Only Galileo's reaction remained to be seen. Bazi had confronted Scimitar, and she had gotten from him what she had expected.. but Galileo. She had promised to return, promised not to abandon her pack, and she had. Sort of. Indirectly. Not on purpose?
On her first solo excursion beyond the borders, Bazi took herself to Wapun Meadow. There were no flowers here, only a smattering of tall, waving reeds. The white wolf slalomed slowly between them, walking in a pattern that didn't take her anywhere. She needed time to prepare herself for what she would say, and how she would then begin to redress the wrongs she had done to those that had trusted her to do the right thing.
of coursee
He had already heard of Bazi's return through the grapevine, though he had spared himself of the details, which in his mind would be better to be heard from her own mouth.
Maybe Bazi had not lived up to her promoised but she had a compass in her heart, or so it seemed since it didn't take long for her to arrive to the very same place Galileo was in. Though he had not noticed her presence, it was likely she had not yet noticed him either. In the middle of the meadow, scattered with the wilted plants and snow covered soil was Galileo, coiled up like a wounded animal hoping to die soon. This was no strange ocurrence for the peppered male, since as of lately he had been feeling under the weather -- spiritually that is.
The cold nostalgia of never having seen his soon chilled him to the bone, even more than the snow he had collapsed in. There was no way to be sure of why such feeling had began to pop up so suddenly, but there was a certainty that if he didn't get off that funk soon either hypothermia or his demons would suck the remaining life of him.
Against the drab colours of the winter landscape, Bazi did not immediately spot Galileo laying there in the dirt. At first, she thought he was a distant boulder, and it was only when a stiff breeze indicated otherwise that she trotted over to investigate.
The sight that greeted her was chilling. He did not look well. In fact, he looked a little like Ferdie had in the run-up to his infamous breakdown. Bazi moved cautiously forward, stretching her neck out towards her ailing friend. "Galileo..?" she began. He was scarcely moving. Was he.. was he dying?
The lapse of time he remained coiled on the floor did not go beyond five mintunes but even so he could feel the thick layer of fur pressed against the lush snow begin to tremble as the cold seeped into him. He embraced the cold with a straight face, simply staring up ahead as his lungs filled and deflated rythmically. It was in that moment of deep thought and meditation that the face of his deceased sister materialized from the shadows. Though it still held the features of a child (like as he had last seen her) there was no doubt in the male's mind that it was her who was standing in front of him.
Had she come to reap him from the earth? Was it time to live the terrenal grounds to live forever with his sister's spirit? While still laying on the ground with his eyes closed, Galileo called into the dead of the shadows spreading in his mind, for he too thought he was dying.
But he wasn't.
Not yet.
He woke with a jolt, pulling his head brusquely from the ground as he turned towards the source of the voice that had fished him out of his morbid imagination. He was glad to find Bazi standing before him, and though he was too tired to give her an elaborate greeting he did manage to dedicate a gentle smile in her direction.
He wasn't. The body burst from the ground, alive and well - or perhaps not. Bazi's breath hitched in her throat, but Galileo offered a sad smile and she took that as an invitation to approach. The pale girl shuffled forward, wearing a deeply etched mask of concern. Galileo was certainly living, but he didn't look particularly pleased about it.
"Are you... alright? Are you sick?" She asked, sitting down a few feet away from the older wolf's head with her own cocked questioningly to one side. It had been her intention to explain the reason for her absence and beg his forgiveness, but Galileo seemed entirely too preoccupied with some other demon to dispense judgment today.
Apologies and explanations were unnecessary for the male.
Even if she had commited a crime whilst she was out and murdered a thousand men, he would not deprive her of the benefit of forgiveness. He could, and would listen to her pleas, given she had some, if that would rid her of the guilt, but as a sinner himself he would not hold anything against her.
Aside from being a Counselor and a respected member of the pack, Galileo was also a friend to all those who wished to have his friendship -- and Bazi being the girl that had lurred him into the gates of the Creek in the first place would never be anything less.
A true friend.
"Not sick" he answered hoarsely, not realizing that the fact he wasn't coughing, sneezing or suffering from an illness meant he was well. Because he wasn't.
"Maybe a little tired" he admitted then, pulling his torso so he was no longer laying on the snow but sitting.
Was he really tired?
No.
Despite the ocassional aches of his joints -- which were a side effect of his age --he didn't feel worn out.
Then what was he tired of, he didn't know yet.
"Are you?" he asked, tracing the outlines of her face with his amber eyes. Though he didn't mean to turn the focus of him, he had not realized that Bazi was trying to engage in serious conversation.
After being a Counselor for so long he had not considered the fact that maybe it was him that needed to be consoled.
"Not sick," he told her, and Bazi's breath left her in a slow, relieved sigh. Thank the stars. But something wasn't quite as it should be; had he been human, Galileo would have been all panda eyes and sallow skin. As a wolf, he looked somewhat poorly groomed, but there were no other outward signs of whatever was going on in his head.
