Phantom Hollow We're only about twenty miles from Ravenscar here.

In the days following his expulsion from the caldera Reyes roamed, wanting only to be close to his family (whether they wanted him or not), except as he sat with his feelings and the tumult of his anger, he came to understand Towhee's view on things a little bit better. He was not the kind of person to admit to his faults readily, so whatever he had learned of himself, he locked away. The important thing was, Reyes knew he could fly off the handle under specific conditions. He knew he couldn't be around his children and that hurt, but he wouldn't be driven far from them for long.

Somehow he would fix this. That's what he'd said to Towhee, and he was determined to follow through with it. At the very least he had accepted his dismissal from the pack; being abandoned by his family was not a great experience but Reyes had survived worse, or so he thought, and he would survive this. The children would grow and Towhee would calm the hell down. She would realize that they need a father figure — and they might go hunting for him too, the way he had hunted for his own father as a boy.

Reyes traversed the valley with an open mind, holding the pieces of his shattered heart tight. When he came to the hollow he delved among the shadows there, needing a place to call home for the time being; it wasn't too far from the caldera, being in the heart of the valley, but provided ample space, cover, and likely food, so that he could camp out there for a while. If and when his children came looking for him, Reyes would be there — and he would be ready to welcome them home.

O hi!

She combed along the riverside, headed south with the vague notion of dropping by the caldera to let Towhee know... Know what? What are you going to do? Meerkat asked herself, shaking her head and stopping to sniff at a cluster of cattails swaying near the bank. You could tell her the truth, her inner voice whispered and she clenched her teeth, retreating further downriver.

Meerkat bypassed a gorge, though not without stopping to shout some bungled version of Sakhmet's wayward friend's name. She thought of the time she'd found Fennec in a canyon. But if he was down there, he didn't reply. Meerkat's paws scraped audibly on the pebbly shale as she moved on toward the neighboring hollow.

She found someone there, her eyes flying wide in surprise. Then she remembered that Reyes had visited the coast, so he must be on his way home. Perhaps she could send a message along with him, let her mom know she would be away a while longer. That much was true, at least.

"Hey, Reyes!" she called out, trying to grab his attention as she loped toward him.

Hey Reyes!

Who the fuck — !

The prowling Reyes had been engaged in previously, suddenly came to a halt. He looked around upon hearing the shout and saw a golden shape; his heart lurched, thinking at first it might have been Caracal, having followed him the long way across the valley. That wouldn't make any sense given how he'd left things with the family. How tightly Towhee had been holding on to those little bodies.

His next thought was of Niamh; how fortuitous that he might find his long-lost aunt, who had gone missing as a result of his temper. That couldn't be it either. The stranger drew closer, and they were both too diminutive in size and too happy to see him, so it couldn't have been her.

Oh, but he knew her. Meerkat. How goes... whatever you were doing? Reyes asked, although his disinterest lay in the tone of his voice and fickle shifting of his attention to the woodland around them.

In no time at all Meerkat was drawing up alongside him and Reyes bristled, drawing back from her as if she might harm him. She came from the wrong direction to have been sent by Towhee; hadn't she been sent on some errand? Hunting for something or someone? Oh, there was Niamh again; constant reminders of Reyes' fuck-ups only soured his mood further.

He greeted her distractedly, his voice lacking any real familiarity or warmth. Meerkat wasn't close to her mother's mate, though this still gave her pause. She stopped in her tracks immediately when he bristled, suddenly and inexplicably reminded of Santiago.

"Reyes?" Uh...? "Is something wrong?" The answer to that was rather obvious, though Meerkat couldn't imagine what was the matter. Perhaps something had gone wrong with his visit to Sapphique?

It wasn't her fault, he should know better. Reyes was hurting though. She was close enough to Towhee and the rest of them - and probably would fall in line with her mother's thinking once she got back and heard the full story.

Hadn't they done this already? When Niamh had been unruly with him, when he had last been cast out. He was a repeat offender now; chances were, Towhee would never relent.

Towhee kicked me out. He states. The tension in his jaw and shift of his eyes indicates there is more to the story that he wants to divulge, perhaps that the wound is still fresh (which it is); but he has to keep tight reigns on himself. Best not to lash out here after all that went down.

