Dead Empress Backwater riverside

Seri finds out his dad is dead, backdated to a few days after news is brought from SC

And so I tell myself that I'll be strong

Seri Donata

and dreaming when they're gone

Seri had no idea what he was returning home to. He let the silence linger over him as he returned from a sanctioned scouting mission that had taken him away for a few days, missing the presence of his half-siblings as they arrived to share the fate of their father. He was returning happy. He had seen much, and poked more to the west in order to see if he could find a more stable water source with the drought that had overcome Relic Lore… it hadn’t yielded super promising results, but at the very least there were options.

When he returned, he announced it at the borders before stepping over the scent markers and into the familiar territory that had become home. His family life… well, it was complicated. He hadn’t the faintest idea where his mother was, and he knew where his father was but they had never truly developed their relationship… likely due to the nature of how their relationship came to form… in many ways, Eros was his family, and Archer too, as mudbrothers… Viorel more a father to him than his father, and Sharlee had taken up more of a guide to him than his mother ever had, even in the early months when they were quite close.

He sought out his oldest friend first, a smile on his face. “Eros, you have got to come with me next time. It was soooo cool.”

(This post was last modified: Sep 11, 2022, 02:34 AM by Eros.)

When Eros heard his friend announce his return home, his stomach twisted unpleasantly with nerves. He didn't want to be the one to do this, but also felt that being best friends obligated him. After all, as sad and uncomfortable as this would all be, ultimately he wanted to be there for Seri and support him more. Pushing himself up onto his paws, he set off in the other boy's direction, seeking him out in return.

He tried to put on a smile when he saw his friend's golden eyes, but it didn't feel natural upon his face.

"Hey Ser... " he greeted, wishing he could just ask questions about the other's trip and maintain Seri's happiness instead of shattering it. Unfortunately for him, he also felt that putting it off would just be selfish. The sooner his friend knew, the sooner he could begin to process and hopefully heal.

"Um. I've got some bad news, okay? Like, really, like-" his jaws moved silently for a moment, the teen clearly struggling deeply with how to segue into this horrible conversation. Eros swallowed, now frowning deeply.

"I'm so sorry, but your dad passed away Seri."

(This post was last modified: Sep 11, 2022, 05:21 AM by Eros.)

And so I tell myself that I'll be strong

Seri Donata

and dreaming when they're gone

He had been so excited to return home, to see his friends again and tell them all about his trip… but the manner in which his friend greeted him caused him to pause, a hint of confusion showing on his features. Something was simply off. It was like his smile wasn’t genuine. Was he not happy to see him, that he had returned? That didn’t seem right…

Bad news? Had something happened to the pack in his absence? Worry began to show on his features as he took a seat close to his friend, not truly ready for the news he was about to receive. The tawny boy’s eyes widened. What? No, it couldn’t be true. Immediately he felt his chest tighten, like the air had been knocked out of him, his eyes burning with a desire for release as the words repeated in his mind over and over again.

Your dad passed away Seri. He felt like he couldn’t breathe in that moment, his face instantly falling into sadness, grief. “I… I never ended up visiting him.” He had told Stella to tell his dad that he was going to visit soon. “How?” He asked, his voice cracking under the weight of the chaos inside threatening to overtake him.

Seri's reaction broke his heart, his own eyes also prickling with unshed tears. The soft words inspired a quiet whine within Eros' chest and his ears lowered guiltily. His friend hadn't been with his family because he'd been here with him and his family instead. Looking back under the light of Aleister's premature death, the young Valle felt he had been selfish.

"Um," Eros tried to swallow back the emotion thickening his voice as he recalled the details imparted to him, "I guess there was something called a cougar, and he had to fight it off? And he just... didn't get better."

He wished someone would have come to tell them, to tell Seri so that he could have at least had one last visit. That wasn't how things had happened, however, and there was no use in dwelling on alternate realities that could never exist. Without much more to say outside of apologizing again and again, Eros chose to quietly step forward and touch his nose to his friend's cheek in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture.

And so I tell myself that I'll be strong

Seri Donata

and dreaming when they're gone

A cougar. The words echoed around his head, bouncing from one side to another in a flurry of a mess, his eyes slowly falling vacant as his brain attempted to process the information that he had been given. This was all some kind of cruel joke, right? No creature could take down his Pa, right? Not even his mother could take down his Pa, and he had been fairly certain that his mother had wanted to shove him off a mountain…

He felt his back legs give out, splaying out in an awkward sitting position as breathing became harder. He had never visited. He had promised he would. Stella would have delivered the promise to him… and Seri had broken it. Seri had never broken a promise before, not ever…

He felt Eros’s nose brush against his friend’s cheek, finding some small measure of comfort internally from it’s presence. “I… when? How do we know? He’s so far away. Who told you?” The denial quickly started to set in. “Maybe you heard wrong… maybe it’s a different wolf, one with the same name. It might not be him at all.”

