Noctisardor Bypass raunkova

at sunup, heda existed in a state of semi-wakefulness. two of the children were already up and about. she yawned, engaging the routine of cleanings before they emerged into the sun to stretch and croon.
the warmth was welcome; she leaned into it, nipping playfully at one pup or another as she let them pursue her around the clearing outside the dawnleaf den.

He came early, not out of some nefarious desire to sneak through the stonegate, but out of happenstance. His hulking figure lingered upon the path in to Rivenwood without encroaching too far.

Glaukos was capable of restraint, for now. He had recovered well in the next valley over and he knew he was unwelcome within this one; however, he felt a sense of unfinished business which drew him close.

Was it worth it to call out? He wondered if he had been replaced yet, if the sisters had found another man to bend to their will that was more malleable than himself. Perhaps after his own banishment - for that's what it had felt like - the healer and the idiot had both been run off too?

Glaukos wondered. He stalked the path, and he watched for signs of anyone within.

ah — 
heda was laughing! the sun glowed so beautifully that it had driven all cobwebs from the corners of her arid soul, for now; for now.
and then, when she looked up, it was in stilling and surprise and protective instinct which drove heda forward on numb legs, not to confront but to gently guard, eyes watching the great shadow which fell over the path.
and yet no fear existed in her, not now, only a slinking wary curiosity.

Kikimora accepted bath time without complaint, and padded after Heda as she led the cubs beyond the den's threshold into the open. As the pups grew, their whelping burrow was beginning to feel rather cramped; she was glad to be spending more time outside each day.

The sun on her face seemed to fuel her, and joyfully the littlest of Druid's brood took herself on a swift lope around the clearing. She paused here and there to sniff at small flowers or observe insects, though it was the approach of an unfamiliar figure that ceased her curiosity in nature's offerings.

The Den Mother swept forward, cautious. Kikimora understood the change in her body language and slunk closer to her guardian, her tail tucked.

If he was a better man maybe he would have stayed away. Maybe he should have, regardless.

It was Heda he saw first and stopped. A figure ducked beside her and earned a glance, but not a word yet.

There was a grim expression upon Glaukos' face while he stood there watching them, holding firm as he deferred his attention away, to the trees on one side and then the other, as if to wonder physically where the others were.

He did not come closer, and would not. A tension fixed him in place there, like a boulder having been rolled across the path. It was then that he spoke, calling out, I mean no harm, for surely that was what the mother's instinct worried over.

He wondered next, what Druid had said happened; maybe they all thought he was homicidal, or something. His eyes flickered again to the child - knowing it was one of his.

I only wanted -- I don't know, really. To see them. He tipped his chin down and motioned with his expression, his raised brows, to the whelp. Glaukos couldn't remember their name.

She appeared from the nearby underbrush, dropping a fish at her feet to incredulously demand, Now you want to see them?

Druid’s eyes bored into Glaukos before she looked toward Heda and Kikomora. Noting her daughter’s uneasy demeanor, she moved to stand over her, offering a reassuring nudge. Both her Den Mothers were here and they wouldn’t let anything bad happen.

Why have you really come, Glaukos? Druid demanded, not believing in his sudden interest in his children. We are better off without you, she asserted, aware that it was a very cruel thing to say, and yet… it was the truth.

glaukos.
he cast a large shadow. kikimora was warm against her, and druid stood now to her flank. but her sister's sentiment did not find a reflection on her face.
instead she watched him thoughtfully. heda had pushed away her resentments for so long that she no longer felt them. she did not forget that without the timely arrival of the hollow wolves, they might have all starved by now without this man.
and because she saw in his face a ghost of the fatherly concern she had seen in caracal's own, she murmured, "they're all right. healthy. strong."
she cleared her throat. "it's going to confuse them now if you're involved." it hurt to say, not for her, but for the barb it might lend to his heart. 
the golden eyes studied glaukos without malice, paw raising quietly to stroke kikimora's head in reassurance.

