Larksong Grotto like a mantle of mystery

for @Nyx. tags for reference since i'm not exactly sure where to squeeze this into the timeline so i'm thinking it's before thade + wintersbane reach sagtannet. also slight pp of thade; miller, if you want me to change anything let me know! <3

the closer he and @Thade get to sagtannet, the more anticipation writhes in wintersbane’s chest. it is a beast held captive in its prison of flesh and ribbones. he does not forget how he was turned away so effortlessly from his once-home. his once-pack. though as callously as he looked at it previously, it still stings. sagtannet held some part of his soul even if he was no longer welcome; even if whatever is left of his soul is tattered and frayed. he hadn’t expected to come back, even if it was to just take thade to his parents; having been on his way to moonspear when he’d happened across the boy.

they were so close now, but wintersbane fixed thade a dinner of plump groundhog — despite that he knew rabbit was the boy’s favorite but they’d been on a strict rabbit diet for …well however long he’s had the boy under his watchful eye now — ordered the boy take another bath to look presentable for his parents, and saw him to bed. when he was sure the boy was asleep, he rose from the bed of moss and leaves and paced a bit; ensuring that he could still see their shelter for the night and that, accordingly, thade could still see him if he happened to awaken.

the canopy above has already begun to thin with the turning of the leaves; leaves that would soon litter the ground in a myriad of colors. from between the spindly branches and leaves he watches the clear night sky; not really sure what he’s seeing or what he’s looking for. wintersbane’s only sure that the simple beauty of the night allows his mind to wander freely.

With her own brood sleeping soundly for the night, Nyx regarded them with one last longing glance over her peppered shoulder before departing from the rendezvous. The night was young, and the lioness welcomed its darkness as she descended from Sagtannet's spire to hunt in the lowlands below.

She prowled through the dense woodland of their neighbouring grotto, silent on careful paws and with her nose to the ground. While she detected no fresh scent or sign of prey, Nyx lingered curiously at the undeniable tracks left by a wolf through the grass. They were fresh, she could tell. A low rumble formed in her breast as she stalked after the rogue's trail, plume flagging at her rear.

Much to her surpise, the figue she found was a familir one. Wintersbane was a brute she'd known only briefly, but recognition softened her brow as she pressed onward to approach him. "Wintersbane?" Nyx said aloud, voice softened to maintain the stillness of night.

wintersbane?

his name drifts across the stillness of the night; soft and imploring. an ear twitches in the direction and he the tundrian shifts, glacial gaze searching for the owner of the voice knowing only that it is not thade’s. it doesn’t take him long to spot the blonde woman he knew as nyx. they hadn’t spoken much, but he recognizes her nonetheless.

it doesn’t surprise him to find a wolf of sagtannet out here: they are next door, afterall. nyx. he greets her with a smoky rasp. it’s been a while, eh? he inquires. a glimpse is given over his shoulder at the makeshift bed before it moves back to focus upon nyx. there is a moment of awkwardness that fills him, unsure what to say next. he is nothing more than a loner now, a once leader of the pack she — and likely her brood — resides in; but no longer.

wylla made it clear that sagtannet was and would never be his again and that it no longer welcomed him and he is only back here to ensure thade got home safely.

Having worn himself down to the last vestiges of his strength, Thade did not stir in the least as Wintersbane carefully departed for a breather, and he would likely remain asleep through to morning.
 
It had been hard to put him down that night, as he could feel — through his guardian’s growing air of tension — just how close they were getting to Sagtannet after many days journey. He never wanted to stop making headway, but again, his malnourished body refused to listen. Exhaustion sought to do what the babysitting warrior could not, and it finished the boy quite readily into a dead sleep; unfortunately, long after he had dried from his bath.
 
And if Wintersbane’s prolonged absence did not awake him, then Thade would only be woken by a sharp disturbance, if at all.

Cameo! Skip me at will <3

@Wintersbane sorry for the delay here?

