Heron Lake Plateau We are old and our son took the dog away

@Screech

A faint drizzle of rain fell over the plateau just as Niamh finished a morning patrol. It seemed like spring was dragging out a bit, with a little bit of rain each day and she wished it would just quit and become summer already. The plants had begun to green up- the poplars almost completely out in leaf as well as some of the shrubs, but the other hardwood trees took a bit longer to get their leaves back. Give it a day or two of full sun, she figured, and the forest would be full of green again...But for now, it still looked slightly grey. 

She stopped by a cache of hers, which hid a partridge she'd caught in the grasslands outside the pack territory, and began to dig, figuring she deserved a meal, having completed one patrol already for the day. She'd left before the sun had even come up, and sh found herself both hungry and tired. To her surprise, the bird wasn't there. She sniffed around, scuffling here and there, until she found a feather, but no other sign. Hungrily, she growled and curled her tail indignantly over her back for a moment before she gave up and moved on. Someone, it seemed, had stolen her lunch.

He had been ravenous following his conversation (read: verbal assault) with Raven and, still fiercely emotional about the (super vague) fallout, had found the first thing he could rip to shreds and unceremoniously dug up a cache. Upon finding a pheasant the boy grabbed it and stalked off a few feet; his effort to rip the dead bird free of its hideaway caused the loss of a few feathers but he didn't really notice.

Once settled among the marsh reeds, Screech set upon the fowl with his teeth. He grasped and pulled, pinning the thing with his paws, and then shook the disfigured portions with excessive force. None of the meat was safe - but he wasn't eating it. Apparently pheasant carcasses made for good stress balls.

As she made her way toward where she thought she had another little something stashed, she picked up Screech's scent, which caused her to pause for a moment. She'd been taking some time away from him, to try and establish her own reputation and get to know the pack members without them hating her immediately just because she was associated with him. It hadn't really occurred to her how that might effect him; she, afterall, had a more or less clean slate. A few wolves had given her a chance just because she was new, and couldn't really be blamed for what Screech had done...But she felt a bit bad, now, for leaving him to deal with his own repercussions. 

She followed his scent, and found him, tearing a bird carcass into shreds. At first she felt OK- that was probably her bird carcass, but maybe he was hungry because no one wanted to hunt with him...But then it became fairly clear that he wasn't exactly eating the bird- he was just maiming it, angrily. "Jeez, dude," She said as she approached, frowning a bit at the hostilty he took out on the bird. "What'd bird-brain there do to you?"

Feathers flew. If there was blood, that was probably everywhere too, but he couldn't tell beyond the "seeing red" of another variety. Soon the bird was in scattered pieces and he was grinding his teeth in to the breastbone, propping it between his thin forelimbs awkwardly. At this point Niamh popped up out of nowhere and he nearly deep-throated a tiny pheasant wing out of surprise, and was left gagging. He had no answer for her at first (too busy trying to breathe and get the chunks out of his mouth) but then he'd spit it all up and stood up, looming over the remains.

The fuck you want? He blurted, seemingly without thinking (as was the norm for Screech), but he hadn't forgotten the subtle way the girl had ditched him. They hadn't shared space since their run-in with Finley and those idiot kids. As a follow up he tacked on venomously, If you're looking for your new friend Towhee, I can't help you. It was no secret they'd been spending more and more time together, their scents mingled all over the territory, and Screech was not ignorant to the talk of the others - that Niamh was picking up ptero with some ease. He should've been happy to see her integrating but Screech was a sore loser (and just, well, a loser in general), and was lashing out however he could.

She held her breath and bit her lip to keep herself from laughing at Screech when he gagged on the bird's wing...It was quite funny to watch, but she could tell he wasn't in the best mood, and he seemed like the type who would act tough, but have a fairly fragile ego. He stood up, then, and she calmly faced him without changing her own demeanour. She'd given him some time on his own and had, in the meantime, done wonders for her own reputation by becoming familiar with the other packmates and putting herself to good use. She couldn't help but wonder what he'd been doing- and if he resented her, now, just because she'd actually made progress with the new locals. 

He responded to her with a sour tone, and she snorted. She wasn't too offended, and gave him a wry grin. "I was after that," She said, gesturing to the bits of bird scattered everywhere, "For my lunch. Guess you beat me to the buffet," She said. After all- one couldn't be too protective over caches when living in a pack. More or less everything was to be shared with those who also contributed. He made a snappy remark about Towhee, and she shook her head. "Don't be like that, dude." She said. True, she didn't think as much of him as she had when she'd met him- but it dind't mean she hated him. She had simply chosen the company she thought was best for herself- and at that point in time, Screech probably wasn't it. "They'll come around in time, as long as you mind your manners and like...Just try to fit in, same as I've had to do."

She chided him for his response, but it went in one ear and out the other. The boy spat a few more feathers at the dirt, then shoved the remains he was tearing up across to her without really thinking about it; he was done maiming the poor thing, but the meat and parts were scattered and useless. Looked like she was out of a lunch.

