Stavanger Bay what i've done

Backdated about a week and half to right after this thread :) Please let @Ragnar reply first, then it's AW ^^

The last steps towards Stavanger Bay territory from Gyrfalcon Keep were harder than any of the other steps he'd taken in his journey. Before setting off, Charon had not considered that he might need food or water on his journey, let alone shelter to sleep in peace. He hadn't gotten any of those, and had been assaulted by a dog when he had tried to rest after his visit to Duskfire Glacier. It had all been a giant bust, when all he had wanted was to be a hero that would save everyone.

With sadness in his eyes, the failed hero walked his tired paws back alongside Ragnar, who had saved him from a terrifying black wolf that had wanted to take the creature Charon'd been eating from. It had tasted weird, but at least he had some sustenance in his body now. When they nearly reached Stavanger Bay's borders, Charon was ready to explain; "I met a wolf called Blythe who was white with a black head in Ravensblood Forest. She said she was part of the Bay but I don't think she really was. And then she said that Duskfire Glacier had taken Kev', and I just got so mad and I wanted to return Kev' so that Levi would just be happy again and punish the Duskfire wolves for ripping our family apart..." Charon sadly looked at Ragnar, hoping that he would find sympathy instead of disappointment in his guardian's face.

"But then I got there and Scarlett said that Duskfire didn't take Kev', and that they thought the Bay had taken a child of theirs, so I think Blythe is just a stupid stinky liar who made everything up." He didn't really grasp how Blythe had known about Kevlyn in the first place, though, but his childish mind didn't go that far; he figured she was just a good guesser, or something.

Charon trudged on towards the Bay's borders and waited for Ragnar's reaction; he hoped that Ragnar wouldn't be mad, because surely everyone had been super worried while Charon had been gone, and therefore surely they were super happy that he was back now...

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Sure enough, it seemed that Eitri did have things to teach Ragnar despite that he had been deceased for nearly three years now as Charon burst into an explanation without being prompted for one. Single eye roved to glimpse down at the boy as he spoke, though the Viking's grim expression did not alter upon his lips. The description of the wolf was met with vague familiarity to Ragnar but he brushed it off because he could not draw upon it with any sort of specifics. “We have no wolf with that coloration, nor that name,” Ragnar informed Charon simply. Just because the Berserker had stepped down from his title of Jarl did not mean that he did not keep track of those his wife accepted into his the pack. He might not have been very sociable but he knew them from simply watching and inquiring things from Thistle as a debriefing. As the warden it was his job to know who he was protecting, after all. “And if you would have sought me out immediately after she spoke these lies to you, you would have known they were lies,” This was said with soft disapproval, in a “for future reference” tone. He was happy to have Charon back safe and relatively sound — though Ragnar did not doubt Thistle would fuss over his malnutrition like any loving mother — but he wished for Charon to learn from his mistake. A mistake that Ragnar, himself, would have made in his youth. They were flawed, mistakes were written in their genetic coding. Even Gods made mistakes. “I had assumed that Kevlyn had died, as your parents had. His trail faded into the sea,” It was alarming to think that he wasn't deceased, for this 'Blythe' whomever she was had known enough about them to know the boy by name, or so that was how Ragnar had taken it from Charon's words.

“The Glacier wolves think we stole a child of theirs?” Ragnar was surprised, and balked a bit at that, slowly the puzzle pieces falling together into his mind causing a soft snarl to push forth from parted lips. “We have been set up Charon, and so have the wolves of the Glacier,” It all made sense now, and even went so far as to explain the strange sea and female scent over every one of his prominent urine markings. Ragnar was many things: savage? Yes. Heathen? Yes. Murderer? Possibly, it depended upon how one wished to look at his death match with his eldest brother and those whom he had raided and slain over the years. Kidnapper? No. He was a father. He had given Junior back, hadn't he? He had rescued her. He did not tell Charon that he had played right into this 'Blythe''s trap, figuring that the boy had likely already figured it out for himself. “Thistle needs to be made aware of this and we need to ready the pack. There may be a war upon us soon.” His thoughts immediately went to his unborn children and his breath left him in a soft push of air, as if someone had punched him in the lungs. So, dark days were upon the Bay, after all.

