Cedar Sweep so close, but so far away

@Clover? :D

After all of his searching Charon did not expect to find anything, but when he did find something, it was in the most unexpected of places. As he made his way towards the Copse through the southern bits, figuring it did not hurt to ask there about Revui and Yami (and truthfully, kind of hoping it wouldn't be Dhole that showed up), he suddenly ran into a familiar scent. It was sparse and stale, but it was a part of Revui's scent for sure. Charon sniffed around the spot he had found, but the scent was mingled with those of others and he found it hard to figure out where it lead.

The father followed the scent for a good ten minutes before it seemed to go stale altogether, untraceable. Maybe if he was a better tracker, he could've figured out where his son had gone.. but every small trace of the scent Charon followed went stale thereafter, leaving him more and more frustrated with each direction he tested. He'd not been closer to finding Revui than he was now, and yet it felt that he was so far away as he sniffed through the forest, finding nothing each time.

"Well, well, well," Clover hummed as she weaved through the cedars as she pursued the wolf whom she believed was Jarilo, "It looks like I didn't have to wait too long to see you again." Surprise and delight were evident in her voice. She was all too lovestruck to realize that it wasn't Jarilo's scent that she was tracking.

"It's so good to see you Ja—" she paused mid-sentence as she spotted Charon's silhouette along the scent-trail, and realized it was another wolf from Moonspear who was also in the sweep. "Aw shit," she grumbled, her giddy trot stopping suddenly as her expression turned sour. Clover had no idea how to recover from her blunder, and so she just stood there and stared at whoever she had mistaken for Jarilo.

Well, well, well. Charon almost felt like he was part of some scheme that he wasn't aware of, where someone had followed him and now their plan was coming together. What if the scent trail had been laid out here for him to find, so that someone could get him? He felt instantly on guard, especially considering he had been attacked by the crazy woman that had something to do with Kevlyn's death around these lands, and he was here to visit Dhole, who he hadn't exactly left on good terms, either. But when she spoke again, it sounded as if he was having some sort of secret meeting with a lover. As if he had accidentally stumbled into someone's hookup pad. Yikes.

Considering he had no idea that it was the fact his son's scent was mixed with his (as well as the fact that he didn't consider Jarilo a womaniser in any way; he'd just given his son some advice earlier and he had seemed mostly confused about it all) Charon didn't instantly think of Jarilo when she cut off at 'Ja'.

The fuck? he said and blinked as he lifted his head from the Revui scent trail and lifted an eyebrow at the girl. She reminded him a little of ghosts of the past, but he shook the feeling off. Realising he was in no danger Charon mellowed a bit and smirked. Not the dude you were looking for, I take it? Charon shared with a charming grin. He tilted his head slightly, vain as he was, so that the scarred side of his face was only partly visible, his good side turned towards her. Not sure if I should be disappointed or relieved.

"The fuck is right," Clover snorted in reply, easily amused by Charon's crude language. "Yeah, no," she replied, feeling at ease once he spoke again, "You're definitely not the dude I was looking for." Although Charon was conventionally attractive, he just wasn't her type—she liked them tall, dark, and handsome. "You smell a hell of a lot like him, though," she admitted, scrunching her nose, "You're from Moonspear, aren't you?"

"I'm not sure if you should be relieved or disappointed, either," she remarked with a smirk. "Probably relived."

Charon, on the other hand, was pretty charmed by this girl. Considering he still considered himself a young (well, maybe not that yonug anymore, but definitely suave) and charming god, Charon didn't even consider that she might not think the same. He enjoyed meeting others who were up for fun. Perhaps because most of his own family were pretty serious, or perhaps because it was just easier to chill and have fun when you weren't around those you shared your life and pack with, who needed to see you on the pedestal you rightfully stood on. Besides, it didn't really matter in the end, because she was obviously here to see some other dude and he had a mate, so Charon saw no harm in having a bit of fun with this.

Anyway, it turned out that she'd been looking for someone else from moonspear. Charon wondered who. Satin, maybe? He'd already forgotten she had mentioned a 'Ja' name. He nodded when she asked if he was from Moonspear, and then as she said he should probably be relieved, he grinned. Phew, dodged a bullet there. Glad you found out before jumping me. The good thing if someone was waiting on some lover or other was that you could pretty much call their face ugly as a joke and they wouldn't care or consider whether you meant it seriously. Who were you waiting for?

