she told herself that brecheliant would be all right, and set out on her own journey. she told neither bridget nor eljay nor ibis where she meant to go, only that she would be back.
what teya meant as a brief exploration turned into a questing sort of lope driven by her own restlessness. she thought of kynareth, how it seemed he had followed her, what he expected of brecheliant in an alliance.
because she did not want to make a decision, headstrong teya ran away.
she found solace in a dead place far north of the fen, the quiet crook of a river. after a drink, teya flopped bonelessly to the bank, staring in desolation and annoyance at the wreathing fog.
He lacked the ferocity to hunt at the moment. As agitated as Reyes felt, even hours later, he still did not have the focus to do much beyond wander within the pinewood forest. The eaves trembled at his passing; a brisk wind cutting through them brought a new scent to his attention.
Like Meerkat, it came from the wrong direction - but it came from the south, which was still closer to the caldera. Enough to cause him to meander after it.
As Reyes crept through the fog he had to wonder if any of his children cared for his dismissal; were they compliant to the demands of their mother? Did they hate him for his actions? Better yet - was Caracal alright?
she had laid out flat upon the rivershore, closing her eyes a fraught moment. when she reopened them, it was to watch in widening surprise as a tall man seemed to materialize from the fog itself.
she scrambled to her paws, hackles rearing in wariness. her coolwater eyes sharpened as more of him became visible, and she backed slightly. hers was the slim corded build of a fisher; she was not a warrior, and did not want to tangle with a wolf so far from home.
Something moved along the water's edge. Reyes almost let it go without a second thought when his gaze happened across the figure of a girl; at first he saw her diminutive physique and thought coyote, which brought an inquisitive flicker of life to his eyes.
She could have been one. Her coloration, lost for a second among the backdrop of trees, was strikingly similar. Even with such a reedy conformation she was larger than any coyote Reyes had ever seen.
That and, she moved as if afraid.
Don't have to leave.
he called out to her once she was standing. The lackluster quality of his voice gave some clue to his disinterest.
Not like anyone lives here. Except me, I guess.
Reyes, alone, doing a very good Eeyore impression.
he called to her, and teya's withers smoothed somewhat. but the girl did not approach, drinking instead all she needed with her gaze: his lithe build and the blood-dark hues of his variant fur.
and the lack of anything in his voice.
he was the only one here, save for her.
"do you want to be alone?"
her grey-orange ears swept forward, her own interest vying with his absence of it.
What an interesting question.
In his current frame of mind Reyes thought, yes, but then knew in his heart the answer was, no. The last thing he wanted was to be alone - even if he deserved it, for what he'd done.
Not really,
he admits to the girl, although he does not close the distance to her, or in any other way invade her space. Space is important to him and has been for a while. Too much space, that was the problem.
A sigh.
What're you doing in a place like this?
his words were enough to bring the girl's attention alive and focused. despite his grim manner, he was not unattractive. it intrigued teya, that he should sequester himself so far from what she felt was civilization. "why you?" she rejoined, though her smile was teasing.
hackles smoothed, she slipped some steps closer. "i fisherwolf." tambourine's name for what they did. a breath and a pang. "when i see water, i fish." simple enough. her own ears cupped curiously toward him.
He didn't know what to say; his issues were often private, but it was stupid of Reyes to think he could question the girl and not expect something in return. He had invited it when he had made it clear she could stay, and maybe somewhere deep in his wounded psyche it was because he needed someone to listen to him. Towhee certainly wouldn't.
He kicked a clod of dirt as he turned towards the water.
Family troubles,
Reyes remarked as he watched the dirt hit the water, scatter, and dissolve.
I hurt someone. It wasn't on purpose, but it happened. So... Now I'm here.
And so far as he knew, Reyes wasn't going anywhere else.
teya would of course enjoy a bit of delectable gossip so far from home, but not at the expense of another. while she did not know this ruddy stranger from adam, the girl was sensitive enough to avoid well-wishing on the threshold of another's pain.
but teya, equally, was tempted to offer another form of melancholy-lifting.
yet she could not play such close to hand, and did not allow the thought to cross her expression.
the girl rolled a slim shoulder toward the water. "i swim. you talk?" teya turned as she spoke, unwilling to wait as slender hips carried her into a saunter that broke the unknown surface in a fen-blessed fluidity.
the violet turned to look at the stranger, cutting backward against the slow-moving river. "i also here for family troubles."
I swim, you talk?
He was surprised by how easily the girl accepted what he'd said, barely batting an eye. Reyes didn't like the idea of telling a stranger his deeper worries or any details about the situation, but given that this girl was more interested in swimming and fishing, he doubted she would focus on anything he said.
