Paradise Falls it's a rollercoaster

Backdated to 2/6, for @Ally only.

'Why don't you go talk to that girl?' Magg's voice repeated on a loop in his head as he moved, following after the straggler child's trail with single-minded determination.

'The one who says grandma lives in the Cove?'

He knew regrettably little about the young girl, but her appearance had always struck a note with him. Something distant and easily-shaken off until Magg's most recent chewing on him. Chan supposed he had assumed that whatever had left the pup stranded with them was something he couldn't help with, certainly not while Flair was still incapacitated, and all at once now he knew better.

She looked just like Aleister.

He caught a glimpse of her ahead and picked up his pace.

"Ally?"

the night comes down like heaven

Ally was trying to keep her head down - well, more than usual, since the meeting. She'd called more attention to herself than she'd intended to. How silly of her, speaking without thinking, when tensions were obviously so high. After Galen and his friend had stalked off, and the group adjourned, and she had run off to hide... she felt she should seek out Magg, who was so adamant the Cove be reached. She was still trying to work up the courage to do so. The girl scared her.

Galen was less scary, and Ally was strongly considering talking to him, since he seemed close with Magg, but she still hadn't done that either. She was worried she might miss her chance.

A voice called out to her, one she wasn't entirely familiar with, but she knew the face it belonged to and she knew his name. Her ears dropped and she turned to look at him, body lowering as if she was in trouble. She hadn't been, yet, but she was worried she might be for speaking out of turn. "Yes?" she said quietly.

She responded timidly, and Chan's own posture lowered in response, ears settling downward and head dipping lower than his shoulders. His tail wagged tentatively at his hocks, trying to show he meant no harm. Who knew what harsh lessons the girl had already learned? He certainly didn't want to step upon any triggers and make things worse for her.

"I'm Chan," he introduced himself, guessing she'd probably gathered as much by now but feeling it courteous not to assume all the same, "I grew up on the mountain. I heard that you've got family up there too... ?"

the night comes down like heaven

The man immediately came down to her level and Ally was reminded she was no longer small and helpless as she had been when she'd lost her mother and brother. She hadn't even been this small when she'd lost her dad - or more accurately when her dad lost her. She swallowed and relaxed a little, nodded at his introduction - and again at his question.

"My dad took me to meet my grandma once," she said. "He told me it's dangerous and I shouldn't go up there but he wanted to find my mom." And now she wanted to find her dad. How ironic.

Chan's ears lifted slightly to listen as she answered, but returned to their lower position as she spoke of being warned about the mountains. It hurt that he could not disagree. Maybe if they had not taken Auburn from him, things would be different. Knowing he had died up there, however? There was nothing that could make him scale that range ever again, and he dearly hoped that none of his children would either.

If he could have his way entirely now, all of the Cove would leave the mountains behind to come live here at the Falls. Of course, Nash's feelings had been clear on that matter.

"It is," he affirmed, words tentatively spoken as he tried to choose them carefully, "but it is also where the wolves we love call home, huh?"

Part of him of course wanted to try and convince young Ally to stay in the Falls, to just send word with Magg and @Galen (who he also did not want making the climb, especially now that his niece had just practically rebroken her leg), but it wasn't his place, and he was learning to mind such things.

"Could you tell me their names? Maybe I know them."

(This post was last modified: Mar 01, 2024, 03:28 AM by Marigold.)

the night comes down like heaven

As Ally spoke it was clear Chan was listening. If Ally was better at reading body language she might know he was apprehensive, or perhaps sad. But she wasn't and all she knew was his words were meant to be soothing. He asked more questions and she paused. She knew grandma's name, but she'd barely known her mother. Her dad, on the other paw... "My dad is Archer," she said. "I got to meet my uncle Eros a couple times and we even went to live with him and Grandpa for a while but then I got lost." Ran away, actually, but she was embarrassed about that.

But Chan had asked about the mountain, and it did feel pretty good to talk to someone who might know them. "I don't really remember my mom, she left when I was really little, even before Andy died. But I met her mom, grandma Aquene, when dad took me up there to find mom. Maybe he went there to find me too."

