Hideaway Strath Oh, who says it ever has to end
you ain't seen nothing like me yet
391 Posts
Ooc — Sonia
Botanist
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#1
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@Witchdoctor @Tapat @Seri @Eirlys - just one brief reply each and we'll get the Undersea thread up shortly. This is mostly to provide some closure, lay out the in between, and start our new chapter. Thank you guys <3


Hemlock woke a few days after they had buried Lotte to a sudden and very real feeling that she didn't want to wait any longer. Arturo and Ceallach had gone out to scout ahead several times and even though she had her shadows to keep her company she knew when the boys returned she wouldn't want to spend another moment in the Strath. It had taken her deepest love, and she felt the raw bitter rise of emotions still in her with every breath. 

She lifted her head to give a loud, clear call, assembling the wolves that remained so they could discuss matters. It didn't take long before the few remainders assembled and her weary gaze swept over them to finally settle on Arturo, holding his gaze for a few measured beats before she drew in a deep breath. "With all that we have lost, Teaghlaigh has not been the harbor we deserve. We will head north, to the coast, and see what fortunes we can find."  Teaghlaigh would be no more, and truly, she couldn't say that she would miss it. 

She would have the memories she had made here, and she would still have the wolves who had become her family - even without Teaghlaigh to bind them. Her gaze lingered on Tapat and Seri the longest, hoping to give them the assurance that it was their choice. "I want you to come with us. It is, of course, your choice - but I want you both along side us."  Hemlock  had never been as eloquent as Lotte or Arturo and with that she fell silent, wanting confirmation that they could either come along or make their own path before they dispersed. 
 

available for naturalist and medical threads just tag her!
i grew a human and unfortunately as a horrible side effect lost an organ - as such will be slow from time to time.

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193 Posts
Ooc — Mar
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#2
Tapat lifted his head when he heard the familiar howl of Hemlock calling him. The boy was swift to respond. He remembered Hemlock well by now, as they had grown close. The boy knew how to find her. The pale boy greeted her excitedly with respectful licks under her chin. The boy then plopped next to her, curiously looking at her what she wanted of him.

The boy heard the sad howls but he had forgotten by now that one of their own died. It was still a weird concept for him. For him, they just vanished from their mind, as harsh as that sounds. Tapat was confused with her words at first. Quite soon he realized that they were leaving. His heart jolted. But!!! But then Lagan couldn't visit him anymore. Tapat was instantly panicked. Who would give him his kisses?! He liked being with Lagan.

Then Hemlock followed with giving them a choice. Tapat didn't like to be on his own. He grew scared and lonely. He still remembered how it was like without his parents. How he ended at this pack in the first place was because he got lost. Tears popped into his eyes. "Hem!!!," he whined. "But if we move Lagan doesn't know and then I will never see him again!!," he cried. "But I don't wanna be alone. I don't want either option! I want Lagan and family," he sounded so confused and upset.
136 Posts
Ooc — Raven
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#3

Seri heard the echoing of a howl from Hemlock and she trotted over to where she was. She nodded her head towards her and greeted her. Unlike Tapat she wasn't wagging her tail or excited. Seri had known about Lotte's death, even though she hadn't known the female very well, she knew that she was higher in the pack and that she was highly respected and loved by many other of the pack. Mostly Arturo and Hemlock. She was sad that they had lost one of the members of the pack even if she couldn't feel the pain the others did. Coupled with the fact that their numbers were slowly vanishing, she forsaw this day comming.

Hemlock and Arturo were heading north towards the coast for a new start and Seri wondered where she would go now. This was the second time in her life where the pack she was in disbanded. It was beginning to skew the way she view packs. Something that wouldn't stay together long, and how she might be moving around all her life. The last time at least she had found Natashe along the way, who she wasn't really close to but had been her realative. Who did she have now?

