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+--- Thread: Great Bear Wilderness Reach for the dead (/showthread.php?tid=5765)
Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
The last thing Peregrine expected to find in these splendorous autumn woods was the dead body of a fellow wolf. He spotted it from a distance, thinking it the carcass of a prey animal, but shrank back slightly when he realized what it was. It was a she-wolf with typical timber wolf markings. Her throat had been torn. He sniffed the air, yet detected no sign of any other large predators nearby. Whoever or whatever had done this was long gone.
Unsure of what to do—should he just leave her here? Or should he try to bury her?—Peregrine just stood there rather stupidly, deliberating.
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 11, 2014
Gunnar had told his mother and father he wanted to go on one adventure away from the lands before Winter now that he was 6 months old. They both had agreed, his father more readily than his mother. She was a worrier though, and she worried about everything and she cooked up the most horrible scenarios of what could happen. He smirked softly, a talent he had learned from his father. HE loved his mother, he was glad she worried, but in a way it was actually suffocating. But he supposed he couldn't blame her, he was the only one of her brood left his brother and sister gone.
It was with these heavy thoughts and a fully belly he departed. He didn't have an exact destination in mind, only that he wanted to find his biological uncle, find out why his real dad left his mom like that. It made him sick, would he be just as bad as him? Or would he grow up and find someone to settle down with nicely. Would he make a good man or would he be a coward or worse?
He continued on for days, his paws were sore and weary, and his back hurt and he just wanted his mother and his father, the sand and the surf. He figured he'd go just a little further today and if he found no scent he'd turn around and head home. Odinn was smiling on him though today and he came across the man he dimly remembered from meeting at his borders and he was looking at a dead she wolf. Well hopefully she fought hard enough to get into valhalla. Was his only words.
He studied his uncle and the she wolf with slate gray eyes, and his father's mask.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
He became so lost in thought that he didn't realize he had company—living company, that is—until someone spoke. Peregrine started, his eyes cutting immediately to the stranger's face. His tail stiffened and his hackles prickled, though he relaxed slightly when he realized he was looking at a young wolf, younger even than his own offspring.
"Valhalla?" he echoed dully, eyes falling to the body. "What's that? Some variation of heaven or something?" he guessed, making no connection between this unfamiliar youngster and Stavanger Bay, nor of course his own long-gone brother. The last time he'd seen Gunnar, after all, he had been a pudgy little squirt.
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 11, 2014
Gunnar's own hackles rose in response to Peregrine's hackles, he was fairly certain this was the one he had been looking for but he could be wrong. After all he was merely going on memories of a youngster and a name. Gunnar stared at the older wolf with trepidation, unsure what to say now that he was here.
It's the viking hall of the dead. Ran by Odin, he takes only the most distinguished warriors to fight in Ragnarok. Gunnar shifted his weight and moved most of his weight to his right side, it was easier this way for him to stand.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
Assuming Tokio drops Ragnar in one of my other threads, this is the third in the sequence so he would've seen him recently. Noting so I can keep these organized in my head.
"Ah..." Peregrine said as understanding came to him. "Ragnarok—I know that guy. I even spoke to him recently. He wasn't 'O-K' though," he quipped, wondering if the sandy youngster would get the pun, which was perhaps the lamest of all time.
His eyes trailed over the juvenile's face, spurring him to ask, "You wouldn't happen to be one of his boys, would you? You look sort of familiar. And all those Viking words." Even without confirmation, he knew he was right. "I'm sorry, I forget your name. Mine's Peregrine."
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 11, 2014
Gunnar stared at him for a moment, trying to understand his words. It took him a moment, after all he was still a child technically, he just didn't look it. He tilted his head as it finally dawned on him with the next part of the conversation. Yes I'm Ragnar and Thistle's and yea he's not. Odin took his eye, in exchange for keeping the bay safe.