After a stretch of silence, and Ragnar peeked at Charon once more, inhaling deeply and letting out the heavy exhale. He wished to admit that he had worried endlessly about the boy, that he was glad he was back, and that he had missed him when he had been gone but Ragnar didn't know how. He wasn't that kind of man and was not sure how to appropriately speak his feelings; thus he favored silence.

If ever he would see Blythe again, Charon would know what to do with her. She hadn't looked very strong or big, and in time he would surely grow bigger and stronger than her. He'd get her when that time came, and he would teach her that it wasn't a smart thing to mess with the Ostrega family.

Charon didn't respond when Ragnar said that Charon should have sought him out immediately. He just kept staring ahead. After a short silence he countered, "She said they'd probably already killed him, so I just wanted — I thought — if he was still alive, I needed to hurry." Truthfully, he had mostly just been blinded by his hatred, had wanted to go there to seek revenge, and he hadn't wanted to bother Levi with all of this. If he'd told Levi, then Levi would've probably wanted to come and Charon didn't want to put Levi in any danger. He'd wanted to help Levi by bringing back his twin brother, knowing how much Kevlyn had meant to Levi; not put him in more danger by dragging him on some crazy hunt for a bunch of wolves that lived near a far-away glacier.

Ragnar said that he assumed Kevlyn had died, just as his parents had, and it hit Charon harder than he had thought. Somewhere, he always sort of hoped that some of his family was still alive, and not all dead. "I know," he mumbled, "But I just wanted to fix Levi, I guess, 'cause I know he still misses Kev' like a lot." Any chance he would've had at fixing their broken family, Charon would take.

Ragnar mentioned war, and Charon's ears piqued up. He hadn't considered that there might be any sort of war, that the Glacier might come to get them, despite what Scarlett had told him. "Maybe if Blythe is the one who told the Duskfire wolves, they know who she is so she can be punished," said Charon, failing to grasp the bigger picture of things, or that the Duskfire wolves might not believe the Stavanger wolves.

Charon cringed as they reached Stavanger Bay's borders and the infected untreated wound in his neck still hurt with every step. He wanted to be a big boy so he didn't mention anything about the fight with the monster or how much his wound hurt to Ragnar, but he needed Thistle's love and care in regards to his wound soon or the wound would infect further.

In a way Ragnar understood why Charon had done it — why he had dashed away, hoping to be Kevlyn's hero, and while it came as some kind of surprise to think that the other Ostrega boy may still be alive, Ragnar did not think that there was such a thing as “saving Kevlyn”. He had been gone too long, corrupted by whatever malicious creature had stolen him from the shores of the Bay. Would he even want to come home? Was the Bay even home to him anymore? Ragnar did not voice these aloud to Charon, for the child's own sake. Ragnar did not believe in hiding things from his children but at the same time Charon was still just a boy and Ragnar found that he was not so willing to steal away what innocence he had left of the world by marring his belief that Kevlyn could be saved with Ragnar's pessimistic own. “You are growing fine and strong, Charon,” Ragnar complimented the boy but paused for a second before he added, “but you are still a boy. You could have been killed, or taken from us like Kevlyn and Liyani. I know you do not realize how worried you had Thistle and I but we were. Yet again, I felt helpless. I did not know where you were and therefor would not have been able to help you.” He hated lecturing his children, but at the same time he wished to communicate to Charon that it was okay to take the time to get an adult, if not Thistle or Ragnar himself then someone.

