Great Bear Wilderness your eyes so big

@Greyback @Atausiq

Huāzhen was not a perfect girl- oftentimes a hypocrite, a liar, even a xenophobe in the past. But she could hold to a promise, and so after meeting with Hydra she made her way home in the direction of Neverwinter, very much intending to reunite with the handsome young man from the days prior. 

Once she reached the border, she threw back her head, sounding out a distinct call for Atausiq. Then she would settle by the border, preening her chest fur and cleaning up her appearance while she awaited his arrival.

atausiq tries to keep himself as occupied as he can: patrolling the borders and hunting for neverwinter's food cache. and when he wasn't doing those things, he spent some time expanding his den to fit him better so he didn't feel so claustrophobic for though there were no structural weaknesses that he could presently detect he was still concerned about the earth collapsing in around him every time he scrapped the roof with his back.

he was patrolling when the howl rises thru the air for him. already nearby, it doesn't take him long to reach the stretch of borders the ocean woman stands before. he'd considered, because she was older than him, that she might not keep to her promise ...but there she was. preening her pelage and looking like a gift sent by the moon itself ( not that he was religious, mind ).

he approaches her with a low chuff of initial greeting, pride tilting his chin upwards. he had no right to be so proud upon the borders, really, he was just a lowly subordinate but like intoxicated by clover's scent atausiq cannot seem to control this newfound side of him. hey, he greets her in what he hopes is a cool, suave manner ( he was still working on that ) with a sway of his tail against his hocks.

He had heard the call in the distance, familiar yet unknown, and with a moment of hesitation upon looking back from where he came, Greyback turned and heeded it with a fast sprint. Hua had told him she would call if Newt had turned up, and whilst searching the man kept close and circled around the inner territories of Great Bear, hopeful that eventually his prayers would be answered.

Rushing back into the tree line, the man slowed and tipped his head upwards to scent the area. Hua was there, along with another. The scent cast over with the smell of surrounding territories and Yuelong. "Hua?" he breathed, looking around through the crowded forest before stepping into an area where he was greeted with the sight of both of them.

His ears perked as he looked upon them, and with raised brows he prowled closer. "Newt—Son, is that you?" He spoke in disbelief as he neared.

Soon the boy came forth; she greeted him with a gentle smile and a waving tail as he spoke up. And just as she would open her mouth to speak her own words, the grey mountain strode forth from the forests... calling her name with some surprise... and then Atausiq. Newt. Son. 

Seeing the two of them together brought puzzle pieces falling into place, and her jaw hung slightly open in surprise, suddenly feeling that she was an intruder on a very private moment between father and son. Their reunion- it was as she expected, Atausiq was truly the lost son of Greyback. Greyback! I, um, I think maybe he is yours when I meet him, but... But his name isn't Newt. Did Greyback know that his son's name was changed? She couldn't find the words to finish her sentence, and desperately hoped Atausiq would explain these things himself, for he certainly knew more of it all than she.

try as he might to conceal the surprise mixed with the icy feeling of a stone dropping into the pit of his stomach — something akin to dread mixed precariously with suffocating guilt — as his father's voice and figure join their little gathering; atausiq cannot. it morphs the lines of his face like an open book; easy to read. his gaze shifts from hua to greyback where it remains; arrested. the gig is up, he knows instantly. his father stands before him, as majestic and powerful as ever ...the judge and the jury for the crimes against the family — running away like a coward with his tail betwixt his legs — that atausiq knows he has committed. crimes that had gotten someone else exiled... though at least for that part he has already exiled himself to neverwinter.

still, he assumes that this is why greyback is here and wonders, suspiciously, if leta had told on him. no, she couldn't. she wouldn't ...but would he really know? no.

father. atausiq greets, voice thick; clipped. a private greeting his commanding officer ...and then as hua speaks, imperial gaze volleys to her where it sets upon her. she knew? no, she suspected, as she tells his father. heart thumping madly in his chest, atausiq looks once more to greyback.

