Dead Empress Backwater this is the last song that I write while you're even on my mind

This thread is for @Kateri and @Archer he will not accept either of them not showing up. Other members are welcome to join but given this thread is important for plot development, I will not be waiting for others to post other than Archer and Kateri.

Morning, Just after sunrise, overcast, 39F/4C

It had been little over a month since Sephrina had had her accident, a little over a month since Isla had disappeared. None of the Cove wolves had ever brought the latter back and Viorel had truly spiraled. He had become almost catatonic, going about the motions of what his responsibilities are in a daze and only speaking one or two words when absolutely necessary. Other than that he had been silently laying on one of the lifted broken logs near the center of the territory.

He wasn’t even thinking anything really. The wolf didn’t know what disassociation was, but if he did he would have been able to put words to what was occurring. It was like the days were going by before him but he couldn’t reach out and participate. The scent of pregnancy had begun to permeate the air in the last few days, and for a while the father didn’t even notice. It wasn’t unexpected, it was spring time, of course there was pregnancy in the air. After all, Clover had every right, Sharlee had been told she could, and Viorel had bigger problems.

It wasn’t until during one of his zombie like border patrols that the world came rushing sickeningly back into focus. It was the smell of pregnancy alright, but who was pregnant finally clicked. Nostrils flared as he took it all in, yellow eyes blinking hard against the dehydration of not being blinked often enough.

Kateri.

And if it was Kateri, it wasn’t hard to connect the dots on who else was involved in this. He had told Archer, he had told him as soon as the other yearling had come back. Viorel had been explicitly clear. A howl reached the air before he could even think it through, ripping his unused throat almost raw with the force behind it. He needed them both, he needed them now. There was no room for questions or disobedience in the beckoning. They were being summoned to pay for what they had done.

Marked M for swearing

Archer Valle

Archer had slept terribly. He'd been worrying over telling his da, about what was going to happen to him (just him, because he'd convinced himself he would be able to protect Kat and keep her from punishment. She'd endured too much - he could bear this for her). He'd agonized over every response his da could have, from mutely blinking at him and brushing him away to exploding. He'd somehow managed to convince himself that his da wouldn't banish him after all; he loved him too much, right? Only three of his children remained within the territory, and Archer was the only son who'd never left his side. The only son who hadn't fought and spit and screamed, even when he'd wanted to.

That had to count for something. He'd made a mistake. Da would forgive him, just this once. He had to... right?

Just as the sun was rising Archer dragged himself from the den to go and find his da. Might as well get this over with. But the day had other plans, as an enraged summons ripped through the chill morning air and froze Archer to the core.

Shit shit shit shit shit! It wasn't fair! He'd been on his way right now to sort things out! To come clean on his own! It wasn't fair that da found them out now! It just wasn't!

He forced his feet to move, and as soon as he did he was running, trying to get to his da before Kateri did. He didn't want to leave her alone with his rage; she'd never seen him truly angry, but Archer had. He'd seen him tear into Eros so thoroughly his brother had wanted to leave.

He slowed as he approached, the dread within him making each step a fight. He wanted to run away. It wasn't too late; he could get Kateri and they could go. He'd as good as said goodbye to Eros last night; he'd have to tell Asmund goodbye for him. That would have to be good enough. But Archer didn't want to be a coward. He needed to face his fate like an adult.

So he did, head and tail lowered, ears back, as he slunk up to his da. He could smell Kat around them. Any sliver of hope that the summons had been about something else withered and died. Da knew... and it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that I didn't get to tell him myself.

"I was coming to tell you," Archer said, trying and failing to meet his da's eye. "This morning. I just got up and I was coming straight to you. I shoulda come sooner, but I-" he swallowed. He didn't want to make excuses.

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

It wasn't very long after she and Archer had been intimate that Kateri knew she was carrying his children. Her feelings about it were so mixed up in her mind but slowly panic set in. Ever since Sepherina had died the Slayer girl had kept her distance from Vi. It saddened her that she felt she had to but she didn't know how he would react to her presence since she was technically a cove wolf. She hoped it wouldn't matter to him but she felt it best to just stay away and not make his grief any worse.

Now that she had realized she was pregnant she was scared to go anywhere near Viorel. Archer had made it very clear that once his father found out it could get really bad for them. The Slayer girl knew what that meant but she didn't want to believe that it would go that far. That she and Archer would be ousted and then have to figure things out.

As much as she hated the idea of it Archer had promised her he'd take all the blame to try and keep her from punishment. She tried to tell him that it was her fault too and that he didn't have to do that but he was insistent. All she could do then was assure him they would be okay no matter what happened. She also knew that Archer had spoken to Clover and his brother and was going to speak with him father that morning.