Her name slipped from between his lips in that deep, familiar baritone. Nyx acknowledged it with a soft sway of her peppered tail. "It has," she remarked in agreement of the omitted rogue's observation, and curiosity glimmered in the vibrant yellow of her irises. "Where did you find yourself these past few months, hm?"

Nyx detected his uncertainty at once, that quiet awkwardness that swelled in the silence to follow his words. It reached out for her, and after an uncertain twitch of a raven-tipped lobe, the lioness dared to take a step closer. While she hadn't allowed herself the opportunity to be close to anyone but Mahler, there had always been something trustworthy about Wintersbane.

no worries! <3 you get my 1000th post!

healing, wintersbane responds simply with a coarse shrug of his shoulders. he realizes that it’s vague but in light of how his explanation was both picked apart and shot down by wylla, effectively costing him his once home, wintersbane doesn’t bother offering it here. he doesn’t want sympathy and he doesn’t want to be a charity case. wylla had made it clear that sagtannet didn’t need him anymore and that was that. coming across thade on his way to moonspear had been a coincidence and he was only here, now, to bring the boy home.

he wonders if, perhaps, he should leave the boy with nyx, let her take him back home; lingering in the assumption that wylla would be none-too-pleased to see him at her borders again even if it was with her son in tow. but …he couldn’t do that to the boy. thade deserved a proper goodbye; their time together was short but wintersbane couldn’t help but acknowledge that he’s grow a bit attached to him.

the tundrian draws in a breath. how’ve you been? he inquires. are your cubs well? he asks then, remembering that she’s had them, by now ( maybe she had them while he was still around, torvi doesn’t remember ).

Wooooo! Congrats!  :D

Healing. She anticipated that he would elaborate on that, but instead silence gripped the former Alpha once again. Nyx blinked up at him, unsure how to work with such a vague information. She recalled Mahler's suspicion that perhaps the breeding season had drawn him away for a time, that Wintersbane might've been lured by the call of a she-wolf in her season. It was an explanation Nyx felt inclined to agree with at the time, but the one to come from Wintersbane's maw was far different.

"Well," the lioness said in response, willing to accept that her previous leader wasn't prepared to share further details on his absence. It wasn't really any of her business, anyway. "I'm glad you were able to find us." She sought his broad, dark features to offer the warmth of her smile, entirely unaware that this was not his first approach to Sagtannet's territory.

He asked after her, and she felt a little unsure how to respond. The uprooting of her little family had been difficult, and left her feeling the weight of many emotions. Nyx was unprepared to share these with anyone, however, and so she rolled her peppered shoulder with a dismissive "can't complain." And her children? "They are doing well. Two girls: Elke and Ciri." The latter's mood had been rather soured lately, but despite this the lioness hoped they would thrive on this new spire.

nyx’s smile, as his glacial gaze takes it in, is warm as she speaks; reminding him that he isn’t welcome. though he wishes to return the warmth that the golden aphrodite exudes, the tundrian cannot. his mouth twitches — the best he can offer. yes, well — he draws on a breath, trying to find a way to say it without cutting down wylla. she had her reasons for turning him away. i won’t be returning. it was made clear that sagtannet doesn’t need me and i shall respect that. a noise, something akin to the clear of a throat was given.

i’m only here now because i found thade, wintersbane says, gesturing to the area, not too far away, where he’s left the boy. he should be with his family. would it have been quellcrist …he would’ve wanted her returned to him no matter who was doing the returning. he’s …he’s been thru a lot. and that was mostly drawn from wintersbane’s own observation.

Her smile faded, expression faltered. With the furrowing of her brow, Nyx blinked ul into the face of her former Eisen as confusion swept through her. "What," she blurted, then stalled for a moment as she attempted to reign in her suddenly frantic thoughts, "are you talking about?"

Had the mitted rogue crossed paths with Mahler already? The lioness doubted it at once. Her leader would not have turned him away, not when he'd so openly shared concern for Wintersbane's wellbeing following his disappearance. Still mostly restricted to his sick bed, the gargoyle was not likely to have been the one to turn their lost Eisen away. That could only mean...

