Swiftcurrent Creek happy birthday to you

It would take some time for Bones's physical and emotional scars to heal. For now, she was comfortable and content. She had a belly full of food, a warm place to sleep — she had found one of her favorite spots along the creek and made a cozy nest of grass and leaves — and the companionship of her pack. It had changed a lot in her absence, yet Bones still considered it home.

The sun set and a soft September twilight blanketed the wilderness. Bones stretched out parallel with the water and let her chin rest atop her outstretched forelegs. Her pale green eyes stared at the water and beyond it. There was a lot on her mind this evening, though despite all the summer's tumult, she was finally happy.

/sneaks in

Chronicler thread? :D

It felt wonderful to have Bones back in Swiftcurrent Creek - like rewinding time, even though the pirate girl was a woman grown now, and the pack was nothing like it had been. Still, it restored the pack to what it had once been, and would hopefully become again.

Bazi found the yearling outstretched by the creek, relaxing on the cooling banks. All around them, the world was closing up shop for the day. Bazi approached the resting wolf from behind, deploying a whispered "Hey!" so as not to startle her. Without waiting for an invitation, she flopped onto her belly next to Bones, gazing fondly at her lady friend of old. "You grew."

Aye aye! :)

Bones turned, her smile looking sad and tired on the backdrop of her gaunt face, yet nevertheless bright. "Ahoy, Cap'n Bazi," she greeted, dipping her pewter muzzle. Her pale green eyes followed the young Alpha as she flopped down beside her and made herself comfortable.

"Aye," she agreed softly, looking out over the creek now. She'd grown in some ways but shrunk in others. It would take a few weeks to fill out after months of near starvation. Bones guessed that she would not be as large as she'd been meant to be because of the poor nutrition while still growing.

"Tell me everything that's happened?" Bones said more loudly, leaning onto her opposite elbow and hip so she could face Bazi.

Cap'n Bazi. It didn't have the same dastardly sound to it as Cap'n Fox, but she would get used to it. She had Scimitar to help her now, and it made the burden of Alphaship - because it was a burden, and she respected Fox all the more for carrying it now - a little less weighty.

Food, water, and plenty of rest had brightened Bones' clever eyes, but months of captivity and torture had left their mark. She was thin to the point of scrawny, and her coat lacked the luster of a healthy wolf. Bazi stole a glance at Bones' jutting hips as the other girl adjusted herself to better converse. What a foul thing to do to another living thing..

But Bones didn't seem fussed - she'd been there, done that, got the t-shirt, and was ready for bigger, better things. "Where do I start.." Bazi murmured - it was her turn to stare at the Creek, weighing the significance of various events.

"Well.. after you left, we got into a bit of a scuffle with the Sunspire wolves. Fox.. you know how she is; she baited them. Peed on their borders, fought with their members.. eventually, two of our own were captured and held hostage, and another one was injured. Haunter died at the same time, so Fox was.. distressed, I guess." It was easier to sympathize now - in the heat of the moment, Fox's temporary abandonment of the Creek had seemed like the worst thing in the world. "She ran off. Only for a little while, but things were moving so quickly then that it felt like an age. She found Peregrine, the three of us met up, Fox and I had a bit of a fight, and--"

Suddenly, something dawned on Bazi. She paused her story-telling, ears rising high on her head. "Actually - do you even know about the Sunspire?"

Bones didn't know anything about The Sunspire, though she didn't interrupt Bazi as she gave a rundown on current (or at least recent) events. The youth swallowed at the news of Haunter's death, then took a quiet breath when Bazi mentioned a scrap with Fox.

Eventually, it occurred to Bazi that Bones didn't even know the first thing about The Sunspire. The yearling shook her head, pale green eyes questioning and dark ears pricking to show Bazi she was still listening.

Bones didn't know. "Oh, wow - OK, let me think..."

The chronology was off and the delivery was awful; Bazi wasn't even certain if she knew all the details, and hadn't thought to ask members of the pack that would still remember. For the sake of preserving history, someone really ought to be dispatched to speak to Fox, Tuwawi, Njal.. even the Sunspire wolves.

"Ferdie was on this downward spiral to we-don't-really-know. I think he's diseased, others thought he was depressed because he couldn't have Fox.. there were plenty of theories going round. Anyway.. one day, he just snapped. He nearly attacked two young girls, Jace intervene, and the two of them fought. I was furious, told them both to go see Fox, but rather than ask Ferdie to leave.. she booted them both." Pause for dramaz. "They formed the Sunspire pack. Couldn't travel further than that, could you.. psh. That's how the tension came about. For quite a long time, I thought Jace was.. that.. I thought Ferdie and Jace were a 'thing', and.. no, never mind. They weren't - I made a mistake." Bazi gave her head a little shake. Dangerously close to Danica territory there. "Where was I.. ah! Fox left for good, we got the captives back, there's an uneasy truce, Njal and Tuwawi left with their pups to set up shop somewhere to the north - they lost confidence - and.. I think that's where we're at now. We've had some .. dramatic shuffling lately due to a variety to of things. To be honest, mostly due to me. Things have mostly settled down and wolves seem to be sticking.." Bazi crinkled her brow, eyes straying to the grass and back to Bones' faces again. "I think that's it."

Although the story came out rapidly and was somewhat disjointed, Bones followed for the most part. She was sad to hear about Ferdie and Jace and the tension that had sprung up from it all. What saddened the yearling more significantly was the news of Tuwawi's departure. She hadn't known the woman's mate, Njal, very well but she had been very fond of the red she-wolf. Bones had looked forward to the pair's sprogs. By the sound of it, they were all very far away now.

Bones now understood more fully why Bazi had asked if she'd wanted to stay. This did change things, though Bones set her mouth and thought, This is me home. As long as there was one familiar face — and there was, sitting right next to her — then the yearling planned to honor her promise. Still, it was jarring to think that the home she'd left, the home she'd pictured every day of her captivity, was so very different.

The Pi took a few moments to ponder everything Bazi had said before querying, "Is there any hope Ferdie and Jace could redeem themselves and come back home? Bring their wolves back here?" Fox had been the one to exile them and she was no longer here. By the sound of it, the former Cap'n was happily tied down to the plateau, so Bones didn't consider the possibility of her return, especially since Bazi had mentioned a fight. "Just a thought. Ye don't have to pay me any mind, seein' as I haven't been here for any of it." Bones fell quiet.

It wasn't the worst idea. Bazi would welcome Jace back, certainly, but Scimitar would likely take issue with it. Ferdie was not a wolf meant for middling rank, and Bazi no longer trusted him. "There isn't much for them to come back to," she settled on eventually. "Just me - and you, now."

One more and that's a wrap? :)

11/5: Illegally editing to conclude, heuheu...

Bones didn't reply immediately. She thought over those words. They would stay with her in the coming days and weeks, as Bones slowly came to the realization that the Swiftcurrent Creek she'd known in the spring had changed almost beyond recognition and that there was nothing left for her here except nostalgia. Presently, she considered them a moment, then gently filed them away.

"Aye," she agreed simply, leaving it at that as it wasn't her business in the first place. Bones then peered sideways at Bazi with a small twitch of her lips as she reminisced on her various memories of her last stay in the creek for a moment before asking, "And what about the future?" What was Cap'n Bazi's vision for their hometead?

The snowy Alpha seemed to give the query some thought before launching into a description of her hopes and dreams for the pack. Bones listened, though in the back of her mind, she couldn't help but notice she did not feel a connection to any of Bazi's visions. She would ignore this for the time-being, though, just happy to be back home.