With that in her mind she was surprised to hear Hemlock ask for her and Tapat to go with her. The two hadn't spent too much time together, but Seri was glad to go with her over being alone. She also liked the short amount of time she had spent with her prior. "Thank you Hemlock! I'll be right by your side the whole way." she wasn't going to make the same mistake as before. She didn't need a complete redue of when her birth pack had disbanded.

Then Tapat blurted out. Talking about how he didn't want to go because Lagan wouldn't be able to find him. Seri didn't know who this Lagan was, but she assumed it was the gray wolf he had been waiting at the border for. They never did end up patroling with Tapat's brother. It made Seri think of Natashe. It had been a long time but she was out there too, and what if she returned to find out that Seri was gone. "Tapat, why don't you and me go mark the border quick to tell Lagan and Natashe where we're heading." she looked to Hemlock quickly for approval.
he's raised on the edge of the devil's backbone
630 Posts
Ooc — Phi
Master Guardian
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#4
The witchdoctor is still trying to get his bearings, trying to grasp everything that has happened while he …slept. The gangster had children, and a pack, and evidently not one but two wives. It’s not hard to put together the pieces that the death of the one they call Lotte is what had woken the witchdoctor from slumber eternal and that the abandonment and betrayal of his eldest daughter is what had been the gangster’s breaking point. Or rather, the point in which Riptide had mercilessly snuffed out the heart-broken gangster as one snuffs out a candle’s flame. It’d been easy.

When Hemlock calls the few that remain to her Riptide joins the gathering, noting absently that he is not the first to arrive. Unsurprising, considering any mental maps the gangster had made of his once home were taken with him to the grave. His fiery gaze touches upon her, greedily lingering on the swell of her belly. Arturo’s children. His children. Their children? It is a shame that Arturo took that memory too. Selfish bastard, the witchdoctor thinks with a silent huff. Hemlock’s words are not surprising to him so he pays partial attention to them, studying the youths. One a young adult, one close to a young adult. They don’t look like him. Good. He has enough surprise spawn to deal with and wrap his mind around without adding two others to it. There was already too much. Too much for Riptide to remember, too much for him to grasp all at once.

The pallid boy whines and blurts out about some boy named Lagan and that he’ll never see him again. There is an itching flare of annoyance that rises within him as the pallid boy wishes to harbor a lack of filter between his mind and mouth. The witchdoctor could too. “Life’s never fair,” The sea-witch hisses at the pallid boy, offering a small curl of his lip. “Stay or come with us; but if you choose to come with us I don’t want to hear anymore about how you may never see this Lagan boy again.” Or else he’d …well he can’t exactly claim he’s sane currently but nevertheless having to listen to it over and over again would be enough to push the witchdoctor into something unfortunate and regrettable …especially while everything is a disorienting rush around him and his bearings are horribly fucked.
wreathed in iron and in fire
i bare my bloody teeth
and only pity makes my strike so clean
dressed like a deer kills like a lion
65 Posts
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#5

Ceallach was quiet as he made his way to where Hemlock was. No doubt that she couldn't move to go and find them all - every day he was surprised that she hadn't already given birth. He was quiet for most of the exchange, keeping close to his sister to support her as much as he could. Or maybe steal as much of the comfort he could from her. Despite knowing that his family was going to move Ceallach still felt the knowledge almost gutted him. 

He shuddered as it was said that they'd leave the Strath, the only home he'd known, and turned to press his face unto Eirlys' scruff for a moment. He looked up to Tapat's outcry and Seri's suggestion. Before he could say anything his father did - actually snapping at Tapat. Ceallach's brow furrowed, fur bristling a bit before he took a moment to control himself. "When we're settled we can figure out visiting your friend, Tapat."  He had never defied his parents, being a dutiful son to a fault - but they all hurt. He had lost his mother and Tapat had lost his entire family - they had chosen to leave, and Tapat had to choose to stay with them or risk the dangers of living alone. 

"We found a path north that should be easy enough, even with resting for Hemlock."  Ceallach explained, hoping no one was going to get more upset. This was already hard enough and he didn't feel like he'd keep it together if they fought with each other more.