Ragnar did not know what to say when Charon confessed to wanting to “fix” Levi. It would have been easy for Ragnar to say that eventually their memories of their brother would fade and that the ache would dull to something that hit them only once in a while. Or, like in Ragnar's case, it would go away, though he had came face to face with Bjorn's death if only because he'd dealt it himself. The Northman hesitated here, wanting to confess what he thought might have happened with Kevlyn but was not, at this point, willing too. “It is admirable how you love your brother, Charon, but the Gods take with one hand and give with the other,” Ragnar paused here, taking a deep breath before letting it out in a soft exhale. “Sometimes we must not focus so much on what they have taken from us, but what they have given us in return.” It was a hard thing to do, even for Ragnar. Yet, he wanted Charon (and essentially Levi) to be able to focus upon what they had, as opposed to “what could be”. If they kept living in the mind set of “well this could be if this and this hadn't happened or if I did this” would only serve to drive them insane.

“Maybe,” The Viking conceded dryly, though he did not believe it. If Stavanger Bay was being targeted and had become some witches' scapegoat then they were in danger just as much as the Glacier wolves. Still, he was not as optimistic as his young son in concerns to the Glacier wolves listening to him or the Bay wolves if their case was pleaded. Ragnar enjoyed war as much as the next heathen but not when his stubborn queen was pregnant and would want to be in the thick of the battle, akin to a true shield-maiden. He would not lose her, nor the children growing within her womb.

Ragnar's singular eye, trained upon Charon as it was, caught the boy's wince of pain, reminding Ragnar that the boy did not come back to them unscathed. “I'm calling for @Thistle Cloud so she can look at your wound,” He informed the boy, wanting him to be prepared lest Thistle made him explain himself, as well.

Charon looked pleased at first, but soon his expression dropped as Ragnar said that he was still but a child and that he could have been killed. He did not respond; he hadn't really thought of how worried anyone at home might've been, at least not in a bad way. Even when he had spurted off after talking to Blythe, he'd known that he should have called on an adult first, but he hadn't because he'd been all the way in Ravensblood Forest and it would've taken a lot of time from his journey. Because he'd had the belief that Kevlyn would be dead if he waited for too long, he hadn't wanted to waste time. Charon kept this to himself though, because he didn't think that Ragnar would understand.

When Ragnar went on to explain that the Gods took with one hand and gave with another, and that he should not focus on what was taken from him, Charon was quick to respond. "I know that," he said, somewhat snippy for someone who'd just nearly starved and got mauled by a dog, "But Levi doesn't, so I gotta protect him." Charon wished that there was a way he could make Levi see that it was unlikely their family was ever going to return and be reunited again, but he couldn't. He saw how his brother suffered and the one thing he wanted was to fix his brother.

Charon nodded when Ragnar said that he was calling Thistle Cloud to look at his wounds. They were infected, though Charon had little knowledge of that. They hurt, was all he knew, and if she'd refrain from berating him for running off alone, it would be nice to be fawned over by Thistle Cloud, who was more a mother to him than anyone else in the world and whose maternal love he craved at that moment.

Thistle heard the howl, and she ran as fast as her rotund self could. It was hard, and she had to stop a few times. Her breathing was labored, and her stomach hurt, but she continued on. She was not about to ignore a call from her husband, for healing .Especially when it sounded important. She was already worried as it were, with Charon being gone and missing.

When she saw the two of them, a softly uttered "Oh"  Left her mouth, and she hurried to the pups side, he was still a baby to her, even if he was twice her size pretty much, or almost there. She licked his face, and nudged his small neck. "Oh Charon! I was so worried about you. Let's take a look at you." She sniffed at his wounds, brushed her tongue across a few fleeting. They would need a good cleaning, and he would need to have some herbs, to kill infection. Seawater would be good too, but she wasn't sure if he would handle that pain well enough.

Where are all his wounds?

