Kintla Flatlands a tender history in rust

She's in the patch between RBF and BDP. :)

Some people that might be interested: @Dante @Tytonidae @Saēna - though anyone's welcome!

As Junior had proved the other night, nobody could stop her from singing to the skies, whether it was to pledge her allegiance, communicate her position or simply give voice to an impulse that carried down from her most ancient of ancestors. Today, she cried out to the overcast heavens to say goodbye to the wolves of the plateau. It was likely her voice burned her father's ears. Still, she howled, hoping that everyone would hear her, particularly her siblings. Junior would miss them most of all.

Finally, she fell silent, yet the young she-wolf did not move from her position just beyond Ravensblood Forest, where the rest of the Nereides gathered. She would give it an hour before she turned back to join them. She wanted to know if any of her former pack mates would try to say goodbye in person. Junior didn't want to rob anybody of that chance, even if it was likely that whoever came might yell at her for her life choices.

Gonna just roll with however this goes. If anyone else enters, feel free to skip Saēna if I'm being slow and powerplay her (reasonably). School's starting in a few days, so I might be scarce next week, but I'll try not to!

The plateau's patriarch had informed all the wolves living there that Junior had taken her leave of the pack, though any explanation beyond that had been vague at best. Saēna had felt sweeps of emotion since then, beginning with fear and dread. She assumed from her previous experience with Junior disappearing that the girl had fallen into a river and actually drowned this time, but there'd been no indication in Peregrine's howl that her cousin was dead.

Next, she had felt alternating pulses of betrayal and sadness. Though she tried her very best to do as Pura had once done and control her sadness, she found she was no more able to choose un-sadness than she was able to touch the canopies of trees. It came on her without even asking permission, creeping up out of her thoughts and interrupting her like some dirty insect.

She settled on betrayal, and became determined never to think of nor speak of Junior Redleaf-DiSarinno again, but that dissolved the second that the young Virtúte heard her cousin's howl while standing at the Plateau's edge.

She sped down the towpath, now old enough and graceful enough to do so without much trouble, and quickly forded the river. Her heart thrummed wildly as she made her way to Junior, for although she was hurt and stricken that her cousin would leave the plateau without even saying goodbye, it was almost as though she anticipated something as well. Maybe some kind of praise. Saēna was a sucker for it.

“Where are you going?” she shouted when she was within earshot, though she continued her lope until she was standing in front of her larger cousin. A myriad emotions burned in her eyes, but it was with betrayal that she regarded Junior until an explanation was given.

The others are welcome to join at any time. :)

When Junior saw Saēna running toward her, her tail began to thump the ground, albeit tentatively. She remained seated and ducked her head apologetically before her sister even reached and questioned her. Meeting the pale girl's indigo eyes, Junior could see the betrayal there and she wanted very badly to explain and remedy the situation.

"I'm going to the coast with the Nereides," the elder, darker pup replied. "I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you sooner. Dad's... not happy." Junior swallowed, then simply spat out the words: "You could come with me. You and Ty. It's a sisterhood, so Pura can't come." Technically, he could but Junior didn't think it was the right fit for the freckled boy. "They believe in goddesses and spirituality and stuff. I think you'd like them, Saēna," she finished persuasively, knowing how badly it would upset her father if he knew she was trying to filch his remaining offspring.

“Why?” was her first burning question. It leapt like an ember from her tongue, begging immediate answers. She couldn't piece together what might have coaxed Junior away from the plateau and father she so desperately loved, or at least Saēna'd thought she did. It had to be something of great importance, she decided, but before she could say anything else, Junior put forth her invitation.

“Pura can come,” Saēna countered, even though the word "sisterhood" fully implied the opposite. “He does anything he's told. He's never sad, he told me so. Not even about mom.” She hadn't spoken to Junior before about knowing who Pied was, and she hadn't been sad about it either, but it seemed like an important point to make, nevermind how confusing it was. “But what about da—uncle Peregrine? Won't he be sad?”

She didn't know much about Peregrine anymore, except that he had some special friends that he did special things with. She suspected, however, that he would be sad if Junior left. She somehow doubted he would be sad if she left, too, though that was born mainly of low self worth after discovering that she wasn't his true daughter.

