Wild Rye Fields Midfield workhorse

for @Bojack

This was long overdue, but it was better late than never right? Askan had never been good at the whole gratitude thing, after all it implied that he owed them. But with this, no matter how he thought about it he did owe Bojack. He'd been the one who kept Percy safe and more importantly brought her back home where she belonged. At first the Selwyn had assumed he'd just drop her off and go on his way, but he remained, and from what the beta could tell he had every intention to pull his weight. To become a fully fledged part of this pack, their patchwork family.

Seeking out the new addition, Askan trudged along one of his many paths and continued south-east till the den clearing came into view. This was the main social area of the territory, so surely if Bojack was going to be anywhere it would be here. Either that, or he was out exploring....Which would be a pain in his ass really. Sure, Askan wanted to have a word with him but he didn't want to spend all day chasing him down to do so.

As luck would have it though, Bojack was around and from what Askan could see he wasn't so busy that he wouldn't have time for a quick talk. Squaring his shoulders, Askan strode into the clearing and chuffed to let the newcomer know that he wasn't alone, that he had company.

"Got time to talk?" He asked, doing his best to keep his tone as neutral as possible. It wasn't as though he was mad, but he did have a pretence to keep up. The firm, gruff guardian who took everything seriously, that's the sort of wolf he wanted to be. That said, he didn't want to spook Bojack, so he added. "It's nothing bad. Won't take long."

BoJack was taking a bit of a break. He had come back from circling the borders and was content to perhaps snag a nap or at least lay down for a bit before working again. It was rather empty in the communal area which would make his relaxing much easier. Before he settled down a voice called out from behind him. An all too common question. How long would he constantly be in this circle of questioning? He understood the concern but goodness he just wanted a break.

He turned around to face a rather strong looking man. BoJack's tail hung limply behind him, between his legs. "Yeah." He commented softly wondering what this stranger would ask. He was positive this guy hung around Nimble and while that made him jealous it wasn't his place to step in. "What's on your mind?" The large male took a seat to show he was in no rush. BoJack never knew how long these sessions would take so it was best to make himself comfortable before they got started. He just hoped there wouldn't be any prodding questions. BoJack was content to answer to @Drestig but he didn't feel the need to pour everything out to everyone. Besides, if it was so important why didn't they just have some meeting to exchange all the information? Made a lot more sense that way, at least it did to BoJack.

back in the 90s...

"Thanks." Askan nodded, pleased that he was willing to play along. Dropping to a sitting position, he shuffled a bit until he was comfortable, his back legs tucked to the side and his front splayed out before him, and then continued. After all, if they were going to do this civilly then there was no point in looming over him like a storm cloud. "Just wanted to ask about Percy is all."

Now wasn't that a big surprise? Why else would he want to talk to Bojack? He probably was an all right guy, but if he had turned up at their borders alone Askan probably wouldn't have given him the time of day. Not so soon. And yet, there he was, he'd sought him out on his own accord and now they were talking. It was a little strange, to say the least, but there was a lot the Yukon wolf wanted to know and he hoped that Bojack could shed some light. Of course, he didn't expect him to know everything and Askan wasn't going to interrogate him. This was gonna be a nice conversation and once they were done they'd part without even an instance of a single raised voice.

"I know Drestig has probably asked this all before and maybe they think it's you who did it but...See that doesn't make sense to me, why would you hurt her and then take her to someone who could heal her? Then go to the effort of bringing her all the way back home? And even after all that, you're staying? It doesn't seem like something that kind of wolf would do. Which means they're still out there." He scowled, troubled.

Yes he was relieved that Percy was home, but it wasn't all good news was it? Someone was out there and Askan wanted nothing more than to tear their throat out for what they had done. For what they had put the Rye wolves through.

"So where you found her, was there anyone else around? Any signs? Any scents? Anything you'd be able to track them by?"

