Stone Circle you must go home again

set after his read-only thread

At walking speed, it would have taken a little while to get to Easthollow's border; the sun would have hung low on the horizon, the dusky purple-blue of twilight taking command of the sky. As it was, Shale flew, and it was still late afternoon when the gray male arrived near the stone circle, stopping just a few tail-lengths short of the border.

His brother's scent filled his nostrils, giving him a sense of comfort he hadn't felt in a while, and to his relief, Pema's and Dauntless's smells were fresh here, too. He appreciated Valette's hospitality--these past few days couldn't have been easy on any party--and would do his best to thank her in an adequate fashion, later on down the road. Now, though, was the time for action.

It was time to go home.

He tipped back his muzzle and let loose a howl for @Valette and @Pema, as well as @Dauntless and @Murdock. Any other Easthollow wolf that felt they belonged would likely follow; he didn't mind a crowd, as long as they could cut through all the bullshit and get to the meat of this problem on their paws.

His heart pounded in his chest as he waited. He had so much to tell Pema--about the wildcat, the sickness, the intruders on the border--and he felt he wouldn't be able to breathe easily until his eyes could meet hers.

It had been a few weeks since she came to Easthollow, and Pema had done her best to help the Easthollow member that were here. They were all treated and Pema had left each of them instructions at to how to continue their road to recovery. The news of Burr's death was still heavy on her mind and she hadn't done much after she had learned this fact. Just layed down quietly waiting for something.

She was ready to go home now and she couldn't really explain why she hadn't gone back with Dauntless yet. It wasn't as though the reality of Burr's passing would been any worse in Morningside, maybe even better with those she had cared about, and away from those who had cared for Burr the most like his mother and father.

During this time she had felt so alone. Taking some sort of blame for what had happened to Burr even though he had been much more grown and his life had been taken by another individual. She was sad, but she didn't have the courage to show it and take the time to break down from it. She thought back often to the when she had been trapped in the blizzard with Shale. How she had found comfort in his embrace. She yearned for such a comfort now and in her desire almost thought his howl was a figment of her imagination.

But after hearing it echo the realness set in and she rushed for the border, stopping hard in her tracks when he came into sight, snow kicking up at she stopped. She was happy to see him, but wondered why he was here. "Shale?" he appeared paniced "What's going on?"

dauntless is ready to go home. he's been ready to go home but stays because pema stays but he feels uncomfortable here, among the easthollow wolves. because they were charged with returning burr safely and the very worst possible thing that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. burr's death wasn't his fault any more than it was pema's but it occurs to him that if he'd been with the other boy when he'd been attacked that maybe burr'd still be alive. he feels indirectly responsible for it and that their continued presence might only be aggravating wounds that will need a long time to heal. not only that, he has to face ishara and break the news to her. that wasn't going to be easy, dauntless knows but she deserves to hear it from him, directly, as opposed to through the grapevine.

he avoids the pack for the most part. while pema scurries about helping out, dauntless feels too awkward and too guilty to want to be anywhere near them. he thinks about telling pema he's heading home but doubts his mother would let him, not to mention he's not overly crazy about the idea of her returning home on her lonesome. no doubt burr's killer was still at large. shale's call rings through the stone circle and there is a sudden and frigidly uneasy feeling in dauntless's stomach at the urgency of the hunter's call. pema beats him to their compatriot but dauntless comes in just as she asks him what's going on. for the sake of not being annoyingly redundant dauntless remains silent but fixes his gaze — more green then it is brown today — upon the older male expectantly, unable to entirely loosen the tension in his limbs.

Valette was quick to get to her feet when she heard the howl. The whole ordeal with Burr hadn't felt right. When seeing the pool of blood and intestines it was clear for the female that Burr hadn't survived. Though, she wouldn't want to discourage the others from searching the killer. She rather wanted to return to her own children.

The female was not the quickest to arrive. It seemed the others were there as well. One of Morningside's own was at their border. It seemed something happened. She looked at Pema and Dauntless to see if they already knew. She hoped it wasn't another murder case. Each time Morningside wolves seemed to show up at her borders something terrible had happened.

The first to answer his call was Pema, and he wagged his tail in joyful greeting, wanting to just take her in his embrace and just run like hell. As it was, he stood, mouth arced high in a smile reserved only for her. Dauntless followed soon after, and he gave his nephew a warm grin as well, though his eyes returned to Pema's a split-second later.

