Sun Mote Copse Fool in the eyes of the world

@Elwood 

Few days after leaving Kiwi, Wraen had settled back in her daily routine with the rest of the pack. She babysat children, hunted, patrolled and kept herself busy. Life was simple, routine and a bit mundane, but she embraced it, sometimes trying a little too hard to remain cheerful and smiling, and pretending that nothing had happened. 

Now and then she would stop by to see, how Colt was doing, but she would leave soon after. His state of health being a constant reminder that Kiwi had attacked to kill him and that by lending a helping paw to the injured girl, she had betrayed him. A leader, a person, who she should have been loyal to the end. 

She hoped that, perhaps, over time her sense of guilt would lessen, but the more she thought about the circumstances, the stronger that feeling grew. Until it began to lurk around during the day and torment her in her sleep. More than ever she wished Maia to be here and have a chance to confide in someone, to hear another point of view. 

And it was a sad realization that among wolves, who she was supposed to call her family, who were her friends, she did not see any she could safely trust her secret with. Colt, Niamh and Finley were out of question, Eljay did not seem a likely candidate either. He had his own troubles. Eventually she set her mind on Elwood. For some reason she believed that he would hear her out and give an honest opinion. 

It took more days for her to gather up courage, and then she finally did it. On a quiet afternoon with children off somewhere learning stuff or being brats with someone else, she approached the old wolf and ask: "Elwood, do you have a moment?" She looked at him expectantly and gave a nervous smile.

So sorry for the delay! <3

Elwood had heard about what had happened between Colt and Kiwi; Finley had been the one to share the news, since she had been present to tend to Colt's injuries after Kiwi fled. The whole situation was rather shocking, and while Fin had shared her suspicions regarding Kiwi's motive, it had still been unexpected and unexplained. He could only hope that Colt would make a full recovery, and that Kiwi, too, would be okay -- wherever she was.

Presently he was enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet, while his children and grandchildren were scattered around the rendezvous site keeping themselves occupied. Wraen's approach was noted quickly, and he offered her a smile and stepped forward to meet her. He lowered himself to his haunches as she greeted him, asking for a minute of his time.

"Sure. What's up?" he asked amiably, reading the worry behind her gaze and the anxiety hidden in her smile.

"Somewhere private, maybe?" Wraen suggested, not wishing that any of the children around would accidentally overhear, what she had to confess, and - worse - come to the wrong conclusions and relay this to people, who would interpret this the wrong way. 

Assuming that Elwood agreed, she led them to a quiet spot. The playground was still within the eye-shot, but after a quick and careful examination of the surroundings, no one else was around. "I have something to confess," she told him. Better be over with it soon.

"After Colt got attacked, I tracked down Kiwi," she told. "She was injured and struggling to get away and... I could not bring myself to punishing her," she swallowed "rightfully". "I helped her for few days to get her back on her feet and found a friend of hers that took over and took her away," this was simple, no harm in that.

"I thought that Wildfire would not have wanted me to become a killer because of her," she added. "And I did, what felt right in the eyes of my conscience. I think at that moment I saw something still worth saving in her," there was a long pause. "But I feel like a traitor in regards of Colt and everyone else. And I can't shake off the doubts, what if she does not learn anything from this, what if she returns," she finished.

"What would you have done in my place?" she asked the old wise wolf.

Elwood nodded his consent when Wraen proposed that they move to a quieter area of the rendezvous site, so as not to be overheard by any of the children that were surely lurking nearby. Just because they couldn't be seen at the moment didn't mean that they wouldn't abruptly appear when they least expected it. So he followed her willingly, moving a short distance away where they would be less likely to be interrupted.

His brows raised slightly when she began by admitting she had something to confess. It sounded ominous, and luckily for him, she wasted no time in diving right into her explanation. It all boiled down to the confrontation between Colt and Kiwi. Wraen confided that she had managed to locate Kiwi, but rather than dole out punishment, she had helped the girl heal and had made sure that she was under the care of one of her friends before leaving her again. On the surface, it didn't seem to be a problem; Kiwi was Wildfire's daughter, and therefore family, so why shouldn't Wraen help her? But it was her last statement that seemed to summarize her troubles: "And I can't shake off the doubts; what if she does not learn anything from this? What if she returns?"

He was reminded of Peregrine's estranged daughter, Junior, who had carried out an ambush similar to the one that Wraen worried about. Junior had tricked her father into trusting her and then had attacked one of his other children -- Wildfire, in fact. Thinking about it made him shudder inwardly, because of the possible parallels in the situations and because it was Wildfire that had been assaulted -- Kiwi's mother. He sighed. Wraen had asked him what he would have done if he was in her shoes -- and he answered her honestly.