For the most part Ragnar was silent, though his lip curled slightly when Charon snapped at him, claiming that Levi did not know that and that it was why he needed to protect Levi. As it was Ragnar did not enjoy being snapped at by anyone, least of all his children, but it was with a soft, perhaps harsh snort that he kept his calm. His temper had never been so easy to coax and he had no intentions of allowing it to be so now. “And how are you to protect him when you are dead because you barged in without taking any time to think or speak with an adult about it first? Hmm?” Ragnar spoke his question softly and with a characteristic play of a smirk across his lips. “We all will die someday, Charon, but you do not have to try to make it happen sooner. Your youth does not make you invincible. Your lack of experience makes you an easy target.” Ragnar was not trying to upset the Ostrega boy, merely clue him into the real world a bit. He had seen his first ever litter dead likely before they had even had the chance to escape their mother's womb. No age was above the law of the Gods, not even those not yet born. This had been why Ragnar had fussed over Thistle so much during her first pregnancy, so young as she'd been. The same age as Dagmar when his once princess wife had miscarried their children. This time around, he did not fuss as much figuring that his shield maiden wife was strong and would not fail him as his princess wife had. Yet, even so, it was the basis as to why he demanded she not do things as if she were not pregnant. She had precious lives within her and neither she nor they were invincible.

Thistle came in as timely a matter as she could, rounded as she was with his children. Ragnar was silent as she began to fuss over Charon, a soft grunt given as he stretched and peered around them, keeping an eye out for the ebony beast that had attempted to attack Charon.  The rest of this was not Ragnar's area of expertise but he would not leave if only because he had a family to protect despite that they were within the safety of Stavanger Bay's borders.

There are various dog bites in his neck/scruff that are a couple of days old and infected from dirt / not being cared for

Charon flattened his ears when Ragnar responded badly on his snippy tone. In Charon's world, it was totally unfair that Ragnar reacted poorly on it when he in turn took a negative tone with him; Charon felt like a little baby put in place, as if he'd tried to run off and die, or whatever, when of course what had really happened was a heroic quest for Kevlyn. He didn't need to be told that his quest was stupid, because it had in fact not been; Charon was sure that Levi would understand (but Charon would never tell him, because it would only instill false hope that Kevlyn might be out there somewhere). Ragnar just didn't understand... Pff, parents.

"I'm not a baby, and it hurts enough that I didn't get Kev' back! You don't have to be an asshole about it!" Charon shouted madly at Ragnar, tired, hungry and pained by the infected wounds in his neck. He looked at Ragnar with sad, tired eyes to try and somewhat redeem his words, ears flattened against his skull and tail dangling low against his hind legs, for he instantly realised the mistake he had made.

He then noticed Thistle Cloud, and Charon hoped that she hadn't heard his words, and particularly his name-calling towards Ragnar. Charon said nothing, though he closed his eyes and winced when Thistle Cloud licked some of the wounds along his neck. He knew the wounds needed to be treated, but why did it have to hurt so much?

Thistle heard the raised voices, but truthfully she ignored them, to worried about Charon and his wounds. She licked at them. She whined softly and then looked at Charon, and then Ragnar. I can't tell if these are infected or not. I'm afraid Charon, that I may have to pull the scabs off and clean them that way too. I'm so sorry. Can you get back to the den? You will have to tell me of your adventures, after I heal you. She nudged him gently, and tried to get him moving a little faster. She wanted the wounds cared for, and cleaned immediately.

She had no idea, how long he had them, or if they were infected. That was a worrisome thought within itself.

since ragnar is gone i'll just fade this.

It seemed for now, Charon wasn't going to get reprimanded for his attitude towards Ragnar, though Charon feared that repercussions might follow later. Maybe Ragnar was just really happy to see that Charon was okay; or alive, at least. Charon focussed on Thistle Cloud for now, not wanting to be reminded of his own faults and feeling bad enough as things were.

When Thistle asked him if he could get back to the den, Charon nodded. Quietly, he followed Thistle and Ragnar back to the den, feeling pain with every step but knowing that he needed to bite through this and needed to get his wounds tended to. He needed to be tough now.

Charon followed Thistle Cloud's instructions when she told him what to do while she washed the wound and made sure that the infections were all gone. He underwent the healing in silence, and after he was all healed up he went fast asleep in the family's den. Charon would tell Thistle and Ragnar about what happened the next day: for now, he was too spent from the exhausting journey and too happy to be in a safe place where he could rest.