Set after
this thread—being super vague since its ongoing. Wren’s tag is for reference!
“@Akavir?” Eshe called, leaving
@Wren to rest.
“Akavir—where are you?” She was a pitiful sight, covered in blood and mud, with disheveled fur and haunted eyes.
She kept looking, her feet getting heavier with each passing moment—it felt like walking in mud. She felt delirious; the culmination of the events of the day were catching up to her. She wasn’t sure how much longer should could keep going, but quitting now wasn’t an option.
Tag for reference.
@Viinturuth had been a surprise to the Mayfair, and his thoughts revolved around his brother for the moment until his name was heard, a sharp cry from Eshe.
He ran to the sound of her voice—finding her and all but unloosing a snarl at the sight of her covered in blood.
“Eshe!” He rounded closer to her, pulling her to him, searching her—checking her for injuries.
“Eshe, what happened? Who did this?”
Being vague about a few things!
Akavir held Eshe, shielding her from everything—she was safe now that she was with him. She fell into him, letting him support her, and buried her face into his chest. She allowed herself to cry—to release everything she’d been bottling up for the past few hours—and breathe him in.
“Oh, it’s awful,” she said, her voice rocked by a sob. “I-I found Moss dead with an baby beside her—alive,” oh, how she yearned for that beautiful child. “S-Some wolf was standing over her, and there was a man n-nearby, too. I-I tried to save the baby … rushed over, but Mae appeared and grabbed the child, and r-ran away—don’t worry, she’s safe. I made sure she made it out.” There was a temporary strength to her voice—a promise.
She tried to steady herself with a shaky breath, but it didn’t work. “Wren showed u-up, too, and fought the man … the other one who was standing over Moss, s-she chased Mae and grabbed onto the puppy’s tail—she tore it off when I rammed into her to g-get her away from M-Mae,” it was horrible—it made her sick to her stomach and shake with rage. “Mae f-found Arric, a-and he decided to take the baby to Kva—but, Akavir … I wanted that baby s-so bad, wanted to save it—I was s-so selfish.” She was ashamed of herself; the baby was safer without her and her self-serving motivations. “Mae … she went with him, she w-wanted to stay with the baby and I-I think she wants to stay with her.”
“And Wren,” poor poor Wren, “S-She fought the man and apparently did a number on him. I found her when s-she got back a-and tried to calm here—gave her a few p-poppies and tended to her wounds … and S-Silvertongue showed up when I was caring for her, too,”
She looked up to him, battered and bruised, with wide eyes. “I-I’m so sorry I had t-to dump that on you,” sorry she couldn’t have done more—that she had allowed it to all escalate like this.
Startled—he found himself trembling, unable to contain it as he continued to check her over. She quaked with sobs, buried to his chest, and he held her fiercely, bewildered.
Moss, dead.
A baby found beside her. Moss had been pregnant?
There had been a jolt in him—about to all but drop Eshe and from his embrace and trace her scent back to the scene at the very mention of his daughter entangled in the events—but he relaxed when she quickly assured him she was fine now. A sharp exhale was given, his eyes a storm as he studied her, brows creasing.
Wren fought. A torn puppy tail.
Mae was in Kvarsheim…
With that Ranger…
His chest was tight. A tension headache curled at his temples, but he took a moment as her words quieted, raining kisses upon her, a low growl seeping past his lips, despite himself. “Eshe, can you go to Kvarsheim? Keep an eye on Mae and the puppy? Why are they in Kvarsheim when Bellatrix is nursing?”
He paused—“Do you know who made the attack?”
Because they were about to pay.
He held her, kissed her, and made her feel safe—even when he tensed and growled. It was everything she needed and more, and it helped her begin to regain her composure. Still, despite the step in the right direction, she continued to cry freely and her body still quaked with anxiety every so often.
“I-I can, I … just r-really need to sleep first,” she replied, “I didn’t w-want the puppy to go … but A-Aric,” she hesitated—“I-I offered to try and make my milk come in to help—he s-said it was dangerous, a-and that h-he wouldn’t l-let me try u-until w-we spoke to other healers.” Which, now that she replayed the events in her head, made her realize how insulting that’d been. Did he not trust her abilities—her expansive knowledge? Had she not already proven herself? “I-I don’t even t-think he remembered Bellatrix with everything going on, I-I think h-he j-just went with the first w-wolf he r-remembered was nursing. I-I don’t blame him, that poor b-baby was wailing and starving.”
“I-I know I-I’m being s-selfish, but I want that puppy back here—where she belongs.” She admitted, studying his face and wondering what he thought.