Gunnar shifted his weight and wrinkled his nose as the smell of the dead assailed him. Do you want help burying her? Yea I came to meet you, mom told me who my read dad was and that you were his brother. Gunnar was a no nonsense child and he usually got right to the point, today was no different. He did wag his tail though in greeting, he didn't want his biological uncle to think he was just some sort of serious dead pan wolf, he could have fun and be nice.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
Peregrine frowned at the reminder of Ragnar's gruesome injury. He didn't want to dwell on it, though. Luckily, Gunnar distracted him by inquiring about the body. He opened his mouth to answer when the younger male threw a bit of a curve ball at him, reminding Peregrine of their biological relationship. He'd evidently come here specifically to see him too.
"You came to meet me? How'd you know where to find me?" he wondered, then brushed off his own question. "Yes, you were sired by my brother, Crete. Make no mistake, though: he's not your 'real father.' Ragnar is." Peregrine's lips pursed a moment, then he asked, "What would you like to know?"
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 11, 2014
Gunnar shifted sheepishly, he had actually followed Junior's scent originally cause he knew it, and then he had smelled Peregrine who sort of smelled like Junior, but not exactly. That was how he had found him. He shifted and strode forward and began digging right where the she wolf lay. He imagined if they dug deep enough they could just tip her in.
Gunnar pursed his lips as he turned to look at Peregrine Oh I know who my real father is trust me. He frowned that sounds a bit callous and cruel, but he couldn't quite help the bitterness he felt for his biological father. He shrugged I followed Junior's scent originally then I found your's and it smelled a little bit like her's so I figured you were who you were and I had your scent from before anyway. Gunnar looked down, what would he like to know the real question, the one he really wanted was why. Do you think that Crete didn't want us? Is that why he left? I mean mom said he didn't know, but what if he did? Do you think he just didn't want us? And why didn't you ever ask about us? Our parents never hid it from us? And our mom told us as soon as we asked, so it's not like it was a big secret and all you gotta do is look at Mercury, he looks just like you...well mostly.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
He had decided not to bother burying the she-wolf, yet nonetheless made a move to help Gunnar when the youth's rapid-fire questions arrested him. His lips parted as they flooded forth. It would be a miracle if he remembered to address them all.
"Sorry," he began, "but I have no idea what Crete made of you or why he left. He just disappeared without a word. I know that's not the answer you were hoping for. Know that I am just as bitter about it as you are." Peregrine's tail lashed, sensing a bit of an accusation in the latter questions. "I'm not sure what you mean. Why would I have sought you out? We share blood but we both just admitted we don't consider Crete your actual father. He was just a sperm donor. Therefore, we're not actually relatives. You are a... Low-brook or whatever, not a Redleaf-DiSarinno."
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 11, 2014
Gunnar was digging mostly for something to do while he organized his thoughts. That and the simple fact that the smell seriously offended his nostrils and he hated it. He would have to get the smell of decaying flesh out of his nose.
Gunnar wasn't even sure why he asked why he hadn't sought them out. After all he was kind of doing this on the fly. He was just going with the flow and asking the questions that popped into his mouth, and he had no reason to feel bad about offending the other. Because obviously just as he said they only shared blood nothing more, and he would do well to remember that. He wasn't going to find a doting uncle or even an uncle in the wolf before him. He shrugged quickly Yea I guess you're right never mind that question. I'm not as bitter about it all as Mercury anyway. He frowned as he formed the question he really wanted answered, but was afraid of what he would say. Do you think we'll be like him? Like do you think we'll abandon our women and babies? He looked down ashamed at hte question, but unsure what else to say so he shuffled his overly large paws. His father could raise him, but he still had Crete's blood and would that be the ultimate problem in the end? He was Crete's blood and flesh son.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
Peregrine didn't know what to say about that, though he was glad that Gunnar let it go that easily. He didn't want to explain in any more detail that he didn't really acknowledge the youngster as his nephew. It was nothing personal.
Gunnar's next question was so childlike that it made a smile creep over his stern face. "No. That shit is a choice, not a genetic inheritance." His tail switched again. "Anyway, you look like you take more after your mother than Crete." His lips twitched again and he bent down to dig at the cold soil near the corpse.
