Hushed Willows A crackpipe full of dreams
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
1,343 Posts
Ooc — Ryan
Medic
Offline
#1
Hoping to snag a wild @Tambourine

Like Jhala, Reek couldn't help but feel somewhat free after fleeing the church for good. However, his freedom did not come without a large dose of anxiety. Though the poison of belief had been sucked from the wound, the wound still remained: Reek and his family were homeless and in no better situation to survive the winter than they were at the grotto. Thankfully, Jhala had found Dagfinn, who chose to travel with them to find a new home. With three able bodied hunters, they could at least keep the children fed. But new addition aside, they still needed to find a pack. Sooner rather than later.

Reek, of course, had a few ideas. He thought of Stark and his pack. The Keep was close to the grotto, meaning that his children would not have to travel far. But Reek was wary. Though he had done nothing to earn Stark's ire, he knew the other male thought ill of him. That is why Reek left the children with Jhala and scouted ahead toward the keep so he could talk to the other leader in private. He felt, perhaps they could make some sort of agreement if they put their pride aside.

Yet, when he arrived at the Keep's border, Reek noticed that Stark's scent was fading. This confused him, because he could still smell others. Still, he threw his head back and called for the leader of the wood.
346 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Offline
#2
A wiser wolf would have realized what was happening much sooner than Tambourine. Currently, he sat alone in the mouth of The Crook, peering out at the snowy woods. They probably just went on a hunt, he kept telling himself as the long, lonesome hours dragged on. They'll be back soon. When it started to snow heavily, he retreated a little into the cozy inner warmth of the cave but did not abandon his waiting game. Although he was sleepy, he refused to close his eyes. He would wait up until his family came home.

He startled awake when a howl cut through the air. Tambourine's stomach dropped when he realized he'd fallen asleep despite himself. What if he'd missed them? There were no fresh scents in the cold cavern, though, and suddenly the juvenile remembered what had woken him. He couldn't place the voice and he was reluctant to leave The Crook. Eventually, however, he took one step, then another. He emerged into the open air, his big feet carrying him toward the borders.

He squinted at the dark stranger standing there. "Hello," he said, trying to force some cheer into his voice. But he failed and, in the blink of a silver eye, the reality hit him like a thunderbolt. "They're gone, aren't they? They left." Tambourine paused, shivering ever so slightly in the winter hush. "They left me behind."
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
1,343 Posts
Ooc — Ryan
Medic
Offline
#3
He waited, and waited, and waited some more. After a while, Reek figured that no one was coming. He nearly turned tail to return to his family, but that was when he heard the approach of heavy paws in the snow. He was greeted by none other than his own son. Tavi's boy, Tambourine. He looked so much like his mother that it gave Reek pause. He was large, grey -- and his face. He favored her so much. Reek could only stare dumbly for a moment before the boy finally spoke. It broke Reek's heart to here his voice shake with sadness for a reason that he did not know.

When the boy's realization struck, Reek blinked several times with surprise. "What do you mean?" he asked. "They left? Where's Stark?" When he saw them together before, Stark and the boy had been so close. For him to just take off and leave him seemed completely against Reek's mental image of him. But then again, he hardly knew the man.
346 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Offline
#4
He was prone neither to sadness nor pessimism, yet Tambourine sagged under the weight of his realization. His hindquarters sank into the snow and his head dipped, hanging pitifully between his sharp shoulder blades. A sigh left him, long and deep, causing a white mist to unfurl from the tip of his snout. He stared down at his own over-sized paws for a few beats, his gaze lifting only when the stranger addressed him a moment later.

"I don't know," he said, which was the whole and honest truth. They were gone. He didn't know where they went or why. He was thinking only of Stark and Banner and wondering how they could just disappear like that. "They wouldn't," he thought out loud. "Leave me, I mean," he clarified for the other wolf's benefit. "Something must have happened to them..." But now that he thought about it, what about the others? Where was Silas? Amara (and her pups)? Talewi?

He raised his head now and looked around a bit wildly, ears flapping, the left especially. Almost forgetting the dark stranger for a moment, Tambourine pressed his lips together and did something he should have done right from the start: he howled for @Silas, @Amara, @Talewi and anyone else who might hear. Stark and Banner were inexplicably gone... but maybe some of the rest were still lurking around the deserted Keep?
bowsprit
231 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#5
He'd not really taken the time to lend a proper ear to the first howl. His thoughts were coming in a scattered rush and the voice was not one he knew. It'd been easy to just keep going about his own private investigations with his nose low to the ground and eyes peeled. However, Tambourine's howl broke his concentration and the dark Ostrega whipped his head upward to listen.

