Moonspear we all have a hunger

with @Dragomir by her side, the pair had made their way to the base of the mountain, pausing now and again as the girl's strength ebbs. the beginnings of another pounding headache sink deep into her skull; they seem commonplace, now, and her gaze narrows as she sinks to the ground beside her brother. just for a moment. exhaustion is bone-deep, sleep a landslide she can barely hold at bay. she glances at her brother, silent request for a respite before he calls for Hydra.

she is aware, however, what she is now. when is it required of her, should someone come to meet them, she'll sit upright, stiffen her shoulders and pretend she is all that she is not, right now. liability. she wants to, and wanted to, voice her worries on the way here; but the ordeal of summoning more words to her tongue seemed unbearably taxing. she blinks her eyes closed— just for a moment — and opens them again, assembling her haggard limbs into a seated position as she glances once more to her brother, silent assertion of readiness.

He wasn't Hydra, but Dirge intercepted the call anyway.

Usually she was the first to field such things. It was her nature to while he approached things much more leisurely. This advent was no different than the rest and genuinely, he had thought to stumble across the summons with half of Moonspear already there, and half of the matter already taken care of. Or someone bleeding all over the place, whichever happened to be the standard fare of those who came a-knockin'.

Except... it was Dragomir who called—he didn't quite take his time to get there because of that. It wasn't a hurried pace, but there was a certain directness in his motion. Kinship had drawn that out of him and he had come to favor the boy in the way he did his own. With no real notion of what or where Blackhead herself was, there was no telling what trouble would await. He imagined it would be the same sort that would propel @Hydra or @Arcturus there too.

Yet he was the first to witness finding the pitchness of Dragomir's pelt against the starkness of the borderland, and to witness the tired shift of the wraith-like wolf with him.

"Dragomir," he greeted, only for his brow to furrow where recognition sparked. Isilmë. Concern was left to fill in the space of his falling features and he considered calling for Hydra to hasten her, but she'd be there soon enough. For now, he could at least attempt to tend to their own, wherever she had gone. Grown a bit more, perhaps, but still too young and ill-equip to handle the harshness that embodied their reality.

"Isilmë, are you all right?" And then, to her brother: "Where did you find her?" And how? Where had she gone? Had she been taken, and a hundred more questions dared to rise to his tongue. But he took such things one step at a time—she was tired, so very tired, and he only hoped to have more of a gentle finesse than he believed he possessed.

if i replied out of turn i'm sorry, i got excited and i was awake for one of these

quick on dirge’s heels came arcturus, light of breath and with his eyes roving the pair. isilme - he had scarcely believed it, but he recognized implicitly this was the lost little dove.

explanations would come in due time, though the beta noted the girl in fair enough health. he was relieved initially— Arcturus had always assumed the worse surrounding isilme’s disappearance. he had never dared uttered these fears to dragomir but, he had his suspicions on the nature of her disappearance. that she was alive — whole, even — made him doubt the childkillers had seized her. what then, had stolen her from dragomir for months?

he felt a blade of kindred pain flicker in his chest then, as he thought of revui — and hoped that these children would have a kinder future.

They stopped often along the way, and it was all Dragomir could do to swallow down his impatience. It wasn't directed at Isilmë. Not really. He just wanted to get her back to Moonspear as quickly as possible so he could bed down beside his sister in a warm place and make sure she was fed. There were a hundred questions he wanted to ask her. A part of him felt burned by her reappearance after being gone for so long, but Dragomir recognized that it was unhealthy and unfair to his sister to ever voice frustration about it. So he kept his mouth shut and remained supportive until they finally reached the borders.

There, he gave her time to catch her breath and prepare herself before tilting back his head and issuing a powerful howl to summon the pack's elite to him. They weren't kept waiting long. Dirge was the first to arrive, which surprised Dragomir a little, if only because he was so often attended by Hydra at the border rather than her mate. He'd been most nervous about her inevitably arrival, so he met Dirge with a weak and relieved smile. He was admittedly kinder than his wife, so Dragomir was grateful for his presence here.

Before he could answer, a dark smudge in the trees caught his eye. At first, Drago's heart leapt into his throat because he feared that Hydra would arrive with scathing questions for Isilmë that could end in her ejection, but it was only Arcturus. Dragomir believed the Beta was a more forgiving wolf. So he wet his lips, turned back to Dirge, and replied, I found her in a forest to the east, maybe halfway across the valley. She said she got sick and started seeing things that weren't there and she followed someone. He hadn't fully understand Isi's explanation, so he turned an imploring eye to her. She could explain it better than he ever could.

familiar faces arrive, and she shifts slightly so that the unsightly empty patch along her flank is hidden to the best of her abilities, straightening tired limbs. "I'm alright." she answers, voice more sure of it than she is. she blinks, some of the exhaustion lessening it's hold, she thinks, for an instant. bitter fear is the cause; that after all this time they'll turn her away. without her brother, she is aimless; without the promise to find him again, she may have faded away long ago. 

