She’d been chasing… she didn’t remember, and at this point it hardly mattered. Her prey had vanished, leaving her without anything to show for the pursuit into the mountain’s interior.
Her punishment for failure wasn’t only empty jaws; fate had a worse trick in mind. Retracing her steps led to a dead end - the entrance that at one time clearly existed now gone. Collapsed or covered, she wasn’t sure, but both left her just as trapped.
Digging got her nowhere, and what followed was a harrowing eternity in the dark. It felt like a few lifetimes… and still, somehow, she survived. She ate anything she could find, mostly bugs and rodents, and grew lean enough to count her ribs clearly. Her pelt grew thin and patched; some she shed, some she plucked herself, nervously worrying at her legs and chest as hunger and desperation took their toll.
It could have been her tomb. It would have been if she hadn’t heard the distant river. But following it had led her out.
It took time for her to regain her bearings and more to regain the strength to travel. Already she’d been apart too long; each day further only cemented more her failures. She couldn’t bear to be alone any longer.
She returned thin and bedraggled, her patchy fur almost reeking of shame. The joy she felt in seeing the rise again was mingled with the knowledge she’d been gone too long; it did not matter that it was not her fault. The loss of a hunter to its own foolish actions was untenable. She would answer for it as they wished.
Without even registering who it would be that answered the call, Redd lifted her muzzle and sang out. She would accept whatever might come.
The drizzly gray sky contrasted beautifully with the autumn splendor flaring across the rise. Colorful leaves swirled in the air, the damp breeze scented with sweet rot. Masquerade took it all in as they skulked along the borderline, freshly returned from a successful hunt near the neighboring ridge. A dead marmot swung from their jaws.
A haunting howl rose on the blustery air, causing Masque to go very still. The carcass nearly slipped from their mouth, though they clenched their jaw all the tighter as they abruptly broke into a sprint. They didn’t actually believe it could be Redd until they saw her figure—disheveled, skinny, but unmistakable—in the distance ahead.
Whining around their mouthful, they galloped to close the distance. When they reached Redd, Masque unceremoniously dropped the marmot and stumbled toward their litter mate. They thrust their ruddy snout against her neck, huffing little whimpering breaths as they drew in her familiar scent.
Despite her question in what she would expect returning, her joy at seeing a familiar face was quick and apparent. Masquerade was an instant reminder of home; they were pack, safety, family. Redd greeted them with affection, nosing and taking in the scents of the Rise. Finally home.
Worse for wear, she did not dare cross the scent line until welcomed. A hunter who strayed could not guarantee welcome; her absence had been long. They would be justified in questioning her ability, even more with the state she came in now. Redd only cared now about Masque, that they were well and seemed unchanged.
They verified their sister’s poor condition with their senses of touch and smell as a leaf swirled down and caught in her filthy ruff. Masquerade gently plucked it off with their teeth, though Redd would require far more attention to properly groom her pelt.
Finding their voice, they asked,
What happened?
but didn’t wait for an answer before stepping back, glancing at the discarded marmot and then bending to nose it toward Redd.
Please, eat this.
They thought of calling for one of the current leaders to formally welcome Redd back into the ranks. But why couldn’t it be Masque? And then a thought occurred to them.
@Avicus wasn’t officially Wealda
yet, but…
Redd,
they said quietly,
would you like me to call for mother?
Redd had vanished before Avicus’s return. Hopefully the news that the Redtail matriarch had come home would give comfort and hope to her similarly prodigal offspring.
So many answers and none were right. There was no shame inherently in what had occurred and still her ears fell, posture following suit. Redd did not blame herself for becoming trapped, but did blame herself for the extended absence. She had not meant to abandon them, but abandon them she did all the same.
There were not words to capture the time spent lost in the dark, nor the painful yearning for home. A hunt she barely remembered and the fear of following weeks. None of this mattered now.