He'd been trying to find a good trail on Stark, Banner, or really anyone else, but continually came up frustratingly empty-handed. It seemed that all at once, all had faded away to almost nothing. He was fringing the edges of their claim, sometimes pressing just beyond, and still had no leads to take him anywhere, or hints help him understand. The trails he'd had just.. left. No explanation, no disturbances suggested... Nothing.

He swung his muzzle back to howl his brief reply: Tamb. I was tracking for Stark. No sign. Be there soon.. When he didn't hear anyone else answer yet, he began to get real worried.

Silas sighed and pivoted, now pointing his nose towards where he thought to find the other Marauder. After a few slow, tired strides, he picked up a jog and just as promised, he'd get there soon enough.
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
1,343 Posts
Ooc — Ryan
Medic
Offline
#6
So he really was gone. Reek shook his head with disappointment in Stark's disappearance, but when it came to Tambourine, Reek had been even worse of father than Stark had. He had never been there for the boy, partially because he knew that he would have been run from the territory by Tambourine's angry guardians if he came anywhere close. He had tried in the past, when Tambourine had just been born, to send a message through Stark to Tavi to try and see the child -- but after never hearing back, Reek assumed that the message was never delivered. With both Stark and Tavi out of the picture, however, Reek thought that he might be able to pull his son into his family.

The boy howled for those who remained. Only one called back. Reek bit his lip, knowing that should the boy choose to stay here among the willows, he would have a hard road ahead of him. "Look," said Reek. "I've got a group; my family and a friend of ours. We're looking for a new home down south. You should -- You should tag along. Your friend too, if he wants." Their chance for survivial rose proportionally with their numbers. "We can survive together."
346 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Offline
#7
This entire situation was so unprecedentedly bewildering. But the sound of Silas's voice caused Tambourine to sag again, this time in relief, despite the disappointing update contained in his message. Stark and Banner might be missing but at least they weren't alone; they had each other. And perhaps there were others out there and they would return his call soon too.

Suddenly, he remembered the stranger, who now encouraged Tambourine to join him and his group. He invited Silas too. The silvery youth didn't know what to say. It was a nice offer but he was reluctant to leave the Keep. He'd lived here his entire life. What if Stark and Banner came back? And how could he trust some random stranger? He didn't even know the guy's name.

The word "survive" rang in his head, though. He'd been ignoring his hunger but it was there. He'd been ignoring the chill in his bones but it was there too. He wasn't even nine months old and, aside from Silas (and maybe others, though the silence stretched...), he was on his own. Tambourine wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but he knew he couldn't survive without help. Even if he teamed up with his fellow abandoned pack mate, they were too few and inexperienced to make it through the winter.

Confused and heartbroken, Tambourine replied, "I want to talk to Silas." Once he joined them, then perhaps they could make a decision together. "Who are you?" he asked in the next breath, wondering why he'd shown up here in the first place and how come he was so readily offering the two young men a home at all.
bowsprit
231 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#8
As he moved over the frozen land, no other howls rose to join his own. Not even as the seconds spanned into minutes. With the cruel chill of the wind biting at his coat, realization began to creep similarly on him. Were they really left here alone?

He'd known the pack was small, but for him, that was fine. There had been the two females, one he'd tracked with, another he'd seen in passing. Of course, Stark had stood as the centerpiece, with Banner close to him. Buchanan had been among them not so long ago too. Silas hadn't seen Amara or her whelps that much recently, but again, for him, that was perfectly alright because he'd rather not see them if he could. He got by with a meager amount of camaraderie, someone warm to sleep next to if he wanted, and a willow forest still able to give him enough to hunt.

Before the thought could devolve further, he spied Tambourine's silvered silhouette and a stranger. A stranger. His ears pressed flat against his head and he steeled himself, forcing his paws towards this new unknown.

The Ostrega slid up beside his remaining pack mate and eyed the older wolf warily, worried, but cold and tired too. He said nothing, sensing their conversation and not knowing if a bland little greeting was even appropriate. Not knowing how to feel, not when two young wolves couldn't defend these empty grounds, kept him quiet.
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
1,343 Posts
Ooc — Ryan
Medic
Offline
#9
The offer was genuine, but the boy was wary to make a decision. And rightly so. To him, Reek was nothing more than a passing stranger -- not his long lost father with whom he desperately desired a tearful reunion. He likely didn't even remember meeting him in the woods with Stark months ago. When Tambourine decided to discuss his options with only remaining pack mate, Reek nodded. "Of course," he said. "Take all the time you need." This was, after all, an important decision that would likely impact the survival of all parties invovled.

