Dead Empress Backwater don't you worry child

Vayko had been doing his best to ensure everyone was well cared for. He knew others, mainly Eros and possibly Vi, had looked down on him for simply having done everything he could. Eros hadn’t believed him when he told the truth… but he had truly grown from how he had been when he had been Eros’s age, and he would not let the boy convince him that he was anything less than the mature adult he had become.

He had worked hard to get where he was, to a state where he could be happy and confident in himself… and he wouldn’t let anyone, not even family, convince him that he wasn’t a good wolf.

He moved through the territory, a rabbit in his jaws to bring to Clover and a lot on his mind as he worried about where his four children were. They all certainly kept him on his paws, that was for sure.

Vayko Valle

Jacy was bored.

Not bored enough to go find Dace or Mira - not yet. Dace was just so hyperactive and Mira was... Mira. Jacy wanted to do something fun, like go hunting! He wanted to be cool like the grown ups and help his family. There were so many of them around and he wanted to make his mark, he wanted to stand out! He wanted to prove that just because his mom wasn't around didn't mean he couldn't hold his own and be a good pack member.

The perfect opportunity just happened to stroll by in the form of Vayko carrying a rabbit. The fact that the rabbit had already been caught and was already dead didn't matter to the pup; he just wanted to get his teeth into something real...

Jacy seemed to have gone unnoticed (so he thought) and confident in his stealth he slid along after his uncle, moving parallel to him and trying to get ahead of him until he thought he had the perfect opportunity. The pup sprang from the undergrowth and aimed to snatch the rabbit out of the adult's mouth.

Vayko had found himself caught by surprise when the pup sprang out from the undergrowth. He had been humming to himself so he had not heard his approach, and the scent of the rabbit directly below his nose had further disguised the child, much to his chagrin as the small tawny furball had nearly scared the living daylights out of him all the same.

The pup tried to reach the rabbit, Vayko tilting his chin up so it would remain out of reach of the child as he huffed lightly in amusement, setting it down off to the side as he used his body to block access to it. “That’s for your aunt, Jacynth… not for you.” He would scold. He was furious with his sister for leaving them behind… for leaving these kids. How could she be worse than their mom had been with this?

But that did not mean that he would not be there for his nephews or his niece… quite the opposite. He would dote on them, even raise them as his own if that was what it took. They already had four… what more was another three?

Vayko Valle

The smell of the rabbit filled his nose, it's warmth just a hair from his teeth - and then it was gone, lifted from his reach and then set aside. Jacy landed heavily but did not fall even as Vayko blocked his way to the meat and gently scolded him. The boy looked up into the face so like his and scrunched his nose in disappointment before making a half-hearted attempt to dodge around him. "But Daaaaaad," he whined, "wanna catch!" he didn't want to eat it, he just wanted to catch something. Maybe he could take it as a present for his aunt! He liked her, she smelled nice and had soft fur and if he closed his eyes he could pretend she was his own mom.

He would like to get her a gift! A gift that he caught all by himself! "Prem-sent!" he said, lunging forward and trying to go under Vayko to get to to the limp, bloody rabbit hiding behind him.

The way the boy called him dad made his heart pang. He should be Uncle Vayko, but in that moment he found he didn’t have the heart to correct his nephew… not when he knew that he was all he had ever known. Perhaps when they were older he could explain he was not their real dad, but then that would bring questions he didn’t know how to answer.

Still, he would like them to know the truth. Despite what everyone seemed to believe about him, all he cared about was his family having what they deserved…

He explained that he wanted to catch it, and he blinked for a moment as he considered it. “Do you want to take this rabbit to your Aunt?” He asked for a moment, taking the limp rabbit in his jaws and moving it towards Jacynth to see if he would pick it up. They could take it together. He was still a little too young to hunt her something all himself, but he could bring Vayko’s gift to feel involved.

Vayko Valle

Jacy was oblivious to his uncle's reaction to his use of the word 'dad'. Jacy didn't know any better; his cousins called Vayko 'dad' and Vayko took care of him and Dace and Mira just the same as the others, didn't he? Sure, Aunt Clo did too, but they already had a mom. Vayko had always been there, and Jacy wasn't yet old enough to know what a dad technically was.

So, thinking nothing of it and focused only on taking his not-mom a present, Jacy tried to get at the rabbit. Only, Vayko picked it back up. "Yeah!" he cheered, jumping up to try and grab it again. Little teeth bit into one of the rabbit's dangling legs and with it came the surging feeling of success. He'd caught something! He'd caught it and now he was going to take it to his Aunt Clo as a present! Jacy's tail wagged furiously, shaking his haunches back and forth with its vigor. A low, excited growl bubbled from his throat and his eyes glittered with triumph as he looked up at his uncle.

There would always be a bitter pang of sadness in Sharlee’s actions, her disappearance. He knew deep down that perhaps something had happened, and he could never fully understand unless she returned, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t suck any less. He wanted to take his children, Clover, and his nieces and nephews and flee as fast as he could from the cursed lands of the Backwater… but one thing kept him there: family.

Clover wished to remain. Their children deserved to have stability… even if that stability was a brooding and depressed Viorel and an angry Eros… a constant turning door of wolves entering and leaving their lives.

He would pick up the rabbit and he grinned at the boy, encouraging him around. “Come, let us find your aunt so you can give it to her.” He encouraged with a gentle nose to encourage him in the correct direction. His tail would wag, a small glimmer of happiness in the brooding tempest that was his most complicated inner thoughts.

Vayko Valle

Jacy hopped around his uncle whom he knew as dad, trying to take the rabbit from him again the moment it was lifted. "Wanna carry!" he complained loudly. It wouldn't be his present to his second mum if he wasn't the one to bring it to her! Nevermind the fact that the rabbit was nearly as big as he was. He was a big boy now! He could carry it by himself!

The boy skipped in the direction he'd been nudged a short distance only to turn and bow, tail wagging with a large grin on his face. He was determined to get that rabbit! He was gonna bring his second mum the greatest present ever and she was going to be so proud of him. None of his siblings or cousins had managed to do something that cool before. "Premsent!" he yapped excitedly, pouncing again for Vayko's face.

He raised a brow at his nephew as he insisted that he wanted to carry it. He was not certain the boy was capable yet of lugging such a large thing around, but he would set it down regardless to let the boy pick it up so he could give it to her himself. “Okay, you can carry it. But if it gets too heavy you must tell me, okay?” He would instruct, watching as the determination set on the boy’s face.

He tried to pounce against for his face and his nose wrinkled lightly as the boy hit it, his eyes closing out of habit to avoid receiving anything harsh in turn. “Present for Aunt Clover!” He added in as he gave his nephew’s rump a nudge to push him forward, hopefully with rabbit in his jaws. At the very least, they were not far from the den, so hopefully it would not be too much on the boy to take it to her.

Vayko Valle

To Jacy's delight Vayko set the rabbit down and nudged the boy toward it. Jacy pounced on it but did not savage it like her otherwise might have liked to do; he grabbed as much as he could in his mouth and lifted.

It was too heavy. He barely lifted part of it from the ground. Pale eyes flashed up to his dad in panic, but he wanted to take the present so he hummed like this was no big deal and stepped forward. He of course immediately tripped as the rabbit resisted him, but Jacy quickly righted himself and turned to tug on the prey with all his might, sliding it along the ground.

See? He could do this. He was Big and Strong just like his dad.