It was a curious sight, at any rate, to see this slim young thing moving through the water. He blushed unknowingly, averting his eyes just as she looked to him, sharing a little detail of her own.
Oh yeah?
Reyes remarked as casually as he could, settling along the bank with his back to the water. He wasn't comfortable with swimming in the ocean and it seemed as though his apprehension extended to the fresh water sources as well. His ears followed the sounds of her body and the soft quality of the water around it.
I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours.
That -- sounded cheesy and stupid.
teya felt that he was watching her, and played this to her conscious ends. "a death. being a leader. baby born, not mine." she rolled her ashpumpkin shoulders and sank beneath the surface, shattering it a moment later and feeling quite reborn as water poured in torrents from her every inch.
in the mud at the edge, a crayfish. teya sniffed at the odd little thing, swaying again into the water's embrace and circling closer. "it your turn," she told the man with a slight grin.
The girl spoke in a forthright manner which Reyes appreciated. It sounded as though she had been through a lot; more than what he'd gone through in his loss, but it was still a loss that they shared. Her with the death of a leader, and himself with Towhee and the family.
As she slid through the water, Reyes felt her focus shift briefly from him, but then she spoke again and he could feel her eyes on him, somehow. It your turn.
Maybe he only imagined these sensations.
I went on a trip. When I came home I went looking for my family, and I was surprised by my son. He's only a couple of months old; but he had gotten big, and I did not expect him to be so close so fast. I grabbed him —
Reyes' voice clips as he feels shame which overshadows the odd bubbling in the pit of his belly that the girl has caused within him.
It was hard, fast, and over quickly. I don't think I hurt him - but - I don't know.
His shoulders tensed as he thought it over, his head hanging slightly. I didn't even realize what I was doing until after, when I was told to leave.
teya listened without reservation or judgement. with little experience around children, the raven could not immediately identify what he had done wrong. her gaze filled with righteous indignation to discover that he had been put out for this.
"she make you leave?" teya demanded rhetorically, sending a scoff through her nostrils. her coolwater eyes drifted over him. a family man, one with children. why did she find herself so drawn to this sort, or drawn despite her knowingness?
"wait here. bring food for her and for them. she let you back," teya assured, confident despite her complete ignorance of the details.
"is hot," she purled now to the crimson man, lifting a paw from the river in invitation.
The way to a man's heart was often through their stomach, and one could argue the same might be true for Towhee. Reyes wasn't sure if that plan would work out but it was an option. He smiled, albeit grimly and in a direction Teya could not see, being appreciative of the suggestion but also doubtful. Towhee was too headstrong; he couldn't even say she was wrong to cast him out entirely.
Is hot,
murmured the girl, as something began to drip.
Reyes was glad for a distraction from his intrusive familial thoughts and found himself drawn to the sound, turning to see her raised limb and the look of invitation on her face. The last time he'd been anywhere near the water he'd been a pirate near the sea, surrounded by a crew of hard-bodied men.
The memory made him shudder, and he turned his eyes away.
I had thought I could make a home here. That way my children could visit when they were older, but it might be better if I return to them like you said.
Reyes continued with the topic in order to avoid the invasive thoughts of those brutal men, their booming laughter and intense appetites.
the man went on about his children, dashing teya's more salacious undercurrent. but she kept herself attentive, emerging presently from the river and shaking downwind from her companion, as not to splash him. teya settled close to groom, one ear slanted to hear his words and how they ended.
"you can still make home here. may take time to return." she cleaned droplets from her chestfur, contemplative. "say you have settled here. promise 'i not leave.' women like this."
said with the comfortable and proverbial ease of a young she-wolf who felt she knew all there was to know.
When she took the time to draw herself from the water, Reyes kept his eyes averted. He could not help the wandering of his attention as she shook off; the water lay flat her coat in places, and he found himself growing warm at the sight of her curves. She did not have the same bulk as Towhee or the heft of motherhood; she reminded him vaguely of a girl he knew when he was upon the coast.
She spoke as she cleaned herself. It took some focus for Reyes to listen and be present rather than drift in to his past and wallow there.
Promise, 'i not leave.' Women like this.
Yeah, maybe. Towhee is a little different for a woman.
Reyes murmured, more to himself. He would have to try and see his children soon, at any rate. They had to know he was available and he was there for them, even if their mother wouldn't welcome his presence.
towhee.
teya was still at once.
so he was a redhawk.
and the mother of his children had been the wildly frantic, tearing she-wolf at their borders.
she went on, stretching a supple leg, but perhaps warred within herself around the ethical tilt toward pursuing her attraction, knowing what horrible state of mind towhee had been in.
"i meet her. once."
tasteful, though now she raised her coolstream eyes to meet the pirate's gold of his own expression.