While they waited, Reek answered the boy's question to the best of his ability. "I'm Reek," he said. He wasn't entirely sure that the name wouldn't jog the boy's memory. Reek, however, knew that Stark wouldn't have told the boy about his real father. "I was --" he paused and bit his lip. It was then that he heard a rustling, and the boy was joined by another. He was young too, by the looks of it. Young as they were, they were both able bodied adults -- and in Tambourines case, he was Reek's own flesh and blood. He needed them just as much as they needed him to make it though the winter.

"I was a friend of your mom's -- Tavi, from before you were born. We were close." Close didn't even scratch the surface of how he had felt about Tavi at one point. He had loved her, as he had loved many -- but now she was gone. And from their last meeting, Reek assumed that Tavi was likely dead. "She would have wanted me to keep you safe."
346 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Offline
#10
He nodded mutely when Reek told him to take his time. He would wait until Silas got here and they could talk about their options. When the stranger gave a name, it didn't ring any bells for Tambourine. Truthfully, his childhood was like a rolling blackout; the older he got, the less he remembered his earliest days. For this reason, he just barely recalled Tavi at all. She was a feeling these days, faded and frayed at the edges like an old but beloved photograph.

Before Tambourine could react to anything Reek said, Silas appeared. Although they weren't actually particularly close, the (former?) Xi instantly moved to bump against the yearling. The fact that they were apparently the last two men standing brought them closer together. "Silas, where did they go?" the youth asked in a strained, quiet voice. He mostly meant Stark and Banner, yet he also wondered about the rest of the Keep's members. Everyone else had vanished like ghosts. "And what should we do now?"

He glanced sideways at Reek, then faced Silas again to tell him, "This is Reek. He was a friend of my mom's a long time ago. He says we should go with him." That was one option. Of course, the other... "I want to stay here. What if they come back? We don't know what happened to them." Maybe they were waylaid or even hurt. What if they stumbled back here, just to find the Keep abandoned? Tambourine's heart clenched. "But..." he finished, feeling choked up for the first time in his life, "we could—" His voice failed him but he mouthed the word: die.
bowsprit
231 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#11
All in keeping an eye on the stranger, he did find it easy to keep close to Tambourine after he'd initiated the bump and question. In a way he'd never quite felt before, he was glad the silvered boy was still here, and still just as familiar as always. "Just.. gone. And the trails aren't the very best.. but it doesn't seem right," he answered with a grimace. He wondered if some of them intended it this way, or if his suspicions were coming out of nowhere. "I think Stark, Banner, and Talewi went west. Gwen towards the mountains. They all up and left us and I don't know why." To state the obvious, and partially because he'd not covered this topic in this degree of realism yet. It smarted already.

What to do now, indeed. A heavy, heavy thought occurred. He supposed it felt a bit like dread.

Silas could now call stranger Reek, although it soothed him little through his sorrow. He couldn't decide what to make of him and his odd scars yet. "I want to stay, too. I told Mom and Spur.. that I would be here," Silas tried not to waver. He'd only not gone with them so that he could welcome them back home when the time came -- although now gradually he understood better the naive assumption that made, for was this hardly a home still? What if none of them ever came back? Not them, not Stark, not any of them? What were they supposed to do with this hand they were dealt?

"There's still.. things and shelter here, the willows are a good home.." his voice was small. He knew these trails, he had caches sprinkled throughout, he still could hunt even with all the snow, and they had the Crook to help keep them warm. These amenities made him loathe to turn his back to them, not when his few hazy memories of wandering after leaving the Creek were nothing short of miserable. He didn't want to go back to that yet Tambourine's point was painfully real. They could die. "Yeah. Alone we might not be good enough.." He peeped, then clamped his jaw shut before shifting somewhat to address Reek. His stomach wanted to fall right through him from nervousness. "Where are you even going to? And from where? I've.. never heard about you." His eyes only searched up to his chest, but darted away at the end of his words. There underlined a hint of bitterness, mixed in with his angst and a sour little why should I even come with you of all wolves?
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
1,343 Posts
Ooc — Ryan
Medic
Offline
#12
The boys deliberated between themselves and Reek fell silent. Of course, the choice to stay or to go was their own choice to make. Reek would not force them to follow him. That sort of thing had always been a choice that he left open ended -- to be made on one's own volition. The sentiment they held toward the territory was understandable. It was home for them. Reek felt it hard to leave the grotto in turn, despite the toxic faith that had poisoned everything there. But as they discussed the prospect of staying, Reek could see the creeping sense of dread play upon both of their faces. To stay was a gamble. One with low odds, at that. To play the hand they were dealt would be foolish.

The eldest boy, the one Reek did not know, directed his questioning right at Reek. "I led a pack up north, the Grotto, with my mate. Coincidently Tambourine, it was the pack that your mother helped me found before she came here." Reek shrugged. He didn't feel he had to explain the schism between him and his son's mother. Nor did he speak of the faith that he abandoned. "The winter has been hard on us. And the ones I trusted most -- well, they all left." He supposed it was nearly the same situation that Tambourine and his friend found themselves in.