"I was hunting. I went too far, got turned around. After that, it's hard to remember—I was sick, feverish, and things didn't make sense." she remembers leaving. a hunting trip had been her intent, really, but a much stronger presser was the need to be alone after all that's happened. she glances to her brother, an anchor, suddenly, and continues. "I don't know how long. There was a woman, I think, who helped me. She told me she knew the way back, but I can hardly remember her. It might have been because I was sick, or—" she glances to Drago, who'd already made the second option clear. she hated the idea of it, all the time she'd wasted, but knew it was all too real a possibility. 

"about a month ago, she vanished. I tried to find Moonspear, but I'd ended up far to the east." it feels incomplete, fractured, punctuated now and again by pauses in which she takes a breath. "I found Teekon, eventually, and then Drago." she wants to stop, to lea against her brother, in the least, but fear is an apt motivator and she remains upright, though wavers.

Arcturus was soon with him—the words had no more left his mouth before he realized that he was there. It mattered little to Dirge who else would arrive, so long as they came from the right side, and his eyes scanned through that vague horizon briefly until the pair began to speak.

Gently, he brought his gaze to her firmly as she recanted her tale to them. It was comforting to know that she had not been taken by that infamous Blackhead, but also worrisome in the sense that she and her cohorts may have lurked out there. It was particularly one thing to be blessed with good fortune, but even Dirge knew it did not last forever. There had been no word for a while of the murderous trio, but he was not yet ready to drop his guard even with Isilmë with them again.

He looked to Arcturus then; he saw no reason not to believe the story told.

"Let's get away from the borders and find something to eat," he decided, gaze finding the pair again. "Food and rest will help, especially if you were sick for a spell." The rest they could deal with later.

arcturus listened first to dragomir, and then isilme, as the two recanted just how fate ordained isilme would return to their keep. he supposed whatever gods were out there looked out for children and fools alike -- for it was no small miracle isilme had returned.

his gaze swept to dirge. much like the alpha, he had little reason to doubt all that was told -- and he was itching to follow up their guard and confirm no wolves were stalking in the long shadows that night. he nodded as dirge suggested they turn inland. he would backtrack and scout isilme and dragomir's scent, and make sure none followed.

1/16 - hey all! I selfishly pulled this from archives so it could count towards one of Arcturus’ trades. Please let @Dirge sneak one last post in, and then I will wrap up and archive <3

I planned to post again, too, so thanks for pulling it out. This can be my last!

Isilmë's explanation would hopefully put to rest any lingering doubt the Alpha and Beta males might have, but neither of them gave any indication that they didn't believe what they were told. Dragomir let go of a breath he didn't know he was holding, proffering a shoulder for his sister to prop herself against if she needed. She remained upright for a while, but when she seemed to swoon a little, he pressed himself to her side and kept her up. They were unified, and he would vouch for her.

Dirge's suggestion was met with a relieved and grateful smile from Drago, whose weary eyes swept over the dark Beta then. Thank you, he breathed. He couldn't say how much their easy acceptance of his wayward sibling meant to him. They could've been a lot harsher. He'd known them to be a lot harsher over less. I'll hunt for her, too, he swore. Until she was better and could help contribute in her own way.

"Think nothing of it," he assured Dragomir, "we take care of our own." It was better a sheep returned to the fold than led astray, or otherwise lost over the next knoll to who knew where. As it were, he could not see himself turning the lad's sister away out of cruelty either; though they were almost grown, perhaps even grown by some standard, they were children still in his eyes. They did not deserve to carry the burdens of fear or doubt, or even those of enemies. And yet these two seemed to have amassed a collection of all three and none on their own.

If that wasn't reason enough to want to shield them a little...

"Arcturus, once we're in a ways it may be best to backtrack their trail. You know Hydra will have her wonders for later." He smiled, albeit thinly, but it was true. Her questions would come for later too—not to mention whether or not they would anticipate any more future company of the unsavory sort. At best, it seemed doubtful, but given their collective luck it was bound to come around again at some point... and he too knew that Arcturus would be more than willing to do his share of investigating.

ty last for me!! I’ll leave up a bit so anyone else who wants to reply can, otherwise I can archive!

there was little to thank, for as dirge had indicated moonspear looked out for their own. isilme and dragomir has not had an overly fortuitous life — but at least they had the spear, and one another now.

Arcturus’ ears pulled into sharp triangular shape as he heard his name; he met dirge’s gaze but for a second, confirming he had heard the alpha’s edict.

he had never been one to waste words. with a precursory glance following, arcturus bowed his muzzle and slowed his gait, allowing dragomir and isilme to pass him as they followed dirge inland.

he watched as their backs slunk out of view; just long enough to remark that it was good the siblings were reunited. his own heart ached terribly for revui, and it was that heaviness that accompanied him as he turned back down the trail, following dragomir and isilme’s tracks out of moonspear.