@Tytonidae <3
atticus had awoken, which put to rest the issue over the offer lasher had made unto blue willow. yet he would not forget how fox had treated him, how she had ground his words into such dust beneath her haughty tongue, and how she had sought to put him in his place. the gamma found shame in the fact that peregrine had formally named the three of them as a triad in the pack — he did not wish to be affliated with the ruby any longer.
perhaps one privy to his thoughts would think him a whining sort, but in truth taltos had been hurt by fox's contention that his children would be worth nothing. it struck him in the masculine portion of his pride, and he was incensed at her for it.
the girl-child of kisu and the late pied had disappeared, seemingly in the very wake of osprey junior. perhaps the more assertive of the young women had persuaded her sister to this mysterious clan of ocean-cult women. taltos paced along through the shadows of the forest, ever in search of prey with which to stock their larders, and yet enjoying the solitude posed by the crisp september afternoon.
Idk what is going to happen in the Atticus thread, so I'm not gonna mention it here.
Tytonidae still often searched for her sister's scent for hours before remembering that Junior had gone off to live with another family. Often, Ty would wake up in the middle of the night and wonder why her sister was not sleeping next to her, returning to the fitful sleep that she'd always had. Her friends tried to comfort her, telling her that everything would be okay, but Ty was not so sure. With everybody else leaving, Ty had become more and more convinced that she, too, was supposed to leave.
The coolness that had crept over the earth lately was unsettling to Tytonidae. Already, she missed the mornings where she awoke too hot and panting for breath. Perhaps she should have been more excited about this change, but Tytonidae was beginning to
hate change.
Up ahead, the girl spotted Lasher, and she moved toward him with caution. She still was not quite sure what to think of him, other than a fellow pack-mate.
he sensed a presence, and turned, spotting the dark form of peregrine's last daughter that remained upon the plateau. "hello, ty," the man murmured, slowing his step so that she might catch up with him, if she so chose. he wondered why she had not followed either of her sisters, or if she was planning to do so. ty was an odd sort, perhaps unpredictable — one could not know the thoughts of her mind.
taltos did understand she had been spending a goodly portion of her time with atticus, and so at length, plume waving, he spoke fondly to the girl: "atticus is awake now. i am sure this makes you happy, yes?" the epsilon perhaps mistakenly presumed.
“I...” she paused, “I think so.” Was that the right answer? Tytonidae could never be too certain if she was saying the right thing or not. She wished that there was a clear answer written somewhere. Or that somebody could just tell her all the right things to say so she didn't mess it up. Instead, she went around feeling as uncertain as ever about every word that spilled from her mouth, even to the closest of her relatives and friends.
“Are you happy he is awake?” Ty asked, hoping to gain some kind of idea of whether she had answered correctly or not.
her response was unsure, the dark girl of faded hue, but lasher had no doubt that atticus' accident had left ty reeling as much as it had affected the rest of them. he nodded. "i am happy he is well." perhaps atticus could return to them eventually in his capacity as beta — and blue willow's mate — but for now the man was merely pleased to see his lover's brother responsive.
"i must go and visit him soon. do you think he would like company?" lasher asked carefully of her, wondering if she guarded atticus as well as visited him.
An air of uncertainty was always present around Tytonidae. Every sentence she spoke often sounded a question, and questions were muttered meekly more often than not. Unlike her siblings, she had stayed close to her birthplace, rarely traveling out of it, and even then, not without informing everybody and coming back within five or six days. She was not an explorer or a risk-taker. She liked the comfort of the familiar and her family surrounding her. The latter, of course, had been lacking as of late.
“Maybe?” she half-said, half-asked, “I will go with you, if you want me to.” If there was one thing that could be said of the dusky girl, it was that she was obedient and eager to please. Ty wanted nothing more than for others to like her and be grateful for her.
there was an eagerness in her tone that caused lasher to regard her more closely for a moment. tytonidae was not a wolf he knew closely, but somehow he doubted that as she had grown older, she had grown closer to the wolves in her pack. with a scattered family, perhaps she felt alone. but he did not know how to ask her this, fearing a blunt approach might perturb her.
"i would like that," he said quietly, giving her a fond look. "have you thought of a trade you would like to pursue, ty?" he asked after a moment. "perhaps healing?" maybe the girl would take up blue willow's mantle of herbs.
Ty's tail moved the air around it when he spoke of trades. “Dad said I could be a gamekeeper… if I tried.” "Want" was not really something that Tytonidae was familiar with. Instead, there were things she was supposed to do, things that she needed to do, and things that she just did. Her own personal gain was rarely in the mix of it. She thought being a gamekeeper made sense because, out of all the wolves of the plateau, she was probably closest with her father.
“Are you a healer?” she asked, a little more confidently this time. She knew that Blue Willow was one of them, but maybe there could be more than one. Maybe Lasher was her apprentice, just as she was going to be her father's apprentice.
he recalled that peregrine had also intended gamekeeper as a role for himself — perhaps he should pursue it after all this time. "i think you would make a fine gamekeeper, ty," he said lightly. to her inquiry, he shook his head quietly.
"i am not. though i have considered it." it was almost as if the girl had suggested it to him; he mulled it over in his head for a long moment. "i do not think i could ever be as skilled as blue willow."
Fade with your next post? Trying to wrap up some old threads. :)
A shy smile formed on her lips, and she turned away, feeling suddenly small and rather warm. She shrugged lightly, not wanting to set expectations she would never accomplish. She was a humble being, after all, and wanted to please, but she certainly did not want to over-promise anybody, least of all her father's special friend.
He mentioned how skilled Bee-dubs was, and Ty nodded.
“She knows a lot of stuff,” she replied, think of all the times her aunt had helped her with a tummy ache or a bump on the nose. Often, it was just waiting it out with the bumps and bruises, but she had given her strange plants from time to time when she'd eaten something rotten.
“Do you want to help me track some stuff?” she asked sheepishly, hoping that Uncle Lasher would be able to teach her something about keeping game.
sure :)
he nodded, warmed by the smile that had appeared on her face. "of course." motioning that she should accompany him over the borders, lasher spent several hours instructing her in how he moved about prey, the small towpaths used by deer and their benefits, and the newer caches he had dug for the pack.