Sun Mote Copse caught in a river of rockers and dreams

it had been a laborious trek, to say the least.

umber earth crumbled beneath him; small, chalk-dusted paws drawing steadily to a halt. they had to be here, didn’t they? his eyes, round and doe-shaped, sailed down to the ground for a fleeting heartbeat as though studying in silence the way the dirt had moulded itself around his feet. the way the tree-roots curled, the way the scabrous bark encircled him. a breath, sucked through ivory teeth, and he steeled himself to the soil.

a year had passed – a year since he last stepped foot in the wilds. a year since he had seen the treasured faces of his family, heeded their voices, doused himself in their warmth. he was afraid, in a doting sort of way; a little surge of butterflies erupting in his belly, writhing in their anticipations. it had been scary, all that time away – he’d made a friend, here and there, sheltered in the domiciles of amiable strangers, but in his absent year the boy had matured into a young man, quite by himself. a fledgling, fallen from the nest, only to spread his wings and soar.

perhaps that was an exaggeration; his form had filled out, at least. he was lanky, still, yet his eyes smouldered a burnished bronze and he held himself with a disposition of merry warmth, resolute in his composure (despite the thrumming of his heart). his tail, once a mauled and bloody stump, was fully healed upon his hind – plush, flocculent. a few scars bestrewed upon his pelt, interrupting the monochrome pelage, yet despite it all, he was well.

a breath of wind gushed at his crown, ruffling the silver fur, and he shivered – skin vibrating with a flush of nerves. he wasn’t going to delay this any longer; he had to see his family. a call was summoned forth from charcoal lips, a greeting, a plea: i’m here! i’m here… please come!

When she saw the wolf standing on the borders, Towhee stopped and stared. For half a heartbeat, she thought she might be seeing Elwood or Finley, no matter how impossible. Then she took note of the missing tail and her mind went blank as her heart dropped into her stomach. Despite logic, reason and the passage of time, the brief mistaken identity sent her heart reeling as the reality of her godparents' death was forced upon her for the the first time in a long while.

She steadied herself with a breath and approached, a flat, "Cinder?" tumbling from her lips. It was good to see him after so long, although Towhee's feelings were still catching up to the situation. She did manage a small smile and a curious cock of her head. "Where have you been all this time?"

waiting, so much waiting – his anticipation might’ve swallowed him whole, if not for the sudden, quiet snap of auburn offshoot.

obsidian, vermillion; a flit of bone white. cinder sucked a breath through his teeth. the sovereign, upon emergence, seemed to hover thoughtfully at a distance. snapped like a photo; time-freeze. he wanted to dive closer, to abut his nose to her own – towhee!! it was towhee!! – but her wariness bid him to still. he felt at first his lips warp into a small ‘o’ shape, before it broke free into a wide, unfettered grin as she spoke his name.

“towhee!” he chirped at last, as finally she conjured a smile. he’d thought of so many questions to ask, things to say, but when it came to the moment his tongue was left entirely empty. he shuffled on his toes, coltish, before she inclined her head-

“where have you been all this time?”

a sudden lump formed in his throat like a hard bubble, and the blackthorn paused. “i… um, i went looking. for tywyll,” he sighed honestly, brows furrowing and fighting the urge to drop his gaze to the earth; heart seeming to well with a momentary sadness. “i didn’t find him." but then he met her eyes once more, attempting to reclaim a fraction of his blithesome disposition. “i didn’t mean to be gone for so long, i swear. i was sure i could find him. and then, well, i got a bit lost, so… i just kept looking.” it had been an arduous journey, bedecked in disappointment. a wave of repose swathed him now, embracing the sudden respite from his travels.

“how are you? how is everyone?”

He'd gone looking for his brother and hadn't found him. Towhee found this utterly unsurprising. So many went missing and oftentimes, yet others went looking for them, almost always to no avail. She bit back a sigh at all the time wasted, not just Cinder's but everyone's. How many moments—and heartaches—could be saved with a simple "goodbye"?

Only when he questioned after everyone did a second realization sweep over Towhee, very nearly as devastating as the first. She would have the seriously unfortunate duty of telling Cinder about his parents. She sucked in a breath and braced herself, letting it out on a slow exhale.

"I'm fine, more or less, as is everyone here. But, Cinder..." It was still such a struggle, acknowledging the loss, especially aloud. "Your mom and dad passed away a while back. I can show you where they're buried, if you like." She paused before wondering, "Will you be staying?"

sanguine, first; a billowing of promise seemed to bubble from the cavities of his chest, replacing the anticipation of before. a swelling of hope, for suns yet to pass. everyone was fine, and he wouldn’t have to go anywhere anymore - monochrome ears twitched at wind’s touch, soft. it just felt good, and he couldn’t help the way his lips quirked at the corners, the way his eyes seemed to dance like a cavorting flame, and how, if he was more human, his cheeks would have been rosy with jollity.

uncertain, next; where upon his face was at first an ebullient grin, there came an ambivalence, a hesitation. as though amongst the rejoicing and bliss lurked something horrible. a phantom, awaiting his arrival, spurred on by the pause in towhee’s words. but when at last it came, he could have sworn his heart plummeted to his stomach.

devastated.

it was the only word to describe it, although even that didn’t feel quite strong enough to convey the shattering of his delight. it was like a sinking pit inside his ribs, and further, like it wanted to spread forlorn fingers all over his insides. he’d spoken to phox once about death, hadn’t he? we have many more years, he said, he thought – something along those lines. when he’d looked at whatever animal had gone to lie with the earth, he’d felt a trickle of sadness. rest well friend, he’d thought. but this wasn’t the same, was it?