Once upon a time, Junior might have answered Saēna's question with, "Because I said so." Instead, she thought on it a moment, then replied genuinely, "Because... I'd like you to come with me. Or," she realized even as she spoke, "do you mean why am I going? I really like them and they really like me. They want me. Their religion is cool. They're going to live by the sea. I don't know if you've ever seen it but it's wonderful."

Then there was, of course, the other reason, which Junior only mentioned when Saēna brought up Peregrine. "Probably," she said baldly, "but he'll get over it when he and Fox have new puppies to replace us." Her tone was dismissive and vaguely wounded. "Did you know they're planning to do that? Those pups will be their little perfect princes and princesses and we're just last year's garbage. Our parents aren't even together," the youth pointed out, ignoring the fact that Saēna was technically adopted. When the pale girl mentioned mom, she didn't think twice and assumed she meant Hawkeye, who'd also left the plateau to pursue happiness... and more likely than not also planned to make new babies.

"And no, he really can't. Well, it's not like he can't but that he shouldn't. The Nereides... they don't think much of boys. Pura would be stuck at the bottom of the pack. I just don't think he belongs. He'd be happier if he stayed here. But you and me and Ty... they celebrate girls. Girls are in charge. It's all about girl power. Doesn't that sound like something you'd like? We could become Amazons and High Priestesses! I bet you'd be a good priestess, Saēna."

Tytonidae had been deeply involved in a conversation with her uncle Atticus when Junior called. Instead of abandoning him immediately, she finished up what she was saying, and allowed him to finish up his half of the conversation. She giggled at his remark, and bumped his shoulder with her nose affectionately. Even though everybody else seemed to think he was dead, Tytonidae could hear every word that he spoke. Planting a wolfish kiss on his cheek, Ty bounded toward Junior's call in typical young adult fashion. She'd had another growth spurt, and now came close to her parents' heights. She still had a lot of filling out to do, of course.

Once she managed to reach her sister, Ty wagged her tail and grinned, slinking up with every ounce of her body filled with happiness. Junior had always been the more driven, less spacey child of the two sisters, so it came as no surprise that she would be the first to leave the nest. Saena was here, too, and although Ty wasn't as close to the lighter, brighter adolescent, they had grown up together. “Hey,” she spoke softly. “Are you coming back, Junior? Can you bring Mom, too?” At least Atticus wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

Sorry! things have been crazy. Going back to visit my parents this weekend so feel free to skip me, Dante would just wanna say bye!

Dante had heard Peregrine's call with some unhappiness... it seemed his spitfire daughter was moving on sooner than expected. He knew that the popular opinion was that she should not be, but honestly, Dante did not think she was too young to make her own decisions, and he was glad that Peregrine was not trying to stop her. Speaking with her, it seemed that her excursion to Stavanger Bay had made her grow up, and he could relate. After all, he had been four months older when he left his home pack. True, that was quite a bit of time, but he had been leaving without any pack to support him. Junior would have a new family that he himself had not had the luxury of. She would be fine.

He only wished he knew more about this new pack that was forming. He hoped that she was not jumping in too soon, for pack was family, and it was not a decision to be made lightly. He would just have to trust her.

When he heard her howl on the wind, he couldn't help but follow it. He wasn't about to let her leave without a final goodbye. They hadn't had much interaction, but from the little they did, he counted her a friend.

When he arrived, she was already talking with her siblings. He hung back, knowing that they were priority here. To leave one's littermates was never an easy thing. He still sometimes held regrets for that.

Skipping Saēna since she's inactive...

Before Saēna could answer to anything Junior had said, Tytonidae appeared. Osprey Jr. smiled at her sister, then touched her nose to her cheek, her eyes speaking for her: Thanks for coming. She stepped back, a tooth pressing into her bottom lip in reaction to Ty's questions.