Newt turns, and Greyback knows from the second he sees that face, those eyes, that nose, that this boy is his. He rushes forward with a smile, not caring if his son tries to pull away, and attempts to wrap him in a hug. His chin sitting between the boy's shoulder blades, breathing in his scent while he lets out a huff. No longer does his baby smell of Easthollow—of the cedar pines and sweet grass. He smells wholly different, bathed in the salt of the coast and something earthier, darker from the lands here.

After so long. So many miles. So much time... His son is finally here, in front of him. Real. Warm.

"It is you," The father whispers, pulling back to look once more at Newt's face. He wanted nothing more than to continue the warm contact with his child, but he had so many questions. "Where have you been? Why did you leave?" he questions. "You worried your mother and I sick!"

huā can be skipped for a couple of rounds while GB and atausiq chat, unless addressed! I will keep reading ofc so don't bother trying to tag me back, i will be paying attention :P

It was like a scene from a soap opera, and she the audience, watching behind a glassy screen. And for a moment it felt unreal, like a story unfolding before her eyes... until she feels Atausiq's gaze on her, and she's snapped back to reality. The cold reality of a boy who had seemed perfectly content to be away from his father. Had he no filial piety? No respect for Greyback? For a moment she felt critical of the boy who was so formal in greeting his own family. And her heart, sore with the empathy for Greyback. The man who was worried sick about his missing son- perhaps it was the maternal instinct developing in her, to understand the feelings of a parent without giving birth yet. And already she had begun to notice the slight curvature of her sides, but would not think about it just yet... for now she quietly watched the scene unfold, hovering awkwardly at the side like a forgotten ragdoll, expression slightly shocked.

atausiq waits for the fall of the anvil ...but it never comes. he does not expect his father's whispered words, not anymore than he expects the rush forward, the grasp of him into a bear hug. he expects there to be rage. rage to match his guilt ...but if it is there, it has yet to make itself known. i've been here ...and there. nondescript ...and aware of their present company. over his father's shoulder he spots hua who watches them awkwardly. i... — it hardly seems like the time to confess everything atausiq has been keeping bottled up, too afraid to say — especially not in front of company whom he barely knows — but steels his shoulders anyway.

i did not mean to worry you, he begins, as if with the beginning he might soften the blow of the words he knows he must say. i just ...didn't agree with how things were being done in easthollow. lain simply upon the table he doesn't feel the lessen of the burden as he thought he might. if anything, atausiq only feels like he's been wound tighter ...a spring trembling with the tension it is coiled with.

There had been something swimming just at the surface of his son's eyes. And Greyback, keen to look over his child, instantly noticed it. He pulled his brows taught at the sight, worried about the boy. He had gone and grown up. No longer was he the pudgy fat whelp nursing at his mothers side and wobbling on fat paws, but was a man—just shy of his father in size.

"You left without so much as a word," Greyback chided, as if pointing out that perhaps his son still hadn't grown up in mind. "I didn't raise you to have such ill manners," He had always been hard on his children, Greyback knew this. He sought to teach them knowledge in their youth; manners, dignity, respect. But perhaps he had been too hard on them. Clay had run away in fear of his father's lectures.

And now Newt had left because of his actions.

The elder felt a bit guilty for driving his children away. Just a bit. "Why didn't you say anything?"

i know, atausiq rasps. i was afraid if i said that i was leaving — to anyone — that i would be stopped. convinced to stay. he doesn't quite mean for it to sound like 'and i didn't want to' at the end but ...there was nothing to be done about it. he doesn't apologize for it, still stubbornly set in his belief that it was what was best. for easthollow, if he was trying to spin a selfish ploy as selfless, but mostly ...it was for him. easthollow hadn't benefited from his abrupt departure though it could be argued that they didn't benefit from his torn presence either.

at the chiding, his ears flutter back and shoulders tense. he resists the urge to scowl; barely. pointing out that he had howled didn't strike him as the wise thing to do at the moment. i thought it wouldn't matter and then i thought that maybe it shouldn't matter. after all, the last thing he wanted was special treatment because he was the son of the alpha's. i'm your son but i was still your subordinate. consequences for disobedience should be the same. and so, he chose to exile himself.

