it was odd to be here. teya had never entered the territory before. she snuck furtive glances around herself, as if the redhawk wolves would suddenly return and threaten her.
the land was empty, crisscrossed by the trails of elk and weasel and even an occasional bear. from its lip she could look down toward akashingo, though the site of the distant mesa sickened her somewhat.
teya began to explore the densites now, checking slowly to make sure that no visitors had decided to settle where it seemed the fen wolves would now move.
He followed her at a distance.
There was some reluctance within Reyes that prevented him from crossing through the Caldera, initially, and while he worked through that, Teya got a ways ahead of him. Whether she knew he was there or not, the man took his time to acclimate to the sight of his old home; now abandoned, and covered in snow.
Reyes watched from afar as Teya found her way. He recognized the area of the territory where many of the dens had been kept, and as she ducked in to one of them, he felt a wave of anxiety and began to keep a look out, as if someone might come wandering by to call their foul.
No, there was nobody here. They weren't pillaging this place; they were investigating. Maybe even mourning, a little.
there was no one here. teya paused to look over the land again. it was a fine place and would be green, springing with life once more.
the raven moved to the border and squatted, marking a new boundary with the fresh scent of the fen.
the wind brought her reyes' scent. but teya would let him be until he approached her, knowing it was the best way to interact with her crimson mate.
mate. unspoken. she raked her paws against the snowy ground, stooping to mark again some ways off.
It looked as though everything was intact. There was no damage to the surroundings except what might befall any place in the winter: broken branches off of some trees burdened with snow, some hidden networks of terrain now made icy and dangerous, but beyond that nothing that would make a wolf want to leave.
Reyes came to one of the abandoned dens and could not quite recall if his own children had a den among the many, or something separate, when they had been born. He had been so busy hunting to provide for Towhee, so that her milk might flow and make the children strong, that he had lost sleep over it; those days felt far away now. It was painful to think he had forgotten something so basic as where his children were born.
He moved on up the rise. Teya was nearer now, marking a patch of icy rocks, then squatting by the side of a trail. He moved in the opposite direction some ways and did the same, spreading his scent and that of Brecheliant over the stale pine scent that pervaded everything. The Redhawks were gone and they likely wouldn't return.
she caught sight of him finally, smiling down toward reyes as he matched her own movements.
it was just the two of them here, alone in the great snowy expanse of the caldera. the little violet felt her confidence returning. she left off marking for a moment, exploring the pug marks of a bear which had passed on a while ago.
rearing up, she scraped bark from a nearby tree, adding her scent at a higher point.
The scraping of claws against the bark of a tree made Reyes pause, look around, and then sigh softly. He saw it was only Teya and not some creature lurking within the forest, or stalking them from the cliffside.
He moved to join her. Midway along the path, some awareness came to Reyes. The place looked completely different with the many feet of snow atop it, yet he had an inkling that he knew where precisely he was. A look of mischief came across his face.
Teya, c'mere.
He murmured to her, moving off from where she scraped the scent of Brecheliant in to the trees; his trail left a gap in the snow for her to follow, and closer to the frozen caldera-lake in the center.
when teya reacclimated herself, reyes was there. she followed silently, reaching out to nip at his hindquarters.
the fen was a place of water and watery places. the caldera was much different, but she was pleased to see a lake all the same, however caught by winter it might be.
teya sniffed the air. her brow arched; she cast a look to reyes but was quiet, wondering what about this area he had remembered.
The center of the caldera, with the frozen collection of of water in the center, was harsh but beautiful. Sitting in the center of the frozen lake was one of Towhee's favorite places — and where the pair had once spent seemingly an eternity with one another.
Was it strange for Reyes to bring Teya here as well? Probably. But he had good memories of this space and wanted to share this with her. No, more important than that — he wanted to overwrite the memories of Towhee in a state of ecstasy with someone better.
Reyes found his way along the edge of the lake and then, with some care, across the ice. He did not feel the same trepidation upon the ice as he would if he were swimming, or near moving water. It was a curious confidence that beckoned Teya follow to the spit of an island.
had teya known she was being brought here to obliterate reyes of carrying towhee's memory around — she still might have come.
her small paws crunched lightly on the ice. the raven was careful, but she trusted reyes. and he knew this place, the caldera, better than her. even if she had not asked about his time here, she understood this to be true.
there was a tiny island. she let out her breath in surprise and looked to the red wolf.
He smiled. It was a strange look on him - it was so cold here that his face wouldn't fully commit. Teya looked radiant against the snow, awed as she was by the little island. He crooned to her, leading her across to it, and to the hidden opening in the earth that had been crusted with ice.
As he punched through it, a small gasp came from the opening. The air equalized, and they were left with an opening to peruse. Reyes didn't notice anything amiss about it. Nothing appeared to have moved in. He shoved aside some snow with one shoulder and moved inside, where the air was a touch stale.
The floor was lined with old pelts. There was a cluster of chewed bones in one corner, likely from puppy teeth. When Reyes saw these he nosed through them and sighed.
teya followed him beneath the snow, into a shelter that had been made here. free from the embrace of the winds, the place was quiet. long empty. she watched him look at the bones, heard his sigh. teya moved to his side.
for this moment she did not speak. the caldera meant more to reyes than to her, and she would remain silent despite her curiosity over why she had been brought to this place.
His mood had shifted away from mischief, temporarily.
His children were grown. It wasn't their mother's fault that they had not come to him. It had been their choice, and he was heartsick over the understanding that they, of their own volition, chose to be anywhere else but with their father.
As he tidied the space, he placed the toys and things outside where the snow could harbor them. After the spring thaw Reyes would find these keepsakes again and decide what he wanted to do about them, but for now, he left them out in the cold.
When he returned, he shook snow from his shoulders and sought out Teya, drawing close to her.
teya watched his ritual somberly.
when reyes came back to her, she smoothed snow from his brilliant coat and kissed his face slowly. still she did not speak, sensing that there was weight to this space, that his purpose had not yet been revealed.
how odd that he should touch her like this inside the caldera, but then again, she felt spring rushing in her as it had before. and this time she did not have bridget to secret her away for that week.
teya was not sure she wanted that, not now.
She kissed his face, and he did not recoil from her touch. She was perhaps the only person who he would accept such tenderness from. Once, that had been Towhee; but having burned that bridge and moved away from the ashes, Reyes had found someone better.
He drew close enough to kiss her neck, to burrow against her. Their shared scent filled the cavern. The furs that lined the floor were abandoned, cold, old things; but he did not care, as he directed her body down to them, intent to have her here in this space.
someone better.
teya filled her arms with reyes and her heart with him too.
the air of the shelter soon tasted of them both, not the stale void into which he had broken from the snow.
someone better
teya let him drive all thoughts from her mind for a long while.