She hadn't been able to sleep as the sun rose over the forest she was pacing again at the place where she and Archer had shared their special moment. Kateri waited for him to return to her to tell her what had happen with his father. That didn't happen though.

She froze staring through the trees when she heard the call for her and Archer. She didn't have to guess what it was about. Viorel knew what they had done. She wanted to run the other way and bot face this but she knew she had to. She had to handle things like an adult because she was one and because she and Archer had done an adult thing.

Kateri made her way quickly to find Viorel hoping that by answering the call quickly it would help. When she finally appeared in front of Vi Archer was already there trying to make it better. She went to Archers side to silently show her support as he faced his father. As she reached him she too slipped down onto her stomach, her ears laid flat against her head in a subordinate manner. She looked up at Viorel but she didn't know what to say in that moment as Archer expressed he had been trying to tell his father that morning.

The leader was not kept waiting very long, maybe one of the only saving graces of this situation. Had Archer dilly dallied there would have been no stopping the rage that was boiling up within him, it was barely contained as it is. His dark coated son came slinking onto the scene, babbling almost incoherently as soon as he could be heard. Yellow eyes regarding him coldly, ”Stop.” The briefest of pauses, ”Talking.” They both needed to be here for this, not just one of him.

The Valle man stood frozen in place, almost like a statue other than a tail that swished behind him angrily as they waited. Kateri practically slithered into sight on her belly, she said nothing, but the look of the pair of them sitting side by side made him feel sick. They looked sorry, but maybe they were only sorry that they had gotten caught, Archer could claim he was on his way to tell him all he wanted but it didn’t matter. They should have confessed immediately, instead of waiting until they couldn’t hide it to start making apologies.

Viorel’s eyes looked back and forth between the two of them slowly, silent and still standing in a frozen position. Finally he said, ”Who do you two think that you are?” He didn’t allow them time to answer, ”And, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Again, he kept speaking, his body becoming larger and words coming more rapidly as it went on, ”The whole pack is in mourning about the death of one of your sisters and the disappearance of another, and you two think what a great time to sneak around having sex? What the fuck is wrong with you!?” The last sentence was a repeat, but he couldn’t help it.

He began pacing rapidly, movements jerky and furious. Now it was time for them to speak.

(This post was last modified: Mar 25, 2023, 04:47 PM by Viorel.)

Archer Valle

It was clear from the moment they arrived that his Da was no longer the empty shell he had been. He'd woken up, and he was angry. Understandably so, but Archer still shrank from the rage. It was more expected than Eros's, but this anger had power behind it - power to alter Archer's entire future. His da had been quick in his anger before and that had only been for talking back. This was going to be much, much worse.

Archer tried very hard not to lean to much into Kateri's side as she came beside him. He felt it would only make all of this worse. He flinched at his da's swearing and opened his mouth to answer, only to snap it shut as the leader continued. His gaze was fixed on his da's paws until finally there was enough silence to answer. Hurt stung through him. Why did everyone seem to think they'd done this on purpose, to hurt everyone else? @Clover was the only one who hadn't accused him of being wrong in the head. He'd made a mistake, and now his brother hated him and his da...

"It wasn't our intention," Archer said, fighting back the tears in his eyes. "I didn't mean to disobey you. It's not her fault; she warned me to stay away but I thought I could handle it, and I just wanted to sit with my best friend. We just wanted to spend time together, and it just... we didn't mean for this to happen, da, I swear." He had to make him understand that it wasn't Kateri's fault. If he hadn't pushed it, if he had listened when she'd told him to stay back, then none of this would be happening right now.

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

As she came on to the scene Kateri was sure Viorel was watching her. She didn't dare look at him until she was next to Archer. She felt like it was them against the world in that moment. The Slayer girl wanted so badly to seek comfort in her friend but she wasn't sure that it was the best idea considering she was sure they were in trouble for becoming too close.

Still she could feel Archer side on hers and that would be enough until they got through this. It had to be. She didn't want to inccur anymore of the leaders wrath. As he started speaking to them but the tone was all wrong. She'd always known the man as kind and now it was just mean
She knew they'd messed up amd did what they weren't supposed to do. She supposed they had this coming but hearing the swear words from him and the way he spoke to them made her want to bury her head in Archers fur and pretend she wasn't there, better yet she wanted to run away from this. She did neither. Instead she stayed and took her medicine.

