Like all souls bound to this earthly tether, Reek feared death and that which waited for him beyond the mortal coil. He thought of it often now -- now that he was burdened with age and regret. Disappointment tasted bitter in his mouth; a taunting triviality sweetened only by the fact that there was no one left to hurt, to swindle, or to betray. Save for Jhala, of course. The one final constant Reek clung too. The one beautiful thing he hadn't twisted into something horrible in his insatiable want for
more.
He didn't tell her he was dying. He couldn't bear to see her look at him with pity in her eyes. It wasn't how he wanted to be remembered; illness and cancer would not be Reek's lasting legacy. His legacy, however, rested in the paws of another now. He gave it all to his son, Astik. The pack, their followers, everything. The mantle belonged to him now and Reek hoped he would do a better job with it than he had.
Claiming
retirement to uproot them from their pack-bound lives, Reek and Jhala returned to the familiar territory of their old, short-lived claim. It was a bittersweet thing to see this place again. The Glade hadn't changed much since he had last seen it. It was as it had always been, and as it would be long after he was gone. He tried to think of fond memories.
brb crying
god damn, was it good to be back.
there'd been so many lows. she could remember each and every one of them-- vividly. her disgrace to porcupine ridge, her naivety towards her own heat, wesleigh, the religion she'd let plague her home and family, the family they'd chased from their own home, and then the abandonment of... so much. her own son, tapat, for one, but so many other things. but she'd also remembered the highs-- fondly, too. the moment reek asked her to become his beta, and then his wife, the birth and survival of her sons, the claiming of the glade, and then of their new home-- away from this place. standing here, beside reek, she felt it all.
back home astik was in charge, and he had been raised well enough to thrive as the packs leader. jhala had no doubt in her mind that he was capable, and she was happy to leave it in his paws. she was still young, perhaps not spritely, but reek was craving retirement by now-- and she had stuck with him long enough to want to follow him wherever he went-- even if that meant releasing a little bit of power to her son.
all was well, in her mind. her husband-- though old-- was as great as ever. he'd seen his own lows, and she'd been there for each and every one (since she'd entered his life, anyway). to her, this was just another visit, a mere trip. soon enough, they'd pack themselves back up and return to astik and live a quaint little life in retirement. hell, she'd even thought about more kids, because now they'd actually have the time to invest in them-- they would stay together, too.
she wondered how tapat was. she thought about him often, but knowing him and his memory... she could only assume and reek and astik were long forgotten by now. she hoped he was happy and safe.
"d'you remember the day we met?" she asked, breaking a long moment of silence. she remembered it, very clearly too. "we were so different back then."
There was an air of shared sentimentality in the silence between them, so thick that Reek could nearly feel it brush against his greying guard hairs. He turned to his mate as she spoke and looked upon her with fondness. It was a bittersweet thing to hide this illness from her. Of the all the lies Reek ever told, this was by far the hardest to maintain. He distracted himself with her question. It was much easier to think about good things and fond memories. Especially now.
"'Course I do," he told her. "Both of us runnin' and lookin' for fresh starts." He supposed he found it in Jhala; the hard reset he needed. It felt like an entire lifetime had passed since that day. He felt young then, like there was so much more to be done. Reek shook his head and mused aloud, "God, we got old, didn't we?"
He paused for a moment and he made himself wistful. "Well," he added, "at least I did."
A great yawn forced Tambourine's jaws apart. Just as soon as it passed, he shook his head rapidly (with an accompanying blrrp-blrrp-blrrp noise) and, stretching, rose to his feet. A dusting of snow had settled on his back while he slept. He admired it a moment, then wriggled the rest of his body and bounded forward. Once he was in motion, he didn't stop moving, loping through the vaguely familiar wood.
He had arrived here just last night with the niggling feeling that he knew this place. Could it really be Golden Glade? He really hadn't been here long, and so much time had passed since then. Add the drifts of white snow to the mix and Tambourine really couldn't be sure. It didn't help matters that the place appeared to be abandoned. Where was Silas? And the rest?
This place was a ghost town, he surmised after a brief trek through the snowy woods. Just as he was about to move on, he picked up the sound of voices, hushed slightly by his powdery white surroundings. Tambourine paused, his bent ear doing its best to stand upright as he listened. When he pinpointed the direction, he followed the sound to a clearing, where he found two familiar faces after all.
