Wheeling Gull Isle neon gravestones try to call for my bones

;-; she will b back one day for sure

The sky was a solemn, slate grey that afternoon, and the wind had picked up just enough to spray the sand and whip the surface of the shore's waves onto the banks. Faeryn's pelt, too, was ruffled by the embrace of cold, glittering eyes squinting as her paws left prints in her wake. The task of today had left a solid stone in her stomach, and a sour taste in her mouth when she had stumbled to her feet early that morning - she was dreading this conversation. The nymph had long avoided it, for she knew deep in her heart that this truly was the first place she had ever felt as though she belonged, and the wolves of undersea were her only family. 

She'd been having countless nightmares over the last few moons. They came in sudden bursts, where flames filled her vision and licked at her fur, scorching her paws and blinding her eyes - sometimes she could even taste the smoke on her tongue, or hear the howls and cries fill the night. Her head shook instinctively, and her paws sped up. Faeryn's muzzle tipped to the sky, and from her lips came a summoning howl for @Coelacanth and @Stockholm, a melodic call laced with hidden uncertainty, and a sorrow she could not quite name.

Aww. Even if not, Seelie and Stock will always love her as family.

Coelacanth’s physical injuries were healed, but her spirit was sorely bruised. She had loved Aditya so dearly, believed herself forgiven for her past transgressions, only to have him disrespect her husband and wound her packmates. Her self-opinion had never been this low. She had snapped at poor @Hemlock when the woman had come to tend her wounds, and only @Stockholm’s pleading and the worried expressions on her children’s faces had coaxed her to submit to the medicine woman’s ministrations.

Today was the first day she’d left the Labyrinth since the fight — and she wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for Faeryn’s melodic voice, tinged with a rare vulnerability, winging high and wide. Surprisingly, the cool sand beneath her paws sowed the first seeds of healing in her wounded heart. This was her island, whether or not the other seawolves stayed; whether or not she ever forgave herself for Aditya’s crimes; whether or not Maegi and Mou ever came back. Her children had been born here, and perhaps more would be made when the weather grew cold enough for the most intimate kind of firemaking. Too, surely `Io and Komodo would be starting fires of their own, and she was eager to raise her children alongside theirs.

A soft whuff and a kittenish sneeze announced her arrival, and once she had the blue she-wolf’s attention, “Faeryn,” she mouthed. She crossed the distance without hesitation and rubbed her cheek against the flat of the taller female’s neck. Her unease was palpable to the empath, who cocked her head to the side and nibbled tenderly at her former leader’s nape in an attempt to offer comfort.

The Gampr rarely allows himself to be separated from his mate these days. After the confrontation with Aditya, all the seawolves are a little on edge, and the undercurrent of guilt the Overseer feels for what he perceives as a failure to protect his Aralez won't quit. The note of unease in @Faeryn's voice worries him, but he greets her with a smile nonetheless as he materializes from the shadows just behind Seelie. "Faeryn," he greets warmly, approaching her to butt his muzzle affectionately against one blue-furred shoulder. "What's wrong? Is everything okay?"

<3

Seelie's presence was answered with a swift shimmer of the seawolf's tail, a brief smile flickering across her face as she moved closer to embrace the sheepdog in turn, touching her nose tenderly to the Aralez's head. Stockholm was quick to follow, his own greeting offered and laced with warmth; a flicker of sorrow swept through her chest, but she gulped it away and smiled softly between the two. "Seelie, Stock, it's good to see you." 

The sooner she explained her situation, the sooner the fog would clear, she was sure. "I... well... everything is okay, yes. I've just found myself in a position i'd rather not be in, through nobody's fault, of course." The Renoda peered distantly toward the sea, as though she could gather it all in her gaze and carry it along at her side. "I think... I may need to leave Undersea for a while. I'm missing something, but I don't quite know what it is, and my mind is urging me to wander." Absentmindedly, the sea nymph chewed at the tender skin inside her mouth, watery eyes flickering between her friends in observation of their reactions to her revelation. "I do want to return one day, and I hope you can understand my conflict... I would love to remain here permanently, but I feel like I need to find out what's wrong first."

To ease up your thread log, @Faeryn, I am fine if you wanna archive this after my post, or post one more time and then archive. With @Stockholm’s permission I am powerplaying him in my post to help close this more quickly. ♥

Concern for Faeryn outweighed the overwhelming hurt the sheepdog felt. That the blue wolfess might one day wish to leave the home she had worked so hard to helped build had never once occurred to Coelacanth, but if she wanted to leave, her reasons must be grave indeed. “Peace be, Faeryn,” she breathed simply, dipping her tapered muzzle to nose lovingly at her agemate’s décolletage. “Fierce heart.” The broken whisper trilled from her lips, and her Neptune eyes fervently and intently searched the former Akhlut’s to convey what her voice could not: Faeryn would always be welcome at the island’s shores, just like the other seawolves whose adventures had carried them away. The Cortens were chronic wayfarers; it was just that in Seelie, the sheepdog’s home-tending blood was far stronger.

“You’ll always be welcome here, Faeryn,” the Gampr echoed his Groenendael’s sentiment. “Go, find what you need to find. We’ll be here for you if you ever need us.”

“You’ll always be welcome here, Faeryn,” Stockholm affirms quietly, his golden eyes somber, scarred muzzle wearing a sad smile. “Go, find what you need to find. We’ll be here for you if you ever need us.” For a moment he is silent; his expression is unreadable save for a patient sort of compassion. “We’ll miss you,” he adds, for Seelie as much as himself. “We built this pack together.” The four of them — Komodo, Faeryn, Stockholm, and Seelie — have all taken the helm at one point or another; and although it’s been awhile since Faeryn has gone by the title of Akhlut, and longer still since the seawolves called her Alpha, he can’t help but feel that the pack’s foundation will be shaken by her departure.