Broken Antler Fen New life and love

@Ibis and whoever else wants in. He is joining brecheliant

 

  After his dramatic loss of consciousness in the willows, Khali made a long trek through The teekon. Unsure of where exactly it had lead him he was in need of water and food. It had been almost a week since his last small meal. Even longer for actual sustainable food. The mans muscles were eaten away by his need for vitamins and minerals and anything to survive. Every rib and His spine was able to be seen to any naked eye. 

   The mans stomach turned as he caught a whiff of a hare. Anything bigger and he wouldn’t have been able to take it down. Khali was able to track it until it came to his sight. The man stalked the hare until it was only a jump away. He lunged and wrapped his paws around the animal. Blood painted his teeth as he ended the hares life. The animal would sustain his hunger for only a small while but it was better than nothing. 


  Khali had laid down right where the life had been taken. Too weak to stand and eat he dug into the small animal right there. Saliva fell as he ripped off each small piece and devoured it as quickly as he could.

A day left to her own devices, hunting and fretting over the absence of her daughter, and Ibis was at her wits end. When she saw a figure standing among the falling snow she immediately moved to close the distance — only to stop after a few strides when there came a metallic scent.

The stranger was laying down. The little body clutched between his paws while he pulled at the meat and at the fur. A smear of red spreading across the iced-over fen and staining the stranger's face. She wanted to throw up — to scream — but stood there silently, staring in horror.

The panic of losing her daughter and the stress of the hunt for her, sleepless and manic from the intensity of her maternal instincts, linked Ibis' fears with the scene before her.

Pragmatic wolf Wraen was, it hurt that there wasn't anything else she could do to ease Ibis's worries and fear. Right after their last meeting had come to a close, the elder had done her own investigation to come up with virtually nothing. She could not decide, should she feel glad that the kid had disappeared without a trace, because had she been assaulted or - worse - eaten by someone larger and very hungry, there would have been signs of struggle. And she trusted Arcturus and Penn - that kind of showdown would not have escaped anyone's attention. But then... there were quiet deaths too. Had the girl stepped on the lake's ice, broken through and drowned? Had she fallen victin to the storm - fallen asleep never to wake up again? So many possibilities and unanswered questions. If not knowing was unbearable to her, Ibis must feel so much worse.

She first caught sight of her niece and only afterwards did she notice the person that had drawn the former's attention. A weak and desperate looking fellow, feasting on meagre hare. Wraen closed the distance between them, brushed her shoulder lightly against Ibis's (if she let her) and then, standing side-by-side with her observed the man before them quietly.

The sandman was too busy devouring the hare to notice anyone around including the woman who seemed to be in shock from Khali enjoying his snack. After another approached he then finished his bite and looked up, cleaning the dark blood from his face and teeth. He swallowed hard and then dipped his head to the wolves. The skeleton of the hare laid there at his paws drowning in the blood bath he had made. 

“ Hello. I’m Khali.” his words were smooth like butter. The kill had definitely given him more of a spring to his step if you will. “ are these your lands?” suddenly he’s afraid that he had trespassed upon borders that he wasn’t aware of. Tracking the hare was all that was on his mind before here. The one woman seemed so worried and horrified, his brow raised every slightly as he waited for them to say something.

It was difficult for Ibis to remove herself from the moment, to detangle thoughts of her daughter from the sight of a ruined hare, the red stain on the ground staining her mind. When Wraen came up beside her and passed some small comfort Ibis took a breath and finally looked away from the mess.

The man looked healthy; he had certainly been healthy enough to find a fat hare despite the chill of winter. There was something familiar about him that Ibis could not place, be it his features, his voice, or his scent she was not certain.

I am Ibis, she introduced. This is Wraen, towards which she motioned with a small tip of her snout. We live here upon the fen and hope to make it our permanent home, but for now you are not trespassing. She thought her voice was shaking but it wasn't; the rest of her trembled, which could have been the cold permeating her thin coat.

Ibis felt distraught by the sight of blood on the stranger's paws and Wraen wished that the man had either chosen a different place to have his meal or at least been polite enough to finish it so that no trace of it remained. She could guess, what kind of thoughts were running through her niece's mind, and though she braved on and went through all the diplomatic greeting rituals, her aunt sincerely wished that there was a way of telling her that - no, this was definitely not the way Arielle's life had ended. 


"Khali - nice to meet you," Wraen focused on the stranger now. "You seem to have travelled far - where do you hail from and where do you intend to go eventually?" she asked him.

Ibis was a familiar name, he had remembered her from the willows but decided to not say anything unless she did. It seemed he had upset her again, much like the last time they had interacted when Ibis was less fond of Khali for something much different. It disturbed him that they kept meeting in this way, well she didn’t know it but he did. The other woman seemed mildly protective of her, as she should be, the world is a dark place.

