Stone Circle The stone of lost souls.

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Valette missed her kids. She wished to know why @Newt left with only a howl. Why @Clay vanished and if he was still alive. She hoped that he was at least. But it wasn't only her recent litter she was missing... She wondered about @Merrit. She thought he was here to stay but after the attack... He had left as well. And @Keen, she had been back for a while but now was gone again. Then there were her first children, @Steph, @Ezra and @Clary. She was worried about Steph as she had not been with Sunny. She wondered about Ezra and Clary as well, they would probably have new lives. Maybe she was a grandma without knowing. She wished she would know.

A long sigh came from her lips. Perhaps she was just melodramatic because her heat still hadn't kicked in. Normally she was pretty early in the season but this year, this apparently not. Now perhaps it was just her horrendous body condition she was recovering from ever since the famine was over. She just wished that she could know if they were alright... or not.  She looked at the stone of lost souls, praying for an answer.

Throwing in the tag since it's been a while! <3

Kaito kept himself busy in Easthollow, tending to his supplies, and taking stock of the new growth that began to show between the patches of melting snow, harkening the coming Spring. He still hoped to take a trip out to Little Goat Mountain to collect what remained of his dried herbs there. Whether or not another wolf had since scavenged the stores was a possibility, of course, but he liked to believe that he might recover the product of his toils there.

He tracked down Valette today to divulge his plan to her, and seek permission -- and to ensure that she might not worry that he would not return, if such a thought might even cross her mind.

Kaito found the Matriarch within the Stone Circle, alone and bowed, and he recognized the posture as one he had taken, and still took, quite reguarly on his own. His paused in his approach -- uncertain whether to linger or to leave -- but the air felt heavy, and his heart tugged toward her. With meekness of voice, he asked, "Atsil -- " and remembered, only after the slip, that she would not know such language here.

Valette snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone speak. She looked up and turned her head to the sound. Her green eyes fell onto the young male she accepted a while back. It was the same one that her mate seemed to have trouble with for some reason. Valette turned. "Kaito, hello," she greeted. She had not understood the word that he had been saying.

The woman realized she must have looked weird to the other, praying to a stone. If that was the case then he wasn't really showing that to her. "Do you need me for anything?," she asked curiously. She had been curious about the male, and most of all curious, what he did to make Greyback dislike him so.

She whisked around in such briskness, that Kaito regretted speaking out at all. But the Matriarch met him with politeness, and civility, and none of the severity he'd received from Greyback, and he let go a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He shouldn't have really been surprised. Given what he knew of her daughter, it made sense that Arlette would have gleaned her kind nature from Valette.

Kaito smiled at the Matriarch, to counter the sadness that seemed to stain the air. "Well... kind of..." but that could surely wait. Kaito softened his brow with a crease, and turned an inquisitive eye to the crumbling stone she had been bending over just moments before. "I, uh, I don't know if this is intrusive, but... were you... praying?" The curiosity sprang naturally from his heart, and leaked into the fringes of his youthful voice, ears drawn forward with keen interest. He hadn't known Arlette's family to be religious.

Valette's ears swiveled forward when he said that there was something. Valette was rather curious now but the male asked another question. Valette then dipped her head in reply. "Yes, I was," she admitted and then turned to him fully. She had been mostly done anyway. "This our stone that represents the lost souls. I was just praying for my children to come back to me," she admitted to him. Not all her children were homebound like Arlette was.

"Each stone has a meaning. I am not sure if you knew this," she spoke. "However, I can tell you that another time. I am curious as what you needed me for," she asked, seeing that she wanted to know more about this young male. Maybe it would tell her something about him and get to know the male better.

"Oh," he said softly, and felt a pang in his heart, "no, I didn't know that," and Kaito found he now looked upon the stone before Valette with a feeling of longing. Did his own mother miss him in the way Valette missed her children? Did she pray for him, too?

He wished to ask Valette on who her other children were. Their names, their faces, the memories she held of them, and he would have listened to this for hours, even, if she had been willing. But the matriarch shifted her focus back to him, and Kaito supposed "another time" was what simply what he would have to settle with, and what he would have to look forward to.

Kaito cleared his throat. "Well - um - I have some herbs stored up in the mountains further South that I gathered and preserved before I joined Easthollow. Since the weather's warming up, and the skies are largely clear, I thought it'd be smart to, y'know, fetch them now. It'll take about five days, round trip, and I - I wanted to let you know my intention before I left to collect them. I also..." and he trailed for a moment, pawed the ground, and splayed ears in sheepishness. Worst she could do was say no... right? "I also wondered, if you might permit your daughter to come along with me. Arlette, I mean. I thought I could show her how to transport herbs over longer distances, in case that need ever comes, and this would be a really good way for her to practice that... but, uh, I wanted your permission first, before I asked her."

Valette noticed his look, and didn't expect the male to react this way. Could it be that he was genuinely interested in hearing about their stones? That was promising. Then the male started to explain what he needed her for. What she could take from it was that the male was very considerate in telling her. She dipped her head in approval. However, the male was not done. He wanted to take Arlette with him. Why Arlette? But then she was reminded that Arlette was teaching about herbs and medicine from him. Could she really say no?