Heda looked to him with concern but not fear, and then Druid surfaced, and whatever tentative welcome he might have felt was ripped away. What had he done to earn such a vitriolic response? Had he not protected them? Given them their children? Kept them safe and healthy? Had he not left when told? Never once had Glaukos demanded access to these children and not once had he done anything but protect himself at the last possible moment, when all other options were off the table.

And so he was unwelcome, even now. Maybe especially now that the children were growing and more aware. Heda's comment earned a brief look, but Glaukos was focused more on Druid.

I grew up not far from here. The valley - Bearclaw. I've been staying there, which Fiona might have reported back, or Heda; either way they knew he had not been far.

And I grew up without a father. Or a mother, for what that's worth. As if implying the two women needed him in their lives would help anything. Look how I turned out, look what happens to these genes without a man.

He glances to the child and sees such a similarity between them that he's immediately struck, surprised; but there is no ownership there, no love, not from the child and not from himself.

Looking to Druid, he asks, What did I do wrong?

Heda moved to comfort the girl, who looked around ger guardian's legs to blink up at the giant who lingered and disrupted the peace of Dawnleaf with his presence alone. She felt uncertainty flutter in the pit of her belly but did not know the reason behind it. This adult was nit someone she knew, but he had not harmed neither the Den Mother or her ward.

Her dam's arrival thickened the tension, and Kikimora shrunk further when Druid positioned herself orotectively over her little body. Instinctively she hunched, trying to make herself appear smaller, and she did not dare breathe a sound.

From her mother came a sharpened tone, not unlike the sharpness with which she spoke when a cub overstepped a boundary. There was something else there, a dark undercurrent, something she was too young to understand. It was clear that this stranger wasn't welcome, yet he did not leave, and suddenly she was afraid.

She looked shrewdly at her sister when she spoke, as if taking the measure of Heda’s words. Her gaze soon flicked back to Glaukos, coolly awaiting an explanation. First, he told her where he’d been staying. Then he reminded her of his upbringing, something he’d shared with her before. Her eyes narrowed. Still, he did not answer her question.

She scoffed at his own, quickly saying, You proved yourself a threat to those who called Rivenwood home by attacking Etienne and Anselm unprovoked when they were only here to help.

She replayed his words in her head, particularly the bit about growing up without a father. Her hackles prickled. Was Glaukos implying what she thought he was implying—that somehow his absence would have an incontrovertible and negative impact on Kikimora and the others?

Druid looked at her daughter, noting her discomfort. She frowned thoughtfully and bent to press her nose to her cheek. She thought she felt the Butternut trembling, though she couldn’t be sure. She looked up again, eyes flashing now at Glaukos. Trusting Heda to continue safeguarding her daughter, she took a step toward him.

You hunted and you guarded. I’ll give you that. But you never supported me in the ways that truly mattered, the ways I really needed. You are the most emotionally unavailable person I’ve ever met. You didn’t love either one of us, she said, motioning between herself and Heda, and you certainly didn’t love any of them. So I ask you again: what are you doing here, Glaukos?

druid's reminder that the act between heda and glaukos had not been one of love curdled the belly of the paler sister. he had been gentle with her, mindful of her demand for a perfunctory performance with very little intimacy. and it was because she and he had always existed on these fringes together that she almost winced for him.
reminding herself that glaukos and druid shared a much different history, including the fact that they had come to blows, heda motioned kikimora closer and sighed.
she hadn't expected glaukos to love her — had druid? 
heda could have said why she felt he was there: in pursuit of the family he thought he could write off to a contract. she thought of mentioning that, then decided not to say anything more as druid demanded again to know his truth.

They were not part of Rivenwood the first time, he corrected, pointing out something that she overlooked. Anselm attacked me first. You know that. I thought you did anyway. He bristled, remembering that he had promised to strip the boy of his skin and then been told no, and even that he had accepted.

While she did not commend him for his activities, Druid did mention them as if she was aware. It was painful to hear that - to know she had benefitted from his work but not approved of it, at the same time. Her mention of love made him frown.