Ibis and Wrarn introduced themselves to him and he dipped his head to his chest respectfully and then raised it back up. “Ibis and Wraen. I returned to here after leaving. I found out some disturbing news and have been traveling around since with no stopping for food or water or shelter until now when I tracked this hare down. “ Khali said trying not to delve too deep into his past or how he had really found himself to be the way he is. “You’ve decided to make this your home? Could I be of any assistance to that?” he asked eyes flicking from Ibis to Wraen.

I am so sorry for being slow with this!

The man was respectful. When he spoke it was with a familiar tone to his voice that was oddly calming to Ibis, although she could not place why. He spoke of disturbing news and that turned her stomach a little bit; she wanted to probe deeper in to this news he carried but was afraid to, so she looked to Wraen with a flash of concern.

You've decided to make this your home? Could I be of any assistance to that? The man asked as his eyes wandered.

The man proved he was a proficient hunter which was a boon in these trying times, but Ibis was nervous. She wanted to continue scouring the territory for any hideaways Arielle might have found rather than be here. She was quiet, awkwardly so, and looked too distracted to answer any of his questions herself.

"Could you give us an outline of, what the disturbing news were?" Wraen asked, having picked up Ibis's concern, but misreading it slightly. "Because, if there is some trouble looming over your head, it is better we know about it as a group. Especially, if it may affect us in any way," she explained her curiousity, leaving the way of, how to tell the story up to Khali.

"We have room for more and good people as well as hunters are always welcome," she told. "At present we can offer you a safe place to rest and plenty of water, but the hunting you will have to do for yourself. No caches to share food from just yet," she said. "Though our home is frequented by elk herds and a group hunt will be something we'll do eventually."

Respectfully Khali knew that they would ask about the news as anyone trying to form a pack or a pack would do. It was hard to find the words to say that his only love had died or his estranged child hated him for leaving. There were only so many ways to say it. Khali sighed slightly as he shifted his paws around .


  He let silence fall between the three for a moment or two. ”forgive me, it’s hard for me to talk about it. My mate, er, former mate had passed while I was away, my children hate me for leaving and not raising them afterward. “ he kept it short and sweet. For a moment he pondered and gazed down at the frozen snowy blanket at his feet. “ I can help in anyway needed, I’m a hunter and can tend to children if needed. I aspire to be a hunter and a midwife someday.” he laid out his skill set for them.

A twist in her gut. He spoke of a lost love, of a lost family, and even if he was familiar in other ways this thread of similarity burned through Ibis; she wanted to accept him on the spot. Everyone deserved a chance to make amends and to rebuild after such losses.

Stay with us, please, Ibis blurted suddenly, stepping closer in her fervor. Winter is a hard time to be alone. She added, and glanced to Wraen with a hopeful, if a bit pained, expression on her face. We can use a hunter, at the very least. And if her husband were to return to her, perhaps a midwife in the spring.

It was nothing dangerous and, if that kid of Khali's was not over the top in their hatred against the estranged father, Wraen did not see any problems present or in the future that would deter her from letting the man join them here. "Thank you for sharing this with us!" she told him with a polite dip of her muzzle, turned her head to hear Ibis out and nodded in agreement. 

"We will be happy to have you," she told him. "Come along and we will show you around," she stepped aside to let the new member of the group step through the figurative gate of the Enchanted forest. 

Last one from me. Thanks!

Khali happy with the answer he had received stepped forward to join the two of them. It seemed they were rather happy to have him join their new group. In the back of his mind the thought of how he left Cam haunted him. Soon he would have to go look for him and make it up but for now he wanted to get to know his group. 

” I’d be honored if you would show me around. I’m forever grateful that you would welcome me in. Thank you. he said softly as he came up between them. This place was a beautiful place to call home and hopefully they would call it home for a while.

Fading! Welcome :)

With everything settled and Ibis' initial aversion fading, the mother smiled softly and moved out of the way so the man could join them. Their claim was small for now but would grow; in the meantime Ibis was glad to have found someone who could help provide for the lot of them. She knew herself to be a poor hunter, a small-bodied creature that had the skill and dexterity of a bird whose flight feathers had been pulled from its body — so having someone capable around would certainly lessen some of the strain for Ibis, personally.

She quietly offered, I can show you our main rendezvous, and where to find something to eat for... the future, should you need it. Or need to stash something. And with that she began to escort Khali along, having to move her limbs a little more briskly to keep up with his longer strides. She passed Wraen a small smile as well, thankful for her presence, happy to have a distraction from her many worries.