"I'm fine, mostly," Bazi confirmed, angling her head back to look at her healing hind leg. "I hurt my leg, but... it's mostly back to normal. And I'm not yellow any more - God, that was not a good look."
She trailed off. Silence settled awkwardly between them. After a few seconds, Bazi decided to push Galileo for a better explanation. She narrowed her blue eyes, studying his grey face intently. "Is something else wrong? Even if you aren't sick, you look.. a little bit terrible, actually. Like you've got a lot going on in your head."
Having his fur matted and tousled like he had just crawled from the depths of hell was only one of the many indicators something was up with the man. Even if he tried to hide it, the heavy weight pulling stacked over his shoulders and the creases that formed around his face as he frowned were impossible to erase. As much as he hated it, Galileo was now an open book, the sorrow written across his pages exposed for every eye to see.
As Bazi talked about the injury caused during her voyage and how glad she was to be back and bouncing back to her usual self Galileo's thoughtful frown turned upside down to give the girl a quick smile of encouragement, accompanied by a few words of support that despite being spoken in a mere whisper, held the the male's utter support. "I'm glad to see you're mending" he had said while dipping his head as charmingly as when they had first met.
Suddenly, the subject of his well being was prodded again from the dead, just like Galileo a few moments ago. No matter how hard he tried to he could not avoid letting Bazi's icy eyes see through his facade.
Maybe it was time to let it down.
If Bazi had payed attention during their first few encounters she already had caught a glimpse of Galileo's troubled self. "I do" he agreed, pulling his gaze from the ground to meet his eyes with her own. "Remember what I told you the day I joined the Creek?" he asked, not caring that Fox had also been there at the time. The conversation had been theirs and theirs alone -- the firehead had only prodded to hear the story.
"Paarthurnax and Shadow's situation has re-opened those wounds" he tried to explain though truth was that said wound had never really closed."I know it has nothing to do with me, but the scene is far too familiar -- a déjà vu" he went on, his tired gaze not wavering from Bazi's face.
Even if his words were not meant to excuse his recent actions (or lack of reaction) during the meeting he felt like they could; and in front of Bazi's eyes he hoped they would.
"Remember what I told you the day I joined the Creek?"
Bazi managed to put a stop to the blank stare before it got out, and instead presented Galileo with a silent lie - yes, she nodded, trying to look serious. Something about a son?
As it happened, she was right - sort of. Shadow and Paarthurnax's unenviable situation was all about their shared brood, and Scimitar's decision to keep the father out. They would soon be free to wander, but by then it would be too late - he would have missed their formative months. Bazi swallowed, studying Galileo's face. He really did look sick. She wondered how often he ate, if at all. "Can we do something?" she ventured vaguely, in case her faded memory of their conversation was entirely wrong.
sad galileo is sad :(
The white lie presented by the similarly immaculate female was enough to clear some of the dark sadness that loomed over him, but never all. He was pleased to know that she remembered, that the heartfelt words he had once recited in front of the former Alpha, Fox, and her had not been simply a waste of air.
He then expected for her to give him some words of comfort or a simple smile, but she did neither. It was then that Galileo rembered that he was the Counselor not her, and that she did not not deserve to be burdened with his laments.
No one should.
Like a captain on a sinking ship he was meant to drown with his guilt by himself.
"Can we do something?"
The question had two different interpretations and despite he understood both he didn't want to chose either.
"Something about it? No, I think there is no remedy for me" he barked, every syllable drenched in palpable nostalgia."Or did you mean something other than talk? he ended, his eyes flickering slowly to the female's icy orbs only to drop once they made contact.
"Something about it? No, I think there is no remedy for me. Or did you mean something other than talk?"
Bazi thought about it, then shrugged. If memory served and this was indeed about a split family, there was precious little she could do for him in that moment. They could search - but where? Bazi's surviving family (if there were any) were gone, and she had concluded her grieving for them a long time ago. Galileo needed to do the same. In the meantime, she could offer comfort. With tentative steps, Bazi moved to sit beside her ailing friend and gently leaned her head against his grey shoulder.
last post :p this is really old but we should have another when/if Gali comes back
Silence was the only thing the female could provide at the moment; that and the attempt to smother the sad flames that had ignited in his heart with the soft touch of her head upon his shoulder. Though neither had been what he had been looking for from her, he accepted both gestures nontheless, the latter with a little more gratitude than the former.
She was no Counselor and had no obligation to even sit there and listen to his pained laments. Yet there she was, leaning her head in him as she tried to make her warmth melt the icyness that had laced over his shoulders as he had laid in the snow. With a heavy sigh that escaped from his mouth in the form of a small cloud of fog, he turned his head slightly to meet his coal nose with the crown of the female's head. An unspoken 'thank-you' that carried the same effervescent gratitude he had felt when she had been the one to initially welcome him into her the ranks of the Creek.
There, in her embrace and in the Creek, he would remain until she,or any other factor, may it be called death or whatever, teared him away.