Greatwater Lake dripping in solid gold

This was probably the furthest she'd ever ventured from home, at least on her own. Meerkat knew she should have asked @Bronco or even @Atlas to come with her but she was an adult (and a Delta!) now and, anyway, she could use some time to herself. There was a lot going on lately and she needed some space to think. There was no better place for it than the open road, at least in her opinion.

It was cold but sunny today. Meerkat had to squint against the glare on the lake as she roamed along its shore. It made her think of the sea, though it wasn't as vast. She reached the far side and paused, deliberating which direction to head from here. After a lengthy ponder, she ended up deciding to go nowhere and instead plopped down facing the water.

She simply sat there a while, wondering about @Kaertok and @Fennec. Would she be able to find either one of them while she was out here? Her narrowed brown eyes swept the shores and the plains stretching out as far as the eye could see, though she saw no signs of life save for some birds winging overhead and a bunny bounding through the dry grass over yonder.

Set yesterday (Dec 1). Tags for reference, though any of you is welcome to crash too! :)

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There was still no sign of Valravn in the moors, much to Kaertok's dismay. He had veered away from the coast once he had gotten to the river, turning inland and thinking he might be able to ask around. It was not likely to give him anything, but it seemed worth a shot. If the boy was not on the coast, he had to be inland, right? Or dead, but Kaertok did not wish to think of that right now.

When he came upon a lake that could have passed for the ocean from certain vantage points, he slowed, scanning the shores for movement. It was not Valravn, but another wolf who may be able to provide him with some direction. Setting his sights on the creamy figure, Kaertok made his way toward her, slowing as he got closer.

Hello, he said. I'm looking for a boy named Valravn. He is dark with green eyes. Have you seen anybody like that?

With nothing else to capture her attention aside from the pretty views, Meerkat's thoughts turned inward as she pondered her recent ascension into the adult ranks. She was a touch overwhelmed by the idea of outranking so many older wolves, though Meerkat knew she had merits and Osiris had recognized that with her new title. She wondered if Atlas had put in a good word too. It removed some of her misgivings about his own recent promotion, though she still hadn't talked to him about that privately yet...

The appearance of a white figure in the distance snapped her out of her reverie. Straightening a little, her eyes followed the stranger as he came nearer, then made a direct approach. Meerkat rose onto all fours as he closed the distance, her heart skipping a beat when she noticed the color of his eyes. He matched Towhee's description of Kaertok to a "T."

Before she could ask for his name, he asked her a question. Meerkat blinked, then furrowed her brow, trying to concentrate. Did she know that name or description? Something about it struck her as familiar, yet she couldn't place either one. "I'm sorry, I haven't," she said with genuine regret, sucking a breath before adding, "I'm looking for someone too. Two someones, actually. My sister, Fennec, looks like me but with cloudy eyes. She's blind." She paused to see if that elicited any recognition before continuing, "And a white wolf with orange eyes by the name of Kaertok."

That was unfortunate, although her other two inquiries were rather intriguing. The first, seeking a blind wolf. Such children would have been culled in Tartok, but perhaps this Fennec was old and had become blind much later in life. A seasoned warrior, perhaps. Alas, Kaertok had seen no such wolf, and he shook his head.

When she said his name aloud, Kaertok studied her for some time, wondering if perhaps this was a wolf who had been sent by Arbiter to track him down.

I am Kaertok. Who sent you?

If it was Arbiter, he would be happy to send a message back, but he would not be going back to that life. Time and space had taught him a lot about his existence there, and while it had not been "bad," it had been oppressive in a way, and he was glad to be free of it.

"I am Kaertok," he said and Meerkat sucked in a breath, marveling at this serendipitous meeting. Her lips parted but she found herself momentarily speechless. Somehow, she hadn't thought about what to say to the man if she found him. Or maybe she had and the words simply fled her at the moment. She was having trouble thinking.

She realized he'd asked her a rather pointed question, so Meerkat started there after doing a quick mental reboot. "Towhee," she said, "Redhawk. I'm her daughter, Meerkat, and she—we—have reason to believe..." She paused, eyes big, heart thudding. "You might be my father."

Kaertok stared at her blankly for a moment, wondering if this was some kind of trick, but he figured it wasn't a very good one if it was. And what would be the benefit? Besides, the timing lined up, as Meerkat looked like... well, a young adult. Several moments passed like this, with Kaertok's mental gears turning, wondering why she had come looking for him.

Huh, he said at last.

I have been looking for Towhee as well. Your mother may know something about the boy I'm looking for.

He still wasn't quite sure what to do with the information that Meerkat was (suspected to be) his. He certainly wasn't ready to step in and be a father figure to her, and he had gotten the impression that Towhee did not want that anyway.

Are you... do you have brothers or sisters? he asked, wondering if there was more than just Meerkat. Oh boy, what kind of situation was he going to walk into if he did go visit Towhee and ask her for help?

