Barrow Fields three(?) children and a (man)baby

Backdated to July 5. Vaguedy-vague is vague & hope the PP is okay for timing's sake, Thalia.

After picking up/finding (presumably) his daughter, Verx set back off for Rusalka, three wayward children (hopefully) in tow. He would look for Aure, too, but after he dropped these rugrats off at the sound; that was his main focus. He was reluctant to take them back, but where else would he go? Besides, Rosalyn would have a cow if he didn't get Reyes back in a timely manner.

The soldier tried to make the trip at least a little enjoyable, throwing in fun and games along the way. Whether they would play, too, was up to them; Dragomir had been hella angry with him and Verx didn't blame his son in the least. He'd really fucked this up. Now it was on him to make it right.

They stopped for a moment upon a rise, where the sea came suddenly and marvelously into view. He turned his gaze toward his pups (Reyes was used to this sight), grinning, his tail aloft. That's the ocean, he explained, eyes gleaming with delight. This is where we're meant to be. We're close.

Would they like the sea or long for the mountains? He supposed both outcomes were possible. After all, he'd not stopped longing for the sturdy boughs of Trigeda, even though he'd grown to love Dragoncrest Cliffs. They might be split between the two places forever.

AW but tagging @Dragomir, @Reyes, @Isilmë

Damn straight she was going to have a cow.  Trusted had been her orders to her children when tasked with who they could leave with, and the word didn't even begin to describe the damn alpha.  So when she picked up on her son's disappearance, and who he'd likely gone with, the mother was furious.  Not worried; surely he knew she'd finish what Caiaphas tried if anything happened.  But furious all the same.

When you are a mother with a grudge, you really need no other reason.

She patrolled and waited, and when she saw them upon the fields where she was stalking, she made a stiff approach.  What gave you the idea that I wanted him with you, especially without asking?  She asked, not bothering to keep her voice down as she leapt right in.

If there were other children, she ignored it.  This accusation train had room for one only, and she was riding this incorrect assumption with all of her indignant, self-righteous ire.

alsoooo vague.  I shouldn't join but pfft

post can be edited if needed!

Rage. Unending and exhaustive and frightful rage had hilted into her bones for the entirety of a day-and-half. Bones that knew her mortal nemesis hadn’t been thwarted from the earths he’d bloodlet of; and it was that same letting that had consumed her in the evening following his descent — her descent — from the plateau.

The silver thinks she could bear a few more kill marks; and she wouldn't ever know repose until he'd been smote from the world, her fangs in his throat. As it should've been... and would be. It was a slavering rage that would've had quite its time to dethrone Rosalyn's ire; who, for now, would go entirely unaddressed by the herbalist.

But at the sight of the sea  ( ! )  and her children  ( !! )  and of dragostea  ( !!! ), rage and fright promptly withered from her specter’s figure, and her legs, so near to wilting, worked themselves past the searing pierce of herb-encrusted liaisons upon shoulder and ribs; all of it withered down down down only to leave scarred lips in a shivery, sob-soft warble of “Seingeda.”

Over and over and over was that thing of Trig repeated; her own accent tonguing that word so poorly. But then she was striding as Striders like her do, and then she was outright flying for them, crying in broken Trig, probably looking ridiculous as ever, “Goufas! Niron!” her voice pitched and breaking and croaking from previous rage.

It’s what the three of hers were to her, each. Whether they now held her contempt, aversion, well... Aurëwen winged her way right to them, for all the world looking very much a tearful mess mother who wouldn’t ever desert those so precious to her heart; no matter how much her ribs pained her, or how much her voice failed her. Not that any of those gathered knew she'd leapt through hell and back  (with help!)  to protect her cubs, to find their father, but it did wonders to her euphoric, tear-stricken relief.

Probably my only post here, feel free to skip and tag me if I'm needed!

They'd maybe found Isilmë, I have no idea, and then Vercingetorix had turned right around and began leading them away again. Dragomir, who was dog-tired at this point, longed to ask where mom was, but held his tongue. For one thing, he didn't want to upset himself by arguing more. For another, he seemed unable to summon her title to his lips. She had left them, after all. Vercingetorix had left them at Diaspora and pursued a new life with false promises on his tongue, not once but twice, which was bad enough... but Aurë had dragged them from their beds only to leave them with someone they didn't know and no explanation, which was almost worse. Dragomir didn't know whether he preferred his father's lies to his mother's silence, but he couldn't seem to find the words to ask where Verx was taking them, or where Aurë was.

