their home. Oh no. They'd all come for him.

Ryder turned and bolted.

(This post was last modified: Jul 11, 2022, 12:56 AM by Ryder.)

For a few moments at least, the tiny kid paused, gazing at Jet with a look of wonder and innocence the dark one hadn’t ever really seen from anything before. He couldn’t, at that moment, fathom how anyone could mistreat or abandon a child. Already, Jethro cared for this young one, and it wasn’t even his.

Finley hadn’t mentioned anything about a father, and he hoped it would stay that way. He couldn’t be sure what he’d do or what would happen if he ever happened to cross the scum that would leave her and this child. Probably nothing good.

Ryder, though, drew his attention again, as he shuffled back just then, tiny eyes gazing about. Finley had appeared in the mouth of the den just then, seeming content to linger there. A quick glance around revealed the ghostly form of Siyet lingered in the distance as well. Whether he understood words or not, Ryder’s intentions were made clearer as he turned to run.

They were going somewhere, then. Standing, Jet sauntered after the child, thankful that keeping pace with him was easy. For now.

”Nobody’s gonna try to stop ya, just makin' sure you're safe,” Jet spoke again, with some small hope that maybe kids could at least understand a gentler tone. If he didn’t sound angry or demanding, and instead went for something closer to reassuring, would Ryder realize that he, and nobody here actually intended to scoop him up and return him to the den right away?

Siyet watched with curious eyes and she saw Jethro...not quite chasing the young one. She decided to hold back because she felt like they were having a bit of a moment and she didn't want to interrupt whatever it was that they were doing.

She looked around to see if there was anything that could have cause the little one to wander off, and it was then that she saw Finley. She moved over towards her trying not to cause any potential disturbances.

"Oh hello there, do you know what is going on with Jet and Ryder? A little odd that they are both kind of wandering off don't you think?"

She expressed her slight concern with what was going on and hoped that there was nothing serious going on, and that Finley might be able to enlighten her.

When Ryder had bolted the mother had lurched forward an inch or two until she saw that Jethro was easily keeping pace with him. She trusted the dark man to take good care of her son, and at least return him in one piece, and that was good enough for her. Although the boy would be met with a lecture about running away when people were talking to him, that was just plain rude. Finley was not necessarily raising her children to be selfless, but she certainly was not raising them to be impolite.

Her attention was called to the paler woman who had approached the den. She smelled heavily of Jethro, but Finley herself could not remember her name or ever having a conversation with her. At first she almost thought it was Colette, but the words held too warm of a tone. Pulling herself out of the den the mother felt suddenly a little bit more uneasy about the whole situation. Who was this woman to be expressing concern over her son going for a walk with Jethro?

Blinking at Siyet she expressed in almost a flat manner, ”Going for a walk I would expect.” Maybe she was a little insulted about the situation being called odd or maybe it was that she had been woken up but she did feel like her ego was a bit bruised, ”I’m not sure why you would think that situation was weird.” Or maybe it was, sudden doubt caused her to whip her head back around to view the pair.

No matter how hard he pumped his tiny puppy legs, the grownup effortlessly kept pace with him. For a brief few moments, a sense of panic welled within the child's chest as he felt a small sense of futility and entrapment. Then it dawned on him that despite having every opportunity, the larger wolf wasn't making any attempts to turn Ryder around much less send him back in the hole.

He began to slow, breathing heavily from exertion and eying Jethro with both apprehension and intrigue. At this point, he had no idea what to expect. In a way it was still scary, but more so it was kind of... cool. He glanced to where his mom had been and saw she was still there, the cloud-white blur having joined her, and then turned his back once more to all of them.

His eyes roamed the expanse before him, struggling to take in all of the details available but thrilled by them nonetheless. He wondered where he might have gone if he'd kept running, and found his paws moving him forward once more.

Whether it was realization or exhaustion that prompted it, the kid eventually did slow down. Ryder looked back, first to him, and then toward where his mother and maybe Si would be. Neither of whom had decided to follow them, yet. Though his gaze and focus remained on the child, it was not lost on Jet that Finley trusted him - so far at least - to watch out for her kid, to accompany him on this little adventure, and to bring him back safely.

That was meaningful, in more ways than words could express. And it appeared their adventure still was not done.

”I’ll bring him back safe, Fin,” the dark one chose to call back towards the mother, before setting off to trail the kid again. The smartest thing to do, at least to him, seemed to be to simply let Ryder tire himself out and then bring him back. Provided he didn’t wander too far or too close to anything dangerous, that was.

Someday, though, maybe they’d get to explore without limit. That was a day Jethro, surprisingly, found himself looking forward to.