Heartleaf Creek unholy

@Viorel

It had been too long since he had last seen this border, his heart racing for a moment, knowing how difficult this return was bound to be. He was different, from when he left… the world had proven to him just why family was so important to begin with. With that, he began to understand where Modesto had been coming from, though he still did not agree. He hesitated for a moment, not even sure if Viorel would recognize him… certain he would be displeased that Vayko had returned without his wife in tow…

That would be another difficult conversation for the two of them to have.

He raised his maw, calling for his cousin though his voice faltered. Some of the scars that lingered around his maw irritated as they were newly healed. His jaw shifted uncomfortably as he took a seat, lingering just short of the marker line… a border was a border, and while he was family, he dared not think to cross it.

He wondered how they had been… more over, he wondered how Clover had been. His affection for her had not faded with time or distance. He would clear his throat as he waited, shifting his paws uncomfortably from side to side at the fresh powder layer of snow that had fallen. The chill nipped at his nose and caused it to twitch.

Vayko Valle

The leader had been scouting out the best route for going to visit their friends up on the mountain, one that would avoid actually ascending the beast for as long as possible. He knew that he was more than due to make the trip himself and his fear of heights was getting in the way of him doing his job. Viorel couldn’t make the trip on a whim like today, but scouting out the routes was helping him psych himself up for when the time did come. His plan was to escort the children all the way up for the exchange this year instead of meeting halfway.

All of this meant that he was outside of the borders when he heard a voice, a familiar voice that still seemed out of place somehow. For a minute the dark pelted wolf stood frozen, sure that he had imagined it. Then everything clicked, that fact that if Vayko was calling that meant he was back and if he was back that meant that Vanadis was back as well. Letting out a joyous call of his own, a song of celebration, the leader was on his way sprinting back towards pack territory.

He was slightly out of breath when Viorel finally got Vayko in his sight. Slowing his paws against the slick snow, yellow eyes flit wildly around, but his wife was nowhere to be found. Against gasping breath he realized with horror that her scent didn’t even hang on his cousin's pelt. Taking a step forward in confusion his voice was strained, ”Vayko…..you’re back.” Another step forward, his eyes finally landing on the scars, ”what happened? Where’s Vanadis?” The leader’s heart thumped wildly in his chest, pounding in his ears, waiting against all hope that the female would be joining them any second.

It did not take long for his cousin to arrive, seeing the seeming relief on his face as he slipped into the horror of the situation. He said nothing at first, simply watching before he nodded, the discomfort on his features showing that he too was unnerved by the situation. “I ran into some trouble… I will be fine, but I would like if Clover could take a look to be sure.” He stated, not wanting to provide more details… it was a difficult situation to talk about but he was certain that he would continue to ask about it; it was fair that he would…

And then there was that question, and he felt his own heart sink, a frown on his features. “I don’t know…” He admitted softly before he continued. “There was a storm; we got separated in it. It was hell… I tried to find her afterward, but I couldn’t find her scent.” He admitted as the words caught in his throat. “I looked for weeks, months even, Vi… I did everything I could to find her. I was hoping she had found her way back here.” He had lost track of time; he wasn’t even aware of how long he had even been gone from the Backwater.

He waited for whatever outlash would be felt at the fact that he had lost the wolf that Viorel cared about most in this world. “She was well when I last saw her… it’s possible she found a place to ride out the storm… I’m sorry Vi, I wish I had more answers for you.” Perhaps he would even send him away… it had been their pack, but Vayko had left where Vi had remained, even after his wife left to go and return to her family for some time…

Vayko Valle

The Valle man stared at his cousin with an unusual intensity as he began to tell his story, and for a moment he felt rage building within him. Gritting his teeth to fight from lashing out that Vayko would ask for Clover so quickly after he had not protected Vanadis. Of course he would be gone for months longer than he was supposed to and then come back when he needed to use their resources. He was just like all the others.