You don't know anything, he countered, Like, literally anything about my family. They're nice to you for a few hours and you're suddenly best friends? I guess you're safe for now, since the pack doesn't have any rivals in the middle of buttfuck nowhere here, but believe me, he sat up there, partially for dramatic effect and partially because he was pretty close to done already, you spend any time at all away from them, they'll pretty much turn their backs and disown you.

It was a fair warning in Screech's opinion; he hadn't meant to wander off and find Liffey, or to get grabbed by Blackfeather, or to ruin his reputation with the Blackthorns by defending his friend (and the promise he had intended to keep) against their ignorance. Everything just piled up and now, he was struggling to keep his head above the proverbial waters of their distrust. If he could save Niamh from the same fate - maybe his troubles would be worth it. I bet Towhee had a few choice things to say about me. That why you've been chillin' with her instead? Think I'm some kind of asshole too?

Screech was angry, but it was pretty easy for her to tell that his anger came from hurt- and she knew she was responsible for a bit of that pain. She'd more or less ditched him to hang out with his family, after all, and his family was still angry with him. She sat down then, and flicked her ears back, almost apologetically. "They seem pretty loyal to each other." She said, countering what he'd just said about them. From what she could figure, he hadn't accepted the blame or the repercussions for his own actions...But then again, had he even had anyone to talk to, to explain himself?

She sighed, when he started to go off on Towhee again. Clearly he was paranoid about what the others thought and said about him. "Listen...Screw what they've told me. All I know is something about you leaving right when a war started, and something about a fight with Elwood; but that's just what they're saying. There's two sides to everything, and I know I kind of picked their side, for a bit. I needed to know what they thought, and why they thought it." She said. She shook her head. "I was worried maybe I'd befriended a monster, and I had to find things out for myself." She said, quietly. 

She paused, then, and flattened her ears, eyes fixed on him. "But I want to know your side. I want to know what happened in your opinion. Why you think they hate you...And I want to know why you think Towhee let you back into the pack." She tacked the last bit on- because she wanted to see if he had any faith left in his sister whatsoever, the same way she had an ounce of faith left in him.

Screech scoffs at her initial comment but goes quiet after, realizing she's giving him a moment to say his piece and that such a moment was rare, so he'd better make the best of it. At the same time she off-handedly calls him a monster, and that really doesn't help his already fragile ego; in fact, it stings quite a bit, so he clams up for a moment after Niamh finishes speaking, as if to debate within himself if it's worth trying to clear his name. How many times has he told this story? (And how many times has Java written it out or had the browser freakin' eat it gdi --).

So, he started at the beginning.

The war with Blackfeather was instigated because of their habit of kidnapping and torturing wolves. One of them was my older sister, or so he had heard, but the boy had been a captive around the time Wildfire had found her way home and was mostly oblivious to those details. After she was rescued and Raven tended to her, the Redhawks began to consider going after them. Around that time I was doing my own thing - patrols, hunts, whatever, - and I went to a nearby meadow for a look around. I thought i'd found Raven there, and ran over to spend some time with her. Turned out to be someone else — someone from Blackfeather. They grabbed me, broke my leg, took me back to their forest, and held me there. He hadn't realized they'd done all of that by accident or that Cassiopeia had been reacting defensively rather than offensively, but it didn't matter now. What mattered was that it had happened. I was there for a week or two. I don't know how long, really. They tended to my wound and kept me heavily drugged up. But over time I got to know the girl that had grabbed me— she was a captive too, and had been brainwashed, or something. Eventually she helped me to escape.

Here was where Screech glanced at Niamh and murmured, And that's when we encountered Elwood, and so he explained that situation next: running in to Elwood, trying to follow through with his promise to Cassiopeia but having it fall through. Fighting with him desperately, and then being reunited with Raven for treatment. I only did what I did because she'd helped me, and I wanted to make good on my promise. Elwood refused to see my side. He thought... He thought she would only harm the pack because of where she was from, and turned against her. Turned against me, really. It had been a bad situation and he'd made a bad call, but Screech was loyal to his friends—out of all the shit he'd done, at least that was constant.

Next, the war. I recovered with Raven's help. She encouraged me to run on my bad leg whenever I felt capable, to test it and strenghten it, so I did that a lot. At one point I was exploring to the west of the Caldera in the foothills of the mountains, and found a pack living there. I thought maybe.. To make a good impression. That's not what happened. He glossed over the part about how he'd skipped out on the war meeting and been avoiding his responsibilities prior to the events at the Moonspear border, but the rest of the story fell from his lips easily enough. The death of Galaxy, the verdict that he was a murderer, his escape north to Ravensblood, his various run-ins with Hydra and the sisters, and then finally vanishing to the Hinterlands.

When he was finished, he was silent again. This time his frustration had all but evaporated; Screech had done his best to explain his side of the events without getting too emotional, but it was clear that recounting his various trials and tribulations had worn him down. He was tired, which meant he didn't have the energy to spit venom anymore. Once Redshank and I made it here, we thought we were free, he finally sighed and added, and then watched Niamh for her reaction to everything — she knew the rest, and hopefully some of what he'd explain would sink in to her. Maybe she could help him figure out why they all hated him so much when nothing he'd done was really his fault.

