Silverlight Terrace Chasing Shadows

@Charon

Chaska had grown worried, about the friend he had at Ryujin. She had left over a week ago. He hadn't been counting the days, but he knew it had been too long. He worried she was hurt, somewhere. So he went in the direction she told him that she would be headed, searching for her. Anouke, his friend, had disappeared on a journey of her own. He had awaited her return, to hear the tale of her adventure, if she had one to tell. She did not return, and that made him go out to look.

He scented a pack nearby, and briefly wondered if they knew of where she was. So he howled out almost immediately, almost tired of the walk it had taken to get this far. He needed to find her. She was the closest friend he had since Easthollow.

Charon had been told by his daughters @Hydra , @Lyra and @Alya what had happened that night. He wished he had been there to help them, for it seemed like a big burden to place upon their shoulders, young as they were. At the same time however, he also felt that they were ready for adulthood and that they had acted much like he had when he was their age — mature beyond their years. He felt a deep pride for their maturity and skillset and it overshadowed any concerns that he may have had in regards to them killing another being.

He never liked to go far from the den at these moments; most of his time was spent lingering around the den's entrance. He was glad for his daughters' help this year, for it took a lot of pressure off him when it came to hunting and patrolling. They picked up a lot of his work this time around.

Yet when he was taking a short patrol while one of them kept his watch, Charon heard the howl. He halted and considered for a moment what to do — should he stay or should he go? — but then decided to head out towards the howl's direction. He felt hasty and like it had better be important, for he didn't want to go very far away from the pack's territories, and so when he arrived and saw another wolf he didn't recognise he curtly asked, "What is it?", making it clear from his tone and body language that he had little time to spare.

A wolf had answered, a white wolf. And by how they looked and spoke, they had little time. "I...I'm looking for someone" he replied, momentarily pausing in between to think of how to ask. "A female. Black fur, kind of small. Purple eyes. She told me she had been headed this way. Have you seen her?" His eyes were almost pleading for a positive answer. He had gone too far already to try and find her, and he did not wish to be lost like she was. "Her name is Anouke. She's a packmate of mine."

@Lyra still want to pop in?

His daughters had told him about the trespasser that they had killed upon the mountain, who'd seemed sickly and not well, therefore a threat to the mountain. Unfortunately, he had never seen her himself and he certainly didn't remember if they had described whether she had purple eyes, was small, had black fur or that her name was Anouke.

So really, when he heard the description he just shook his head, not connecting the two. "Uh, don't think so. She's a scout?" he asked, although what he meant was 'she was exploring?', really. He felt sympathetic, having lost a scout or two that was his friend — or brother — over time too.

*ROLLS IN*

She had come across Charon's scent not long after he took off in the direction of the stranger's howl. Lyra found it strange he would leave what with the recent litter, yet the foreigner was close, perhaps too close for her father's liking. Curiousity piqued, the girl followed his trail, a certain hurry to her loping strides. She thought about calling her sisters but knew they would show up if anything were to happen; the triplets were never far from each other.

She came up beside him with an affectionate lick to his cheek before lowering her head, setting the stranger in her inquisitive gaze. He didn't seem to be a threat, simply an older, middling sized male who seemed...lost, almost? Lyra quirked her head a little before looking up at Charon, her gaze full of questions.

Hydra had been tracking Lyra, moving mutely throughout Moonspear and doing remarkably well at it. If Lyra knew, she did not betray it... but Hydra was having a good time stalking her, in any case. When Lyra made headway toward the borders, Hydra licked her chops. Interesting, she thought, before she noted their fathers scent. That made more sense. Hydra picked up her own pace, and it was not long at all before she sidled next to Lyra, her own head tall as her gaze beheld the other standing there. Hydra sensed much the same thing as Lyra, though she knew their father was handling it. All the same, there was always a lesson to learn.

Chaska was somewhat saddened to hear that he did not know of Anouke's presence in the area. An ear flicked when the other wolf asked if she were a scout, which in a way she was. "Yes, she went out looking for...well, she never really said..." Two other wolves appeared, both female with black fur. They looked very alike.

It seemed weird to Charon that this wolf would say she was a scout but that she didn't say what she was looking for. Irritation was clear in his voice as he said, "So is it you who didn't ask your Alphas for that information before you left, or this Anouke wolf who insolently barged off without letting anyone know where she was going or why? If it's the latter, sounds like a dumb shit who isn't worth your time. And if it's the former, well..." He just about managed to bite back you're the one who's the dumb shit, who isn't worth my time. He didn't really mean to be an asshat, but it had just sort of happened because someone came to his borders requesting his presence and then not even holding all the information to revealing any answers. He realised that his daughters were by his side then, something that might've held him back when they were younger but now that they were old enough to hold their own only spurred on the feeling he could do and say whatever the fuck he wanted to this stranger.

She sensed her sister arriving before she even saw her, and Lyra turned to give her a minute kiss upon her muzzle when she drew up beside them. She indeed hadn't known Hydra had been trailing her, and would have complimented on her stealthy abilities otherwise. However, there were more important matters afoot, and Lyra listened attentively to her father as he spoke.

She couldn't help but feel a small, sheepish smile tug at her lips as he spat venom at the poor stranger, and her own eyes softened as she looked to him as if to say sorry on Charon's behalf. "What does she look like? We could keep an eye out," she added quietly, having missed the man's previous description. Perhaps they could tell Alya and arrange a scouting trip.

Nipping her sister in turn, Hydra began to listen to what was unfolding before her. Immediately, Hydra agreed with her father wholeheartedly. She hadn't heard much, but she heard enough to know that the other seemed to not have enough info to connect any concrete dots... a name was all that was given, a name Hydra and her sisters would have known had they given the she-wolf they had killed a moment to speak. Charon echoed what was on her mind, and her sister... well, Lyra was Lyra, sweet and soft-spoken.

Chaska winced at the wolf's words. Indeed, he had not asked Asterr. And he did not know if Anouke had told Asterr herself, or not. Now he wished she had told him why she was venturing out. His ears folded half back. For a moment, he was beginning to think he would find nothing here. But just before he was about to let a farewell out, one of the younger wolves spoke up. His eyes locked onto her, ears upright and listening. 

"Purple eyes, black fur. Smaller than me." He was hopeful, perhaps too hopeful for a friend, considering all those he had let down. Perhaps it was more...He did not speculate on that at all. Only seeing her as a friend, it never came to mind. He turned his head back up to the lead white wolf. "If you find anything, my pack is up in the mountains that way" he said, pointing with his muzzle toward the Sunspire mountains.

Charon was pretty much done with this. He had better things to do, especially with the pups around. He himself was about ready to turn around and leave, but Lyra decided to ask again about the wolf's looks then. He stuck around a bit longer, though an irritable look on his face as he glanced at the stranger, whose reaction confirmed his very thoughts that either the wolf he was looking for, he himself, or both were a bunch of dumb shits who weren't worth his time.

"Yeah, right, we'll call you," he said, though it was clear that he was holding himself back from saying what he really thought — and that it wasn't anything good. "C'mon girls," he muttered, then turning around and away, back to Moonspear, and done with this shit.

wrapping this up since chaska's gone now <3