"I started to worry when you weren't coming home," Shale explained. "So I decided to come bring you back to Morningside. And I found Burr's--" He paused for a moment, uneasiness growing thick in his throat. Body? No, that wasn't quite right. Shale physically shook the thought off, pelt rippling as he continued. "Anyway, it's time you and Dauntless should come home. There are things we need to discuss, things. . ."

Shale trailed off once more as Valette approached, looking worn down and wary. He wondered if they had been able to find the boy or if it was a lost cause. "Valette," he greeted solemnly, dipping his head to the alpha female. "Nothing wrong on our end," he assured her, seeing the question in her gaze. "I've just come to take my packmates home."

When she arrived she was greeted with a smile which calmed her down. How bad could something be if delivered with a smile. She gave him a light smile and tail wag as well. She looked to her side when Dauntless approched, along with Valette, but her gaze returned to Shale as he began to spoke. 

She thought it was sweet that he had decided to come and look for her and Dauntless when they hadn't returned for some time, but that feeling of sweetness faded when Burr's name was brought up. she looked away for a moment and down to the ground only bringing up her head when he spoke about them needing to return home for "things".

She obviously wanted to know what that might have meant, but the way his voice sounded she assumed it was for pack members only, or at least Valette didn't need to know. She nodded, "We should be heading home shouldn't we." she said looking to Dauntless before quickly glancing at Valette. "Thank you for your hospitality." she said, assuming Valette would have no objections to them leaving. 

She turned back to Shale offering him a faint smile before walking forward and to his side saying, "Let's go home." 

dauntless's green gaze flickers to valette as she makes her entrance the scene shortly after his own but his attention moves back to shale as he responds to pema's inquiry. evidently, shale had been worried and came to take them home. they should not have lingered. they should have left as soon as they led the easthollow wolves to what was left of burr's remains but dauntless is at pema's mercy in regards to that decision. would he have been on his own he would have done things differently. they are not easthollow wolves and they do not belong here, they do not deserve to be here to witness the grief of burr's family. it is private and they were the ones who were indirectly responsible for his death because they'd been tasked with escorting him safety to easthollow ...and they'd failed. dauntless's relief is palpable and he moves to join shale, offering the leader of easthollow an apologetic look. he was sorry that they'd failed to keep burr safe, and he was sorry for their lingering in her territory when he feels they had no right.

they were lucky that she didn't have them executed on the spot ( and yes, that'd been a consideration and fear somewhere in the back of dauntless's mind ). he was all-too eager to return home even if he dreaded the conversation he would have to hold with easy when he got there.

Valette was visibly relieved to hear that there was nothing wrong. She nodded at Shale. "Of course. We are grateful for your lessons Pema. I heard great things," she spoke to the female. It was very unfortunate of what happened to Burr. Somehow Valette didn't let the blame fall on Dauntless and Pema. She would never know the full story as to why Burr wasn't with them. It could have been easily Burr's own decision to hide from the group. Though, Valette wondered if Cebra would be alright. She felt that the female would need some attention after seeing something so traumatic.

'You are welcome. I will keep an eye on Mawk and Cebra. I will keep your pack updated on their status. I still consider Morningside an ally," she spoke to them. Just to clear the air. She could see the guilty look on Dauntless face. Though Valette wondered if she had been so forgiving if it had been her own child. She probably wouldn't have. But that was why she wanted to be a voice of reason for Cebra. "Take care." There was a bit of worry, what if some of them would be a victim of such a horrible crime.

All was settled rather neatly, then, and Pema and Dauntless crossed the border to join him. It looked as if they had both settled in well enough here, though of course the shadow of what had happened--the boy must be dead, surely--hung over them all like a storm cloud, darkening the stone circle to be almost unrecognizable from the place he had visited once before with Murdock.

His heart hurt for the sadness in Valette's eyes--how hard this must be for her pack, her family! "Thank you," he murmured gently, his voice carrying over the wind to the alpha's ears. His mouth twitched, wavering somewhere between a concerned frown and gracious smile; it tightened eventually into something cold and neutral. "I'm so sorry for whatever happened. . .I can't imagine how difficult it must be for you all right now."

Only he could. It was a platitude. He had lost three children. But no need to speak of that now.

Touching the tip of his tail to Pema's and his nephew's shoulders in quiet passing, he gave Valette a curt nod. "Be well," Shale said softly, then turned to face the mountains once more. He looked over at Pema, then Dauntless. "Let's go home."