Took me a couple of days but here you go, Danni!
@Etienne
At times, her mind wandered back home, curious about her family. How was her mother and her father? Her brother and sister? Did they miss her? She missed them all terribly, only able to fight off the homesickness so much, but it was always there—lingering just below the surface.
And yet, at the same time, she was thrilled about being so far away—about exploring these new (to her) lands. Honestly, she had gotten bored of the land back home, the familiarity of it taking the joy out of exploring—couldn’t explore that which she already knew, after all. But each place she found here was new and exciting, something to learn and remember to tell stories about later.
The next break in her travels dropped her off into what appeared to be a regular forest; it reminded her a bit of home, the pine needles underfoot providing a soft cushion to walk across. But beyond that, she wasn’t as impressed as with the previous places she’d been—Kovette was not the least bit familiar with herbs and the like, knowing only the warning her father had given: do not eat any unknown or unusual plants. Even still, she welcomed the softer path and delved into the dim woods, her pace slow and demeanor relaxed.
Etienne's paws were scabbed mostly and his head still smarted now and again. The burrs and leaves and branches still adorned his coat, he couldn't be bothered to loosen them up from his sandy fur. The mask that his mother loved, that reminded her so much of his granme, it was matted around his eyes and mouth where he went between bouts of sobbing and slobbering to full on fits of rage that his granme's were both gone. He knew this was foolish, but he just couldn't calm himself down anymore. He was tired of holding the whole world up, or so it felt.
He heard the sounds of another and twisted around to stare beyond where he was. Warm golden eyes narrowed and colder than normal. Who was near him and was it safe.
Kovette smelled the other before she saw him and her pace slowed as a result, cautious but composed. She proceeded forward despite the presence of another, her encounter with Lilia relaxing her initial worries that came with being by oneself; if she viewed everyone as having the worst intentions, then that would only make her travels more difficult. After all, she was just a visitor in these lands—she was not born or raised by them, they were entirely foreign to her. So, she had decided that it wouldn’t hurt to seek out directions, wherever she might find them.
When the yearling came into view, Kovette paused, met with a narrowed gaze that her coat bristled beneath. The other wolf looked scraggly—the dark specks and streaks that were the burrs and branches stood out against his lighter coat, untouched or tangled she couldn’t decide, and something about his face seemed... off. From where she stood, the northerner could not see the matting in the darker portions of his face, she just knew that something didn’t look quite right. “Are you... sick...?” she called out, uncertain about exactly what she was seeing and uneasy from his appearance alone; in her experience, an unkempt appearance often meant an illness was present, and it was drilled into her to avoid said appearances. Granted, the lessons taught were in regards to prey, but she couldn’t think of any reason for the same rule to not be applied to strangers. And although the male did not smell like sick prey, she worried nonetheless.
There were more wolves than he had initially realized in these wilds. He was fast becoming wide eyed to this fact. It was both nice and a bit disconcerting, when he in fact didn't want to really be around anyone. But he was not always kind to strangers. They made him nervous and jumpy. Especially right now in his weakened state. Anyone could take advantage of it and he wasn't much of a fighter anyway. A lover more so. Something he got from his father, (not that he would know this).
A she wolf stared at him as if he had offended her somehow and she refused to get closer. Of all the audacity. He looked down at his chest and paws. Did he look that bad....he frowned....well yes sort of he supposed.
He shook his head. 'eart sick. Grief sick. You can't be gettin' dis. It won't 'urt you. Not pasable.
His bad luck maybe, it might be. But who really knew how such mystique work.
He spoke—!
Another peculiar speech pattern, though she was not as slow to pick up on his as she was the previous woman. He stated his only ailment to be grief, something she could not catch. Her ears sank back briefly and she lowered her gaze. “Oh...,” she said softly, catching herself before the that’s good could slip out and exchanging it with a louder, “I’m sorry,” instead. For both her accusation of illness and his loss, whatever it may be.
“Do you not have anyone with you?” she asked next. Personally, Kovette could not imagine being both grief-stricken and alone at the same time, and assumed him to have someone nearby. And if he doesn’t...? With the thought, she suddenly felt awkward—she wasn’t sure what to do in this situation, whether it be to stay and console the stranger or make a quick getaway. Somehow, both seemed equally as rude, the more she thought about it.
Eti knew his speech pattern was different, though unlike some his was purely accentuation. Thanks to the language he grew up around. And he actually liked the way he spoke. Made him feel special to have that accent that had belonged to his granme. Then he grew sad again as the realization that he both sounded and looked like Granme Erzulie. No wonder his family couldn't be around him without crying.
T'ank you.
Her next words and his ears went to his head. He sighed and shook it. I don't.
