Totoka River this cowboy is running from himself

@Deirdre <3

It was different, when he lost Amber. There'd been something between them - small and fragile, but still true. Maybe love, or maybe something that would've become love, given a little time and effort. And when she left, Day had felt a loss that was more than a lack of warmth at his side, and more than a worry for his cubs, who still needed their mother around.

With Khoe, there was little else. He found himself a bit relieved to be rid of her, even though he knew his children suffered for her absence. And it was only for those children that he searched for her. Whatever drew them together had long since faded, and the woman's disappearance had broken the last shred of trust he'd had in her. He still cared for her, as she was one of his own, but she'd always been a flight risk, and Grayday had been waiting for the day that she would abandon them again.

Maybe she would be back, but he doubted it would be do to any action on his part. Khoe would decide when - if ever - it was right to return.

But Grayday owed his children more than that, and so he set off that day toward the coast, keeping a distracted eye out for the woman, but mostly leaving his own marks along the way, his scent half a question, half an offer. And, when he came to the sea, he simply stood there, wondering why he'd ever thought he could chain her spirit to his.

the Day of Remembering had happened in thanks to the sea, and a ritual meant to test the once-Galateia. the sea had taken, but it had returned, and though Deirdre did not remember anything but names and places she knew that she must go. it was with a heavy heart that she had left the women who had taken her in as sisters, but Akantha had understood. the witch had left them in the cover of the night, and as the winds beat wildly around her in encouragement she felt at peace. she could not translate the restlessness within her, but now... now she understood. and the winds guided the powerful witch homeward.

she was a woman of the forest, but she had forged a relationship with the ocean in her time away from the woods. she headed to the coastline; the sea and its whipping winds had told her it was there she would find an answer. it was in no man or woman, but in all of the things she would come to see. her emerald eyes sparkled with determination; she was no longer trapped within herself, sedate and lost. 

there stood a man in the distance, a man that if Deirdre ever knew she did not know now. he seemed lost, and Deirdre's heart had been the one thing to not change in all of her days. the full-figured beauty drifted toward her elder, and her soft, gentle voice was carried by a faint breeze: are you alright?

The woman came upon him so smoothly, so gracefully that Grayday scarcely believed she was real. He'd seen many wolves matching this one's description, but she was unmistakable in her beauty.

"Deirdre," he croaked, hhis throat suddenly very dry. She'd grown since he last saw her, and her scent was different than he remembered - but it was her.

Grayday dipped his head in something akin to reverence.

"I - I'm alright," he said. "But what about you? I sent someone to find you, but she said that Donnelaith had burned. I feared the worst."

he spoke her name, and Deirdre's thick lashes fluttered—he knows me!—though as he continued, the woman frowned. even this did not take from her beauty, though her eyes became very sad. donnelaith. that was a name that she remembered very well, and she could weep from the hurt she endured as he spoke those words. I do not remember, came her words. not you, not the fire—I... I remember my family, though not what they look like... oh! did the fire take them? would she not know that they have died? 

her eyes fell to his paws, and she swallowed both her tears and her fears. could you take me there? came her anxious whisper, and she looked back to him, to donnelaith? she did not think she could face it alone, the sight that surely waited for her.

Grayday seemed to perk up at the idea of a trip with Deirdre, but quickly sobered once more as he remembered his other obligations. He couldn't leave his children for that long. Not yet.

"I'd be honored to escort you, miss, but I can't be away from my pack for that long, at the moment. One of our women is sick and pregnant, and my cubs - they're still young, and their mother just left them. The only reason I'm out at all is to find her," he explained, hoping she could see the earnest regret in his eyes.

"You helped me with my eyes, and I want to repay that kindness, but my family needs me right now." He felt guilty and flustered by his inability to do so with her simple request. Hopefully, she didn't notice. "Perhaps in a few weeks, when my cubs have had a little time to adjust to losing their mother..." He suggested, trailing off as he realized how silly it was to ask her to wait for him - him.

"I'm terribly sorry," he finished lamely.