"Holy butts," he called jovially, "is that you?"
jhala made a sort of chirping noise, pleased with reek's response. he'd better have remembered that-- for as far as she was concerned, she was the best thing that had ever happened to him... and him to her. despite her initial lack of mutual feelings towards him, reek had slowly become the only wolf in her life that truly mattered-- save for her remaining son. she'd like to think she was the same thing to him.
"you could've aged with a lil' more grace," she teased, nipping softly at the side of his muzzle, tail wagging against the slowly ground. she was gonna ask something else of him, but her attention was stolen by a voice she hadn't heard in a while-- but she was pretty sure she recognized it. and, sure enough, she recognized that face as well.
"tambourine!" she exclaimed, gaze flitting from the boy (who was much older by now) and her husband-- his father-- waiting to see how he would react to all this. secretly, jhala waited for tapat to materialize out of the glade right behind tam. but, as the moments ticked by, not a single pale coat came bouncing into view.
Reek chortled briefly and reveled in Jhala's affection. Whoever said aging was a graceful affair was a damn liar. It was anything but. Of course, he fought against the tides of inevitably as hard as he could, but Reek knew his best days were behind him now. He couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed with that. There was so much more to do, he thought -- so many loose ends left scattered like weeds.
Speaking of...
When Reek heard Tambourine's voice, he thought he felt as if his heart had skipped a beat, or perhaps in his age he was beginning to slip. He turned his head, and when he saw the boy, his son, he knew it was real. He'd grown so much since he'd last seen him. It floored him how much Tambourine favored his mother after filling out. "Oh my God," Reek muttered incredulously. He shook his head and smiled. "You have no idea how good it is to see you again Tam."
He nudged Jhala's shoulder and gave her a glance. He couldn't believe it. Tambourine lives.
They seemed happy to see him, so Tambourine moved closer, reaching out to sniff noses with first Reek, then Jhala. His tail waved, though his brow furrowed as he questioned, "Do you guys still live here? I'm sorry if I'm trespassing, I could've sworn the place was abandoned..."
As he peered between the mated pair, a thought occurred to him and he blurted, "And sorry I just disappeared! I ran into a bear—or a bear ran into me, whatever...—and I led him away from the glade. He chased me for miles. I had no idea how to get back." Tambourine smiled apologetically, heartened by the fact they still seemed pleased to see him despite his vanishing act nearly a year ago.
she held her breath, peering beyond tam for as long as she could bear it. no pale coat appeared... no child-like male came bounding into the clearing. nothing. just tambourine. she released a soft sigh as tam began to talk, glancing to him with a soft smile.
it almost mad her sad to hear that he thought they'd want to chase them off-- and all that apologizing. oh if only he knew how thrilled reek really was to see him again. she wondered if... maybe, in this moment, he'd tell him. ha, if only she knew how appropriate it was for reek to start making amends and tying loose ends... but she didn't-- just as tam, jhala was hopelessly ignorant.
but still, she nudged reek back, a silent go to him. because even if tambourine didn't know who reek truly was, he seemed excited to see them, and that was enough for a quick hug of reunion... right? "we left," jhala answered, glancing back to tam, "went and started a pack down south (??? i think south) with our son astik. we're just visitin." then, after a few moments pause, she glanced first to reek, then back to tam. "you'd be welcomed back here any time anyway."
Thankfully, Jhala found the words to explain when Reek simply couldn't. He simply listened There was something on his mind, nagging -- tugging and jumping from synapse to synapse. There was so much Reek wanted to say, but was the moment right? Would the moment ever be right? With his health in steep decline, Reek knew this would be his only window to say what he needed to say. He thought perhaps the urgency would make this somehow easier.
It did not.
Reek moved toward his son, slowly and deliberate. He was unsure if would even accept his affection. For Reek was not a father, but only a passing acquaintance. It was a painful realization wrought of poor circumstance, bad luck, and terrible, terrible impulse control. He pressed his muzzle against the boy's neck and murmured, "It's just -- It's good to know you're safe."
He stepped back and thought carefully for a moment. This would be his last chance, his only chance, to make things right -- if that were even possible. "There's something I wanted to tell you a long time ago Tam, but I never got the chance," he said.
Tambourine was a little taken aback—in a good way!—by Reek's affectionate gestures and Jhala's equally vehement reassurances. He had never known they were so fond of him. Feeling slightly confused but also delighted, he slowly waved his tail and returned the black wolf's nudges.
"Yeah, I'm glad you guys are still kicking too," he replied airily. His pale eyes tracked Reek's movements as he stepped back and apparently prepared to make an announcement of some sort. "Oh yeah? What's that?" he wondered openly, slightly oblivious to the older man's somber air.