Niamh actually surprised herself- this tactic actually worked. She'd just done what she would have wanted had she been in Screech's place- so she made a mental note of it, now that she found out that it worked. He calmed visibly as he spoke, letting go of some of the pressure of having a story that others hadn't bothered to hear. Other wolves might only see his story as an excuse or a lie- some way to cover up the truth. 

It wasn't hard to pull on Niamh's heartstrings- and she did truly feel bad for Screech when he told her his involvement with the Blackfeather wolves. No wonder, then, why he did not want to go to war with them after having been kidnapped and tortured by them. Now she found herself developing more questions for the Caldera wolves- how could they judge him for bailing on a war after having been kidnapped and broken? "I see. I think...I think had you gone to war with them, you would've been a target, anyway." She said. Surely the Blackfeather wolves would have gone first for the wolf that brought war to their doorstep; plus, he was wounded, so he could have been considered an easy kill. 

He went on to explain about conflicts with a pack called Moonspear- and how he got the blame for anther wolf's death...And that was shocking. "Did they not like...Check her over to see how she died?" She asked, and listened to him as he continued. It seemed like everything had been stacked against him. Elwood didn't believe him about Casseiopeia, and the Moonspear wolves didn't believe him about Galaxy. 

When he finished, he looked tired. Not as angry anymore, but just sick and tired, and put down. Niamh was an empath; she could feel the heaviness of a wolf who just wanted to be seen as he felt he truly was. She wasn't sure how she could make the others see this- unless she had them sit and experience the exact same story he'd just told her, but that wasn't a problem for right then. Right then, there was just her and Screech, so she found herself sweeping toward him, pressing her chest against his and resting her head on his shoulder. Perhaps a bit too much contact, but from all she could feel, it was what she would have needed had she been in his position. "I don't think they understand you. I think maybe, none of them knows the whole story- or is willing to believe it because they've judged you wrong." She said, warm breath brushing against his fur. "I'll do what I can to help you. And I'm sorry, Screech."

Her embrace was not something he had expected, but he sank against her all the same when it happened. It occurred to him then, that maybe his life would always be this way. That people would always ask for details, and he would always have to recount things in order to justify himself to others — and it wasn't a thought he found comforting. It meant he'd have to relive bits and pieces over and over, and never fully escape from them.

At the very least she offered to help him. What could she do that would be different? Screech had tried to fit in to various roles — between here and the Sunspire, in Ravensblood, and even before that, when he'd reunited with his family after his escape. Each time proved futile. But if she was willing to try something he couldn't, he would let her. Having allies was a rare but welcome gift. Not knowing what to say next, Screech remained silent (letting her other questions fade in the air) and merely welcomed the contact and comfort she provided.

Well this was different.

Having grown up in a family pack with only a few non-related wolves hadn’t exactly given Niamh the experience of being with someone who wasn’t at least considered family. An embrace like this was usually something done if someone got hurt or upset, as a consolation for a friend or brother or cousin. Niamh was used to stepping in to help cure someone’s feelings...

But this was different. And the longer she stayed close to him, the more she felt it- but she wasn’t exactly sure what it was she felt. Pull away, she thought, but then again...Why should she? Being young, naive and a bit reckless, she leaned back against him and combed her teeth through the fur at his shoulder idly, not really sure why she did so, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. He wasn’t talking, but he wasn’t pulling away, either. So whatever she was doing, it was working.

He didn't have anything to say. It felt like he was back on the beach with Seelie, and the level of comfort he felt in these moments was a rare thing, so he coveted it. When she began to preen his fur the boy's eye closed, and he drifted a little bit too long in her embrace. This was silly — she was a complete stranger who, only hours ago, he had rallied against and had resigned himself to hate. But if he just closed his eyes and ignored the earlier sense of betrayal, forgot for a moment that she was best friends with his mortal enemy sister Towhee, then...

He startled suddenly and his expression became lively, awake, wide-eyed, and he snorted softly upon waking up from the small drift he'd found himself falling in to. Had he been asleep...? Feeling a little disoriented, Screech was suddenly separating from Niamh's warmth and putting distance between their bodies. The last time he got close with someone — well, thoughts of his other sister served to sober him up a bit. He felt flush with embarrassment, and staggered away from Niamh without a word — picking up speed as he went until she was left in his dust.

He seemed to lean closer to her as she combed her teeth through the steely fur of his shoulder, and she didn't mind at all. His breathing became steady, perhaps a bit slower and deeper, and he relaxed into her embrace, and she'd thought he was simply enjoying it until he snorted and pulled away. She smiled softly, and reached out to tweak the fur at his cheek, realizing he'd just fallen asleep, but the look on his face said something different. Even if he had been falling asleep in her embrace, it seemed now that he suddenly regretted it. 

He didn't say anything, and she couldn't pull the words together to try and stop him- he was gone before he would have been able to hear her, anyway. She flicked her ears back, wondering exactly what it was that ate at him- he'd been so comfortable one moment, and then ran away the next...And she thought it was best that she didn't go after him. Hoping that at least he'd take some solace in the fact that his story had been told, and that someone had listened to him, she shook her head gently, and set off for her den, to mull things over and rest up for the voyage.