"I think I would have done the same as you. I hate that this happened in the first place, and I can't pretend to understand why Kiwi attacked Colt, but she is still family. I don't think you were in the wrong by helping her," Elwood said. "I get why you're worried about her coming back, though. We'll just have to be vigilant. But I don't think there was any reason for you not to offer your assistance," he concluded.

Wraen was relieved to hear that Elwood was on the same page with her and she supposed that, if it had been any other person in his place, the answer would have been vastly different. While she had prepared herself to share her secret with someone, she had gone over all of the possible scenarios in her mind. The worst being exile. It would hurt to leave, but she would do so, if it was deemed the best option. 

"Do you think I should tell this to Colt?" she asked then. "He might feel way different about this than you and I do. She attacked him and she injured him badly - that's not something a person can take lightly," and then there was Niamh, who was spitting fire about the whole deal already. "Or should we keep this between us until the time is right," when would that be, exactly? "I mean that there might come a moment in near future or further down the lane, when he will find out," Wraen said.

"I understand also, where he stands in this. If I was mauled as badly, I would not understand people, who willingly help the assaulter out."

This was where things got a little complicated. Wraen had asked for Elwood's opinion, and he had given it. However, in the end, his wasn't the one that truly mattered -- she was concerned about how Colt would take the news, if she chose to share it with him. And while Elwood had been with Colt's sister for many years now, he wasn't sure he could make an accurate prediction as to the leader's thoughts on Wraen's actions.

In the end, though, he believed that being up front about it was better than lying or trying to hide the truth. He hoped that Colt wouldn't react so badly as to seriously punish Wraen by demoting or exiling her. He nodded, showing his understanding of her concerns before sharing his thoughts.

"I'm not sure how he'll take it, but it seems to me that honesty is the best policy here. I think that if you were to explain it to him the way you just did to me, he might understand. But I do think he should probably know that you helped her out," he said. "What do you think you should do?" he then asked, because she seemed to have considered all the options but it wasn't totally clear which way her instincts were swaying her.

Elwood was not a person, who would tell Wraen, what to do. He expressed his opinion and let her make the decision, what she believed would be the best. It was very tempting for it to remain a secret and hope that it stayed so forever. However, fate had a nasty way of twisting itself and there might come a day, where she would be forced to reveal, what she had done, and the circumstances and evidence would be all against her. 

"I think I will tell him at the right moment though," she said, trying to predict, when would Colt be healed completely and back in business again. To be honest, there were still a lot of unknown variables on, why had this happened and how. And using this argument as a defence on, why she had not killed the girl on the spot, would somehow smooth the conflict out. But she did not know for sure. "I think that, when he is better, we need a thorough history on, what exactly happened and then... we will see," she knew now that Niamh would not be forgiving, regardless of, what she had to say. 

"You will back me up, if needed?" Wraen asked and hoped that she would not need his help. That all would resolve nicely. "I mean in the worst case scenario... I might be deemed not trust-worthy. And I would like to leave with my hide intact and retain the current number of limbs," she tried to joke, but there was little humour in her voice.

She shared that she agreed that informing Colt was her best course of action, although she added the caveat that she would wait until the timing was right. Elwood could understand that, and he felt the same; if Wraen were to simply burst into Colt's recovery area right now, while he was still laid up, and admit what had happened, it might not be received as well as if she waited until he was healed and back to full mobility. Either way, he might not be pleased about it -- but Elwood hoped that Colt would at least perceive Wraen's reasoning for her actions.

"I think that's a good idea," he said. And while she tried to make her next request sound a little more light-hearted, he could tell that she was still concerned about the end result. He responded with a small smile. "Yes, I can help if necessary," he replied, although he hoped it wouldn't come to that; he thought that Wraen had been with the pack long enough to prove herself trustworthy, even if Colt didn't see eye to eye with what she had done. There really was no right or wrong answer here, and while he was glad that Kiwi was still alive, he hoped that she never came back to the copse -- for her own sake as well as Colt's.

"Thank you, Elwood, I truly appreciate it," Wraen told the wise old man and smiled at him fondly. Not for the first time she thought that it felt as if he was a father to her. Especially, when she dealt with such problems as this. Where drawing a line between good and bad was neither easy, nor possible.

"Let's see, what the kids are up to," so much for having mutual secrets. Little did she know then that in a few weeks time this shared secret would not matter anymore. Colt's death would change things for them all.