Whatever Teya was feeling, Reyes was oblivious to it. He didn't notice her freeze up; but he heard her comment and the thought of the two of them together made Reyes raise his brow. Maybe this girl had come to the caldera at another time to seek shelter? He couldn't remember such a moment taking place, but, Reyes had been on a journey recently.
Oh?
Maybe it had been recent. Reyes couldn't remember the names of Towhee's friends outside the caldera - he had never really taken an interest in such things, especially because having Towhee all to himself had been a dream - which therefore begged more questions than answers. How.. was she?
oh;
now she had his interest.
teya slicked her lips with tonguetip.
"not well." a true grief held her soul now, and she looked away toward the sluggish river. "wraen died. towhee come to brecheliant, look for wraen. we say she has died. towhee is crazy, tearing. ripping. screaming. then she run away."
she delivered all this with a solemn look, wondering now if towhee had only returned to the caldera to wreak more chaos in the wake of her grief.
was this her husband?
Wraen had died? Reyes hadn't known them. He wasn't sure what their significance was for Towhee until Teya mentioned how the news had affected her. That wasn't too surprising for him to hear; Towhee could fly off the handle just like he could, but — there was a bit of a double-standard there, he also thought.
Why was it okay for Towhee to go off at strangers like that? Why wasn't it okay for him to have a bad day too, even if he'd hurt someone - and that someone was his son? He had apologized repeatedly, begged to stay home with them and make amends.
That sounds like her.
He wasn't nearly as concerned in tone as he should have been, given that he cared for her on some level. And then he asked, Did she apologize for her behavior, at least?
Towhee wasn't exactly known for being apologetic; it was one of those strong women aspects that Reyes had found attractive in the past, except now he was rethinking everything.
she felt she sensed bitterness in him.
the girl, unsure what to do with this newfound power, forged ahead.
"no. i not see her again." if the woman had come back, teya did not know it, nor had she cared. resentment now spilled from beneath her shell, angry somehow at each one involved, and those who had not been.
she eyed reyes.
towhee seemed the same age as her passed friend, while reyes seemed more to her own years. why and how had they come together? she was curious but did not pry, wondering in the moments that passed if she should accept kynareth's offer.
Typical.
He remarked before he could help it.
Yes, Reyes was bitter. After everything the pair had been through together and all that he had given to her - loyalty and love and the physicality which brought them children - she had thrown all of that way over one mistake. One which he had tried to apologize for. Meanwhile, when she made mistakes, she left them to fester.
I should've known better.
Reyes murmured, finally turning towards the water to look at himself. He kicked at the surface and watched the water ripple, his reflection scatter. I told her I'd be there for everything, but I guess that means nothing after one mistake. But of course, she's free to make her own mistakes.
He sighs, and looks at the girl now; he appreciates having someone to listen to him even though it is a stranger. I'm sorry for her, then. Loss hurts but she had no right to treat you badly.
he was hurting. teya watched quietly, ears shifted in the red wolf's direction. why had they chosen to have children together if there was no footing for their bond? not hers to ask, but once more the girl was warded away from monogamy or any of its trappings, let alone pups.
however she commented none of this, smiling gently as he seemed to return to himself and their conversation.
teya reached slowly, hesitantly, to brush his shoulder if he allowed, in answer to his apology on towhee's behalf.
"what you do now?" she inquired.
their reflections shimmered against one another in the water.
She moved towards him. Had he not been watching her every move (perhaps too intently) he might have struck her down like Caracal; there was a subtle bristling to the fur of his nape and he eased himself off that mental ledge after she'd touched his shoulder. He did not want to be touched, but Reyes could not react badly to something so small and insignificant every time.
What you do now?
Asked the girl; it was a good question.
I don't know.
He looked away from her, to the water, then away from that — north as a breeze pulled at the treetops.
Staying here is my best option for now. I can't abandon my kids. I swore I wouldn't do that —
he takes a breath, thinking of this. It feels like defeat whichever path he takes. You don't think they'd be better off with her, do you?
A selfish thought made manifest; he shakes his head almost immediately, knowing how wrong it is to voice such a thing.
Nevermind. I don't know what to do.
she turned her own attention to the surface, watching light glimmer upon it as she thought of wraen and where the woman might have gone.
maybe to bridget's concept of underworld. afterlife. she did not truly want to believe that the gentle woman was gone in every aspect forever.
suddenly he was asking her a question for which she had no answer, and she sighed regretfully. "only for now. young," she pointed out. towhee had reacted in their favour had she not? but she had no scales to weigh the choice of the man alongside her.
"i leader in brecheliant. if you tired of sleeping here, come there." it was all she could offer, and she gave it with warmth, straightening.
a sidelong glance. he was still headily attractive despite this turmoil, and she regretted also the lack of interest in her signalling.