The matriarch thought about it. "I will approve it," she started, she was not sure if Greyback would approve but Arlette was an adult, not that tiny pup anymore. "If she wants to of course." Her daughter didn't leave the pack often so she wondered if she wanted to go. The female offered a kind smile at the male. "It is very considerate of you to ask, Kaito," she complimented

"Really?" There was no hiding the fact that Valette surprised him with her answer, but he had hoped for nothing less. His smile broadened, and his eyes brightened up. "Awesome!" a quick wag of his tail accented his words, "Thanks, Mrs. Greyback! I can't wait to ask her!"

Of course, at this point, he half expected her rejection, and he knew how Arlette would be totally fair if she just spun around and gave him what for to his face. But Kaito still hoped he hadn't fallen too far out of Arlette's good graces to have lost her friendship entirely, and if he was a wolf of anything, he was one of great hope in the midst of situations that seemed quite riddled with things that might only go wrong.

Valette's praise left him quite abashed, but he smiled at her nonetheless. "I have a couple of sisters back home, and I can imagine how worried my mother would be if they just left to go somewhere without her knowing," he said, to try and smooth his actions into the ordinary thing he reckoned they were, "I would never want to put you through the same," and he held the natural conclusion for a moment, before he said through a smile and tight apprehension, "nor Greyback."

Valette chuckled when the boy seemed so surprised by her answer, almost like he had expected her to say no. She had been doubting, but if she had said no they would probably sneak out and do it anyhow. Valette remembered how it was to be a young adult. She often thought of Arlette as a teenager still perhaps because she was far more timid and small of stature. Her younger siblings were bigger than her now, it reminded the Matriarch that she should let Arlette be more of an adult. She was a great big sister to them, and very responsible. Valette just chuckled lightly. "Why did you think I was going to say no?," she asked curiously. She had heard from Greyback he had approved of the boy but Valette was not agreeing with her mate on that part.

She looked surprised for a moment when he called her Mrs. Greyback. "That is far too official. You can call me Valette," she assured him with a smile. With the male explaining his motives all Valette could think was how polite and proper the young male was. "Well you are right about that," she assured him. Valette had to chuckle when the young male also mentioned not wanting Greyback to be worried about Arlette. "Oh no, you don't want that. But I believe you have already seen the protective side of my mate," she stated in return. She felt a bit sorry for Kaito that he had to experience a grumpy Greyback.

He smiled, somewhat bashful in her correction, but her easy nature made him comfortable enough not to lose himself for too long in those awkward throes of a teenage boy talking to his crush's nice girl friend's mother.

What embarrassed him more was that Valette seemed to know about his run in with Greyback, and duh, was he even surprised? He was the Matriarch's mate -- they were Arlette's parents -- and of course they'd share these things between each other. He grinned, and splayed his ears again. Heh, yeah, I've seen it alright... he admitted to her then, and felt the back of his neck prickle with heat, I guess that's why I figured you'd sooner say no... I mean - my dad died before I was born, so I guess, well... did she really care for this? Didn't matter, he was telling her anyway, I'm still learning how things work in a family where both parents are still around.

Valette could tell that the boy was a bit flustered by her knowing his run in with Greyback. For the Matriarch it was not so strange for Greyback to react the way he did to Kaito. He had been like a father figure for the female and to have a young male come to join the pack... Well, Valette had not been shocked to hear it. "I'm sorry to hear that your dad died. It is tough when not having both parents," she commented with a nod. She knew all too well about that, with her father leaving them when she was younger.

"I can imagine that must be different than you are used to," Valette nodded. Greyback had been rather dominant lately compared to how he was before. Something was bothering him but Valette wasn't sure what. "Deep down my mate means well. Greyback is just protective of his family but once he sees that you aren't so bad then I am sure he will be better," she assured him. "I will tell him how polite you were by asking me to take Arlette with you on a trip." She didn't see what Greyback seemed to dislike.

Kaito offered the Matriarch an appreciative smile. "Thanks," and he gave a small laugh, "I like to think our mum did a pretty good job at raising us, though. I reckon we weren't the easiest kids to raise." 

Her understanding eased him, and he gave a knowing nod. Calmed, too, by the assurance she would break the news of his travels with Arlette to Greyback herself, and that he wouldn't have to face the expected disapproval until after they returned. But perhaps with this trip, he could prove himself as someone the Patriarch could trust with his daughter. Kaito had no ill intentions, he just somehow had to get Greyback to see that.

"I appreciate that. Thanks, Valette," his smile stayed, "I thought we might leave in the next couple days -- the weather's been nice, and will make for decent travel. Once I talk with Arlette," his cheeks flushed when he said her name, "I'll know for sure, and we'll let you know what we decide."

Valette had to smile at those words. "Please tell your mother if you ever see her in person again," she stated to the young male. Every mother would wish to hear such things from their own children. She hoped that her own would realize one day that she also tried her best while raising them. Valette smiled at the other and nodded. "Of course, if you howl then I will know enough," she assured him. She could understand that the boy looked relieved. She wondered what Greyback had done to the boy to have him so shaken about it all. Valette was pretty sure her daughter was going to say yes to that. "Safe travels," she only said with a smile.

- end -