Bramble Falls He took the best of your heart and left the rest in pieces

Backdated to 3/29, for @Vanadis <3

Archer

He'd been here at the beginning of the month and found nothing, and perhaps he should travel again to Andy's gravesite, the place of his daughter's birth, but this had been the most recent meeting place he'd brought her to, and he hoped she might find her way to the pools. He kept coming back to check here, and each time his heart broke a little more. A piece of him despaired that he would never see her again, this creeping horror in the back of his mind, crawling up his nape. He forced himself not to believe it, to keep moving, to keep looking. She had to be okay.

She had to be.

She probably just found somewhere safe to hunker down for the winter, like Aquene said. Had to.

Archer was not doing well. He was barely eating, could only force himself to hunt when his legs trembled, would eat carrion when he found it but the carcasses were picked over this time of year. He could return home, rest and recouperate there, but he couldn't bring himself to do that either; taking a break felt too much like giving up, like betraying his daughter.

He didn't have a choice today, however, and he dropped heavily beneath a tree to rest his chin on his paws and drift in and out of sleep.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

She strayed quite far from the Backwater, trying to get reacquainted with the surrounding areas and give herself time to just be. Things with Viorel were still slow, awkward. They were trying, but they weren't there yet. She was hopeful that eventually muscle memory would kick in, that feeling would take precedence over thinking, but she would do nothing to force it.

Vana walked pretty far, much farther than she wanted to. She might have even kept walking had it not been for a gust of wind sending a few stray particles her way. The woman stopped dead as Archer's scent swirled around her. It took a second or two to find out where it was coming from, but once she did she was off, racing through trees and old brush in search of her child. "Archer? Archer!" she called, her ears perked for an answer.

Archer

Archer felt he was doomed to never have a restful sleep again, each night spent in fits of nightmares and restlessness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually rested for more than a few hours before giving up and moving on. He knew this wasn't the best way to search; it was illogical, running amok and hoping to run into his daughter - or someone who'd seen her. Somehow the only wolves he'd managed to run into were family, and they hadn't seen her yet either.

But at least it meant they were still looking. And his last encounter with his da had been... needed. Surprising. And very needed. It didn't help him sleep any better though.

He was drifting somewhere between waking and sleep when he heard her voice calling for him, and his first thought was that he must have died. Nothing else would make sense. Someone would have told him if his ma had come home. The only explanation was that he'd died and she had come to greet him.

Only, when he lifted his head to look he was struck dumb. No, he couldn't be dead, because in no afterlife would his ma look like that. Still he couldn't help scramble to his feet and trip his way toward her, all but falling into her when they met. "Ma?" he said weakly.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Vanadis wasted no time wrapping herself around her son as he nearly fell into her. "Archer?" She hadn't gotten a very good look at him, but she could feel that he was too thin. Worry etched its way into her features, her ruined ears fell lightly to her skull. She took a step back, letting her peachy gaze wash over him, taking note of the slightly haggard appearance. Viorel had given her the gist of what happened, but she was no prepared for this.

"Are you okay?" Vana knew she had no right to ask, no way to help if he wasn't. She held no power here, but the question left her tongue anyway.

Archer

Her scent hit him like a rock slide. His knees almost buckled. Not only was it really her, she even smelled like home. Like the Backwater. A pang shot through him; they hadn't known, right? The last time he'd seen his brother and da. They would have told him.

Would it have mattered? He wouldn't have come home. Not without Ally.

The question spilled from her mouth and he stepped back, ears pressing against his head as he gave her a flat look of disbelief. "What a stupid question," he said before thinking, and then he realized he didn't care if he was a little mean. The relief of having her home was shaded with anger. "Where were you? Everything went to shit. We were all looking for you and then Steph, and Andy-" his throat closed off, vision blurring with tears. He finally sank to the ground, a sob choking it's way out as his mood pendulumed back into grief.

"We needed you."

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Vana did not move as he stepped back, did not speak as Archer asked the questions he needed to ask. Perhaps it was unfair of her to return, to insert herself back into their lives now when they'd already grieved her. Perhaps reopening the wound hadn't been in anyone's best interest but her own.

It had been a stupid question, all things considered, but it was too late to take it back or change it now, and Vana was certainly no stranger to saying and doing the wrong things.

Archer finished, sinking to the ground in a way that somehow broke her heart into a million smaller pieces. "I know. I know you needed me. I'm so sorry, Archer." She felt the tears in her eyes, but she did her best to hold it together. It was his turn to grieve, not hers. "I should have been here, and I wasn't, and I'm sorry."

(This post was last modified: Jun 06, 2024, 03:00 AM by Vanadis.)

Archer

Archer was so tired. He was tired of walking, tired of looking, tired of crying. He was tired of everything, and yet he needed to continue on because the alternative was something he didn't want to think about. He couldn't think about it because the more he did, the more ideal it grew, and he couldn't do that to Ally. He couldn't abandon her the way his own da had abandoned him in his grief - the way his ma had abandoned him to visit family.

But Viorel had forgiven him, had set his anger aside, and now his ma had returned... maybe it meant the winds of fate were shifting and better times were on the horizon. He blinked blearily up at her, barely processing her words, and slowly shook his head. "But you came back. Why did you come back? When did you come back? Does Da-" he stopped himself. He could smell the Backwater on her, of course his da knew she was home. And Eros knew. A pang shot through him. Had his brother known, the last time they'd met, and not said anything?

(This post was last modified: Sep 14, 2024, 04:21 PM by Archer.)

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Archer had several questions, one shot off after the other, each breaking her heart into another tiny piece. She wasn't sure whether to answer them as one or one at a time, wasn't really even sure of all of the answers herself, but the woman owed it to her son, owed it to them all. "I've only just been able to return to the Backwater." She wasn't sure the exact amount of days, as much of it had passed in a blur, but she did know that it hadn't been long at all. "I.. I missed you all so much, and I wanted so badly to be here, to be with you. I just.. I couldn't until now."

Archer

She spoke, a half-hearted explanation, and Archer glared up at her. He didn't buy, couldn't buy it, no matter how much he might want to. Was this how he'd feel if @Kateri were to suddenly return? Could he allow her to just step back into their lives, to be a mother and a partner when she'd left right at the most important time of their lives? How would he explain that he'd failed, that they'd lost their son, and now he'd misplaced their daughter?

It wasn't fair. It was fair for her to be here now. Not when he'd lost so much. And yet he was glad to see her, glad she was alive even though she seemed to be worse for wear. His glare faded away; he didn't have the energy for it. "We've lost so much," he said quietly. "I've lost so much." It helped that he'd regained his father and brother, even if it had only been temporary before he'd had to leave them again in search of his surviving child.

Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.