Viorel wanted to scream all these things, that Vayko had left and Inger had been murdered and that he had promised to protect the mother of his children. But, a single thought held his tongue: Vayko had come back. Unlike all the others, he was standing back here against all odds. Looking away he finally said, ”She isn’t here, and Eros and Seri left a few weeks ago looking for you both. They were worried because of the drought, and because of what happened with Inger…” The man trailed off, not ready to disclose it all.

He had so many questions, but he wasn’t sure he wanted all the answers. Except for one thing, ”It wasn’t a storm that left you torn up like that. What happened?” He was almost monotone at this point, numb rather than giving into the emotions that turned his stomach.

He waited for it; he waited for the anger that Vayko would have returned had the situation been reversed… had Viorel returned to tell him that he had lost Clover… and yet, it never came. He wasn’t sure what to think about that, or how to feel about it either… Vayko’s request to see the woman he loved came from a more medical perspective, but the words were also meant to push Vi into some sort of normal reaction as well. And yet it never came… instead, there were explanations, including how Eros and his young Donata friend had left to search for him and Vana.

For everyone’s sake, Vayko wished the boys would have more luck in that quest than he himself had as well. “The drought… how long did it go on for?” He and Vana had left shortly after it started, but they had not found such hardships away from the Lore… “What…?” He trailed off, sensing the other man’s unease when it came to their foreign packmate.

The question was met with… his eyes closing for a moment, a hint of a twitch of his nose which was countered with a wince from the dull aching. “A few things…” He stated simply, using his paw to motion towards his shoulder first. “This one was earned protecting your wife… a band of loners who were less than friendly on the path to visit her family. I'd been a short distance away tracking an injured deer for us to take down when they found her alone.” He offered up. “She made it out looking a lot better than me, and we were able to show them why they shouldn’t have fucked with us to begin with.” Being Viorel’s wife made her like a sister to him, and a Valle through and through… and that meant something to him, now more than ever.

“My muzzle was more recent… on my way back. I was stupid enough to interfere with a bobcat going after some young… their mother must have been out hunting. I managed to lure the creature away but not before it got me good on the maw like this… a little too close to my eye for comfort… thankfully bobcats not liking water seems to be universal, so I had to go for a swim to keep my own life.”

Vayko Valle

Viorel’s eyes shut for a long moment as he felt a sickening wave come over him, making the world swim for a moment. Here they were, casually discussing the weather of all things, after everything that happened? He was torn to shit, Vanadis was gone, Viorel had had the shoulder unspeakable burdens and led alone for months, and Vayko wanted to know about the drought. He opened his eyes and spit out bitterly, ”the rains came back sometime during the last moon of the summer.” He was not doing well trying to process this.

He went on to lash, ”Inger was murdered by a loner a couple weeks after you left. He went after her and her kids and Archer and I had to fight him off, but we were too late.” He hoped the emphasis on the fact that Vayko had been gone when it happened would hurt. He wanted to see some kind of remorse, some kind emotion rather than physical pain and dullness. If not for Vanadis or Viorel, but for Inger and her orphans and his teen sons who had to witness it all.

While he was glad to hear that Vayko and Vanadis had been successful at chasing off the loners, it was the final straw. He couldn’t contain the anger, though surprisingly it was not directed at his cousin, who had clearly suffered during the trip. Curling his lip into a snarl he turned away, ”She shouldn’t have gone. Inger died protecting her kids but Vanadis is closer to the mother whose pups you saved.” He let out a harsh breath, ”All of this time, all of the waiting and the hoping and where is she?!” The accusation ripped him open from the inside.

(This post was last modified: Dec 08, 2022, 01:03 AM by Viorel.)

It was what Vayko did best: push his emotions down so he didn’t need to feel. Emotions were better dealt with in private, for when he destructed upon himself rather than others… even in his youth, he had tried to do that though it had not always worked… he admitted that the rains did not return until near the end of summer, his eyes widening as his cousin made the admittance… he didn’t understand how a drought could go on for that long.

