Cedarwood Forest peace

This is All Welcome for reactions, discovery, so on. I will, obviously, not do anymore posts with Walleye in this thread. I will close this on January 1st if there is no other posts. Thank you to everyone who interacted with Walleye. <3
Dated for 12/20

Walleye had been aware.

Aware of the cold, aware of the slowness, aware of the end. Far before he reached it. Each year had been harder after his fourth and it seemed to crawl further and further down hill each year that followed. Especially in the winter. This year served as no exception to that rule. Only that it did not crawl this year, it ran down hill away from him. A harsh way to see himself.

Yet he did not wish to burden. There was no need to when the pack already cared for one frail woman who was still older than him. So he accepted this with open arms. Decided it was time, or rather forced to acknowledge it was time, and walked off into the woods. Uncertain of the direction he was headed and positive it did not matter.

Eventually he found a peaceful place. Free of children, of adults, of pesky predators that might end him on terms he had not agreed to.

He had remembered how some of the elders had seemed to know. How they too had wandered off and found their own peace only to be discovered later and be brought home. He doubted he would return home. The sea far away from where he found himself resting that early morning. He remembered how he thought he would be by the sea forever, that he would always smell of salt and fish. Now he smelled swampy and of strangers scent upon his coat. He presumed it was better like this. None of his children would know, no lingering lovers would know. Truthfully even those that he knew who remained, he figured, would not be horribly bothered by it. Everybody either disappeared or grew too busy with their own lives.

He could find peace in all of this — and he did.

His eyes closed as the sun dared to peek on the horizon, stars and moon faded in the sky. His breathing slowed as did everything else in his body. There was no grand commotion, no need for large tales about how he met his end, no battle of beasts. Nothing more than a man that met this fate from old age.

The rising sun marked the end of Walleye.

(This post was last modified: Mar 17, 2022, 05:20 AM by Eros.)

walleye cannot travel through mountains
and will travel normal terrain at 1/2 speed

They had been granted the privilege of wandering beyond the pack's protection, but given the commotion and resulting injuries thanks to the large beasts that roamed beyond, Eros had yet to take full advantage of the allowance. Only recently had he begun to wander outside, and today marked the first time he'd ever done so completely alone.

As he walked, he felt confident, optimistic. The forest morphed and shifted around him, offering new sights and smells that chased away any lingering concerns. It was a good day, until he found the corpse.

The tufts of dark fur sticking out from amongst lumps of snow and the subtle scent of death told him a meal had been abandoned. Coming closer, already salivating, his stomach turned violently as he realized this was not felled prey. The scent was wolf, familiar even if he couldn't identify who exactly it belonged to.

Eros froze, feet away, aghast and without a single clue of how to proceed.

(This post was last modified: Dec 19, 2021, 09:47 PM by Eros.)

Archer is calling for @Viorel or @Vanadis but also any adults

Archer knew Eros had finally learned some caution, but that didn't stop him from worrying. Sometimes his shoulder still twinged when he thought about it too long, even though he had fully healed from the encounter with the elk ages ago. He wondered if Eros was ever the same.

Sometimes they wandered together, sometimes apart. Archer found himself following Eros often these days. He wanted to see what his brother was up to, wanted to see if he got himself into trouble again.

He knew right away there was something wrong with the corpse the moment he smelled it, but his brain didn't pipe pack until Eros froze ahead of him. Archer paused, crept closer, confirmed it was in fact a member of the Backwater, and then pressed against his brother. He was still for a long moment, thinking. The pair of them weren't enough to get the body back home - assuming that's what they did. It felt right. But he didn't want to leave it alone to go find his parents; what if something else came along?

Finally he arrived at a conclusion. He tipped his head back and howled for Da. Then he looked at Eros. Anywhere but the body. "Are you okay?"

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

The cold stung Eros' widened eyes, but he could not acknowledge the sensation over the roar of this heinous discovery. Even the soft crush of footfalls did not permeate his consciousness. It wasn't until Archer spoke that the boy was jarred from his stupor, shocked by what was perceived to be a sudden appearance. His head snapped to face the other young Valle, blinking helplessly.

Was he okay? Words escaped him, leaving the pre-teen speechless. He didn't know. Maybe he wasn't.

"H... Wh... W-who is it?"

Archer always knew more than him, and now appeared calm in contrast to his own reaction. Did he have answers, was Eros just the last to know that one of them... died?

(This post was last modified: Dec 21, 2021, 04:08 AM by Eros.)

It was business as usual that morning. Check the caches and see which ones needed added to before her morning hunt. She'd been somewhat successful that day bringing home a rabbit that was plump enough she'd decided. The Valle girl was just about to head off for a patrol when she heard Archer call for his dad. Normally she would have left Viorel to handle it since he was their father but something about the call didn't seem right.

Abandoning the patrol she made her way quickly through the backwater. Since she'd returned Sharlee had wanted to make sure all of Vi's children knew they could count on their aunt Sharlee. However, she wasn't ready for what she found when she found the boys. Immediately she knew the scent though she didn't recognize if the wolves laying lifeless in the snow was one that she knew personally. What did know was that they were a member of the backwater, that was very clear.

Sharlee went to the boys, "Come here," she said quietly as she moved to tuck them both against her with her muzzle. She hoped that might give them some comfort until their father arrived.