“yes…” he whispered, before offering the sovereign a slight smile – surely she mustn’t feel guilty about passing the news to him. “yes, if… if that’s okay? i’d like to stay. and i’d like to visit them.” he would wish them well, too.

His face crumpled, the sparkle in his eyes dimming. Towhee's own expression resembled his, a grim draw to her mouth, a droop to her eyes. She just barely coaxed her cheek muscles into a sad smile, empathizing with all the emotions that must be assailing him, and silently motioned for him to follow as she turned and began leading the way to the far eastern reaches of the copse.

Actions spoke louder than words, though the Sovereign did clear her throat to say, "Of course," in simple reply to each of his questions. "You still have family here." His parents were gone, as were most of his brothers and sisters. "Eljay's around, so is his daughter, Weejay. Have you met her?" Towhee couldn't quite recall how the timelines matched up there. "Phox, his mate and our kids are here too." She would have to explain that strange dynamic, later. "I'm sure they'll all be glad to see you here."

i totally assumed that they are gonna visit the grave, but if not, this can just be a cameo and i'll have eljay catch up with cinder later! :D regardless, feel free to skip eljay until / if they get to the graves <3

Eljay had brought some of the rare flowers that Weejay had found around the Copse, since its flooding, to his parents' grave today. He had many worries and thought and just as he shared them with Wiffle, he shared them with his parents. The caretaker was sat at the edge of their graves, after he had placed the flowers delicately on top of them, and he stared silently at the earth and the surroundings. He felt oddly at peace, considering the place he visited; but there was always something calming about being near their graves. It was as if they were a reminder that they were still out there, a part of him, even if it wasn't the same as before.

i'm happy to continue if kat is :D

her lips were drawn into a melancholy smile, and wordlessly he doted on the idea of simply having been there – to see his parents one last time, before they went to their last sleep. to spend time with the others as they mourned beside him, unkempt in their sorrows; to have a chance, he liked to believe, of perhaps chasing away a little of their woes. he wasn’t quite sure what to do with his own grief, now.

towhee cleared her throat; copper eyes wobbled back toward her as they traipsed the copse’s paths, hind-stump twitching as he listened. his focus only seemed to falter when the sovereign made mention of weejay, and cinder’s eyes widened with a rivulet of surprise. eljay had a daughter? “ohh… no, i haven’t, i don’t think so.” he made a mental note to find her, sometime, and say hello. it was a comfort to hear of phox, and his mate, and… well, he didn’t quite comprehend the next part but if they were all happy, then that’s what mattered to him. he passed her a light smile, nodding affably along.

“i’ll be glad to see them too.”

Towhee's gonna bow out so the bros can reunite.

She didn't say anything else as they made the journey to the little cemetery plot just a stone's throw from the river. Long before they reached it, she saw a familiar gray figure crouched beside the graves. Seeing Eljay there did not surprise Towhee in the least. Her eyes cut sideways to see if Cinder had noticed him yet, even as she slowly closed the distance.

"Cinder's come home," the Sovereign said simply to Eljay. "I'll leave you two to..." She gestured vaguely between them and the sweet souls resting in the earth beneath their paws. "Come find me sometime later, after you've had a chance to settle in, so we can catch up some more," Towhee added to Cinder before retreating back into the copse's center.

Eljay's ear turned backward as he heard the sounds of approaching wolves. The scent of Towhee was familiar and so he didn't instantly turn around to see who were there. It wasn't until he heard Towhee's voice say his name that he realised that Cinder had come home. Cinder? he said in surprise, and he got up and turned towards his brother then, tail wagging. How he had grown; most of Eljay's memories were of a young boy and here stood a fully grown adult.

Without further ado Eljay approached and made to bump Cinder's cheek with his nose, gently, and press his head against his brother's cheek in an affectionate greeting.

featherlight tread; a quiet had perched between them like a dove as they ambled - cinder encased in a chasm of thought, trailing with a wordless comfort that he felt warmed his bones. he valued her company, however temporary; to feel at his side for the first time in many moons someone familiar, someone who struck within him chords of solace, of succour and ease. he didn’t allow himself to dwell on the news, not yet, not now.

at some point, with halted pawsteps and inspiring breath, towhee took her leave, and the blackthorn inclined his chin in gentle acknowledgement of her words. in her stead remained (beside the restful earth-bed) a figure, who without word enkindled a sudden swathe of memory to the surface of cinder’s mind. “eljay!” he beamed as his monochrome brother made to bump his cheek, eager for time away from the sweet and sour of his mind. he shuffled closer, heart swelling with a tide of endearment. “it’s so good to see you.”

Cinder was a bit more grown up than Eljay remembered; the years had treated him well, though. He looked like a grown up version of himself; or at least of the Cinder that Eljay knew. Ooh, it is - I'm so glad to see you again! Eljay said, soft words spoken under his breath.

Then he took a bit more distance again and he said with gentle curiosity, Where have you been? There was no accusation in his voice, only interest for his brother's whereabouts in the time apart. He wondered about what had carried him back here, too.

Eljay sat down by the graves again, leaving space for Cinder to join him.