Wolf RPG

deirdre still evaded her father; she was not at all discreet in this as she did not know how to be, and it pained her to see the hurt upon her fathers face. it was nearly enough to make her stay, and once she had made the effort to—but it had been too soon, and she was swiftly overwhelmed and flooded with fear. it had been weeks since that day, and the witch had taken to the garden she shared with eilidh or else was with @Tachyon, a wolf she adored and admired with all of her heart. he often found her, but as he had not done so in days, deirdre felt a fear creep into her breast. had the woman returned? had she taken him from her?

the mayfair witch was restless without him near; it was tachyon she had entrusted with her worries big and small, and he had become both her wall that kept the monsters at bay and the net that captured any that climbed them. deirdre had never been aware of her need for him up until the first day he had left. she napped where he had last been at work, but when he did not return in the time he usually would she moved toward the edges of donnelaith. not too near, lest the white ghoul be waiting for her there, but near enough to know of his approach. she would sit there for hours on end, and then busy herself at the garden, and then return and resume her wait.

how many days or nights had passed since then? she was not sure. deirdre simply knew he had not come to find her, and so on this day she again settled to her haunches in a sit, her large eyes hopeful but her heart fretting. as the hours went by, she would eventually slump into a defeated mass, laying miserably beside a blooming rosebush.

When Dante was about, he did so wth a lightness of heart that he hadn't felt in a long while.  It was as if with spring his high spirit returned, any and all bad spirits banished along with winter's chill.  For the most part, things were going well. He had been closed off from much of the pack for a bit, disconnected in a way perhaps a Beta had no right to be.  But the time spent focused on his mate was time he was glad to have, and he could not find it in himself to feel guilty.

But now she was gone, traveling against his better judgement, and he knew he needed to once again catch up with the lives of his family.  He was determined not to fret - his mate had shown time and time again she was capable.  So he sought out distraction, and found it waiting beneath the trees.  Deirdre, alone and seemingly distracted.  He hadn't seen her in a while, but she seemed so intent that for a moment he hovered uncertainly.  Finally he sat down where he was, content to simply keep silent company a ways away, unsure if she wished to be bothered but unwilling to leave her completely alone out here right now.

there she was, slumped to the earth now, ears twitching only as insects hummed past her. though another sound alerted her to another wolf, and instinctively the growing child lifted her head up to seek the maker of the sound. her heart jumped to her throat as her emerald eyes caught on to the newest aspect of the forests landscape, and her ears flattened atop her head. from afar, the cub did not recognize him by sight. her own olfactory senses were not able to focus on one particular thing, and young and untrained as she was she could not pick one scent from the next. the world smelled of donnelaith, but her deep-rooted fear caused her rational to shift, and she imagined that in the air, the dry scent of salt was present that caused her eyes to sting and her throat to close. deirdre physically exuded the signs of stress, her furs lifting in an anxious bristle and her eyes round and large.

He had frightened her - he could tell immediately.  Contrite, he frowned, but remained where he was.  He didn't want to appear more threatening by standing and moving in, not without making it clear first he was friendly.

"Hello."  He said, then looked curiously in the direction she stared.  "Watching something?"  His manner was offhand, and he did not introduce himself; possibly a misstep.  Yet frightened children were not a forte of his and his experience in the arena was sadly limited.

his genial, warm tone might have soothed any other. that he was not immediately cruel did cause her resolve to waver, but her nervous mind overwhelmed her. the rabbit-hearted girl withdrew, pushing herself backward and watching him alertly. yet instinct forbid her from running; the babe remembered what had happened the last time she had done such a thing. and so instead, deirdre screeched at a fearsome banshee pitch to ward him away. the forest roused with the disturbance and its veins pulsed with her panic; birds flew from their roosts as feathers spiraled downward from the boughs they left behind and the leaves quaked and shivered with the movement of animals fleeing. her eyes were bright with fear, and her chest heaved with the effort of remaining in place. the sound she emitted did not end; it went on and on, and the forest screamed right with her.

"dante."

the man's voice was soft; he came forth to stand beside the silver beta, eyes soft with worry at the quaking form of his daughter, whom he reached out to with a reassuring press of his muzzle. "dante is a friend, chère petite sorcière," lasher murmured into one tiny ear, turning to glance apologetically at their silvered companion.

"deirdre saw me slay the woman who would have killed her that day," the druid whispered, moving back to the beta's side. "i fear it has affected her greatly; she is plagued by all manner of fear now. it will take some time to move through; she knows you mean no ill will, and yet she does not." 

a smile to his little one. "would you like to tell dante what the flowers spoke of to you?"

When she instead began to wail, Dante continued to hover uncertainly, now wondering if he shouldn't simply leave.  But he did not wish to leave her with her fears, but instead to ease them.  So he readied himself to get low, planning to inch forward and murmur comfortingly, hoping she might quiet and hear what he said aside from fear.

Lasher's appearance halted that plan, and he instead pulled back, ears tucking back as Lasher comforted the girl.  He did not accuse Dante, but still the wolf felt perhaps now things were better handled by the father.  He did not wish to make her fear greater.

"It's alright - she doesn't need to.  I can go."  He said quietly, hurt by the reaction but also understanding.  The pup was not to blame, for she had been through a great deal.  But he regretted the rocky meeting all the same.

her eyes began to sting as tears pricked at them. deirdre gave in to fear and nearly melted in it; her bowels shook within her, but they alone held themselves together. when her father arrived upon the scene, his nearness caused her to quiet entirely. she froze against the feeling of his whisper, and her eyes were wide, revealing the whites. his words to her were all that were permitted. her father knew this man. she might find him again, but the little girl broke clear of her father, the man she feared most, and did not look back. the forest aided her in her act of disappearing, and she threw herself into thorns and slept among them when she felt far enough away. none had touched her this time, and deirdre, wild-eyed, looked back to see if she had been followed.

perhaps he should not have interfered, but deirdre's cry had razed his very core. he sighed as she ran into the welcoming embrace of the woodland, a sprite if there ever was one, and turned his eyes upon dante. "i admit -- i do not know what to do. even osprey, gentle osprey, cannot soothe her, i think." in some ways, he regretted killing the woman, but he swept that notion aside firmly. she had to be slain, for the greater good of donnelaith. "i am sorry, dante."

If Dante felt any amusement at hearing Osprey referred to as 'gentle' (particularly if compared to Lasher's own mate), it was not to be noticed.  His stomach dropped when Dierdre ran, for he had no way of knowing that Lasher was the true cause.  He instead worried he had only made things worse between the two of them and knew, for a good long while, he would be steering clear of the children after this to avoid doing so again.  "I should be the one apologizing.  I am not the best with children."  To be fair, he didn't have much practice to go with.  But it was true often he wasn't sure which was the right route to take in dealing with them.

"I hope... good luck.  You probably need to go find her." He turned and made to leave, not giving the alpha much a chance to stop him.  Perhaps if Lasher called out he would pause, but mayhaps he would not.

dante departed with a gentle word, and lasher watched him dismally before he turned and loped after his daughter. "deirdre, deirdre," he called softly, drawing to her side with long strides. but he did not persuade her to look upon him, nor did he ask for her to pause. he only trotted alongside her, or ran if she quickened her speed.