He acknowledged this information with a simple, "Huh." Meerkat could've been disappointed by that. Instead, she let out a laugh. She figured it was quite a whopper, a lot to process, and she didn't have any particular expectations either about his reaction or where they might go from here.

Kaertok mentioned her mother, saying she might know about this Valravn. Her brows raised. The name had sounded vaguely familiar... "You can find her at Redhawk Caldera," Meerkat told him, knowing very well what it was like looking for someone and appreciating any kind of lead. She also got the impression Towhee also wouldn't mind catching up with Kaertok.

After she covered that, he wondered about siblings. Her lips curved into a soft smile, happy to discuss their connection, even if her answer was, "I do, but none of them were born in the same litter as me. I'm Towhee's only biological child." She paused, then wondered, "Would you... tell me a little bit about yourself?"

Well, that was certainly a solid lead, and although Kaertok did not want to get his hopes up, he was eager for a chance to prove his worth to Raleska (and her mothers). His place in Rusalka Sapphique was still fresh, and he wished to make an impact there.

With the way Meerkat phrased the answer to his question, he could not quite conceive of what she meant. Adoption was not something he was terribly familiar with (aside from Raleska's case), and her mothers could not conceive with one another, so that seemed the obvious reason for her adoption. Well, that and Caiaphas's death.

She asked him to tell her about himself, which was a fairly broad question, but he did his best.

I was born on Sawtooth Spire, he began, pointing his muzzle to the large peak to the southeast. I did not live there long, as my parents moved elsewhere when I was young. Tartok is both my surname and the name of the pack from which I come from. We have many branches, though none terribly close to here. I trained as a scout and warrior, and I served under my mother for a couple of years doing that before I came back here. I stayed for a time, but I eventually went back home.

He paused there, wishing now that he had stayed that time. It was far too late to change that now, though.

A wolf I met while I was here, Raleska, brought me back. Rusalka had moved by then, and I was searching for them when I met Towhee, who was searching for a friend of her own.

The rest, as they say, was standing right in front of him.

She didn't actually know him from Adam, so she wasn't sure he would take the time to indulge her. When he did, Meerkat's heart soared. Her good ear pricked, hanging on his every word as he spoke of his birthplace, his surname, his training and many other things. It all sounded rather fierce, which made her lips twitch. Meerkat wondered why her mother and this man hadn't paired up officially, they seemed like a good match.

"I'm a scout too," she shared, eyes so bright they might as well have been glowing, "specializing as an ambassador." She was much more a peacekeeper to her parents' warriors. Meerkat wondered what he'd made of that. "I live in Firefly Glen. Where do you live now?" She sucked in a breath. "Maybe we could visit one another sometimes?" It'd be good for her ambassadorship aspirations but, much more importantly, she found she was interested in cultivating a relationship with this wolf, if he was open to it.

She mentioned training as a scout, and Kaertok's lips twitched. Not quite a smile, but something leaning in that direction. It was nice to see that she had aspirations, and apparently she wanted to get to know him more. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about building more of a relationship with her. He wondered how Towhee felt about that. She had not seemed interested in keeping Kaertok in her life (like many of the women he had bedded), and he had not been offended by it. He hoped she'd not had a change of heart about that.

He was eager to get to Valravn, but he supposed he could entertain her for a little while longer.

Rusalka—now called Sapphique—is now further up the coast. We live on steep cliffs by the sea, he replied.

He realized that Meerkat no longer lived with Towhee at all, something he found interesting. Not good or bad, just an interesting dynamic for somebody her age. It made him wonder when his other children would begin to depart Legion.

You are welcome to visit if you would like, although it is a bit of a journey.

Rusalka had not only relocated, it had re-branded as well. Her heart skipped a little bit when he mentioned living by the sea. She'd really enjoyed her visit to Yuèlóng and already looked forward to seeing where Kaertok lived. Of course, steep cliffs did not have the same appeal as an island, yet that didn't dampen Meerkat's spirits at all, particularly when he agreed that she could pay a visit.

"Good thing I love journeying," she quipped in response, tail waving.

Meerkat drew in a breath and didn't exactly quash her excitement, though she tempered it. They were still pretty much strangers and he was on a mission, so he may not want to loiter here and chat about future plans with her. Even though they'd only just met, Meerkat actually had a feeling Kaertok wasn't the chatty sort anyway. He probably also needed some time to process this meeting; she knew she did.

"I'll come by sometime soon," she said. "In the meantime, go get you some Valravn, yeah?" Meerkat grinned, eyes lingering on him as if trying to memorize his appearance before their brief rendezvous came to a close.

Meerkat sounded up to the challenge, which was all well and good with Kaertok. He was still curious as to what she sought from him. If it was a fatherly relationship, well... did he even have that kind of connection with her? Could he? That was an unanswerable question for now, but he was willing to entertain the idea if she persisted. Perhaps she would find that he was not all that interesting, or perhaps she would do something to make him think less of her. He would not be surprised in either of those scenarios.

Take care, Meerkat, he said, then set his sights on the caldera.