Northstar Vale ii. rescue

she was getting close now, she could smell it.  her legs were aching, tired, but the closer she got the more she found her resolve.

his scent was strongest around the borders, pack-smell weighed on her heavily.  had he left?  had he joined some crew out here in the middle of nowhere, far from his family?  no, he couldn't have.. right?

with haste, she threw back her head and called for leadership.  she wanted answers.

tags for reffff

both sebastian and alarian are healing safely within tindómë's borders. it makes it almost -- almost! -- feel more stable, a false sense of security against their hazardously low numbers. the adrenaline of the previous weeks -- between alarian and sebastian, and his, er, physical moment with queenie -- has warded off the lingering edge of depression threatening to overwhelm him, and though the dam might be about to burst, in the moment, he feels fairly clearheaded.

he has not left the borders (good boy!), sticking close to @Queenie's side (and firmly not considering the implications of their affair for now) when he's not checking in on their injured guests. but he's alone when the call from the borders goes up, catching some time to feed his introverted habits -- he makes his way quickly, curious at the urgency of the cry. 

the small girl smells vaguely familiar, though he can't quite place it yet and doesn't quite recognize her. drawing himself up delight approaches, a vague pass at authority he can't really bring himself to muster. "need something?" he asks when he's in earshot, expression plainly curious as he gives her a once over.

He heard the call, but scarcely believed it at first; Alarian was frozen for several beats before he could find the will to move. When he did, it was immediately painful. The boy shifted to his feet, ignoring the intense burning in his healing wounds— Lanawyn had come for him, and he would not leave her waiting for long.
The Governor quickly found that moving fast was pretty much impossible. He managed a steady pace, though, eventually picking up on Delight's scent— fresh. Oh, hell, of course he was going to see what was up. Ali tried only once to take a more rapid step forward; that was a bad idea. Tears stung his eyes and he paused, unable to hold in a sigh. This kind of sucked— screw Runion and his apparent Oedipus complex, anyway.
Alarian tucked that thought away for later. It spurred him to action once again, though, and this time he didn't pause; he arrived after Delight, just far enough behind to have missed his words. Lanawyn! He called, limping past the other boy a bit more hurriedly. For the moment, he almost forgot his wounds, tail wagging behind him. Few words came to mind— wasn't it all self-explanatory?
He slowed when he came nearer to her, but did not move to touch her. Instead, he lowered himself to the ground directly in front of her, ears pinned back and tail still swishing. I'm sorry, Ali murmured, quiet so only she could hear him. I meant to come back, but— something happened. Something you need to know about. He remembered Delight, then, and cast him a slightly apologetic glance.
Oh, um— Delight, this is my sister.

Um, she said as a chocolate-swathed boy approached with halfhearted authority, asking her that question like they were acquaintances.  Yeah, I think my brother's here.

And she'd only been able to get it out of her mouth when dragged himself to meet her.  He spilled apologizes with urgency, and her anger is quelled for the moment.  It was obvious he was hurt.

Um, I'm Lanawyn, she said, looking between the two of them.  But duh, Alarian had said her name already.  Oh no.. um.  What next?  Did he wanna talk to her alone, or was this dude just gonna.. stick around?

she says she thinks her brother is here, which gives him pause: she doesn't look or smell like a rochester, though sebastian did mention a sister nearby... but then alarian shows up and it clicks into place. "you should be resting," delight mutters half-heartedly, unhappily eyeing his still healing wounds.

but it's not really his place to intrude on this little reunion or whatever, since he's assess lanawyn isn't a threat (by which he means he spoke to her briefly, and she seems fine). delight clears his throat. "i'm delight, the leader of tindómë, this pack," he introduces, "alarian is staying with us while he heals. do you, uh, do you want to talk alone?" the androgyne doesn't want to let alarian completely out of his sight, lest the boy get it in his head he needs to go back home now before he's done healing, but he's not about to involve himself in this little family moment or whatever. really, please, he does not want to.

pp w/ permission, sorry i kept this waiting so long rip

Another time, Alarian might have died on the spot; unease hung thickly in the air, almost palpable. He was too tired, now— too relieved to see his sister, finally. Delight was quick to propose his own exit anyway. Grateful, he nodded in response, and waited until his friend had retreated to start again.
Runion is here, He said after a long stretch of silence. Another pause. Not— not here here. In the valley, west of here. The other side of the mountain range.

Any anger she might have felt towards Alarian dissipated as soon as Runion's name breached the air.  Is he — did he do this to you?  Her voice was strained, ears slicked back on her skull as she crumbled beneath the weight of this realization.

---

The two continued their discussion, but Lanawyn was quick to excuse herself; she needed to get home and she needed to talk to Lily.