He was a fast-burning flame and his trust could be easily won back, but at the moment he was hurting, and followed along in relative silence. He stuck close to Isilmë and was grateful for Reyes' soothing company, but hung back from Vercingetorix. He still wasn't sure how to feel about everything that had happened thus far.

That's the ocean. Dragomir lifted his eyes from his paws and let them widen at the sight of the enormous lake stretching out as far as the eye could see. It had to be at least two times the size of Arrow Lake, maybe even bigger. You could kind of see where the shore wrapped around Arrow Lake, but here the beach was a straight line cutting diagonally to each horizon and melting out of sight, with no evidence that it ever ended. Woah, he exclaimed, having forgotten that he was supposed to be upset. His tail picked up a gentle wag, tapping someone's flank as he stepped forward and cupped his ears. From afar, he could hear a gentle growl, like the rush of a river but different somehow.

...And then there was another wolf there, one who looked just like Reyes, which Dragomir noted with a quiet, look the same! to the other pup as he pulled nearer to his father's hip. She was frightening, though. Her admonishing tone cowed him, even though he hadn't done anything wrong, and his tail curled between his legs in an appeasing gesture. And then out of nowhere Aurë appeared, bloodied and frenzied, taking the spotlight quite suddenly from the ruddy she-wolf who had intercepted them. Dragomir did press his shoulder against his father's leg then, turning the rest of his body away from his frantic dam. She was hurt again. Why, he wondered, was she always getting hurt all the time? Was that what she'd left them to do? Why?

He was worried, of course; he would always worry after his mother's wellbeing, especially the older he got and the more he recognized her irresponsibility for what it was. But he was upset, too, that she had left them behind just to go and get hurt again, and that upset bubbled over into anger. His eyes were cool as they rested on her, full of hurt and mistrust, but his attention was pulled back to Rosalyn by curiosity and respect both. She, of all the gathered wolves, seemed the fiercest. She reminded him a bit of Stigmata, which was oddly comforting.

Oh, here came mama bear, fierce as ever. Verx gave her a grimace, casting his gaze down to Reyes before returning it to Rosalyn's scarred visage. What gave you the idea that I took him with me? he shot back, looking astonished. Little dude followed me; I was far from the territory before he bumped into me, otherwise I would've returned him. I brought him back!

He nudged the boy toward his mother—please, just go to her—and was about to introduce his kids to this new face when the unthinkable (okay, he guessed it was pretty thinkable) occurred.

Aure was back.

She was running, crying, bleeding, and he felt Dragomir press against him at her approach. A hot, surprising flash of anger welled up within him as he fixed his eyes on her, a growl simmering at the base of his throat. Why the fuck did you end up leaving our children with someone they don't even know? he demanded, rising to his full height to dwarf her. He was done fucking around with this. And to go off and what, get your ass kicked again? Fucking hell, Aurëwen!

For now, Rosalyn was the least of his concerns. He needed answers, and he needed them now.

Cameo from me unless tagged.

The trip back home started out with a flourish of movement and good cheer from Reyes as he was happy to be returning somewhere familiar, and he took his usual spot at the tail of the gathered children, keeping an eye on them despite being younger and likely less skilled should something go wrong. They drifted together along the edge of the sea and as they went, Reyes lost some of that oomph. It was just the ocean - hadn't they seen the ocean from their home? It didn't occur to the boy that he was being raised on the edge of the world unlike Dragomir or his sister. He was tired of hiking all over creation by the time home beckoned on the horizon; but as the group came to a stand still there was a great many things unfolding around him.

His mother arrived first - a fireball of fury burning in Vercingetorix's direction. Reyes heard her before he saw her; mostly he reacted as the other kids did, with Dragomir pressing against his father's legs, Reyes moved to block the oncoming shape and realized it was his own mother, which startled him. She had never been so aggressive around him before and it spooked him. The boy turned around and ducked - in time to see a streak of bloodied white, racing towards them like a silver comet. The arrival of Dragomir's blubbering, blabbering, nonsensical mess of a mother. 

Reyes was reeling from one angle, and had to lunge out of  the way of the crazy woman as she broached his personal space. Instinct trumped whatever emotional response he was feeling, and he flashed his baby fangs towards the keeled shape of this foreign woman, bristling and posturing as if he could defend against the onslaught of her idiosyncratic behavior. The boy wasn't paying attention to the conversation happening behind him at all.

When Verx ducked to herd him away he spun and snapped his teeth at the man who dared touch him, and stepped back from the entire mess of a gathering hastily, looking from face to face.