He couldn't say his son was wrong. Greyback knew, both for Valette and himself, that if their son told them he was leaving they would both try to get him to stay. Greyback probably would of grounded him to keep him there. But who could blame him? He was but a father, keen on keeping his son with him, with their pack. And his mother—Valette always found it hard to let her children go.

"Were you scared? That I would do you harm or injustice? That I would exile you?" Greyback questioned, his heart breaking at the thought of his fears confirming reality. "Vespera was a unique case. She was sick—nearly suceededing in disposing herself! Childish even! Your mother and I tried to correct her over the years but she still disobeyed and but others in danger. She barely got along with anyone." His voice was a bit deeper now, a bit ragged as he thought it was ridiculous to explain this.

"Her exile was the last option, not the first." He stared down at his son with a hardened gaze. "I would not have exiled you. Nor anyone else unless my paw was utterly forced." He sighed, looking up at Hua, who now stood at the side of them. The elder felt a bit bad for spilling such unsightly quarrel in front of a stranger, and thus his gaze softened as he reminded himself to be composed. "You are a fine boy. It would have never come to that."

yeah, i was. he thinks about saying it hesitantly ...but if he does, if he shies from the truth and beneath his father's stern gaze atausiq fears he'll never be seen as a man. his gaze flickers to hua then, her presence minimized as he focuses on his father but far from forgotten. mom didn't agree. atausiq points out quietly but then shakes his head. it didn't matter. vespera was all water under the bridge and atausiq, for better or worse, made his decision. leta had been upset and mad at him ...there was no telling how greyback will feel at the end of this but regardless, atausiq would be able to say he stood by his decision and accepted the consequences he assumes hang on the coming fringes.

the praise, while secretly tucked away to keep coveted close to his heart later, is skimmed over in the here and now. while i would love nothing more than to make it up to you and mom and easthollow ...i've made my decision, he tells greyback, trying to accomplish that whole 'man to man' vibe. what kind of man would it make me if i went back on it? it is offered as a rhetorical question; for he has long since figured out that loyalty was more than to someone else. 

loyalty also meant sticking to your own decisions and accepting what may come as a result.

Three words was all it took to break the man's heart. To confirm his fears. Greyback swallowed at the feeling, and once again fell silent to take a breath in through his nose and exhale through his mouth, his eyes closed as he composed himself. He wanted to chide his son more, to lecture him about how he was still a child and clearly not ready to be on his own, to be responsible. Of how he hurt his mother, Valette. Of how being a man was to own up to his mistakes and making right, not run away.

But Greyback knew if he was to go down that path that he could never turn back. So thus he kept his mouth shut and just gave a shake of his head in disappointment. "Decision or not, you still owe it to your siblings and mother to apologize. To at least visit. They knew not what had come of you. " Valette would be happier hearing from her son once more.

"And what is this.. decision that you've made?" He questioned, looking between Hua and Newt. Did she know? What was Hua going to say before she fell silent? "But.. what?"

Huā watched on in stunned silence till she could not bear any longer; the shame at being an intruder to such drama was too much, and she turned her head away awkwardly, ears flattened to her head as if to apologize to overhearing it all. As they spoke, puzzle pieces fell into place- the situation was still not entirely clear, but she had a better grasp of it. A boy who didn't agree with his father's actions and exiled himself without a word. From meeting Greyback, she had figured him a good man who made the right choices- she couldn't imagine that he was a bad leader. But Atausiq's words pointed to otherwise. 

And what is this... decision that you've made?

Greyback cast an inquisitive eye towards her, then back at the boy. She frowned slightly. We... I meet him the other day. We friends now. She interjected. And it's not what it looks like. She considered tacking on, thinking of her slight baby bump- was it obvious? To either of them? She wasn't sure, but wasn't keen on finding out unless it was brought into the spotlight.