When balanced in the middle, one can often find peace. It it said that it is relaxing when your legs find steady ground - Reiko isn't quite sure he's ever felt that. For quite a few months he traveled forwards and yet, he had a hard time coping with leaving his mother behind. Who wouldn't have a difficult time? At least when he came back into the Lore he found himself a little more at ease. Eager as ever to cross south and find family, though he wasn't all too sure where to begin yet. Socially, anyways. All this time and he still didn't know what he wanted to say to them. It was just better if he wander around and look at the trees, try and gain some confidence before he set out to see them.
The Agouti woman was spending some time outside the border checking for any trails that might be cause for concern. Ones that might mean food for the pack. Things seemed to have taken a turn for the quiet as of late and Leotie couldn't deny that she was rather glad for it. However, as she came across a strange yet oddly familiar scent she worried that the peace they were experiencing would be disrupted. She decided to follow it figuring it best she check on it and make sure that everything was okay. The more that she smelled the scent as she followed the trail it bothered her that she couldn't place it but she knew the scent.
At first when she came upon him she almost didn't recognize him but it soon came to her and a wide smile crossed her features. It had been a long time since she'd seen the child and she had been worried about him. “Reiko?” She said as she approached the Tainn child.
In the distance apart he had grown into quite a young man, though not without its flaws. While he would never be one to admit it, he felt a looming darkness on his shoulders like a crow had perched there. It had followed him from the moment he had left behind Naira and now lingered there as he wandered.
With luck, the voice of another was able to crush away the looming darkness for a moment as his yellowed eyes peered into the shimmering light of the willows. Leotie, he thought as his gaze focused on her as the brown girl approached. Reiko was somewhat frozen in his position but a smile began to form at the right corner of his mouth. Ears folded back and he lowered his head, relief flooded through him and he whined. It's nice to see you again, as he supposed it was always nice to see a familiar face and one that didn't launch into a million questions that he didn't have the answers to.
There had been many wolves to pass through her life over the time in the lore and there were many that Leotie thought she'd never see again. Reiko had been one of them having disappeared before her ousting. She'd always hoped for the best for him but she also worried the worst.
Seeing him there in Dropping Willows she obviously wondered if he was going home and he'd grown so much. She felt like she had missed a big portion of his life. She went to him and didn't hesitate to pull him into a hug. “I have been so worried about you. I'm so glad your okay and you've gotten so big.” She stopped then and her eyes widened, “Your father and Treyah will he so happy to see you.”
There was something so simple as reuniting with an old friend but something much simpler feeling like there was no judgment for being so late. In all this he wasn't quite so sure what he was expecting from Leotie but it wasn't filled with as much pressure as seeing family. For all he knew he was working it up to nothing but he would get there eventually. For now he just wanted to get his feel for the land (and find his own answers) before ultimately falling back into what was left of an old life.
At least with Leotie he didn't have to worry about breaking that social barrier of time away - she immediately pushed forward and reached in to give him a hug to which he gladly accepted. His orange-brown muzzle pushed along her shoulder. Though, he could swear he could almost hear his mother's voice in her own if only because it seemed so motherly to him. Probably, he answers and gives an anxious laugh, how have things been? He had to have missed a lot in his time out and she seemed to be a good person to gather the information from. She had been with him in the Draw when he had been there so why would she not know?
Leotie often thought of the Tainn and how he was. She'd always cared a lot about the boy and had been sad when he'd disappeared. She had worried how Reiko’s absence had affected Triell who was often on her mind as well. The last she'd seen of him he'd been sick, she wondered if he'd ever recovered. Was he doing better these days? She knew she would have to make a trip to the draw to see him whether it was a good idea or not she had to know how he was and needed him to know what had happened to her.
She was certain that Treyah and Triell would be so happy to see their family member back safe and sound. The Agouti woman had to step back and take a good look at the child. The memory of the day they'd gone looking to the stick came to mind and the evening they'd all curled up for a story. A frown crossed her features when he asked how things were and she was reminded that she couldn't give him the answers he sought. “I am sorry Reiko but I don't know how things are in the draw. Your mother ousted me last year and I've been with Willow Ridge since the fall.”
There was a discernible shift in his thoughts as she took a step backwards as though getting a better look. Reiko hadn't changed much but it would seem that his memories were a little fuzier than normal. His last bout of substance here seeming to have rendered him unable to recall certain events, though he was certain he must've been told about them if he hadn't been there.
Just as she frowned, he did, too. Eyes drooped, an unbelieving expression written across his face as he seemed to be taken aback by her explanation. Why? he asks, tilting his head and letting his ears fall back against his skull. A sullen mood replacing his glee for there had to be reason. Leotie had been nothing but kind to them... at least, that was what he remembered anyways. Why would she do that? That whole trip to take her to her birth pride and not a single thing said about Leotie's departure.
She'd taken a step back to get a better look at him and see just how much he'd grown since she'd last saw him. Reiko had grown into a handsome young man and he looked like he had been taking good care of himself. She was glad for that, to know he had been taught well before his disappearance.
Leotie hadn't wanted to give Reiko the news of her ousting but she didn't want to sugar coat it either. He was a young man now and deserved to know not only the truth but also the ways in which the world worked sometimes. As expected her news was met with some amount of shock. “I didn't understand at first but I believe she felt I was disloyal and wanted to become alpha,” she explained. It was the only explanation she had been able to come up with in all of her time thinking about what had happened.
As always, the boy had always seen his mother as any child would. She was bright and shining, could do no wrong but he couldn't seem to see the dark around the edges of the photograph. He hadn't looked for the details; hadn't looked at anything except her. Why should he? She was his mother and mothers knew best.
Eyes squinted, lip raised in quiet confusion as he tried to draw a picture in his head. Leotie had always been very helpful to the pack, as far as he knew, and he couldn't see her having wanted to push to be an Alpha either. Though, he couldn't help but ask anyways. Did you? he asked rather unsuredly but he had to see. He wanted to hear her say no before he began questioning what had really happened. Reiko loved a good mystery and a problem to solve, did Kerberos agree to that? Assuming that he was the leader at the time, of course.