forward dated to tomorrow, terance left roughly 6 days ago. vague about terance's interaction with lyra and hydra.
the journey was... fine. terance felt tired, as he'd travelled a good distance while hunting only small game occasionally, but overall he'd encountered no true issues. he wasn't positive this was the right place, but based on drakonis' description... well, he could only hope this was the right place.
standing on the boarders, weary for what was to come, he tilted his head back and called for his ex-beloved,
@Seabreeze, as well as
@Ibis and
@Okeanos, who he prayed would show.
He lingers near the borders even in his weakened state — maybe he's not the best person to answer the call, but he doesn't look that bad yet. It'll be fine, he's sure. So when he hears the unfamiliar howl, even clearly not for him, he sets off towards it without hesitation.
A dark male, large and scarred, stands on the borders. He's pretty hot, actually, but he doesn't look too pleased. Hello,
He offers when he's near enough (but still at a slight distance, mindful of his sickness), trying not to sound as tired as he is. Welcome to the Bracken Sanctuary. I'm —
Fuck. He breaks off with a brief cough. Ah, sorry. I have a — cold. I'm Alarian, the Governor. What's your business here?
More specifically, why are you calling for Seabreeze?
the man introduced himself, and terance bowed respectfully to his status. of course, he didn't know it, but terance was an outsider, and so all wolves of the sanctuary were to be met as such. before alarian had even commented on it, terance could smell the illness. of course, he had no idea how bad it was within the boarders of the sanctuary, but as deeply as he cared for seabreeze and his children... he worried a bit.
"i'm terance, beta of sunspire, it's a pleasure, alarian," he said with another dip of his crown, "there was a shortage of food at our mountain, and seabreeze--" terance might've finished his sentence, had he not spotted ibis. he stayed put, not daring to cross over the borders, but a loud, longing whine escaped his maw as his daughter-- his beautiful daughter-- barreled towards him.
"little bird!!" he exclaimed in return, accepting her forceful embraced with strong limbs. he fell to his haunches, rump in the air, accepting all the love ibis gave him and smothered her face and cheeks in kisses. "i missed you so much," he murmured, nuzzling her cheeks, "you've grown so big." for a moment, he forgot entirely about alarian.
SORRY couldn't help but post :L everyone can still jump in, but also good to keep the thread moving.
It comes together quickly as the man introduces himself and starts to speak, and then one of Seabreeze's children goes flying past him, yelling for her father — ah, okay. He straightens slightly, relieved when Seabreeze herself appears a moment later, other child in tow. He swallows back another cough, glancing to her and noting her posture. It's confusing, but he doesn't question her — maybe that's how things are at Sunspire.
Nice to meet you, Terance,
He says — it's not really that nice, but that's what he's probably supposed to say. He feels more awkward than anything now, but he's certain there's some kind of friendship growing between himself and Seabreeze, so he's not about to leave unless she asks. But he doesn't say anything else; he only glances again to Seabreeze, half waiting for her to send him off — dude doesn't seem so bad, but of course, he's been wrong plenty before.
of course he is too small to understand how his words might, in fact, be hurtful themselves -- all he knows is the situation is strange and wrong. papa's i love you sounds like another goodbye, only oke just had the perfect idea, so why is everyone still tense and sad? with a whine he winds himself around his dandelion-puff sister, looking between mama and papa with solemn green eyes.
"stay, papa," he echoes himself and mama, "oke love papa!"
It happens quickly. Okeanos pleading for their father to stay, and then Ibis—puny and hurting and overly emotional child Ibis—pushing off of her brother. Her physical separation from him could've been a sign for something deeper, a separation from the concept that he blithely uttered. She doesn't know what she wants but the look of frustration on her face is one clue; and then she is peeling away from Okeanos, racing for her mother, where she collapses by her feet and hides as if the man standing nearby—who previously had so much goodness and cheer from the girl—was suddenly a villain.
Ibis cries, Daddee leaving,
and she lifts her head to shoot blurry daggers from between the protective hurdles of her mother's limbs. Ibis couldn't figure out how she felt about the whole situation and was enveloped by her many emotions; she was a raging storm trapped in a tiny body, and soon enough crying took too much energy, and she fell quiet again.
too many things happened. when moments ago ibis was almost ready to come home with him, she was now glaring at him as if it was him that was the bad guy-- as if it was him who had left-- him who had torn their once precious family apart. his jaws parted slightly as he held the horrible gaze that his daughter shot at him. his vision blurred at tears stung at the corners of his eyes, and he blinked rapidly, head falling to his chest as he attempted to compose himself.
he took a few shallow breathes, and within a few heartbeats he was staring back at seabreeze. his throat burned. it was so tight and hot that he could hardly find a voice within him to speak to her again. this was her fault, she had done this. if only his daughter hadn't turned his poor heart to stone, terance might have asked to stay the night.
"i don't think it's a good idea," he replied quietly, raspy, through the dryness that plagued his throat. he looked to seabreeze, feeling so broken he couldn't even keep his ears up-- they pressed to his skull. even as ibis began to grow tired of her own tantrum, terance knew it would hurt too much to stay, even if she had calmed.
his gaze fell quickly through each of his family, and taking a final rest on seabreeze. "i'll be back in a moon, i love you all," he said gently, beginning to turn to go, his paws feeling both like lead weights and water.
"i'm sorry," he added, pausing before he would take his leave, gaze resting on the ground before him, "that i couldn't be enough for you." he'd wanted to stay and talk to seabreeze separately. he wanted to apologize for how he handled her leave-- among other things-- but this was too much for him. he didn't want to stay anymore. he wanted to go back home.