Hollowheart Keep Be my Superman

@Chulyin <3

Brothers and Sisters

• NAIRA •

are as close as hands and feet

Any day now... They would come. A new litter of youngsters to warm the hearts of the pack and give them yet another year to look forward to - she couldn’t help but wonder how many there would be. Renewed hope that they might have a future as a family, here, or anywhere. A year ago she never would have contemplated leaving the mountain, could not have imagined the hardships they would endure through the winter. But with new growth sprouting up all over the place and little trace of the harsh winter left, it was easy to forget what had been, and what would come again in just a few short months. For now it was easier to forget.

She paced back and forth not far from her chosen den. Things had been quiet since Aponi and Mercy’s departure and Karpos’s exile. Her brother had been noticeably absent although she gave it little thought. With all that had been going on no doubt he was occupied ensuring their safety in some way or other so for now she waited for the inevitable. She had reached the stage where she was just as uncomfortable laying down as she was standing up. All the while her eyes scanned the forest around her searching for inspiration, a name to offer up to @Mapplethorpe when the time came.

Hawthorn? No... Solomon? Perhaps... Ginger? She could have giggled were it not for the ripple of pain that coursed down her flank. Hemlock. Now there was a name that held potential. A small smile crossed her face as she rolled the name around in her mind. Yes. Hemlock may do quite nicely.

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For his entire trip to the River and back, Chulyin had been dwelling upon a little thing known as pride. Pride in himself, pride in his family, pride in the very land he walked upon. All but one of those was still intact now. Like the spumescent bubbles upon a beach, his pride was eaten up by the tide, dragged out to sea, and left to either float or drown. Chulyin felt as though he'd been drowning these last few weeks. Even now, away from the creeks that wound their way through this expansive land, standing so certainly on solid ground, he felt like he was treading water, desperate.

There was an acute nibbling in his brain, telling him that he had betrayed his family, most of all his sister. It wasn't simply the matter that he had been with a woman, a stranger with no ties to anything, but he had done it with some unconscious intention to father a child, a being that might challenge his beloved sister and Queen's offspring. And it bothered him since he'd stumbled upon this realization. The Knight, always so steadfast in his devotion and loyalty, had some inkling to take away the power that he had so desperately fought for his sister to keep.

As he moved through the tangled woods towards the heart of the Keep, a place he had not really seen in weeks, he knew that he needed to tell her. She deserved to know of his mistakes, no matter how minor she could view them. Because she ought to be able to punish him, and he ought to be able to clear his own head. Chulyin tread towards the dens, exhausted from his journey, though he held himself aloft as he felt it still ought to, to keep what was left of his pride together. Dark copper eyes roamed about the treeline in the hopes that Naira, whose scent seemed to line every inch of this clearing, might be here.

Lurking until the end of July - Please PM/tag me to get my attention