Alright.  So he hadn't taken him.  She could believe it readily enough, but that didn't forgive him of.... whatever she could pin on him.  But that thought was soon lost as chaos ensued, for another wolf approached, this one familiar as soon as she came into clear detail.  It was the one who she'd defended against Raleska, the pregnant woman.  It was at that moment, as Vectoringex mentioned their children, that she noticed the others.  Ah.

She'd ignored whatever response Reyes had to her ire (he'd learn soon enough, she had teeth to spare for those she disliked) but now, as they came and he bristled, she moved to broach defensively alongside him too.  Here they were a backdrop, with no real part in this little show.  She kept an eye on the other kids too; not out of any sort of affection, but because instinct now had her wired, in some ways, to do so.  

also skippable unless addressed <3

7/11: so if this campus doesn’t have free wifi just assume that this is her last post here.. allowing pp of her following fam regardless

A score of wolves could’ve used their hulking prowess to tower over her, but the silver had been through with that from as early as she could remember to have detested it. So she faced Vercingetorix fully, scarred chin hefted, and realiated lowly: ”He travelled with us, guarded us. Someone had to watch them while Dennan was being driven away.”

And she hurried on, before either adult could get their words in, ”I had help, and we threw his goddamned ass over ze cliffs, I’ll have you fucking know,” the incremental rumble of a snarl weaving through her hoarse words the further she stressed on, ”what was I supposed to do, in that moment? Take them with me? Give that bastard ze chance to take them from us? I did what I thought was right, Vercingetorix. I did what I thought was best for us when you weren’t there.”

So he could dwarf her all he liked, and he could spit his curses at her. But she would not be remorse for protecting their children, even with her own person; a single mother as she’d been, with no other evident, practical ideas left in her head and only one soul — now vanished — to have relied on.

...Would she be allowed to follow her family into this ...horrendous sound?
The thought came and went just as her eye glimpsed Dragomir and Isilmë, turned from her, dubious and withdrawn. 

Her. I’ve done this.
Unseeing gaze went numb, and her agitation with it, with her words dying in her pale throat, and her waxen face gentling into bleakness. I should not be here.

Aurëwen hadn’t been born for war; not in the way Rosalyn was, the way Verx himself was. It showed in the wisping remnants of bloodlust in her eyes, and in the ragged, readied cant to her icicle’s figure — so irregularly settled into the botanist, where such aspects shouldn’t ever remain for long. 

But settled nonetheless, warrior or no, and all Aurëwen could do was lift a deadened, nerveless gaze to the inked male. To the russet she-wolf lingering on the fringes; no recognition at all in the silver’s eyes  (yet?)  clouded by a resigned, eking spitflame as they were. 

And now she was thoroughly worn, and promptly had no care in her left to give should these gathered think her an absolute, asinine fool for her choices — for her present presentation. If there was getting through any of this in one piece, then she would exhaust herself in explanation to Verx at length. For now, though...

Come what may, her wearied mind murmured.

last post from me

He scoffed, completely and utterly taken aback. Dennan?! Not that he wasn't pleased she had finally dropped his ass, but fucking god! How about staying with the kids instead of going after him, Aure? Verx retorted, bristling. How about staying in fucking Diaspora, Aure?! What the fuck happened in Diaspora?!

He really ought to keep his cool, but he'd lost it completely. Her new wounds, the kids being adrift, the entire bloody situation. . . Fuck! Why couldn't she have just stayed put and let him do what he said he was going to do?

He did it -- he held up his end of the deal. He was alpha in Rusalka, and the sound was, more or less, secure. Why couldn't she have waited just a little bit longer for him to come get them?!

Without waiting for her response, Vercingetorix snorted and turned away from her, forging on. Sorry, he mumbled to Rosalyn, unable to fully meet her gaze. Instead, he looked to his children—Dragomir in particular. C'mon, we're gonna go somewhere where we can rest a bit, he promised. . .and it was a promise.

For now.

Rosalyn remained as she was in front of Reyes, blocking him from the attentions of any of Verx's family.  She didn't want him with them, though it seemed perhaps there was a son and daughter near his age.  So what the hell was this Dragedan doing with Rusalka?

Her own opinion was that if he was not there, his words held no merit, and it sounds like the mother had done more than her own ever had to protect her children from a threat to them.  When she glanced past at Aure, there was a measure of respect, but she still bent her head to murmer to her son.  Come.  We need to have a talk.  

She needed to express to him that wolves we trust did not include the dragedan.  Learn from him, if he wishes.... but not alone and out of boundaries.  Too much could happen.