Dead Empress Backwater nothing’s standing still for you

AW for any DEB wolves but special tags for @Viorel @Eros and @Ally
Note that Nori looks bedraggled and is currently underweight

Somehow, climbing down the mountain was more difficult than ascending in the first place. The weight of Moon’s death settled heavy on her shoulders, adding to what she was already carrying. Emotionally, she felt… nothing. She couldn’t name a single feeling that would come anywhere close to what she’d experienced and what she now had to do.

Telling Archer’s family seemed an insurmountable task. Maybe they wouldn’t even believe her in the first place. Maybe they’d rip her limb from limb. Maybe she wouldn’t even fight back, at this point. What did she have going for her, really, aside from forcing herself to climb back up the mountain and trying to force herself to fit, like a puzzle piece from a different box. She was the right shape, almost, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel like she truly completed the picture.

She wasn’t even sure she had a puzzle to fit with anywhere.

But it wasn’t time to consider what her future looked like. There was only the now, and she found that, after days and days of travel, her bruised and bleeding paws had brought her to the Backwater Archer had mentioned.

At least, she hoped this was them. She didn’t let herself think too hard about it before she tipped her head back and howled for their attention.

(This post was last modified: Jun 22, 2024, 11:28 PM by Eros.)

The Valle man had been doing what he spent the majority of his time doing these days - fawning over the cubs. It was a familiar feeling, the joy that his children brought him, but also bittersweet. The tiny dark pelts on two of them were a constant reminder of Sephrina when she had been this small. He fought back against these thoughts and they were easy enough to ignore while he was with them, the endorphins flooding his system, but at night he tossed and turned, dreams filled with his poor daughter and her short life.

When the call came he thought about ignoring it and letting Eros take care of it, staying here and continuing to bask in the newborn glow. But, it didn’t have a tone that was easily ignored and though he didn’t recognize the voice of the caller it made a pit form in his gut. Mouth set hard into a line, he nudged Vanadis’ chin gently as a goodbye before trotting quickly towards the borders.

He was already tense, but the scent of the Cove strong on the disheveled stranger made his blood run cold. Hackles rose along his spine and tail straightened over his back, his tone cold he demanded, ”What are you doing here?” He doubted she was a full fledged member, unless they made a habit of starving their packmates and he wouldn’t put it past them. Neglecting their duties was their speciality after all.

HANDLE YOUR OWN WHEN YOU BECOME A MAN

Eros was doing his best to keep himself together, but he felt like he was on the precipice of something awful and he didn't even know where that pitfall lie. His siblings, his niece, his parents, something, someone new? The call sounded and he turned his course toward it automatically, more thought given to the problems he already had along than way than toward puzzling out why the Backwater leadership might be getting summoned. He didn't recognize the voice. Maybe it was a lone wolf looking for shelter. Or... a ghoul. Eros fell into place beside his father, the only thing keeping him from rushing to ask if she needed assistance being the odor of the mountains laced throughout her scent and Viorel's own clear trepidation. Silently, the co-lead waited for an answer before speaking himself.

BECOME A MAN WHEN YOU HANDLE YOUR OWN

@Ally is still welcome to join in at any time!

It didn’t take long for two wolves to answer her - one taller, one a little shorter. Her eyes landed on the shorter and stayed there. She hardly recognized the hostility in his voice - it wouldn’t have mattered, even if she had. The phasing of his coat and his size reminded her a lot of Archer’s. If there was any question before of if she was in the right place, there wasn’t now.

“Do you happen to be related to Archer Valle?” she asked, ignoring the tension completely. Her voice felt strained - she hadn’t used it much in the last ten days, after all. Aside from the conversation she’d had with her family at the top of the mountain, there had been no one to talk to.

She wouldn’t burden these wolves with the knowledge of Archer’s death, if by some chance they weren’t related. It would be an odd thing to just blurt out, she figured. Taking a deep breath, she tacked on, “And is Ally here?”

(This post was last modified: May 27, 2024, 02:34 AM by Nori.)

the night comes down like heaven

Ally knew she was still grounded, so she stayed to the central pack territory. She didn't want to get in trouble again, or risk getting lost until she knew the area better. She was learning, though, and got to spend time with her new uncle and aunts. They were so small. Had she been that small? Had her dad? It was hard to imagine.

A call went up, piquing Ally's attention. It wasn't her dad, but she still abandoned the stick she'd been gnawing on to investigate. She was sure either her grandfather or Uncle Eros would be present - and she was right. She sidled up beside her uncle, wary, having arrived just in time to catch her name on the bedraggled woman's lips. Her ears twitched and a pit formed in her stomach, but she didn't know why. "I'm Ally," she said. "Do you know my dad?" How else would she know her name?