When I got home I couldn't find the kids. Then... Well, this was hard to spin, so he just wouldn't. Reyes knew he'd fucked up by now. Caracal was excited to see me and I didn't expect him to be right there; I dunno, I reacted. I grabbed him. It was an accident! He was quick to assert this part. And I apologized, but.. Towhee wouldn't accept it.

Which, if he was truthful to himself, Reyes understood. He didn't want to accept the situation yet, but he understood her reaction.

Whoa, what? Meerkat met his statement with a slow blink, her muscles tensing. Naturally, she wondered what he'd done. It wasn't necessarily difficult to earn Towhee's ire but something truly ugly must've happened for the Sovereign to give her own mate the boot a second time.

He didn't leave her hanging on tenterhooks, explaining how he'd arrived home to find his kids missing. Meerkat blinked again, then realized it must be because Towhee had relocated them during his absence. They hadn't gone far at all, just to the hilltop over the Hobbit Hole. But that was irrelevant, especially in light of what he said next.

The way he phrased it didn't indicate foul play, though Meerkat had trouble picturing what he meant. He'd grabbed Caracal? With his teeth? With his claws? Even if it had been an accident, something about it had prompted Towhee to exile Reyes. The yearling felt her pulse accelerating, wondering just what he'd done to her little brother.

"Caracal?" she questioned a little inanely. "Is Caracal okay?"

I don't know. I scruffed him pretty hard. Reyes admitted. He had not meant for it to happen but it had, and now unjust consequences were being levied against him. The defeated look on his face coupled with the hang of his body spoke volumes; regret, above all else.

If you head back that way... Can you check on him? I doubt Towhee will ever let me see them again. And all Reyes could think of was the screeching of Tierra demanding no, it's not fair! 

He watched Meerkat, deflating. Settling to his haunches. She refuses my apologies. I can't get her to listen to me.

He didn't know...! Meerkat's mouth fell ajar when Reyes admitted to scruffing Caracal "pretty hard." She could see the regret written into every line of his body, particularly etched into his face, and she felt sorry for him despite herself.

She even felt her heart lurch a little bit when he mentioned he might be barred from seeing his children ever again. Meerkat couldn't particularly help it; giving everyone the benefit of the doubt was just part of her coding. Maybe she could talk to Towhee on his behalf.

But what if he'd actually harmed Caracal? That thought really gave her pause. Maybe she should reserve her sympathy for her innocent baby brother, not the man who'd attacked him. Suddenly, the yearling's lips pressed together into a hard line. Towhee was a hothead but even she wouldn't just chuck Reyes unless he'd done something really harmful.

"You don't even know if he's okay," she repeated, disbelief coloring her tone. Why should she listen to you? But Meerkat couldn't quite bring herself to say something so antagonizing. Instead, she warned softly, "You should probably stay away. Far away."

No, I don't. I'm a piece of shit, and I was busy trying to calm down my shrieking mate at the time so, fuck me I guess for being distracted. Reyes couldn't handle the incredulous tone of the girl's voice any better than the look on Towhee's face during the incident in question.

What he could do was identify the thoughts on everyone's mind, apparently. Knowing that their views on him were now irreparably spoiled didn't fix anything.

I... I hope he is okay. Probably a bit rattled. The twins watched it all happen and they probably don't know what to think - except what Towhee tells them to. He couldn't reach for sympathy now, not with the accusatory tone in his voice.

His response jarred her. It wasn't the swearing—she would hardly bat an eyelash over coarse language, even if she didn't employ it much herself—but the defensiveness hot on the heels of his self-deprecation rattled something within Meerkat.

She looked at him carefully, critically. Reyes still looked the part of a regretful father who'd made a terrible mistake. But then he said something underhanded about Towhee. His tone was openly accusatory. Meerkat felt her knee-jerk sympathy shriveling.

"You know," she began, her own voice a little ticked. But then Meerkat took a breath and shook her head. "Never mind," she said, losing her interest and her nerve alike. She did not intend to start a confrontation with her mother's former(?) mate.

She opened her mouth to tell him she had to go, then clapped it shut. Meerkat gave him a long, unreadable look, but said nothing else before simply leaving.