Redhawk Caldera I don't like people who threaten kids.

Reference tags. Open!

Reyes had left the little island for a short time while @Sorana slept. He'd gone for a patrol around the pack lands to get his blood pumping, and when he came back he carried a pheasant with him.

The hunt had been accidental. The bird had burst out of hiding and in to his path, then gone racing away from him. It was probably protecting a nest—and at least in that venture it was successful, as Reyes didn't think twice about any eggs. The mother died, and now it would feed his daughter.

As he trekked back to the island crossing and began the swim across, he thought of the past few weeks. @Teya. @Caracal. Above all, Sorana.

It was unfair of Reyes to keep Sorana to himself. If only he would accept that as the truth and move on so that she could have a proper childhood... but he was selfish. He knew that about himself too. He knew it was utterly unfair but he wasn't going to change.

As he reached the other side, dripping and slick with patches of algae from the water, Reyes tossed the equally soggy, sopping bird in to the dirt and shook the water from his pelt as best he could.

not me monopolizing all ur threads...

when reyes came back, he would find teya at the other end of the small island, kicking rocks one by one into the water and counting them for sorana. "one ... two .... three," the raven counted, letting their little one help her with small pushes of her paws.
the girl turned brightly when reyes came along. her attention was riveted toward the red wolf. teya smiled softly, eyes dropping as sorana trundled away to meet her father.
"was thinking, reyes, maybe when she old enough, you take her to meet grandmas."
her voice was level. she even met his eye without coolness.

<3 <3 <3

When he reached the Hobbit Hole he found it empty. There was a clear path to one of Sorana's favorite spots by the edge of the lake and so he followed it, finding Teya with her.

The man settled to his belly near the pair and began to pluck feathers from the bird between his forelegs. Bits of downy strands caught on his lips and he pbbbffft a few raspberries to get rid of them. Teya was counting in the background.

A few more clusters and he took a pause to lick his lips. Teya mentioned his mothers and he was surprised, but in a good way, to think of them. Actually...

Reyes swallowed and tried to revive some saliva to his now dry mouth, having gone a bit cotton-mouthed from the feathers. A while ago when I saw Tierra, she asked for the same thing. Maybe get two birds with one stone - when Sorana's older. Yeah.

A tense smile, glancing at the girl while she played with stones.

<3

reyes took easily to her suggestion. teya hid her breath of relief. he did not seem to mind that teya had not included herself on this future trip. it interested and perturbed her that he mentioned another of his children, having seen nothing wrong with how his last meeting ended when another of them had come by.
she bobbed her head, thankful for the opportunity to agree for once. "i think that good idea." she watched a bit of breeze carry a feather toward the water and found herself lost in its trajectory.

Half the feathers piled like autumn leaves, the other half now caught in his teeth and bearding down his chest. Reyes shook his head and spat a few times, sending feathers flying. It was good enough, right? Sorana couldn't eat a whole bird herself at her size anyway.

Okay, here we go, he murmured like a father who had just finished barbecuing the perfect steak; he stood up, holding the pheasant down while he pulled off a leg, then a wing, then the neck which he tossed aside head and all.

Then he grabbed one chunk of bloody meat and placed it near Teya. One for mum... there goes one wing. The leg he placed on Teya's other side for Sorana to investigate. And one for the Cap'n.

in this moment it was easy to remember how charming reyes was. teya watched him fondly as he carved up the bird with careful movements of his teeth. he was a good provider and a good dad. she'd do well to remember that for sure.
bridget. that night. the stars.
her gut seemed to clench. she licked at the offering and grinned toward sorana. "one day your father take you hunting. and i take you fishing."

@Sorana if you wanted to cameo or join in feel free! Just got in to spree mode lmao, sorry, but its still open for you <3

He'd sat himself down by the water's edge, his tail hanging limp behind him with the tip in the water. Reyes watched for Sorana's reaction and smiled, although as he listened to Teya his energy waned slightly.

He thought of the last trip he'd taken to see his mother. Showing off Caracal and -- well, the thought of Caracal focused his mind in a bad way and his memory of that time with Rosalyn shifted, as he remembered...