BoJack nodded his head. Everyone wanted to talk about Percy (or Nimble as he commonly used that with himself) and usually nothing else. It wasn't that he didn't mind but it got the same again and again. Yet the large male constantly found himself playing along, anything to win their trust and truly be seen as the good guy.

He listened to Askan's words with a soft frown. Did everyone really think he did all of this? If muscle man here could figure out that BoJack didn't do it then why couldn't others? He kept his mouth shut though and merely listened. He shrugged softly. "The whole situation was more than I expected." The large male had no intentions of stumbling into the fight that night, no intentions of 'rescuing' someone, and certainly no intentions of dragging a child around to get medical help before finding out where she lived and escorting her home. He seemed to constantly find himself in a situation he never wanted to be in.

Then the real questions came forward. "There was this giant pit. Like a crater or something. Some sharp rocks littered the bottom. There was someone else besides Percy but all I could tell was he was kind of a built individual. Honestly, the odor of blood was clinging to the air. Doing a good job at masking other scents and fuzzing your head. The other wolf left the scene and I hollered at him to come back but he just kept leaving." A large frown had made its way onto BoJack's face. "I obviously wasn't just gonna leave her in the pit. She was unconscious but woke up real quick. Couldn't tell me anything about who did this, though." Maybe he wished he had gone after whoever did this, maybe he wished he had just avoided the scene altogether and just disappeared into the northern lights. Regardless of whatever he wished he had done the fact was he had gotten himself here. "I'm convinced this wasn't some kind of accident but I could be wrong."

back in the 90s...

Askan didn't doubt that. He wondered what he would have done if their roles were reversed. The Yukon wolf liked to think he was decent enough, but at the same time it sounded as though Bojack had gone through a lot of effort to ensure that Percy was safe and sound. The question though, is that would he have done the same? If he was a loner, then perhaps, as he would have nothing better to do. But as a pack wolf with duties and responsibilities to tend to? He wasn't quite sure. There was a large difference between wanting to do good and being able to do it.

The fact that Bojack had followed through to the end made him good in the guardians eyes. A rare feat indeed.

His ears tilted forward as he listened to the tale the newcomer had to tell. A crater, blood and a built individual. When Askan closed his eyes and imagined Phoenix's attacker, the image of a black, hulking beast came to mind. A monstrosity of a wolf, with no sense of mercy or honour, without even a fibre of goodness in its being. Surely, it had to be like those demons his sisters used to talk about. The sort that crept close to sleeping wolves at night and tore their throats out. And why? Just because they could, because they were that foul.

At the very least Bojack was there to help her, as he couldn't imagine what it would be like to wake up lost, hurt and confused. At the very least she had him.

"It wasn't an accident." Askan muttered, absolutely convinced that this stranger was to blame. "I'll find him and make him pay. I swear it. I'm going to kill him." His gaze darkened and his shoulders tensed as he practically thrummed with hate and loading. But then he sighed and let it all out till he sagged." Just have to figure out who the hell they are and where they well they ran off to...Like that'll be easy."

BoJack really wished he could have kept his mouth shut about the whole thing but that would have been wrong (not that he cared about that) and it would have made him look guilty (which was what he really cared about). He hadn't exactly expected anyone to react positively but he was not prepared to hear that this Askan guy was about to go kill someone. Percy had made it home alive and okay, was that really worth killing someone? Maybe they deserved punishment but death was so intense and irreversible. It scared BoJack so he knew that even the bastard who did this would likely be scared of it too. He figured that could have been the point but then what was the purpose? If you wanted someone to learn a lesson then they kind of needed to be alive.

"Yeah, this place is pretty big." He shrugged his shoulders softly. In his time with Percy, it had taken about a week if not more to get from her found location to Willow Ridge. It wasn't one he exactly wanted to make again. Even if he was put in the same situation for the second time he'd likely say no. He couldn't play hero to everyone because he couldn't even play hero to himself. It was a miracle Percy hadn't died in his care.

back in the 90s...