Wheeling Gull Isle xxiii. thirsty eyes and hungry hearts

I'm sorry for the absence everyone - I've been ill/dealing with mental illness but I'm going to be getting back into the swing of things this week, it's good to be back and threading with y'all! <3 (@Daegon, @Rhaelyx, @Connor, @Lokie, @Padma, @Basil, @Komal, @Tarot, @Akavir)

She woke in the silver of daybreak with ash on her tongue and the echoes of toppling thrones ringing in her ears. A time past, a Rhæ who was no more.

Dew beaded, damp and cool and invisible in the poor light, upon the surfaces of the shattered cove - even the pelts of their bed had been whetted, heat trapped within the heavy furs, but perhaps that was the sweat of her visions. A chill gripped the Queen of Shards as she stirred, fractals bunching with tension as sinew rippled beneath the nitesky of her pelt; stretching, quivering, she rose to take in the distant flickers of grey waves rise and fall - turned away as it brought to mind again the thought of fallen cities. 

Slick though the stones were, the shadow that slipped from amongst the nest of hides was silent in her movements, careful of the still slumbering male left in her wake. Lilac slide to him and here, she paused, head cocking in mute consideration. 

To wake him or let him rest?

The choice was easy; he'd not shouldered leadership lightly. Her zaldrīzes seemed determined to gain the approval and trust of the recruits, to fulfill the role of Lord to the best of his ability. His responsibilities wore on him and though she worried, part of her could not help but be grateful she no longer bore it alone - though it was a weight she carried with pride, contentment.

She chose to let him sleep, ghosting her lips over his brow tenderly before slipping into the dawn. 

Though instinct itched, prickling with an unrelenting need to round the Isle as was her norm, the nightwisp abstained. She'd patrolled the evening before and had more pressing concerns. 

Just because Rosencrantz had dispersed didn't mean the plans they'd had could fall apart - the caches still needed filling, the pack still needed sustenance. A communal hunt would make a good start and the resident deer needed to be hunted; they were already growing uneasy with the wolves' presence. 

Along Breakwater the once-exile loped, skirting around the rocky slopes, sending the flocks into a panic was a nuisance best avoided. Through the shadowed depths of Longshore Forest, a flitting shadow mired in the mists as the sun peeked shyly over the Isle. 

The scents of her prey were scattered, erratic, overlapping - a testament to just how much the pack's colonization disturbed the herd's routine. A frown set into the corners of her lips, circling and weaving with confusion; ears pricked, head lowered, jaws agape as she struggled to detect a specific, recent trail.

There. 

Murmuring a hushed whisper to the Hunter, Rhælla leapt, bounding north, skidding to a halt some ways south of the small cluster of blacktail deer. Settling onto her haunches with a satisfied grin, several hours past sunrise, the nightwisp let her head fall back - an eager, summoning howl ringing through the trees for her packmates.

The man easily let himself be drawn to the summons of a hunt by his leader. He felt as if this what he'd been waiting for. A chance to make sure the pack works fluently, everyone knows their place. Saying this, where would he be? He was going to have to work for it, for sure.

He loped up beside his one-eyed partner in crime -- he knew nothing of her lover, but the scent that hung on her fur surprised him and downhearted him. It wasn't his place to say.
He saw their targets, deer. They were alert so he kept low, silently praying to Deanna, Lady of the Hunt, and promising her an offering. 

He waited for others to join them to be ordered to his place. He was skilled enough to take any position for the hunt and was sure Rhæ knew that.

The titan had been sleeping on his pack with his paws outstretched into the air with his tounge lolling out of his mouth peacefully. It wasn't until the summoning howl of Rhae that awoke him with a startle before he could even awake, he flipped himself on his paws with a flash. Could something be wrong? That wasn't the case though, the howl didn't sound panicked. With one last deep yawn and the shake of his pelt, Connor was off. The man padded round the island and his tired eyes almost didn't notice that Komal and Rhaella were in hunting positions. 

The man flashed his green gaze open, realizing the situation, he krept down low to the ground and with a steady crawl he moved himself up to where the lady and Komal was. The cinnamon gave a quick determined smile to the two before shifting his gaze back to the deer with Connor awaiting instructions. Though, Connor was an expert when it came to deer, they were everywhere in the mountains and knew how they worked. They are quite fast so you need to have the endurance to wear them out, plus they double backed so one would need sharp reflexes.

When in the mountains, usually one would sneak around and drive the heard towards the rest of the hunting party then it goes from there, but the man wouldn't do anything without orders.

He had been head first in a hole when a summoning call arose in the early morning. Or perhaps it was midday, he decided upon a cursory glance skyward. Either way, perhaps it mattered not at all; he still heeded such a thing. It was a slow integration to the isle but he had not strayed from its secular position along the coast, even when he could have. There was always work to be done and as he was discovering on his own, this little slice of paradise may not have always been their own. But it had been abandoned for some time, and how long he wondered.

Still, he found no answers in the winding trails that led him. He heard no answer from the wind in the eaves, nor a flicker of a response in the mottled shadows littered across the earth. Nor did he go looking for them or ask just yet; if the world wanted to be heard, it would make itself known, and it was very much like the great beyond in that regard.

He came upon the gathering—small still, but perhaps it would grow—and found that he recognized the lot there. Komal. Connor. The Lady, of course, the focal point in which he kept his attention on as he tapered his pace to casually file in among their ranks. Beyond her, he understood why they had been gently summoned to the locale and found the deer a strange thing to see. Perhaps wolves and their ilk were not the only ones brazen enough to cross the sandbar... or perhaps these had been driven there from the mainland.

His own sleep had been troubled lately, stress taking its toll in the form of nightmares. The dreams were often of his past. Usually, it was more like he revisited all the terrible moments of his life, as if his mind found that an effective way to remind him just what all was at stake here. 

The howl pierced through his fretful dreams as only she could, and he woke with the immense relief that it had all just been a nightmare. But he sat up suddenly when he realized Rhælla was not in her usual place at his side. He thought of the howl again and tried to remember its message. 

Getting to his feet, he sprinted from their little cave and followed her scent across the island. He slowed as he approached the group, nodding his greeting to anyone who looked his way. He saw the deer just as he brushed against his mate and settled at her side. A hunt seemed to be the reason for her call, and he waited for the others to join, gaze scanning the herd for any opportunity.

           

It was early. Much earlier than the girl liked. But Padma supposed this was what one did when they were part of a pack part of a community. She had never been part of a pack long enough or with enough structure to realize the duties that came with the safety.

Padma still chose to remain farther from the group, stuck in the past loneliness that plagued her. She wanted to try, but every time she did she ended up angry and alone….again. So when the call rang through the air, following the crisp morning breeze, Padma honestly wasn’t sure what to do. She remained frozen for a moment, before donning a confused look and standing. Her lanky limbs carried her toward the gathering of wolves, her tail twitching restlessly behind her.

She had been practicing her hunting skills and was getting pretty good. Padma couldn’t help the bubble of excitement that started in her stomach. She could prove herself, just as she had proved to Strand that she was worthy.