there'd been talk. talk of rolayne and panuk leaving the spear to return home. it was in this talk that acrux lost himself to the words of adults. why would his brothers leave to go home? they were home. they belonged here, with him, with maggak, with anaa and mother. with fathers and friends. this was their home, they did not need to go anywhere else!
his feet wandered just as quickly as his mind did.
no matter who or how the adults might try to explain their reasoning, a boy built on familial bonds could not shake the feeling that it was wrong. wrong to take away his brothers from their family, wrong to take them away from their home. because this was their home, and all they ever knew or needed was right here on the spear.
his paws went further, step after step.
did rolyane and panuk want to leave? did they have a say in this? did he have a say in this? he shook his head, trying to make sense of all he'd heard. if his brothers left, would maggak go with them? would she leave too?!
his heart beat like a drum in his ears.
eventually paws came to a sudden stop, breath hitched as he plopped himself on the border's line. here he sat, fearful. afraid that when his brothers crossed this invisible boundary he might never see them again.
Something kept him close to the plains. Perhaps it was the voice that kept whispering, “Zafra!” every time he passed by. Talis didn’t know what that word meant, nor the place’s historic significance, at least on a conscious level. But something in his blood knew these lands were important… sacred, even.
He was still a nomad, though, so he traveled further afield every now and then. Today the coyote loped westward, crossing the river as quickly as possible—he saw no signs of otters, thank goodness—and admiring the fall foliage flanking his path.
When he came across the smell of a wolf pack, Talisman muttered, Nyoom!
and swung south to avoid it, only to walk smack dab into another wall of scents.
And that wasn’t all. Just ahead, he saw a small figure, largely gray with a darker cape. His pale points contrasted Talis’s own bister-dipped markings. They shared an eye color and looked to be about the same size too. The wolf must be fairly young, he decided after a quick but thorough visual assessment.
His mother couldn’t be far. Talis froze in place, eyes casting around the mountainside behind the young wolf. When he saw no one, the coyote returned his eyes to the pup, ears pulling back uncertainly. Should he be out here all alone? Talis didn’t mean the little fellow any harm, but…
Hey, little dude, where’s your mom?
the coyote asked, unaware of how sketchy that might sound.
It was not anaa who came tumbling down the side of the mountain, but Maggak. Acrux had disappeared from her line of site, and like a dutiful sister, she sought to follow him.
Panuk and Rolayne were set to soon go home, and this, too, saddened the starlet. They had grown beside her and Acrux; she had been watching them sprout like little weeds from the sidewalk, and she had grown some form of sibling-like attachment toward them. But maybe they were not hers to keep; perhaps, instead, it was like raising a butterfly, watching the bright-hued wings spread and dive away from cupped hand.
But! Acrux was sad! And if there was one thing Maggak did not like, it was when her brother was sad. Or anyone, for that matter.
She brings him a large, scraggly oakwood twig as she shuffles down the slope that leads to the border. He is crumpled, his gray-stippled fur all tousled and disheveled with the signs of depression. Acroo!
she grumbles, pearls of saliva dripping from pale chin as she drops her present before him. Gift!
She hadn't thought to look up for anyone else until an unfamiliar voice sounds from a few yards away.
Her eyes narrow, then squint, and then her expression slumps into a frigid scowl.
INTRUDER!
he was left alone with his thoughts for a time, the silence eating him away piece by piece until the soft patter of footsteps was heard off in the distance. he sniffled up what beads of mucus dripped from his irritated nose, eventually lifting a paw to wipe away the rest as to not appear as disheartened as he felt.
with snot covered paw placed back to the ground, he glanced around to try and spot the body he'd heard approaching, only there was no one there. baby blues squinted as his focus stretched past the borders and off towards where he could have swore he heard the noise from.
ACROO!
guard hairs shot into defensive spikes as he launched himself clear off the ground in fright. upon paws landing firmly back on the ground, he swiveled himself around to catch the familiar approaching sight of his porcelain sister and her gift. what initial fear seeped in him was beginning to dissipate just as the unfamiliar voice of a stranger reached him.
he turned, maggak now close enough to drop her gift before him, but he paid it no mind. his attention was fixated on the foreign figure of a body he did not recognize. unlike his pale counterpart, acrux did not immediately flag the strange looking...wolf? as a threat. so many came from the lands beyond that the boy simply thought this stranger was a welcomed visitor just like the rest.
it was only at the shout of intruder that he looked upon the peculiar canine in a different light. though he held an air of caution around him, he was not overtaken with the innate instinct to chase the stranger from his home. so the boy simply remained where he was, silent, but ready to fight or flee should the situation call for it.
A second pup appeared so abruptly that Talisman gave a tiny squawk of surprise. He backpedaled before he even registered the cry of, “Intruder!” He also crouched, instinctively trying to demonstrate that he wasn’t a threat.
When he could gather his wits, the coyote said, Aw, hey, no,
and then stopped to apprehend the pups now standing side by side, one aloof and the other scowling. I don’t mean any harm, I swear.
He couldn’t fault them for their distrust. He was a strange man lurking near their borders, no matter how inadvertently. Talis debated turning tail and leaving them alone, though he knew it probably wasn’t safe for them here. It wasn’t safe for him either; their mother might come along any moment.
The young coyote swallowed, deciding to risk wolfish ire by inquiring again, Is your mom nearby? You guys are super close to the borders. I don’t know if it’s safe… er, not that it’s any of my business, but…
Talis trailed off and fidgeted, still hunched low.
This man sure was a strange looking wolf.
Maggak's incisors graze against the ruff of Acrux's bony shoulder in passing affection before her gaze flips back to the intruder. Short, and yet skinny; a wide, blocky face and near concerningly large ears. She'd never seen anything quite like it! He all but stutters between her and Acrux, timidly examining them both, before he asks — where is their mother?
Maggak, decidedly, would have to play guardian.
She puffs out her shoulders, big and proud, and proclaims: None of your business!
her paw juts out as if it were a reach for his chest, although she is nowhere near close enough to strike. What're you doing here? This is Moonspear's land.
the strange wolf spoke, and acrux's ears splayed forward with attentiveness. his nose scrunched like a rabbit as he tried to assess what exactly this creature was. the stranger did not look or smell familiar. there were no traces of neighborly packs from what the boy could recognize. there was only the unknown.
his sister swept by his side, and though he allowed her to take the lead, acrux purposely positioned himself to have his shoulder press against the porcelain of maggak's hip. a silent communication that he was right there, ready to back her up should she need it.
while his counterpart questioned the odd canine, acrux looked on with an inquisitive gaze. after a moment, he leaned forward to ask, "what is he?" in the tongue of anaa. spoken in a different language to purposely exclude the stranger from their conversation.
Evidently the paler pup agreed, because she shouted his words right back at him. Talisman’s lips pursed. They were both right, though. He didn’t have any business here, nor any responsibility.
You’re right, I’ll go,
he said, holding up a placating paw. Take care of yourselves, lil’ guardians.
He paused when the little boy whispered something, though his cinnamon ears couldn’t quite catch the words. Drawing in a breath, the coyote slowly retreated, backpedaling at first and only turning to lope away once he’d achieved a safe distance.
No idea,
Maggak shrugs, her mother tongue gliding smoothly from her lips. Now, it came to her almost more naturally than common. Maybe a rabbit. Or a fox? Or both. I can't tell.
She turns back to the trespasser with a sharpness to her gaze as if she were at all an imposing threat. You better!
she shouts, a huff exploding from deep in her chest as her feet lift up and down in a stomp. With Acrux by her side, her confidence only grows. We'll eat you!