Clover couldn't help but laugh when Charon admitted that he had dodged a bullet. "You sure did," she replied with a grin. "I also could have totally taken you down." Sure, Clover was exaggerating a bit but, that was her style. 

"His name is Jarilo," Clover replied quickly. "I met him a few weeks back, and I've been meaning to go and visit him," her grinned broadened. "How do you know him?" Still naive as to why Charon smelled so similarly.

Oh, yeah, I bet you could. Sarcasm was heavy in his voice though it was all in jest, still. There was even a playful note to his voice that questioned her ability to take him down; almost like a dare.

But it all changed when she mentioned Jarilo. Charon's first thought was that he couldn't really imagine that his son could snag the attentions of a bubbly girl like this one. He wondered if Jarilo even realised that she liked him this much, considering they'd recently had a talk where Jarilo showed being totally clueless to anything love-related. His second thought was a bit of an 'oh shit' realisation considering he was sort of harmlessly flirting with his son's love interest. Maybe not the smartest thing to do.

He's my son, Charon said, his flirtatious joking slowing down a little as the realisation dawned. Jarilo wasn't exactly a boy with a lot of chances, and he didn't want to ruin whatever chances his son had. How'd you two meet?

Like Charon, everything changed for Clover as he revealed that he was Jarilo's father. Although surprised, she somehow managed to keep her composure—yet, she panicked inwardly. "We met near here on a mountain," she replied, beckoning with a jerk of her muzzle in the direction where Nimbus Summit stood. "I was trying to find Sun Mote Cospe, where some of my family moved to, and he helped me." Her heart fluttered erratically she recalled the day. 

"We climbed the mountain for a while, talked, and he helped me find my way—it was a good time."

Their meeting turned less bubbly and more factual. Charon nodded when she mentioned they'd met not far from here and had hit it off. So it turned out that Jarilo wasn't actually having secret rendezvous meetings or a girlfriend. If anything, she was just an aspiring girlfriend. Charon wondered if Jarilo felt the same way and if he read interested in her too.

But he was distracted by the mention of the copse. Was she family of Dhole's? Oh? Who's your family? I take it you found them alright? This considering they were quite nearby now.

"Just about every wolf this side of the Barrier Mountains," Clover teased. "But, to be more specific, I'm a Blackthorn—which ties me to all the Redhawks, too." She shrugged; their family was fuckin' massive. "Do you know us?" She then asked with a title of her head.

It struck Charon the wrong way when she spoke of her family cockily, though whether it would really bother him depended on whether she was a child of Peregrine and Fox's. Sure, Dhole was too and he'd gotten along with her too until he hadn't, but still. Which one was blackthorn again? Wasn't Redhawk peregrine and Fox's?

I don't know... He murmured thoughtfully. Are you related to Liffey? Then he knew vaguely so. But wasn't Liffey's mother.. ah.. what even was her name again? Anyway, Charon, from a large family in the area himself, introduced himself at last: I'm Charon Ostrega. We aren't the smallest family ourselves either.

"Liffey?" Clover echoed, evidently caught off-guard by Charon's name-drop. "How do you know her?" she wondered. Frankly, she hadn't all too interested in her older sister's life to really remember what misadventures she had gotten into prior to her being born—namely her time at Moonspear. 

"Yeah... she's my older sister. I don't know her too well, though. Elwood and Finley are my parents if you know them."

Charon figured he shouldn't have made mention of Liffey. Now he had to elaborate, something that he loathed to do. When he spoke Charon's voice was cold. She and Rannoch were of Moonspear for a time. They left us and took half the pack's members at the end of winter, while my mate was pregnant. That would always be how he would remember it. Charon felt betrayed by Liffey in a similar way he'd felt betrayed by Dhole. After he had told her not to leave, she had thrown hurtful words at him, when he thought that she was a friend. To think back to it made him feel broody and frustrated, though he quickly pushed it away. It was a year ago. But it would need a bit more time for the ice it had created around his heart to thaw.

Clover mentioned an Elwood and Finley. The names didn't ring a bell but Charon vaguely remembered that he had met Finley. Well, when he was little, and then once more later. She was one of the only reasons that he had never decided to overrun Redhawk Caldera, probably. I think I knew your mother when I was younger, Charon said. He didn't elaborate on the nick names (he didn't even remember what his was -- he just remembered he had given her 'Barf face') because he wasn't entirely for sure if he had the right wolf pictured and it seemed cruel to tell someone's child about such things.