He lashed out, and Vayko flinched at the tone, a pain burning deep in his chest that he pushed down. He needed to simply take it; it was clear that Viorel had been through some shit, and he didn’t quite take it as well as Vayko seemed to, at least on the outside. “I’m sorry.” Some of the pain leaked out in his tone, though his face remained distant, blinking…

He couldn’t help but take a few steps back as Viorel lashed out at him, his teeth barring and a defensive look in his eyes as he did so, taking a protective and defensive stance… it was clear the reaction was something rooted deep in his subconscious, a defensive mechanism in his soul. Viorel had tap danced on it.

His heart raced in his chest, a hidden flair of panic underneath the defensive look. It would take him several seconds to push it down, to force himself to remember that this was Viorel, and that he had lost so much, and just learned of yet an even greater loss. He forced his eyes closed for a second, breathing in and out unsteadily before opening his eyes back up. “I don’t know, Vi… I don’t know where she is; I don’t know if she’s trying to find her way back here, or if something happened to her… asking me again isn’t going to change that answer. It’s not going to change the fact that I failed to keep her safe. Is that what you want to hear? I failed, Vi. I have no idea if she’s dead or alive or sick or healthy.”

Vayko Valle

I'll toss a short fade on after your next post <3 welcome back!

Vayko’s reaction about the drought went completely unnoticed by the leader who by now was more swept up in his emotions. It pleased him to hear some hurt in his cousin’s voice, which was immediately followed by a more overwhelming feeling of guilt. It wasn’t like him to try to twist the knife and torture others with his words. He wasn’t Modesto, or Vayko, he didn’t use his voice as a weapon, he used it as a tool to build up, not tear down.

He was already looking away from Vayko when he responded, ”You didn’t fail her, it wasn’t your fault. It was hers. What kind of mother is she?” Viorel couldn’t even bring himself to say her name, bitter, and finally letting the resentment that had been festering out. Vanadis had been so focused on going back and finding her family that she had abandoned the one that she already had. And in the process she had gotten his cousin and co-leader mangled.

He might go on to regret his next words, but at the time he meant them as he barked out, ”I’m done waiting for her. She isn’t coming back and if I’m honest with myself, I knew it from the minute she left.” A few short weeks? Try forever. How does that taste? Tail lashing in anger he grit through his teeth, ”Just go get your fucking face looked at. I’m done with this conversation.” And he was, no matter what else Vayko said, he would be met with silence.

His cousin was different now… he couldn’t blame him. A few weeks had turned into several months, and Viorel had been left without answers the entire time. And on top of it all, a member of his pack had been murdered and they had lived through a summer-long drought. Still, Vayko was not used to his cousin giving the tongue lashings; he had come to expect it from others, particularly Modesto when she had still been around… not Vi.

She took it, tongue in cheek though his jaw shifted uncomfortably from side to side as he spoke, noting the way that it didn’t seem to be directed at him at the least. He had that going for him; he wasn’t going to stand before Viorel for absolution. All he had tried to do was keep her safe so she could return to him; he had tried to protect him from a pain…

He supposed he had failed that too.

He opened his mouth to respond before Viorel hissed at him once more, and he took a step back over the borders, taking in the deep scent of home for a moment before he headed for the familiar scent smell left by Clover, offering his cousin no words. There were no words to appropriately sum up what happened.

Vayko Valle

The darker Valle was thankful for the silence, not sure he could take anymore of this. He had meant what he said when he declared the conversation over, at this point there was absolutely nothing left to feel. Eventually Viorel would probably look back and regret treating his family with such anger, but for now there was nothing he could do but get through it.

Vayko left and for a long few minutes the silence settled in, Viorel standing frozen solid in the snowy backdrop. Then he lifted his muzzle and let out a different kind of song than before. No more joy, no more celebration, only deep rooted grief and heartbreak.

FADE!