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 11, 2014
Gunnar still had blurry line where family was concerned. He hadn't yet grasped the entirety of the situation. To him the man before him was still his uncle, cause he was blood. It didn't quite register that it was a choice not to accept him, but he could see a sore spot so he just let it go. And he had been serious Mercury was more bitter than he.
Gunnar stared at the other with a strange look on his face. He wasn't sure how to take the cavalier attitude toward swearing. His father didn't even swear that much, actually he couldn't think of a single time he had heard him. He had heard his mom, but only when she was really angry. So just to drop it like that was interesting and it made his lips twitch. He would have to try it out, but his mother would probably tan his hide.
Gunnar nodded Yea I look like mom, she said only way you can tell he was my dad was that I have a similar mask, but not the same color. So anyway what was he like? Was he nice accept for this one time you know that he knocked up my mom and left? He joined in with the digging, happy to be doing something.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 11, 2014
He hadn't thought of his brother in a long time, so he took a while to ponder Gunnar's question. In the meantime, he continued digging, albeit slowly, as he was caught up in his head. Peregrine had been very fond of Crete up until his disappearance, which had somehow thrown a pall over everything that had come before. Presently, he tried to summon those memories and give them a quick spit wash to see them in the correct light.
"Let's just say that Crete's doing that was incredibly unexpected and out of character. I really wish it wasn't my last 'memory' of him," he said at length, pausing to make eye contact with the sandy youth. "He was a good dude who made a huge mistake. Two, actually. He messed around with your mom when she was already mated to your dad." That was how Peregrine understood the timeline, anyway, based on that visit Ragnar had made to inform him of the entire scandal.
Realizing that he might have just thrown Thistle under the bus, he added, "I'm not totally sure of the timeline, though. In any case, that was his first fuck-up. His second was, of course, poofing into thin air before the news could break, leaving not only his family but his unborn pups behind." He took a breath and finally resumed digging as he concluded, "And that's why I respect your real dad so much. He took responsibility for you guys, even knowing you weren't his. Even though I think he's a little fruity, he's an admirable man. He's the only father figure you should care about."
RE: Reach for the dead - Gunnar - November 13, 2014
Gunnar froze at his words about his mother and he thought about it. He was pretty sure his mother hadn't been mated to his dad yet. But he kept that to himself, they had consummated or whatever the heck that word was. So he knew his mom and dad had been together, but he was pretty certain it wasn't official until she was certain of him, and his siblings. However, he didn't say a word deciding that was something that his uncle just didn't need to know, and he might be wrong anyway, he hadn't asked for details and his mother hadn't told him.
Gunnar chuckled Don't let my dad hear you call him fruity, you'd be on the wrong end of his teeth. He shook his head in mirth, fruity didn't even begin to cover his dad. Savage, Feral, wild, free, devil may care, cavalier, those words all fit him. I Know I was just curious and dad always says to look for knowledge if we want to know, so I decided to look for some knowledge cause i was curious.
RE: Reach for the dead - Peregrine Redhawk - November 16, 2014
"I feel like maybe I'm one of the few who could get away with it," Peregrine countered with a smile, "though maybe I'm just flattering myself." He nodded and added, "Despite that stupid saying—'curiosity killed the cat' or whatever—I definitely believe in asking questions and seeking knowledge. Sometimes, you don't get answers you like but that's all part of life. Information is power."
Between the two of them, they'd very nearly finished burying the unfortunate timber wolf. He had no clue who she had been, though even if he had, Peregrine wasn't really the type to go out of his way to notify her pack and family. Burying her was already more than enough.
"Well, I think I'm going to make my way home now, Gunnar. I hope I answered your inquiries to your satisfaction. Stay safe in your travels and never stop asking questions," were Peregrine's parting words before he dipped his muzzle to the sandy youth, then turned and trotted away though the trees, in the direction of the caldera.