It took Clover a moment to process the information that Charon had provided, and eventually, she concluded, "Well... that was a dick move." An expression of distaste appeared on her face as she spoke. "Sorry they did that—that's super shitty." Clover would leave that portion of their discussion at that, as Charon's tone seemed as though he didn't welcome and further consideration. 

When told that he had met Finley, she gave him a knowing look. "She's probably weirder now than she was back then," Clover sympathized.

Clover agreed that it was a dick move that they left like that and Charon nodded, glad that she agreed. It wasn't all that hard to get on Charon's good side, really -- so long as his vanity and pride were preened Charon was quite likeable. It was only wolves that had thwarted him in that or ridiculed him that got on his bad side.

Charon choked out a laugh when Clover said that her mother was probably weirder now then when they met. He shared, If I've got the right one in mind, she was pretty crazy back then. When I was a child we went bear-hunting once. He only remembered because there'd been an actual motherfucking bear, holy shit. And because: When we found it, she backed out while I was all eager to slay it, like she'd promised we would do. In hindsight, despite getting into various quarrels and getting hurt quite a bunch, Charon had been quite lucky to not have died early in his life. He had been way too trusting in random strangers and getting into these sort of adventures.

"A bear?!" Clover echoed, bewildered by what she had heard. "Are you sure we're talking about the same wolf?" She couldn't imagine Finley acting that wild—especially with how crotchety she had gotten as of late. "My mom kinda looks like me. She's about my size, doesn't have a stripe, and has brown eyes." Clover wondered if the description would help jog Charon's memory. 

Then, without giving it much thought, she asked, "Did you end up slaying it?!"

Charon laughed as he surprised Clover with the stories about her mother. His memory was rather fuzzy, but he remembered vividly that they definitely didn't slay any bears. The description seemed to match, though Charon wasn't entirely sure. Really, after all these years he mostly just remembered 'grey'. He nodded through it though, trying to piece the puzzle pieces together.

At Clover's question, Charon smirked and answered: Nah, she chickened out. He tried to remember that nick name she had given him. He remembered hers being Barf face, but, hm... Wasn't it Small pox? God, he'd been so insulted, that was all he really remembered. Ask her if she remembers Smallpox. Invite her to come say hi at Moonspear sometime. Charon smirked, wondering if she'd take him up on that offer. They didn't really know each other, he felt. They'd met some other time, he vaguely remembered, but it had been wildly different than when they'd met when he was still little. Wolves changed, he supposed.

Clover cackled; she wasn't surprised that Finley had opted out of bear-fighting. "Well, I won't let her live that down," she decided with a smirk, shaking her head. "I thought she was much better than that." she added with a click of her tongue. When asked to pass along Charon's invitation, Clover nodded. "I totally will," she promised with a wag of her tail, "I'll come along, too." Although she didn't need an excuse to visit, Clover would take every opportunity that she could get to visit.

Clover's curiosity lingered. 

"So, what was my Mom's name, if you were Smallpox?" she asked, ready to use it as needed.

Charon grinned, now, father and mature adult, understanding why she had backed out of letting some kid she'd just met wrestle with a bear -- and probably lose and die -- but decided not to tell Clover that. She said she'd pass the message and come along too. Charon wondered if this could be the girl for Jarilo -- from their last conversation, he was clearly pretty useless with girls, but maybe he wouldn't need to be too forward with this one. She'd do the forwardness, maybe.

At the question, he answered: Barf face. With a grin. He then said, Well, I should head on home. Catch you later, daughter of Barf face. With another grin Charon turned away and made to leave, unless she had some more to say.

Barf face—Clover couldn't help but chuckle; she loved the name for her mother. "It's perfect," she complimented, already envisioning Finley's reaction.  

Charon made his move to leave, and Clover nodded. It was getting late, and she figured it was her time to leave, too. "Yeah, I'll see you soon, Smallpox," she replied with a cheeky grin. Dipping her head, and then turning in the direction that was opposite of Charon, Clover set off in the direction of Sun Cospe Mote.

This seemed to make Clover's day. Charon grinned as he watched Barf face's daughter get all excited about this, probably envisioning telling her mother. As she replied and made her exit, he called out, Hey! and then watched as she started making her way back to the Copse. He decided to head on back home, and wondered if Jarilo was serious about this girl and what it might lead to.