Nyx twitched a whisker, frustrated. More than ever, Sagtannet needed allies! If her suspicion proved correct, Wylla was a fool to have held a grudge over their comrade's prolonged absence. "Where will you go?"

He dropped an even bigger bomb, however, at the mention of a name Nyx had thought she might never hear again: Thade. The lioness' jaw dropped at this announcement, sharp yellow eyes glancing pointlessly in the direction he'd gestured toward. She half expected to see a babe come bounding through the foliage toward them, the same little cub she'd seen several months ago while she still carried her own in her womb. Thade would be a boy grown now; would his parents even recognise him?

Would she recognise the porcelain boy who lived?

"You're right," she agreed, lifting her stare to seek Wintersbane's glacial stare once more, "they need to see him, now."

in some small way, wintersbane is glad that wylla’s feelings do not appear to be general consensus among sagtannet but that chance has come and gone and the tundrian has lain it to rest where it belongs. he offers a simple shrug of his shoulders. he is not offended by it, though it smarted at the time; and though he’d hoped to return to sagtannet …it’s not the only pack in the wilds for him. i will respect wylla’s decision. is all he says; smoky timbre lingering in the air between them for a few moments before another question follows.

moonspear, i think, wintersbane admits. i’ve known hydra a long time. and he considers her a friend, though he doesn’t know anymore whether that holds true for the queen of the spear. he’s not entirely destitute, he is glad to report. he still has wolves he considers friends in these wilds …and not all hope is lost for him to settle.

on the topic of thade, his attentions shifts back to the shaded area he’s left the boy. i know. i told him we would go to the borders in the morning. he needs the rest, nyx. he is malnourished. among other things …but the psychological damage the boy has suffered is more than wintersbane knows how to handle. malnourishment? he can fix.

he’s quick to mistrust. when i told him i wasn’t apart of sagtannet anymore he …well, his whole demeanor changed. it took a lot of convincing to calm him down …he may still not entirely trust me even now. wintersbane admits. whoever found him when he wandered away from sawtooth …they really did a number on him. he’s not the same boy he was. might never be that boy again. a hard thing for a parent to accept, wintersbane knows. would it have been quellcrist in thade’s position …well he would’ve been horrified and angry.

Nyx' brow remained furrowed as Wintersbane spoke Wylla's name out loud, stated that he respected her decision. She wanted to ask him why - why did he respect her choice to shun him without the input of her co-leader, when she could not respect his reason? Maybe he'd failed to offer one to the sharp-tongued Eisen, though she doubted this considering how readily he'd provided one for her. Wylla being on her high horse seemed like the most viable explanation, she felt.

Still, that exchange was one the lioness hadn't been present for and nor was it really anything to do with her. It was the mention of Moonspear that softened her bristled appearance. Dhe knew so little of the pack to the West that Mahler spoke of when last she'd seen him, but it was the place where Dirge made his home. This snippet of information alone was enough for the name to radiate safety for her. After all that'd soured Sagtannet for her in recent months, it was incredibly tempting to uproot her cubs and relocate them to Moonspear where they would be free of Wylla's scrutiny. Fearful of letting her bitter thoughts shine through, Nyx turned her face away. 

She would say nothing of such consideration, not until she figured out where she might belong. Not until she could determine if her daughters could be truly happy on Nova Peak.

Thade's return would be a welcome one. No matter how damaged, how weak or how different his time away might've made him, the boy would be safe and right back where he belonged. He would thrive, she was sure. But Ciri and Elke? Would they suffer for it, as the former currently did in Phaedra's shadow?

She didn't really listen to what observation Wintersbane shared of the wayward child, because she didn't want to hear how the arrival of her daughters by Mahler might be the reason behind his departure. Nyx' loyalty now lay solely with them, and she was not prepared to let them shoulder any blame.

"Very well," the wolfess concluded, gaze lifting to seek her companion's glacial gaze once more. "I would ask that you not tell anyone we met here tonight when you call for Sagtannet wolves in the morning, Wintersbane." She hoped he would not pry. While Nyx was certain that Wylla's scorn toward her was no secret, it was not something she wanted to draw further attention to.