He didn't want to tell her that he had run out on them like a coward. Like the selfish little boy that he was. That his own grief had taken presidence to everyone else's whic wasn't fair. And it filled him with shame.
However, he also knew had he stayed. He would have continued like he was. Acting as if he was fine when he wasn't. So to not worry them. So truly which way was worse?
I be Eti.
Alone, just as she—but with a heavier burden to carry. Kovette frowned, feeling for the other; grief could be just as cruel as it was sorrowful, she knew, and to experience it alone... she could not imagine. “How come?” she asked, then added, “You do not have to answer that.” Truthfully, it wasn’t her business and she knew this, but was curious anyways.
“Kovette,” she returned, following his introduction. Frowning, she shifted her weight back and forth before starting towards him, her frown swapped for a hesitant smile as she stopped and sat just a short ways off from him. “Do you want company...?” she offered. As awkward as she felt, she decided that she couldn’t be unkind—and trying to disappear without any offer of support was just that. Besides, if she expected help from those she encountered, then she should also offer help in return, however she might be able.
He studied her with fathomless golden eyes. He wasn't sure what to say at first. He was thinking through it all. He could give a basic run down, but that would take a while. So what could he tell her that was close to the truth, but also not all of it. Manman had taught him no lies.
I 'ave a bad 'abit of ignorin' my own emotions for my family and I knew if i stayed. I would pretend I was fine to makes sure dey were all okay. And I can't do dat anymore. Granme told me it would be bad if i tried to take all the burdens and I didn't believe 'er.
Kovette se yon bèl non
He offered her a compliment in his own tongue and then smiled or tried to. It probably looked horrendous given his current sight. His fur matted and yucky. His face all puffy and leaking all sorts of things. The cuts and scrapes, the wound on his head.
I will sit wit' you for a time.
He settled to his haunches gently and warily. Unsure.
The choice was made to be alone, something she herself could not fully understand. When he explained his reasoning, some light was further shed on the why, and Kovette couldn’t help but feel sorry for the boy. Burdened so heavily that he had to make that decision, it was a choice she couldn’t imagine herself ever wanting to make; although she, too, left her family behind in favour of travelling, the events leading up to each of their departures were so incredibly different that she couldn’t see any possible, or reasonable, way to compare the two.
“I’m sorry you had to leave them,” she settled on saying, voice soft. “But maybe being away from them will give you the time you need to heal on your own...?” She did not mean it to be a question but could not prevent the pitch of her voice from rising, as if it were one. Kovette was not too equipped at handling these sorts of conversations, in all honesty—yes, she had been around death and loss before but, for her, it was different. The Apaata family came together during times of passing and the lives lived previously by their late relatives were always celebrated. As sad of a time as it always turned out to be, they still celebrated the life that came before death, and wished the spirits well on their journeys. And whilst her father had always been... awkward, to say the least, at these ceremonies, Kovette did not have any true experience with exactly what the boy was going through. Even still, she felt for him.
Words were spoken that she didn’t understand, picking up only on her own name. Her ears perked with curiosity, a question stuck on the tip of her tongue, only to be swallowed and exchanged for a faint smile of her own. And when he stated that he’d sit with her, the northerner took up a spot next to him and sat; her previous worries had all faded away at that point, caring nature winning out over the caution instilled in her from birth.
“Where are you going from here?” she eventually asked, driven half by curiosity and half by the assumption that a distraction might help ease his woes. “Do you have someplace to go?” Inwardly, she questioned whether or not she was overstepping. Outwardly? She didn’t care if she was stepping, she worried for the other wolf and where he might end up whilst in such an emotional state of mind.
Etienne would normally have stayed with his family. But the pain had been so great and he knew that his family. Despite that they wouldn't have tried. They would have made him feel guilty or that he needed to feel better for them. And that wasn't their issue that was all him, and he had enough gumption to know this was true of it all.
Eti nodded. I 'ope so. I will miss dem, but I need dis.
Etienne tilted an ear forward and nodded his head at first and then shook it. I don't know w'ere i be goin' from 'ere. Jes away. I find my way back someday.
He frowned thinking of his manman and his sister and his brother. How worried they must be and then guilt crashed in on him and he wondered could he ever truly go home. He had done something he felt unforgivable.
She could understand already what next he would face, the homesickness that came with being away from family; she’d been travelling for some time now, and felt that very ache from time to time. Most often now it was hardly there but, every now and again, something would remind her of them and it’d get a little bigger.
He didn’t know where he was going, which she nodded in response to. “Sometimes just wandering is better than knowing where you’re going,” she added. At least, she believed so; believing that made travelling easier, she felt.
“And when you eventually go back home, you’ll have stories to share with your family,” she noted. “I always loved hearing my father’s stories.” Granted, his stories were all of the distant past, and she’d never had to experience him leaving the family behind.
