Honeyed Pasture agamemnon returned to his wife

where a fierce determination had possessed her as she fled bearclaw valley, trying to shield tzar from the horrors that she witnessed, from her belief that his father and siblings — her husband and children! — had met a similar fate. there was nothing else to lead her to any other conclusion: only that she and her son, who slumbers soundly now tucked in her protective embrace.

the sounds of the haunted woods fall upon her deaf ears; her own grief mute as she allows it to wash over her in body wracking sobs. if tzar hears them, he does not wake. she peers down at him with grief twisting like a knife in her heart, almost envious of him. too young yet to grasp what has happened.

she wraps herself tighter 'round him and stares blankly at the shadowed dipped woods.

Hope it’s okay I snagged! ^^

Solenya hummed a gentle melody, leaving the giants behind to search for food. It was quiet there—not that she minded it, but it was nice to come out into the open under a blue sky every now and then. She felt the breeze ruffle her fur as she crossed, the grass tickling her legs the further she roamed.

The wind died down and a calm blanketed the land. She listened intently to the birds that chirped, the occasional squirrel barking, insects buzzing, and…someone sobbing? Her heart pained at the sound, intimately knowing that sadness flowed in the tears shed. Pawsteps light, as to not startle anyone, she stepped forward into the grief.

Hello? Is someone there? Are you hurt?

towhee allows herself this moment — sequestered, private ( or so she thought! ) — to lose herself to her grief. she had felt grief before ... but never quite to this magnitude. this threatens to crush her lungs to join her heart already left in the rubble of bearclaw valley. would it not have been for tzar, she might've been inclined to let herself waste away in the rubble until she, too, joined them.

the hairs at her nape prickle and tzar stirs. towhee had not been aware if her children would be like her: deaf and mute ... but she watches his face with intensity as he tries to peer 'round her clearly noting something that she cannot.

her head whips in the direction, unfolding out of her grief as she rises to her paws; lips curling back over her teeth, shoving tzar behind her front legs — her stance protective. aggressive. her gaze searches until it lands upon the stranger. unwilling to let her son be translator for her, towhee relies upon her body language: friend or foe?

A figure stands abruptly, dark and raging, causing Solenya to take a step back in brief shock. The grief she heard had ceased--was this wolf the source, then? She dropped her head and her tail, her body loose and eyes slightly averted. Regaining that one step, her words soft, her features apologetic. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to invade your space.

In the silence that followed, she took in the other, her eyes now roaming to search for any injuries or something that could be the cause for such tears. Nothing seemed to be obvious, except for a small figure that stood just behind the front legs. She let a soft oh from her lips, a tenderness in her gaze accompanying the concern she now felt for the little one.

You have a child... Was the child hurt? There had been no signs of pack around, not this close to the Sentinels, but the scent from them held multiple. Where they lost?

i'm going to pp jr from here on out since tzar can be the ( somewhat, heh ) translator. <3

tzar is sleepy, awaken by the footfalls of the woman before them, that he can see as he peers out from betwixt his mother's front legs. he reads her body language, feeling the tension of towhee as her body is tense, taunt. pulled like a bowstring about to loosen. struggling between being ripped from everything he knew, manhandled by his mother and his sleep being interrupted: he is groggy. irritated. grumpy.

his ptero is better than his speech, but it had been useful having his father teach him ... until his father was no longer there to do so.

he pushes past his mother's legs, wriggling from her teeth as she scruffs him. lemme go mama! he snaps; childish and annoyed though she can't read his lips at the moment. -lemme talk.- he signs in ptero, letting out a low huff as she loosens her grip on his scruff but lowers her head so that her chin rests against the top of his head; clearly ready to shove him behind her again at the first sign of trouble.

mama no hear. no talk. tzar offers bluntly. sleepy. well, he was tired. he couldn't really speak for towhee, though he did anyway. his brow furrows as he tries to form useable sentences in his limited vocabulary; trying to figure out how to communicate that their pack was gone, his dad and siblings were also gone. dada, brudders, sissy gone.

AHHH babyyyy <333

The lupine woman watched as the child, appearing quite sleepy, squirmed through its mother's legs, only to be scruffed. The little one struggled slightly before breaking from his mother's hold, and turned toward her to make what looked like gestures of some kind to his mother. It appeared communicative in some way; Solenya assumed so since the mother's relented ever so slightly to allow him some freedom to interact.

The little boy spoke, his words choppy as expected of his age, revealing that his mother couldn't hear her or speak in words. She glanced at the mother, a nod in her direction that she understood, an apology in her eyes. It made sense now that her arrival caused such a reaction from the dark woman. 

His next words hit her like boulders crashing into the ground below. Her concern melted into shock at the revelation. Their family were gone. Did that mean they were packless?

I am sorry to hear of your family, sweet one. You have been through a lot, sometimes our bodies feel sleepy when we feel sad. She crouched low, staying where she was so as not to startle his mother, but she spoke directly to him. 

Can you ask your mama if she would like a safe place to shelter? My home is in the sentinels just over there. She turned behind her, from the direction which she came from, and jutted her chin to point it out to the pair. It is just me at the moment, but it has been peaceful, and the trees and shrubbery are wonderful guardians to protect you both. I hope to form a pack there if it is something your mama would want to know more about.

She knew it would be hard for the little boy to relay all of that to his mother, but hopefully the gist of it would get through. The lupine waited patiently.

tzar nods along, as if he understands the depths of the other woman's words. he only know he wishes to return to slumber, and put to ease his mother's impatient little huffs behind him; not quite understanding that she was reading the other woman's lips. he just knew that she always knew how to answer.

though, usually, everyone else that he'd seen her interact with had understand ptero and he hadn't needed to play the ever-heroic translator.

he lingers close to towhee but shifts his body so that the stranger remains in his side vision but that he could read his mother's ptero.

mama says we look for gra-gandmama? tzar motions the ptero for 'grandma' but stumbles over the word. towhee! he chirrups the name, finding it fun to say. he turns back to face the woman, pleased with himself only to let out a small grunt when his mother bumps him on the butt with her muzzle. tank you.

ugh, manners.

Solenya let loose a soft chuckle. Then I shall leave you both to continue your search for your grandmother. I wish I could be more helpful, but--stay safe out there, alright? Her gaze went from the boy to his mother, a curt nod in her direction as she stood.

Her humming resumed, she turned back towards the Sentinels and headed back home.

Ty for the thread! <3