"No, I'm leaving for good. Do you want to come with me?" she asked, keeping it simple, because that's how Ty was. "Mom's at that Sunspire place now," she reminded her sibling in a soft voice, her eyes tightening. Junior disliked both of their parents equally now, for similar but slightly differing reasons. "You and me — and Saēna, of course — we can go away and build our own lives, without our —"

Before she could finish that thought, Dante appeared behind the two young girls' shoulders. Junior's eyes flashed. She wondered if he was here to try to get her to stay and she quickly and defensively announced, "I'm leaving and no one can stop me." In the next breath, she softened and added, "I'll miss you, Dante." Her mismatched eyes then returned to her sisters' faces. "And both of you, if you don't come. Will you or won't you? I have to go..."

“Maybe,” she said softly, but at the end of the day, she knew she couldn't leave her brother behind. She wanted to protest, and claim that Pura wouldn't care if he was treated poorly, because he didn't care about anything and he was never sad, but something stopped her tongue. Just then, Ty arrived, and Junior gave a similar but fundamentally more straight-forward explanation to her, as well.

Saēna was left to watch Dante approach from the corner of her eye. She had spent little time with the Warden, but knew that Junior had spent some quality time with the male, and assumed that was why he was here. She ignored him, at least for now. When Junior made her final plea, the pale girl chewed on her bottom lip, then shook her head.

“Sorry, Ju,” she said quietly, her eyes seeking the ground as shame and insubordination crashed over her. “I can't leave Pura there to be replaced all by himself.” Little did she know that another dream of the swan-dog creature would rouse her in the middle of that very night and lead her away on a journey that would result in her doing just that. “He needs someone, too. He can't be the... The outcast by himself.”

Instead of maturely asking if Junior understood, she took a few steps back, quietly said, “I'm sorry,” and began to pick her way back to the plateau, though she looked over her shoulder and rethought her choice easily a dozen times before she reached the towpath.

Tytonidae furrowed her brow at Junior. Not in frustration or anger, but in confusion. She did not understand why her sister was leaving. Nor did she understand why her mother had left. None of it made any sense. A whine resonated in her chest as Saena turned back toward the plateau, and for a moment, Tytonidae hesitated. She wasn't sure which way she was supposed to be pulled. Decision making was not her strong suit, and a decision like this couldn't be made on a whim. Ty would need to talk to their father, to ask him what to do. But really, she didn't want to make a decision at all. And that meant staying at the plateau.

Flustered and disliking the entire situation, Tytonidae shook her head. “I can’t go, Osprey. I have to stay with Dad.” She still didn't understand why her sister wanted to leave them. The new puppies that their father had with Fox would be fun, if anything! They would have new brothers and sisters to play with, just as they had played with Saena and Pura. “Come back and visit, okay?” she requested, her nose touching her sister's shoulder lightly. Shaking her head, as if to rid it of the dust that gathered inside, Ty turned away and followed Saena back home.

She was so quick to defend her decision that Dante wondered how much of a hard time she had been given for making it. If he knew Peregrine, likely quite a bit. He listened as first one sister and then the other turned down her offer, glad that they would at least be keeping some (unbeknownst to him, Saena not for long). He wasn't sure how it would hit Peregrine to lose three children at once.

When they left, he remained, studying her briefly. "I have no intentions of stopping you." He said softly. "I wished to merely bid you good luck. For some, happiness does not lie within their homelands. I should know." He smiled wryly. "I will miss you too, though." She had grown so much since even he had come here, and he regretted that he might not see the wolf she would come to be. She'd be a force to be reckoned with, that was for sure.

It broke Junior's heart a little when both of her sisters declined, even though their reasons were as valid as they came. Neither one of them lingered and she simply gazed after them as they headed back to the plateau. A piece of her heart went with each of them. She actually considered running after him and changing her mind, yet her father's stern face floated in her mind's eye and Junior stood there like a statue.

Dante's words made her rethink her decision briefly too, though she crushed the thought like a cigarette butt beneath her boot. "Thanks, Dante. This... isn't easy. But I'm doing what's right for me." Her eyes stared vaguely over his shining silver shoulder, as if she was talking as much to herself as to Dante. Her gaze then refocused and sharpened, lingering on his for a moment.

With nothing else but a parting woof, Junior turn on her heel and ran away, before the plateau's — and her family's — magnetic force field could draw her back into its clutches.