Eti was already homesick, and yet he also felt that he didn't deserve to go home. He had broken promises and left his family alone. He had promised manman he'd care for his siblings and had left, he'd promises Suzu and Theo he'd never leave and he had. He had good reasons or so he thought, but as they say Hell is paved with the best of intentions.
Etienne smiled with tears in his eyes. Yes stories. Dey will like dat.
What he didn't voice, was he wasn't sure if he would ever go home again. Nor was he sure if he even deserved too and that filled him with a fear of the likes he was unaware of before. But outwardly he didn't let it show.
W'ere you be 'eading?
Who wouldn’t enjoy stories? She was hopeful for him. She wondered, too, if her own family might enjoy her stories, whenever she might find her way back to them. Kovette knew her father would—these lands are where his own took place, after all, so he’d have to enjoy them, she reasoned.
“I’m not entirely sure,” she admitted when asked about her own travels. “There are a few places I want to see, that I was told about,” she elaborated. “I remember the descriptions but... I’m not entirely sure how to find them.” Her father could get lost walking down a straight path, so his directions were barely reliable. “But I’m seeing and learning a lot as I search,” she added with a smile. Kovette had to focus on the positive—plus, so far, she was enjoying her travels and what came with them. She did not doubt her ability to find that which she sought, and genuinely enjoyed the additional knowledge gathered along the way.
Etienne loved Suzu, but he also knew how she was and sometimes she took things personal. So it could go two ways if he ever saw her again. One she'd be super hapoy to see him and listen well. Two she'd be so angry and so hurt she'd never talk to him again.
Etienne frowned in thought and then nodded. In dis stretc' of land dere be pack called Redtail rise. Dey be Territorial, but if you mind de borders. To de beach dere be Hjorfall warriors, an island pack, moontide and my manmans pack Sapphique. Dey all be good to you.
He had some information in regards to the area, which she was thankful to receive; although Kovette did not intend on seeking out any packs specifically, she was glad to know how many were local to the area. Having that information would keep her mindful, after all. And, of them, only one sounded familiar.
“I met a woman from Redtail Rise,” she noted. “She was kind.” And patient enough to offer the northerner assistance with navigating a rather prickly forest. “Thank you for telling me of the others,” she added. And, to herself, she wondered just how many more were out there—but that answer would come with time, she was sure.
Then, unable to help herself, she asked: “Do you know of any waterfalls near here?” If he was knowledgeable enough to know of the local packs, then surely he would have information about the land itself, too. She hoped so, anyways.
Etienne frowned in thought trying to remember the wolves of redtail rise. My brodder lives dere. 'e got snatc'ed long time ago by eagle. Dropped 'im dere. 'e don't know us well. But dey are good 'unters. Strong and brave.
He turned her question over in his head. Thinking of all the places he had visited in his short life and then gave a nod. Dere be one near Stavanger bay. It be a little way from Sapphique. It be 'igh and rocky, but it be beautiful. If I find you again and you still 'aven't seen it. I will take you.
At the mention of his brother, her ears folded, taken aback. “An eagle took him and... just dropped him there...?” she repeated, although it came out more as a question. The pack was kind, at least, to have taken him in—and the woman she’d met from there was kind, too, so perhaps it was not quite as terrible of an event as it sounded. However, she couldn’t imagine being snatched away by sharp talons, just to then be released into an unknown land of strangers. “They sound kind,” she noted anyways. “To take in a lost pup like that.” Members of her own family had done the same in the past, albeit those taken in had never come from an eagle, of all things.
The boy spoke of a waterfall he’d seen but the mention of a bay made her realise that it was not the one she sought out. Her shoulders slumped in a brief moment of defeat, whilst she wondered if she might ever find the places she’d left home to see. No matter, she shook the feeling off and said, “I don’t think that is the one I’m looking for but, if we cross paths again, I would enjoy seeing it with you.” Even if it wasn’t the one she was searching for, Kovette was not about to turn down the offer.
“I appreciate everything you have told me,” she said, genuinely grateful for the knowledge shared. “You have been very helpful, Eti.” She smiled at him, although there came with it a pang of guilt for her earlier accusation of illness. “I do hope we meet again,” came out next as she stood and bowed her head to him, tail wagging behind her. “And I hope your journey is kind to you.” Kovette, having spent her life thus far primarily being sheltered by her northern family, truly believed that any kindness shown would surely find its way back tenfold.
Eti nodded his head. Yes. Don't know w'at 'appened up dere. Just de end result.
Eti didn't have much else to say. He smiled.
I'm glad i could be of 'elp to you. Safe Travels.
Eti shifted and stretched his legs and shoulders out.