She barely registered the question; with the offer of food, she recalled her hunger, and she did not pause to argue as she took what was given. Somehow their mother had returned as well. She was glad to hear it, but all of that seemed distant. She had no demands to make; Masquerade would handle her how they saw fit.
a maelstrom of emotions surges through her at the first call. disbelief, at first. hope. joy. and then, she notes, as she begins the trek down from the highlands toward the border, irritation.
but why should she be irritated? hadn't she left, too—despite her absence being not of her own volition?
perhaps Redd had similarly—
the musings are interrupted by another summons, this one from Masque. so the sisters have found each other. Avicus hastens her step, weaving deftly over the hills and avoiding various gopher holes here and there, eyes straining to see the cream-and-crimson girl on the horizon.
finally, the pair come into view, and as she grows closer, all traces of anger vanish.
Redd,
she breathes as she steps within hearing distance, and closes the gap to rest her muzzle upon her daughter's emaciated shoulder. the young woman is ragged, unkempt; a far cry from her former glory.
Avicus pulls back, swiping her tongue across her jowls as she takes stock of Redd. wha' happened? where? who?
the questions tumble out of her mouth in a mad search for answers. who has done her girl wrong?
Redd didn’t answer, just fell upon the meat. Masquerade huffed in approval, then sent up a quick call for their mother. While their sister fed, they further assessed her, dismayed at her condition. Something terrible must’ve happened to her. Redd looked even worse for wear than Avicus had upon reappearing in the nearby woods.
The red woman appeared now and Masque dipped their head, long tail waving. Their concerned gaze flicked from their dam’s face to their wayward sister, then back again. Soon, Avicus began demanding answers. Masque wondered if Redd would finally break her ominous silence.
She ate ravenously and the prey was gone too soon. Normally she’d have insisted on sharing the catch with Masque, but the thought didn’t even enter her mind as she finished it. For the first time in weeks her stomach wasn’t twisted with hunger.
Then Avicus was there. Her sister had said, but it was different seeing her. Redd’s tail waved and she greeted her the same way she’d greeted Masque; taking in her scent, pressing her muzzle to her mother’s fur gratefully. She too smelled of safety and home.
And she too demanded answers.
She drew back as she considered what to provide, tail and posture lowering again with regret. The flicker of shame returned, stronger now. Perhaps none of it was her fault. But perhaps she’d been a fool to hunt alone.
Trapped. In the dark.
She finally answered, those two statements the best summary she could give. She kept her eyes averted from both of theirs, deferring to her sister silently in a way she hadn’t before. She no longer knew the ways of the pack well enough to claim respect. Her place was to learn and to resolve all she’d missed.
Redd's words bring long suppressed memories to her mind. stumbling into a bear's mountain cave, coming face to face with the god of her childhood—darkness, fear, pain—
that her daughter has now something similar as well wounds her. but perhaps she'll be stronger for it.
mmm,
Avicus replies wordlessly, face sympathetic. she cannot judge. she'd been plucked from the Rise by the spirits and kept by them; this, too, is no fault of the Redtail wolf.
come,
she insists, nodding toward the interior as she begins to turn, ready to lend her weight as support to Redd should she need it.
briefly, she wonders if leadership should be summoned, too, to give their own judgment.
but I am Wealda, Avicus counters stubbornly. they will allow it.
Their ears splayed at Redd’s succinct reply. Masquerade swallowed thickly, confusion and dread filling their chest. Whatever she had been through, they didn’t envy their litter mate. And they couldn’t fault her, either. The Ulfr was simply glad she was back.
Avicus was of the same mind, ordering the yearling to accompany her into the territory. Masque stepped to Redd’s other side, their thoughts unknowingly echoing their mother’s. Their tail swept upward, going rigid as they prepared to escort Redd home. Let no one refute the Wealda and her heir.
It didn’t occur to her to question if they had the necessary rights to welcome her. Redd followed willingly, allowing the weariness to settle upon her finally as she crossed into the welcome safety of pack protection. She was once more where she belonged.
She would not wait for recovery; as she built her strength, she would also build theirs. She seemed to have little to prove to either wolf at her side, but she had much to prove to herself. These next weeks would serve to do just this.