That was never the arrangement. They had never spoken about love; Glaukos thought back as best he could to their time alone together, speaking of their pasts, of where Druid wanted to go - of names for children. She had been as level-headed about it as himself. How was he to know something was missing if she wouldn't tell him?

He wondered if he had the capacity, knowing it now. What was love if not service?

A deep breath, then.

I told you - I am here to meet them, but... I will go. He turned but then murmured, You wouldn't have Rivenwood without my work.

But I won't beg. You wanted your home back and you got it. You wanted children and you now have them. You don't want me there, so I'm out. Somehow, getting everything you ask for is still not enough.

He snorts, and finally breaks his stare with her. Glaukos looks at Heda and his expression is guarded, but holds the slimmest glimmer of hurt too; and when he looks to the cowering Kikimora he given a flash of memory - giants at the den mouth, blood, separation.

That would not come to pass here, he knew. He would not allow harm to come to them; even if it meant protecting from outside of their lives - maybe that was best.

He began to march along the path the way he had come.

From her mother came a small gesture meant to comfort, an acknowledgement of her anxiety. The big wolf did not seem like a threat, but the way both Den Mothers had reacted to his arrival had unsettled her. They did not take kindly to his presence and Kikimora was quick to assume that he might bring harm. She flit her gaze between each of the adult trio, shifting to lean her weight to Druid's foreleg, but her mother prowled forward to press the intruder for answers and it was Heda who accepted her closer.

Soon the dark giant was moving, regarding the two she-wolves coolly before he made to take his leave. Kikimora let herself slacken with relief and blinked up toward Heda's chin with a soft little whine.

Her eyes remained hard, belying the sudden uncertainty his allegation evoked. She hadn’t known Anselm had attacked first. Surely he’d only meant to defend Etienne. Why had Glaukos put his hands on the healer in the first place? She was forced to admit much had happened against her knowledge due to the difficulty of her pregnancy.

That was the rub: she’d never once asked for romance but he’d knocked her up and then left her to suffer the consequences on her own. That was how it felt to her, particularly in hindsight. Glaukos had never shown any enthusiasm about the puppies, before or after their arrival, while she’d been sacrificing her body and soul for them.

“You wanted children and now you have them,” he insisted now.

She wanted to refute him. Some biological imperative had driven her into his arms. Druid had never really wanted children. Of course, she couldn’t say as much, especially not in front of one of them. She bit her tongue and looked at her daughter again.

Kikimora and her siblings had not been created in good faith. They’d cost her dearly, both while carrying them and in those those unbearable postpartum days. Druid would never again bear children, so help her. But she did not regret them. Day by day, her feelings for them took root, grew, flowered. They were complicated but beautiful.

Glaukos said a few more parting words and began to move away. Druid sagged in relief. She said nothing at all to his retreating back, though as soon as it disappeared from view, her gaze sought Heda’s, then Kiki’s.

she could have loved glaukos, heda decided as his tall frame turned away and padded strongly back the way he had come. druid would have let them all starve for pride if no one else had come to help them. she would have let it happen when she could have left with fiona and i would have gotten my second chance.
the flare of resentment in heda was so sickening, such a dazing thing, that horror and shame followed in its wake. she loved druid and couldn't understand her own uncharitable thoughts, delusional even! they'd done fine without him. they hadn't needed him. druid had been right. 
it wasn't her fault that heda felt like an unwed strumpet with a dead husband, found herself angered by the failed potential with the man who walked away from them now.
but there was some sense of a struggle in the giltglow eyes when she turned them back toward her sister. to avoid saying anything for the moment, the den mother turned an encouraging smile toward kikimora. "let's go back," heda suggested, unable to formulate any explanation for glaukos at the moment.

There was silence as the big wolf removed himself from the scene, trailing off into the forest. Kikimora stole another wide-eyed glance at his retreating form just as he picked his way further nto the shadowed wood, his tail vanishing from sight.

Heda spoke up at last, suggesting that they go back. The youngster, feeling safer now that both Den Mothers no longer appeared defensive, turned her attention back to the other cubs. After all this, she wasn't quite ready to join them and chose to remain close to her mother.