When he asked about what’d kicked off the attack, she paused for a moment as she tried to remember. “T-The man s-snapped at M-Mae when she grabbed the p-puppy, and then Wren attacked, and I tried to grab Mae and the baby as she fended him off.”
There was a lot of emotions to unpack—a lot of turmoil. A fog seemed to settle over his mind—a sense of surrealism. Moss couldn’t be dead. How could Moss be dead?
He blinked, looking back to Eshe. “Arric’s shoulders are weighed by responsibility,” was what he murmured, hoping to soothe her feelings in the process. He trusted the man inexplicably—hence why Arric was the one who was the closest to his children. It seemed his friend had reacted with swiftness—cooler heads could prevail after.
Nothing, though, would stop him from seeing red at the mere mention of some stranger trying to grab Mae.
“Rest,” he rumbled, his tone raspy with emotion—grief, anger, surprise. It fused together as one. “I need… to check on Moss. And Wren… and speak with Bellatrix. And then if Bella’s milk is still here, I’m going to Kvarsheim to bring Mae and the pup back.”
She took another deep breath, just as Arric had taught her, and exalted slowly. “Y-You’re right,” she agreed, feeling guilty now. “The mama bear in me came out when I was trying to save the children—it’s hard for me t-to reel it in once I’m in it.” Hopefully, he’d understand.
He seemed overwhelmed, which was completely understandable given the situation. She reached up, kissing his cheek and meeting his gaze if he allowed it.
“I-I’ll help however I can when I wake up,” she promised. “Just let me know what I need to do.”
Later, in reflection of their conversation, the man would come to realize the number of times Eshe would bring up the pup in their conversation—of wishing to bring her milk in. A baby of her own to care for.
He was clueless to many things but not a complete idiot.
For now though, he pulled her closer, pressing kisses to the base of both ears, feeling a new sense of dread unfurl in his stomach at having to visit the swamp. At what he would find…
“You can crash at my place… Jakub and Nicodem might like some extra snuggles,” he offered, though in truth, he didn’t know if they would—Mae wouldn’t have.
But Mae was in Kvarsheim.
With the ranger.
One more kiss was placed upon her, and he slid away from her warmth. “I’ll check in with you soon,” he offered.
His embrace and kisses were exactly what she needed. She sighed happily, buried her face into his neck, and nuzzled into into him. “Thank you,” she whispered, kissing him a few more times on the neck before he withdrew. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light, but a dreamy smile was on her lips.
His offer was perfect. “I’d love that,” she replied. “I could use all the snuggles right now—“ she paused and grinned.
“You should join us when you return to the den.” She’d take the children out to play if they woke up, and she’d be waiting for him when he returned home.
Tags for reference.
Eshe was soothed—it felt to the Mayfair as if somehow he had managed to absorb her fear and grief—compartmentalizing it within his own mind and moving through the motions, now. A man who had worn many internal wounds before—Moss, another notch on the belt of grief.
She murmured happily, but he did not fully hear her. Only when he looked down as she pressed closer did he plant a final kiss to her brow, pulling away.
“If I can,” he promised, not truly believing he would be resting with them any time soon. At least he knew the boys would be looked after for now, and he shifted, eyes drifting to the direction of the borders.
“I need to go. Get some rest, okay?”
He paused—another handful of nights he would be gone.
“Tell the boys…” His jaw clenched, the words failing him—once more, he would be gone.
“Tell @Nicodem and @Jakub I’ll be home soon and I love them.”
His voice and expression told her things that his words didn’t. “I will,” on all counts. “I’ll stay with the boys, too, if you want.”
She stood and took a step back, feeling suddenly sullen now that she could see his face. He already looked exhausted.
Then, before turning to leave, she said: ”let me know if you need anything.” She hesitated. ”And, please … try and remember to take care of yourself, okay? I know it’s hard with everything going on, but … please try and make sure you’re rested and fed.” And she knew this would be a challenge to accomplish.
She worried for him—his gaze softened, and while she stepped back, he stepped forward once more to deliver one more sweeping kiss before pulling away, a knowing look on his features. She worried for him, but he worried for her— “Make sure you look after yourself, too, Eshe,” he said quietly.
With that—there was little more to be said and so much more to be done. A heaviness clung to his shoulders in that moment—and the man would need to go back to the lands where the situation had arisen—and ensure Moss was, indeed, the one that had fallen.
Until then, he could cling on to some sort of twisted hope that it was just a wolf who resembled her—in a perfect world, perhaps, it would not have been his comrade that had fallen…