Viorel was almost momentarily relieved to hear that she was asking about Archer, perhaps this was an old friend of his come knocking, down on her luck and asking for a place to stay. Then that moment of peace was over when she continued to ask if Ally was present. He had grown protective over her while they awaited Archer’s return. They couldn’t lose her again, and he was sorely tempted to lie just to make whoever this was go away. He didn’t like the glassy look in her eye, her unkempt appearance, the way she was here now asking questions.

Yellow eyes narrowed, but, before he could say anything the girl in question arrived announcing who she was. Lying wasn’t going to work then and instinctively he stepped forward slightly, angling himself protectively in front of the yearling who had come up between Eros and himself. He wasn’t going to give anything away, ”Who are you and what do you want? Archer isn’t here right now.” He hoped the implication would be that his son would be back soon. Whoever this was could wait for him somewhere else, visitors from the mountain had long been unwelcome here.

HANDLE YOUR OWN WHEN YOU BECOME A MAN

Eros hadn't expected that to be her answer. His eyes narrowed at his brother's name; if he hadn't been suspicious before, he definitely was now. Some stranger smelling of jagged peaks and looking like absolute hell asking after Archer, by his full name no less? Like a rock in his stomach, there was a certain feeling that nothing about this was good. As though he weren't dealing with an earnest individual, but rather a trap of the Cove's. Then she asked after his niece too, and he didn't stop his face from contorting with something between a grimace and a scowl. Okay. Maybe, just maybe, this was the world's shittiest scout that @Aquene had sent to check in on her granddaughter's situation. Just ensuring that father and daughter had indeed been reunited. Eros could certainly dream. Before he could answer, Archer's daughter herself appeared. His stomach dropped at the realization, dearly wanting to be able to screen whatever message this woman had before it reached his niece's impressionable young ears. Now he didn't have that option without outright chasing her away, not unless the outsider herself chose such discretion. While he wanted to stay in line with his father and also move to shield Ally, Eros made a conscious decision in leaning gently against her instead, a silent gesture of solidarity. Fine, whatever else the mountain was about to throw at them all, they'd deal with it together. His gaze bore into the unknown wolf, expectant of answers rather than any more questions.

BECOME A MAN WHEN YOU HANDLE YOUR OWN

(This post was last modified: May 28, 2024, 12:12 AM by Eros.)

She hadn’t paid much attention to the hostility before, but now that it was so blatant, she couldn’t not notice. A girl walked up - smaller than Nori expected, bearing little resemblance to Archer. They’d been traveling all over the Lore to find her, and now that she was here and knew that the kid was safe, the moment felt strangely hollow - especially since she knew Archer’s body lay on the other side of the mountain, never to be reunited with his family again.

At least she had the option to go back to the Cove.

“I know Archer isn’t here right now,” she said carefully, looking between the two men and only casting the girl a brief glance. It would be… difficult, to share the news with her here. “We were traveling together, looking for Ally. Went to Paradise Falls, then the Cove, and now here.” She hesitated briefly before speaking again. “Sorry, for… this. I’m not trying to cause trouble. I just...”

Now that she was here, it was more difficult to say than she thought. It felt like her tongue and stomach were in knots. Her eyes were burning and her vision swimming, and she had to bite back the emotion threatening to spill over.

“He asked me to come here.”

(This post was last modified: May 28, 2024, 12:59 AM by Nori.)

the night comes down like heaven

Ally knew tensions were high between her home and the Cove, but as her uncle and grandfather stepped closer around her, all but blocking her in, she couldn't help her ears flicking in irritation. All this just because the girl smelled like she'd visited. If she knew her dad, why did it matter where she came from?

Her ears pricked with interest when the stranger mentioned traveling and Ally looked eagerly around them. "Is he with you? Where is he? When is he coming home?" She couldn't help the barrage of question, eyes and nose straining to catch a sign of her dad. He couldn't be too far if his traveling companion was here.

But then she continued speaking, avoid eye contacts, brimming with tears, and her guardians' mood sank in. Something was wrong. Her tail stilled, dropping behind her, and apprehension crept up her spine. "Where is he?" she asked again, her voice smaller now. "Where's my dad?"

The leader wanted to send Ally away as soon as this stranger started talking, the pit in his stomach growing larger by the second. Whatever she was about to stay was not going to be good and he wasn’t even sure he could trust her. Quietly he murmured, ”Ally…” ready to make an excuse for her to leave, check on Vanadis, find Clover, something, but he knew that wasn’t fair. He couldn’t protect her from this. Looking briefly at Eros he locked eyes with his son trying to steel them both for whatever was going to come.

Anger in his eyes as he looked back to the tawny girl in front of her, she was dragging this on and on. Hackles raised slightly he growled, ”Just say whatever it is you need to say. Why did Archer send you instead of coming himself?” Did all of this have to do with the Cove scent on her pelt? They had gone to the Falls and then the mountain, had the Cove done something to him? Was she here as some kind of a warning?

He was trying to fight off the realization of how closely this resembled the meeting where the Cove had come down to announce his daughter had died. This wasn’t that. It couldn’t be that. Not again.