Archer spoke trying to calm his father with his words. Even taking all of the blame. Kateri hated the idea of it but she hadn't been able to talk him out of it. When Archer finished she thought maybe she should say something. Kateri took a deep breath, "I know that we've deeply disrespected you. It wasn't our goal as Archer said and we should have been more mature about what happened between us. Its just it happened before we really knew what we were doing. I know that's no excuse for what we did. I'm truly sorry this has happened." She then shut her mouth to wait for whatever came next.

The Valle man’s pacing froze in place at his son’s words and he whipped around to face him, studying him closely. No longer was he yelling, instead his voice was low and dangerous as he inquired, ”Are you saying that you forced yourself upon her Archer? Because short of that being the answer it was very much so both of your faults.” In that moment he could only hope desperately his son has not done so on his own. If he had….if he had that changed everything.

He didn’t want to assume the worst of his son, though this scenario was making him doubt Archer’s character to the very core. Now he looked to Kateri, who was still not looking him in the eye. His nostrils flared once more and he clenched his eyes shut for a second, attempting to gather himself, before hissing, ”You may not have been told how babies were made. Archer was very much told, and in fact he was explicitly warned for this not to happen when you came back.” Yellow eyes were hard when he looked back to his son, a clear message, don’t you remember that?

His mind was pretty much made up, but he would give them one very last chance to speak before dolling out their punishment. Part of him was aware that he should have been consulting with Clover, his co-lead, but a larger part of him felt like he had every right as the father of the boy to make this decision alone.

Eros had heard the summons, and made his way to the same area. He needed to know what was happening, and he wanted to be there for his dad. He hung back, lowered onto his haunches, and glared at the ground near his paws. Listening. This wasn't what he wanted to go down, but Archer and Kateri had made a very different decision for everyone. Now it was time for them to face the consequences of that, just as Eros always had each time he'd gone against their father.

The claims that they hadn't known until it was too late earned a quiet scoff from him, but other than that he was silent. They had both been trained as medics, by medic mothers. Kateri had watched her own mother go through this just as the boys had. There was no way they hadn't known what those selfish choices would lead to, a burden no one but them had asked for when everyone was still spiraling from the pack's inability to keep its children safe.

She had been on the far side of the territory when Viorel's furious howl broke the silence of the forest, and Clover immediately knew exactly what it was about. Archer had confessed to her the previous day, and so she wasted no time in making her way over there to be present for whatever would transpire next.

It was clear words had already been exchanged by the time she reached the group, but she managed to catch the last of what Viorel was saying to Kateri. It was clear from his tone of voice that he already had the punishment thought up in his mind, and she was glad she had arrived before he voiced it, if only to try and soften the blow a bit. There would have to be a consequence, she agreed with that, but she wanted to make sure Viorel didn't go too far and regret his decision in the future.

Feeling her heart thrumming in her chest from the run to get there, Clover moved past Eros who was sitting back and stood beside Viorel, staring up at both Archer and Kateri. Her expression was serious once again, almost unnaturally so. The whole situation was one big mess that could've been avoided if the two of them had used their brains, and as they were almost adults they didn't have the excuse of being too young to know better.

She turned to Viorel, her eyes softening ever so slightly. "Whatever your decision is I will stand by it, but please, think of the pups who will be born of this before you make it." Archer was his son and he was the original leader of the Backwater so Clover would defer to his word, but though both Archer and Kateri had made an error, the resulting pups didn't deserve to go through the hardship of growing up outside a pack. If anything she wanted to convince Viorel to let Kateri and the pups stay, or at least until they were old enough to survive without the support of a pack, but from previous experience she knew how difficult it was to look after two separate litters.

Archer Valle

Archer was acutely aware of Eros the moment he arrived but staunchly refused to look at him, a little of the previous night's anger stirring in his chest. Archer had stood by him through everything, but he doubted he was here to do any more than gloat once the punishment was delivered. Clover's arrival was met with a little more relief. She'd been calm, she understood. Maybe she could reign in his da. Maybe.

He flinched at his da's words, eyes growing wide. "No, I would never!" he protested, horrified his da would even think that. It wasn't what he'd meant, only that he'd thought... "I thought I had better self control. We are grieving and we just wanted to sit together. We didn't mean for it to go so far!" His boldness quickly faded and he looked back to the ground, still waiting. He hoped for a gentler sentence, especially now that Clover was here.

And then da reminded him of his warning and he risked a glance up. "I know, da. I'm sorry. We made a mistake and I took so long to tell you because I couldn't find the words, knowing I disappointed you. I'm sorry." he said again, echoing Kateri's own apology and trying to bring his da's attention back to himself. "I'm sorry."

(This post was last modified: Mar 26, 2023, 02:31 AM by Archer.)

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.