Chan remembered Archer. The rest fell into place instantly as the boy's face popped into his head. Dead Empress Backwater. Kateri. She didn't have Al's eyes, she had Kateri's. His own eyes widened briefly with surprise, and then his gaze drifted, as though in thought.

He wanted to cry, and the feeling only grew stronger as the young girl when on. Where was Kat? What had happened to her, to repeat her mother's history, for her child to be here without her now? He was able to keep his emotions safely tucked within his chest where they would batter against his heart, for Ally did not need to know that thinking of her mother made him so sad.

"Your moms Kateri, then?" he turned his mismatched gaze back onto her, a small but genuine smile on his dark lips.

"We're not blood, but... we're family. I consider your mom to be my niece."

Or should he be using past tense? Had the cruelties in this world taken her life altogether?

"Did you meet your Grandpa Nash when you visisted?"

(This post was last modified: Mar 03, 2024, 08:10 PM by Chan.)

the night comes down like heaven

Though Chan's eyes wandered, Ally did not feel as though he was ignoring her. She wondered if it was because he didn't actually know her parents, but then he asked another question and she recognized the name and nodded. Kateri! That's what Dad had called her, even if Ally hadn't really remembered. She tried to summon an image of her face, but all she got was the faint memory of a scent, and a shadow. She had been dark, like dad, she thought...

Her ears pricked a little and she stood a bit more, fully abandoning her submissive posture now for one more relaxed. More family? She hadn't known there were so many of them - had thought it was just her and Dad, and then Uncle Eros, then grandma Aquene and then grandpa Vi. But now there were more!

Her head tilted slightly. "How are we family?" she asked, not intending to be rude but wanting to understand the difference between 'blood' and 'family.' She shook her head when he mentioned another grandpa. "Dad didn't let us stay. He said my auntie died there and he wanted me to be safe. Grandma said we're always welcome, though. She wanted to come with us." she wondered how things might have gone then. "I didn't know I have another grandpa. What's he like? How do you know him?" now that she was learning things, Ally wanted to know all of it.

Chan's ears splayed as Sephrina was mentioned. Would Archer and Ally and Kat and this Andy have all stayed safely together in the Cove if they hadn't let the children out of sight in the first place? He'd never get to know, but it was clear that this innocent girl was caught in the waves of what had happened before she was even conceived. It was getting even harder not to cry, but he was still able to mask, only the slightest of shakes coming through in his voice.

"Um. Nash is my brother," he tried to focus on what Ally was asking for, on all the positive that he could teach her about her family, rather than dwelling on what could not be changed.

"He's about the kindest wolf you'll ever meet, aside from your grandma of course," Chan told her with a smile, tail thumping the ground.

"See, your mom had Kateri with a wolf named Aleister, who founded Sanguine Cove. They were friends though, they weren't in love like-" a split second of hesitation, he wanted to say 'like your mom and dad' but honestly, what if that hadn't been the case? They were still so young, it could have all been an unanticipated whirlwind, "like your grandma and grandpa are. So Nash wasn't Kateri's father, but we all considered her a part of our family all the same."

Another brief pause, before he said a little softer, "I miss her a lot."

He didn't know how long she had been gone from her daughter's life, maybe it was all the same to Ally by now, but if she did yearn for her mother back, he hoped for her to know she wasn't alone.

the night comes down like heaven

Ally listened with rapt attention as Chan explained. She hadn't known she could have so much family - it had been just her and dad for always, until she met Uncle Eros and Grandpa Viorel and Grandma Aquene. Now there were more? Her eyes were wide with wonder. Just how many members of her family were there?

"Then I'm excited to meet him," she said with a slight tail wag. It wouldn't be so scary, having more family. The world seemed a little less scary, knowing she could have even more relatives out there waiting for her to meet them. Only, how would she know? Chan seemed to know her parents; maybe she should just talk about them all the time and then she would find everyone who knew them and she could find everyone else that way.

It seemed like a fun adventure to try - after she found her dad.