Eros hadn't been present when @Kateri had been told the news, and so he hadn't seen how she'd reacted. When it came to how all this would impact Seri, he knew that for the both of them it was uncharted territory. All he had known was that it would be bad because how could something like that not upset a wolf? That his friend might experience disbelief had not occurred to him, and briefly his young mind was confused.

How was this something they could be mistaken about? His gaze met with Seri's searching goldenrod gaze, and that was enough to understand.

"It was Leo and Stella, a couple'a days ago," he answered gently, feeling it was best to keep his friend grounded even if it hurt.

"It's real, Ser."

(This post was last modified: Sep 21, 2022, 12:43 AM by Eros.)

And so I tell myself that I'll be strong

Seri Donata

and dreaming when they're gone

Seri had to cling to hope that part of his world had not crumbled beneath his feet… he had to hold onto some illusion that he had not run out of time to get to know his father… It was Leo and Stella. His friends words grounded him, and with it his bottom legs slid out from underneath him, his body collapsing to the ground as his head shook from side to side, the denial firmly gripping his mind despite the proof that Eros bore with him when delivering the news. It was real, he was gone.

“No… no no no… I didn’t… I didn’t even get to visit. I didn’t get to say goodbye. I promise. I promised I would visit. He can’t be gone.” He began to ramble, his voice cracking and the words separated by the light heaves that came from his chest, his lungs burning and begging for more oxygen as he turned from grief to the outright panic. For all intents and purposes, he was now an orphan.

His mother was long gone, and now his father was dead. He was an orphan. What of Leo and Stella? He didn’t know about their mother… were they orphans too? “Eros, I promise…” He trailed weakly, his head resting against the ground in defeat as his eyes stared off into the distance.

Eros almost second-guessed himself then, watching his best friend, always so full of sunshine now crumple the remaining way to the ground. He moved on instinct, settling in beside Seri flank-to-flank and shoulder-to-shoulder. As the other boy's voice faded, trailing on that single sentiment, he draped his throat overtop Seri's nape and held him.

"It's not your fault," he told him, voice as strong and sure as he could muster.

"No one ever knows when someones going to pass, you didn't know you only had so much time..."

Sure, everyone died eventually, they both were old enough to know that by now. Even when Walleye and his Gramna had passed it had still been a shock though, still been far too soon. Aleister had been so much younger than them, how could anyone have seen this coming? He was supposed to have years more. Seri should have been able to take time for himself over the Summer.

(This post was last modified: Sep 21, 2022, 01:28 AM by Eros.)

And so I tell myself that I'll be strong

Seri Donata

and dreaming when they're gone

Seri felt the warmth of another body press against his side, his muscles tensing for a moment with discomfort and awkwardness as the already confused body felt a prick of something deeper than comfort settle into his bones before he forced them to relax. This was Eros… he was his best friend, his mud brother, and he was just trying to help him through the news that he had just lost his father. The feeling would be quickly lost and he rested his chin atop the other boy’s paws as he assured him that it wasn’t his fault.

His father should have had more time… he should have had more time to get to know him. Perhaps Seri simply should have joined the Cove rather than joining the Backwater, but his yearning for the familiarity of those he already knew well and the closeness to his friendships that he had worked hard to develop had won out when making that decision.

He remembered Stella mentioning how the Cove had water… it must have been how Aleister had gotten into this fight to begin with… they were not the only animals seeking out water. “I never even really got to know him.” A part of him didn’t know why the grief was so crippling for a man he barely knew, and yet he knew it was because the man was an intrinsic part of him, even if his impact had been short… it had been his dad…

“I need to go… I need to visit the Cove… Stella, I can’t imagine how they’re all doing.” There was a shaky resolve in his voice, letting his eyes close tight if only to try and continue to steady his nerves and find some balance.

I never even really got to know him, he heard Seri murmur, the subtle movement of his jaws felt beneath Eros' own. That wasn't his fault either, at least not in the Valle's mind. He couldn't help but think that if Violet and Margo were so close as the Cove to them that @Viorel would be making regular trips to visit with them regardless of whether they made the effort in return. That was just an assumption, though, and it did very well seem that living atop the mountain was more dangerous. Maybe Aleister really hadn't had the chance either....

Either way, it wasn't fair. Eros let out a sad sigh and nuzzled into Seri's scruff, something that felt more earnest than words at that moment.

I need to go… I need to visit the Cove…

It was completely understandable, and Eros did not give his response a second thought.

"Okay. Would you like me to go with you?"

(This post was last modified: Sep 21, 2022, 01:39 AM by Eros.)