Wheeling Gull Isle if anything was ever true, it was how i feel about you

 

Without Tapat present, Hemlock had started a restless combing of the shorelines to wait and see if he would come back. He was hers, hers - and now he was gone. She had to trust that he was okay and that he would be alright. She wanted to send Ceallach after him, but her fear was that it would leave Droman and Reed more vulnerable than they already were. Hemlock gathered the pair up, chewing the edge of her lip for a moment as another bitter gust cut across the sea. "@Droman, @Reed," She said softly, turning her vibrant gaze back to her children. "We will be having an adventure - but I need you to listen closely." Hemlock couldn't leave anything to chance after all - and if they were going to go, she'd have to be very careful about when and how they left. The pack itself had faded into nothing and the truth was that she had to protect her children. 

"Do you want to see what is beyond the ocean?" She asked, nodding towards the expanse far beyond the world that they had known. For her children she expected this to be some wild new thing - that they would not understand the severity of what was to come. She wanted to keep it that way too. What they would do once they were beyond the confines of the island she did not know, and she did not know for certain if @Eirlys or Ceallach would follow behind them or what they would do but of course she would extend the same offer to the girl. She owed it to Lotte and Arturo to keep their children safe too. 

 the events unfolding around her she isn't privy to, but reed can pick up on her mother's anxiety as of late, on a general restlessness in the air. the toddler is as demanding as ever but something about her mother's intensity in this moment subdues her as she wobbles closer, bumping against her legs. "mama?" reed asks, not one-hundred percent sure what she's saying but it sounds important and reed wants to pay attention for once, puppy blue eyes following her gesture out toward the sea. reed still doesn't know what to make of it besides big and wet but change as a general rule? not something she's a big fan of. "no," she asserts, and buries her face in mama's legs until she is forced to move.

just gonna powerplay dro until houkie is done with the semester <3

 

 

Hemlock could only smile as both children approached, already noticing those sharp differences in the way that her children were shaped and how they looked. When had they become more than the soft little fuzzy potatoes she'd birthed not that long ago? Still, despite her nerves she had a smile for her children and leaned down to kiss them both, only chuckling when Reed asserted her insistence that they did not have an adventure. "Too bad." Hemlock murmured with a little laugh as she nuzzled against the girl's skull. "Your brother will carry you, @Droman , and I will carry you Reed." She explained, guiding her young towards the edge of the shore. She wanted to be certain that they moved when the sandbar was exposed and they could move as easily as possible. She needed them to be safe - she needed to make sure that nothing happened to her children. 

"Once we cross the ocean there are so many things to see on the other side - forests, plains, rivers, so many places." She said almost wistfully - and she thought for a moment of the meadow where she and Palisander had spent so much of their time. After a few moments she called out to Ceallach, the younger male showing up after a few moments. "It is important that we all stay together." Hemlock stressed - but she knew it would be okay if they just trusted in one another. 

mama does not go along with her assertion, and reed pouts, thoroughly put out as she's easily led to the edge of the water. she's only ever seen the ocean from afar. up close, it's a little scary and strange. mama's still talking but reed ignores her, instead focusing on inching closer to the tide until she can touch it with her tiny peach toes.

weird! water floods her tiny feet and she makes a shocked wailing noise, tumbling back toward her mother. "no!" reed repeats, this time directed at the ocean. how dare it dampen her royal paws? she growls at it, weaving around mama's legs and paying no mind to the arrival of her older brother.

 

For Hemlock she could only ponder the life of a child such as Reed, how she had become so strongly willed in such a quick time. She gave a breathy laugh, shaking her head when Reed seemed rankled to her very core by the water itself. "I will keep you dry," Hemlock assured with a smile, trying to keep her own spirits up for the sake of her children's as well. When Reed danced back to weave around her legs Hemlock leaned down to kiss her temple and then brought Droman close to kiss his forehead too. "Alright then, we should go as quickly as possible." She didn't want to take any more time than was necessary so that they made it safely across the sea. 

It was different hefting Reed up high enough that she didn't get touched by any of the water and watched as Ceallach did the same for Droman. Not too long ago she could have carried her girl almost in her mouth entirely and now - now she was so big. A deep breath and Hemlock took towards the sandbar with Ceallach near her. She just wanted to do what was best even if it terrified her to leave the only home the children had known. The sea had been an effective barrier against everything else - no one had come to them with ill intentions. It had been easy but now she was serving as sole parent and she had to do what she felt would be the best for the children. She tried to ignore her own anxieties as the waters lapped around them, even with the tide on their side there was always the possibility that the sands shifted or she lost her footing and it would mean the worst for all of them. Her grip tightened on Reed and by the time they reached firm ground again Hemlock was near panting just from the panic. 

She set Reed down once they were far enough away that there was no chance the waters would touch them, immediately licking her face repeatedly. 

cruetly. betrayal! her mother's assurances fall on deaf ears. she protests with a squeak as she's picked up but falls limp, lulled by the instinctive comfort of her mother's jaw. it does not stop her from glaring balefully at the water, as if the force of her baby blues will scorch the earth and remove the ocean underneath her. she squirms as she is lowered until her feet touch thankfully-dry earth. her mother's tongue is quick to follow and she yelps in protest (though really, she enjoys the attention), quickly turning into giggles: "mama!"