"Like I said, we've gathered a group to look for a new home. We think the south is our best option -- and hopefully, we can go far enough to escape the cold." If these boys wanted the security that a group could offer, Reek had just that. "I know you both may want to stay, and I get that. Home is..." He paused. "Well, home is important. But what I offer is a safe alternative, because if they don't come back for you --" Reek sucked in breath and shook his head. There was no real way to sugar coat it. If their old pack mates didn't come back, they would die.
346 Posts
Ooc — Kat
Offline
#13
When Silas reported the direction he thought the leaders had gone, another option occurred to Tambourine: they could go looking for them. For a split second, his heart lifted. He knew his friend was an experienced tracker. If anyone could find Stark and Banner, he could. But then the reality settled into the pup's bones like the chill in the air. Silas could be the most talented tracker on the planet but going scouting through the unfamiliar wilderness in the dead of winter would be even stupider than staying here, wishing and hoping.

Tambourine stared at the side of Silas's face as he reasoned through the options. He wanted to stay too, the younger boy could tell, but in the end the risk of death was probably too real. With that said, Silas seemed reluctant to trust this random stranger who'd showed up at their borders. Tambourine blinked over to Reek, belatedly registering his latest words. He didn't know or trust this guy either but he was beginning to wonder: what choice did they have?

A silence fell between the three of them that Tambourine broke with a slow, "What if..." He drew in a breath, looking around at the snowy willows, thinking of all the memories he had made here. His pale eyes then drifted back to Silas's face. "What if we left them a message, somehow? Or a sign? Then we could go with Reek," he continued slowly, exhaling another long breath, "but if Stark and the others come back, they'll know where we went..." It sounded a bit silly even as he said it. How could they even accomplish something like this?

But with each passing second, Tambourine was reluctantly coming to accept that would have the best chance at surviving if they were with other wolves. And seeing as the wolves of Marauder's Keep had left them here (willingly or otherwise), they needed to find another group to take them. Really, it was sort of a serendipitous blessing that Reek was here at all and that he was extending this offer. Tambourine and Silas might not know him from Adam but what if he hadn't come at all? And they were just left alone here without anyone? To die?

"We gotta go with him," he squeaked.
bowsprit
231 Posts
Ooc —
Offline
#14
Answers came, piece by piece. His trust was not going to come easily, and abstractly, he felt almost cornered by all of this horrid luck at once so that it wasn't the easiest to listen. What Reek offered was a better chance, but it might not land him in a better home than what here had been -- although that was thoroughly yanked out from beneath him. He just wished he could know why.

Heaving a sigh, he shivered from the cold and circumstance alike. "How could we do that? I don't.. know how? Especially if we don't even know where it is we're gonna go.." he asked, desperate for anything he could get as he tried pitifully to warm up to going away from the Keep. His family shouldn't be traveling if the weather was this bad anyway; even if they returned, he knew he shouldn't expect them until closer to spring.. ideally. But what did he know these days with everything turning upside-down. Maybe they'd never make it back this way, had found a paradise somewhere far from sorrow, and he had been wrong to not go with them.

Silas still kept his ears folded back, obviously nervous about all of this more by the second, but sensing another new defeat coming up on him.

He'd been really young when they'd left the Creek, but that feeling had still stuck with him for a long time and likely amplified by the loss of his brother. That hadn't been his decision to make, though. The swarm had helped seal the deal. This bad bitter cold seemed to do the same here and now. "I know," he winced and slumped his head tiredly. I don't want to die alone seemed to be all he could reason with, although he couldn't even bare to look at Reek yet after he'd said this.
Hope is for presidents and dreams are for people who are sleeping
1,343 Posts
Ooc — Ryan
Medic
Offline
#15
Y'all want to fade this thread here?

The decision to follow was not one made lightly. Reek could see how difficult it was for both boys to let go of the home they shared -- and even harder still, to let go of the ones who left them behind without even a proper goodbye. Eventually, begrudgingly, the boys came around to Reek's way of thinking. Though he did not show it, Reek was glad to know that he would now have the opportunity to get to know his son. Despite the fact that Reek had no idea how to tell Tambourine that he was his father, he felt like this was something of a start.

"A sign," he said. He wasn't exactly sure what they could do. It wasn't like a wolf could write a note and pin it to a tree. "I can bring my family here for the night. In the meantime, we can figure something out." He shrugged. "We can leave in the morning." With that, Reek howled to call the family who straggled not far behind. Here, they would make their camp.

"Welcome to the family boys."