Jasper Rocks the blue between us

@Piety back dated to 9/12. Same day that Hocus joined Grizzly Hollow.

The instant he had left his younger brother and loyal paladin behind he found himself feeling both better and worse. Better because he was no longer among a couple of heretical, liberal youngsters that needlessly questioned his identity and integrity. He shook them off without forgiving them, figuring that at some point their need to shake the ivory towers would just bring the white marble crumbling down on their heads. But as this frustration faded with them, it was quickly replaced with dread. Dread for his daughter, his darling daughter who must have fallen if his brother could be believed. She did not want to be called Piety. Was she not pious? She had been hurt. How?

There was nothing standing in his way anymore.

His paws gained speed as his nose plunged into the dead leaves covering the forest ground, rooting in the earth for traces of her scent. The trail lead away from the "new" den — really the oldest den Hocus had ever known, the first den— and out towards a place Hocus had long been forcing himself to stop associating with the image of Theo's limp body and Trisden's crying face. But it was hard to pretend these things had never happened, harder still because the years and the distance had opened the cracks in his defenses. Hardest because somewhere out here, his Piety was a broken, drifting soul. She awaited his love, the love of God. It was his duty to seek her and pour upon her the truth of the Lord.

"Piety?" he called, his voice strained. He came to a stop at the edge of the creek. 

She was starting to find comfort in herself again. Reassurance that here in Grizzly Hollow nothing could break her. That she was no longer of holding of such pious names; for here she was and always would be Dove. A part of her mourned the loss of a lover and son but she only allowed herself to do so in the privacy of her own self. Surely @Veho must have picked up on, certainly @Rook too, for the masked Lyall was the one she had come to with heart showing wide and tears in her eyes. Yet in the company of others, like Borden, she remained full of elegance and joy.

Today was a day where she where found herself trailing about aimlessly. Perhaps she'd visit the only wolves she could call friends or the pale woman would make it a day to herself. Trailing off to a new spot she had found herself visiting continuously, a small pool that sometimes held little fishes. Trapped by some of the bigger rocks blocking pathways. Every now and then the pale woman found herself being daring enough to sit upon those rocks and bat at the fishes trapped. She had never truly realized why she did it, simply that she just did.

Although Dove didn't find herself wishing to sit upon rocks, instead she stood about ankle high in the colder water down stream. Softly her voice cooed out into song. "A heart full of love. No fear, no regret. My name is-" She paused as if trying to figure the rest out. "Piety." The name was muttered her breath as if it was a curse of sorts. Yet it seemed something echoed back her name. This time almost questioning her. A sudden melee feeling took over her mind. She had to compose herself quickly. For she very well knew this voice.

Jumping out of the water her eyes fell onto the figure of an all too familiar face. "Dad?" She should of been excited to see someone so gentle and familiar, her own sire at her doorstep but instead she dreaded it. Tail tucked and ears flat against a pale crown. "How are you here? How did you find me?" One question was left unasked and the pale woman had to know. "Did someone send you?" Paranoia seemed to be the first thing to struck the snowy furred wolf. If her father had agreed to her leaving then why had he come to find her?

# C W T

Song.

Oh, how his daughter had always loved to sing. She had been the most gifted voice in their choir, a soft voice that seemed to play with the music. God and her father had loved this voice and its brilliance. Often he had asked her to sing for him as he meditated or drifted off to sleep. He could hear this voice now, it was even softer than he remembered and he could not make out the words. But she was so close. His head whipped to his left.

Ah.

But this was not the daughter he had remembered. Fearfully she leapt out of the water, cowering before him for reasons he could not understand. His mouth hung open. He wanted to rush to embrace her, to ask her to continue singing, but instead he was slapped in the face with questions that he did not deserve to be asked. But there was a lot of that, these days. This land seemed to have this effect on wolves. Painfully, his heart thudded as he stared at his fallen daughter, his gaze intense and frantic. He didn't know what to do. Years work with even the most damaged of wolves could not have prepared him to look at his own daughter in this way. It was too painful.

"Piety," he breathed, scared to step toward her, "You didn't return from sabbatical. I... your mother and I... everyone, we have been so worried." Whines slid from his mouth as he licked his lips. His head fell level with his back as he crouched lower. He did not want to seem threatening to her. He did not yet want to lead on about just how he had found her, however, "What has happened, dear child?"