A hair's breadth — that's how close he'd been.
The golden bard and his handsome lord had set out to traverse the land in search of a faceless enemy. They'd
dropped in at Phoenix Maplewood and Goldhawk had
asked around in neighbouring lands, but to no avail. And then, a breakthrough. Roaming a flowery meadow, the traveller had encountered
a trio of wolves, one of whom professed to be Goober's friend. This had seemed like such a promising spark of good luck that in meeting up with Scimitar afterwards Goldhawk had spoken eagerly of his find, allowing Scimitar to return to Neverwinter with confidence. But sadly, the confidence was misguided after all. A trail so hot had suddenly become cold, and with no sign of Goober from the mysterious friend or anywhere else, Goldhawk had been forced to admit that his mission had fizzled out completely.
The journey home was a lot less enjoyable than the journey out. For that first adventure had been a great sunlit quest full of promise, with his Alpha at his side. The trek back was bored and lonely, uneventful and needlessly drizzly. He'd taken a much faster pace, too, having no reason to hang around and take his time. When he arrived back at Neverwinter he felt a great warmth flood his heart at the sight of those majestic trees that spoke of home. It was good to be back. But before he could seek out friends and food and settle down for a well-earned rest, he had business to attend to. This afternoon was grim and grey, and his coat was dishevelled from it all, but the howl he sent up was loud and strong. He requested the presence of
@Eshe and
@Scimitar, and wondered vaguely if there was any chance
@Charon was also mid-visit. The traveller had news to impart, and it was not the news they'd all been hoping for.
Days had been quiet after his return home. He kept mostly to the side of his mate, though found himself checking in often with
@Kaskara. It was becoming clear his sister was pregnant, and while he was happy for both her and his brother-in-law, he quietly worried about the situation with Goober – and what could occur if they came up empty-handed.
Goldhawk’s familiar voice summoned him – a voice he was now very familiar with, given the various songs he had endured during their quick journey together. A gentle smile pulled at his muzzle, and nudging his mate, whose limbs had been entangled with his own during a nap, Scimitar rose, his paws quickly leading him to the direction of their Gamma.
Upon arrival, he was quick to note Goober was not with him – but more importantly, the tawny wolf was safe.
“Welcome home,” he offered, ambling forward as he closed the distance between the two.
“How did it go?”
Eshe heard the call and galloped toward it. She presumed Goober would be with the man, and could not detect if that was the case on the wind. Eshe had come from the opposite direction of Scimitar, and when she saw her mate she beamed at him. She thought of Kaskara for a moment, and the cubs to come. She felt sad that she had (presumably) been through her own heat, and that he would not see her in that state for a while yet. Perhaps it was a good thing. For as her gaze shifted to Goldhawk, she saw that he was alone. Still, her relief to see him in one piece was palpable, and she echoed her mates sentiment with a slow nod and moved to nose him in greeting. She remained quiet, having heard her mate ask the question and wondering the same thing.
Despite the increasing rain giving him the appearance of a great drowned dog, and his failure being even more of a downer than that, Goldhawk could not help but smile through the rain as he caught sight of the strapping pair. Ah, he really was very fond of them both both. Little flashes of the time he'd spent with each of them kicked him back into optimism — he remembered bowing to Eshe as she faithfully welcomed him into Neverwinter, he remembered running at Scimitar's side, teaching Eshe how to shadow-box with a tree, showing Scimitar the ballad he'd written, and conversing with them both about Silvertip and Goober and other such matters. Yes... they were fair and gracious leaders, and he had faith that they would not cast him out for this.
So, after repositioning himself so that all three warriors were stood beneath the cover of a towering pine, Goldhawk gave a low bow and raindrops slid off the end of his handsome nose. Our quarry has vanished — I'm gosh darn sorry to admit that I had to either give up hope or spend a lifetime out there. I was very close
, he explained, as I reported to you, m'lord
, he blinked up at the man, avoiding his eyes submissively. I got so far as to become acquainted with a self-proclaimed friend of Goober's — Samuel was his name, or is his name I should say. But then that was it, lack a day
, he sighed. I kept to our innocuous story good and proper, but my wager is this: when Samuel told Goober of a friend-of-a-friend, Goober smelt a rat and bolted. But who can say what really happened? Not ole Goldhawk here
, he admitted in sad conclusion.
Had he known better, Scimitar could have sworn the gold wolf was more downtrodden than usual – the grin that broke out before them from Goldhawk seemed more worn than usual, though somehow, the soggy wolf managed to keep his spirits up.
With the pines offering protection from the drizzle, the dark agouti man flicked an ear at the sound of Eshe’s paw falls, though his gaze only drifted to her briefly before he studied Goldhawk once more. He was eager to have this entire thing behind them – Saena was safe, and so his investment on seeking ot Goober had only been spurned by Eshe’s desire to help Charon – but if the plan had failed, he would not be sending more wolves out.
“You tried – it’s all any of us could do,” Scimitar noted, with the news that Goober has evaded them. Whether the man was simply on the move with his other friend, or had indeed felt suspicious about others asking about him, it was indeed hard to say. Glancing at Eshe, he gave a nod to her. “We should tell Charon – Moonspear can decide what they want to do from here.”
While she was disappointed in the results—and a little anxious, as it meant the rapist was still on the loose—Scimitar was indeed right. He had tried; what else could be done? Samuel was the name of the wolf that helped, so if Charon wished to, he could ask Samuel himself. Who did Samuel run with?
She tilted her head; if she was going to be the bearer of bad news, she'd give Charon the tools to make good of it. And after a beat, she looked fondly to Goldhawk. Thank you so much, Goldhawk. You've done very well,
she hummed happily. An ear-flick acknowledged Scimitar's words initially before she looked to him and nodded. She would have to do that.
Despite being a pointedly professional warrior, Goldhawk could not help but breathe a small sigh of relief at the good grace of his leaders. He had guessed they'd react this way, but still. It was bally nice, wot.
Thank you both
, he said humbly, smile reappearing — but it was unlingering as he recalled his meeting with Samuel and the others. Samuel was with two companions, and they all smelled of spring water and foxes — a fragrance I got a whiff of as I passed a nearby forest. It's to the southeast, directly south of Phoenix Maplewood, beyond a very flowery meadow. That forest, I verily suppose, is where Goober was last seen.
There was plenty to suppose here, because to sit tight and interrogate Samuel et al would've most certainly raised suspicions. But given that Samuel had said he'd pass the message to Goober, it seemed likely that he was from Samuel's pack — the forest that smelled of spring water and foxes.
He wondered if Charon of Moonspear would chase this cold trail and do what Goldhawk couldn't.
Eshe questioned their Gamma on whom the wolf Samuel ran with, and Scimitar remained quiet for the duration of their discussion on the matter. It was unfortunate that the brown wolf had gotten away with his crime – especially for the girl he had victimized, but all that was left to be done was to deliver the message to the Moonspear wolves. With a nod to echo the sentiment his mate offered Goldhawk, Scimitar gave him a gentle smile, giving a nod of appreciation to the man.
Goldhawk had indeed gone above and beyond for a pack that wasn’t even his. “Get some food – see if the caches have any.. Get some rest,” he murmured in suggestion to the newly returned Forest wolf. With that, he gave a nod to his silver mate, his teeth aiming to nibble one ear affectionately. “When should we tell Charon?”
It was determined after that Eshe would tell him -- though Scimitar was hesitant to let her do so alone. Still, it was a matter between family at this point, and with a nod, the trio finally broke apart from their meeting. Scimitar offered Goldhawk one more offer of gratitude, and would stride off to spend time with his mate before her trip to Moonspear.