Firefly Glen Lard he comin'!

For @Chickadee, @Kivaluk and the pups, @Cardinal, @Eagle. Whoever can make it is fine.

A first of many hunts had ended. Others had come, many more to come and after a restful day, the Sunman came to Brecheliant camp in the later afternoon. Aiolos carried a hock in his jaws, ready to toss it to the pups to fight over. He had yet to meet the grandchildren made of Kivaluk and Chickadee and it was due time.

"aiolos!" chickadee exclaimed, steering her fledglings toward the sun man. she made their introductions, emphasizing her connection to moonglow and that of their father.
when they had run off with children of the spine, she settled alongside aiolos. "how is everything? it's so good to see you."

He enjoyed each of them, happy to be surrounded by youth even as they romped around him. Even as his old bones arched with a tiredness that came far easier these days. 

Watching them scamper off until they became out of view, Aiolos directed his attention back to the young mother. 

Life has been hard, lately. He admits, his lips pulling to a frown. With Ariadne's death, Surely she had known, by word of Kigipigak. It is a second young daughter we have lost, to watch our grandchildren grow without their mothers. Now Vaire too was sick. The grandparents took care of their grandchildren, but it should not be this way. 

You and Kivaluk have done wonderful. Motherhood suits you well. She was healthy, alive. That alone seemed quite an accomplishment now.

she put an paw gently on his arm as he spoke, her brilliant green eyes watching the sun man somberly. "i can't imagine, aiolos." and she never wanted to know. "we're here for you. maybe — maybe i could bring the kids again in winter, to moonglow this time."
would the sound of them ease such hurting hearts?
"brecheliant is small and quiet, the way we like it. mama, i help her fish. and daddy, he's passing down things to me." knowledge she needed and would rather not have, for what it meant.

Her eyes were soft for him. As vibrant and stunning as Kukutux. You would always be welcome. The children I'm sure would enjoy to meet others their age. Chickadee had always been good for the pack. Worked hard. Dutiful. Did not wander off without word... Such things were often hard to come by, especially so in young wolves with short-focused minds. This and Chickadee was like family, in ways. Kivaluk as a married in son, she as his wife. 

She spoke of her home then. Her father passing knowledge down to her. Her mother teaching her ways of fisherman. Your mother enjoys to fish? His graying ears perked with interest. It was his most beloved hobby. You will have to show me what you've learned.

she saw the way his silvered ears lifted and was reminded keenly of eljay. "i'll show you anytime!" she exulted softly, leaning in to kiss aiolos' cheek with great affection.
"maybe you'll show me how to track deer. kivaluk showed me. honestly i just don't remember much about it," she grinned in self-deprecation. "can't retain a single thought with these three around."
her eyes danced as she looked toward the pups.

Aiolos chuckles, tilting his head into the lick of Chickadee and then again at the mention of the children still tussling in play. 

Ah, did he now? The old wolf smiles, his muzzle crinkling. As it were, it was Kivaluk's father which taught me. Aiolos was already far grown when he had been taught of herd hunting, yet still had come to learn it well enough, though it was not his best suited trade. 

I had been born in a Bayou not far from the coast. Then an island as I grew and then another, after some time. Guarding and navigation were my main trades. I knew very little of herds before Moonglow.

kigipigak! chickadee had to admit she hardly saw him these days. invited into the fold of brecheliant, he still appeared to spend a great deal of time outside the caldera.
ah, well. it was how things were.
"who were you on the island?" chickadee asked, her green eyes coming back to aiolos. just as well; look how many grandfathers they had even in the absence of the stoic alabaster man.

On the first, I was but a man. He began to spin the tale. One young enough to learn the ways of the Nereids, I was taken as a prize of war. His people in the bayou had been slaughtered. The men, at least and any females who rose arms against the Nereides. The rest of women and children were free to go, or to join them. Aiolos grandfather, leader of the Black Bayou, had been killed. A mother who did not survive the war. A basterd and an orphan. Aiolos speaks these things to Chickadee now. 

- And I was accepted to join a scouting party to look for a group of our own gone missing. It was how I came to these wilds here.

a prisoner! chickadee's eyes widened, for she had not considered such a thing was possible. and these possibilities of history were things against which she had always been safe-guarded by the protective counsel of mother and father.
"what did you find first when you came here, aiolos?" chickadee asked, head tilted to one side as she appraised the man who had been father to her husband.
a prize of war! and war at all? foreign to her.