So. You... went to hunt down, he stopped because the phrasing was off. Too aggressive. Er, find... my son, he couldn't even say his name, for some reason. And once again his mouth was dry. He cleared his throat and with a more up-beat (and clearly fake) affect Reyes clarified: How'd that go then?

her relief was short-lived. she found his next topic of conversation rich as fuck, and found her mood plummeting. he amended his words but it was too late: teya felt castigated and pulled into herself a little as reyes finished.
"went all right." what did he want to know? why was he even bringing that up? the only reason she'd gone is because he had refused to mend his own relationship with his own son. teya wasn't sure what to say and so accepted her terse reply would only ruin the mood further.

Her answer left a lot to be desired. Maybe she didn't want to talk about it. Fine, Reyes thought. He didn't have to know anything. Maybe she'd found him and failed in her mission, whatever that was. Or maybe she hadn't found him at all and didn't want to mention it. Reyes wouldn't push the topic.

He was quiet after that. What could he say? So Reyes sat there and focused on Sorana. There was still half a bird to take apart. He looked over to the remains and found he had no appetite for it.

I'd best get this put away. He murmurs, standing, striding to where the pheasant's other wing and leg, and breast meat, sat cooling in the grass. The family cache wasn't too far.

anger reared in her gut. reyes gave up so easily. he had left just like that and didn't press any further about his own son. she wanted to snap at him that someone had to mend things, but sorana was radiant. she was so pleased to have her parents near her. 
"sounds good," teya said in a voice she tried to keep from garbling with tears. she pointed her muzzle toward their daughter and smiled shakily. "come back over," she invited. "i tell you more numbers."
eventually she would bring sorana back into the den as the light faded, pausing on the threshhold to see if reyes would join them for a bedtime story.

Just a cameo, skip me going forward!

Kicking rocks in the water with mama was fun, but Sorana's attention was wholly consumed by Reyes and the bird when he settled by the water and began to pluck out the feathers. He did an admirable job making a neat pile of them, made no easier by Sorana giggling and kicking through them like autumn leaves. By the time he carved the bird, she was covered head to foot in stray feathers.

Sora wasn't paying attention to the conversation between her parents, but she sensed when the tone changed. It was almost impossible not to feel the way the air grew thicker around them. She sprang to her paws and scooped up the leg, eager for lunch, but faltered when the tension grew.

Mama and daddy acting weird was pretty normal for her, which did little to curb the confusion and upset that swirled in her chest. There was no blame in her, only a lack of understanding. She peered between them for a time, hovering over the bird leg undecided on whether to eat or not, but when things grew even more tense, she caught it up in her mouth and moved some distance away from them.

As much to give them some much needed privacy as to clear the air for herself, lest she begin to blame herself. She ate quietly and returned to Teya's side when summoned, but her radiant energy was a little dimmer now; she did her very best to not let it show.

After burying the leftovers, Reyes returned to where he'd been sitting before. He was still a mess from the hunt and the swim over to the island hardly helped; so it took him a little bit longer to tidy himself up.

Once he had finished all of this, he came to the Hobbit Hole and peered inside to his girls. There was warmth in his chest when he thought about that—idle though it had been—and after a second, Reyes ducked inside to lay down with them.

teya told a story about a swan and a duckling who reconciled in the end despite deep differences.
sorana lay between them. she had kept that boundary since the first time it had been set. if reyes hated the arrangement he had said nothing. this way was easier to tolerate him close after a frustrating moment; he was here for their daughter, she would tell herself, relaxing into sleep.
but tonight she could not. she lay on her back with sorana tucked close and stared at the ceiling of the earthen room.

The story filled the space. Reyes wasn't so daft as to ignore the implication of it; he didn't enjoy the way Teya told her stories now with deeper meanings, the likes of which were not for Sorana to understand. It was like Teya chose to speak in code to him in these moments—rather than say outright what she felt.

There was nothing more to be said. His daughter appeared to enjoy the tale and was full, warm, and seemingly content where she lay beside her mother.

In time she would sleep and the tenuous peace that had been found with Sorana as the ignorant mediator (in some liminal capacity at any rate) would become a moment of silence, and tension, and awkwardness. Reyes wanted to say something. He had to bite his tongue once again, for the sake of his daughter's sleep (or so he told himself) and so he withheld whatever sentiment remained.

This was how it worked between them now. Peace and love when Sorana was awake, where it mattered most. Estrangement growing in the dark and festering. It was exactly what Reyes was afraid of; but he'd seen this coming, because it was inevitable.