Clover had decided to follow the two boys at a large distance, still allowing them to explore with their new freedom, but wanting to be closer by on the off chance they got into any trouble, in concerning the two of the, that happened fairly often. She divided her attention between their scent trails, idly following it as she snuffled amongst the snow covered undergrowth, hoping to find any still usable plants that hadn't frozen and wilted from the cold yet, or maybe scare an unsuspecting hare into being her lunch.

The howl from one of the boys calling for Viorel had her immediately on edge, and he began to race in their direction without a second thought. The boys wouldn't call for their father unless something terrible had happened, and she could only hope that the two of them were okay and unharmed.

When she got there Sharlee was already consoling the two boys, and she stepped closer to the three of them before the scent of a freshly dead wolf wafted her way. She gave a sideways glance at the other woman before creeping closer to investigate, a soft gasp escaping her at the sight of the older wolf. While she hadn't directly interacted with him, Clover knew he had been one of their members for a while now, and felt a pang of sadness at the sight of him laying there, completely still.

A quick sniff check confirmed her suspicions, as she couldn't smell any indications of an injury or illness, and could only guess that he had passed on peacefully from old age. Clover looked back at Sharlee and gave a soft shake of her head, lips turned down in a frown. They were too far away from the pack borders to be able to drag his body all the way there, so they'd have to bury him under the cherry trees. She then tipped her head back to call out for any of the Backwater members that may be nearby, a sad and wavering tune that would tell them a sadness had fallen upon the pack today, and that any help would be appreciated.

Viorel was taking a day to be well, quite frankly, he was taking a day to be lazy. Normally he did not allow himself to indulge in such slothful behaviour but today had seemed the perfect opportunity to sleep in. He typically slept in short segments throughout the day and night, but today, today he was going to take a long stretch and catch up on his rest.

Well, that had been the plan anyways.

The call from his son woke him with a start, not for its volume, call it something akin to father’s intuition. Shaking off the drowsiness, he set forth at a brisk trot. He would have hurried faster had not the scents of Sharlee or Clover been thick in the area, neither of them had called which made him think there was no emergency.

The scent of death was overwhelming, and he recognized the aged corpse of Walleye in the snow with a heavy sigh. Back at the sea a passing member was always an announcement, a time to share stories about their lives, celebrate and grieve. No one was talking, so Viorel said the only thing he could think, ”He was a good friend to my mother, and a fellow wolf of the sea.” That was the only thing he knew about Walleye, but it was something.

Eros seemed startled by his appearance, but it got his brother to stop staring at the corpse so he couldn't bring himself to feel bad for scaring him. He didn't have a good answer for the stumbling question; he was just opening his mouth to say I don't know when Aunt Sharlee arrived. She was quick to nudge them into an embrace, and for once Archer accepted it instead of trying to stay aloof. He pressed himself against Eros and allowed himself to relax into their aunt, breathing her scent in deep to help cover the stench of death.

Then Clover was there, which Archer only knew because he heard her steps and peeked out at her as she was sniffing the body. Archer suppressed a shudder. While he was happy to accept familial comfort on this occasion, he also wanted to appear brave, not just for him but for Eros. He needed to be brave for his brother.

Da didn't take much longer to join them, quietly murmuring something about the dead man being a friend of the pups' grandmother, and coming from the sea. "Was he old?" Archer asked quietly, peering around Aunt Sharlee to brave a quick glance at their former packmate before quickly turning his eyes back to Da.

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

It didn't take long for others to be drawn by Archer's call. Eros' gaze had drifted back to the still corpse, and didn't leave until he was gently pulled away and enveloped in a familiar, comforting scent. The boy nuzzled back against his aunt's embrace, indulging in what was normal and not horrifying. He could almost stop smelling it...

Clover's voice sounded, and then his father's, causing him to lift his face and risk looking out toward the body once more. What Viorel said confused him at first, before his shocked mind could fit the pieces together. Walleye. It was Walleye, the third grandma in their ranks. A good friend of Gramma Sita's. And... from the Ocean? Eros hadn't known that.

Tears hazed his vision, and he leaned against Sharlee, suddenly feeling drained as the adrenaline ebbed from his system.

Archer asked a question, and his ears lifted half-heartedly to catch the answer.

Sharlee embraced the boys tightly hoping that it would provide them the comfort they needed. She felt bad for them to have been the ones to find the wolf who'd passed away in the snow. It was also very sad that this wolf had died out there all alone. She'd seen death before and it wasn't an easy thing to understand or get past. She couldn't help but wonder the effect that thus might have on the boys.

Sharlee heard Clovers paw prints in the snow as she approached. Her head turned to solemnly greet the woman. Maybe the healer could help them to understand who this might be or what had happened. While Clover inspected the body Sharlee placed soft kisses to each boys head as further comfort to them.

Viorel was the next to arrive to the scene. The alpha didn't go to the body as Clover had. Instead he spoke of the man and the friendship he'd shared with Sita. This struck some recognition in the young Valle woman. What made it even sadder was the fact that he'd been a fellow sea wolf. Then for the first time one of the boys spoke. It was Archer asking if the man had been old. It also seemed at the same time Eros was leaning against him. She gladly gave her nephew the support he needed.