Swiftcurrent Creek But in a much more real sense, I had no idea what to do.

backdated to 11/12 if that's okay! @Akavir? :) 

The valley she'd been told about was empty. Lilitu had idled and hunted, keeping herself fed while trying to figure out—what the heck to do next?

Arielle's scent was nowhere to be found. No one's, in that gorge.

The gurgling of a stream was nearby, and she was thirsty, but upon approaching, she found scent markers. Sighing, she lingered along the edge of the territory, licking her lips.

Except, was something familiar in that collage of smells?

She stood, inhaling deeply, nose wrinkling. Very familiar. But she couldn't place it. She continued to walk along the boundary, and let out a low howl, hoping someone would answer.

Weary, certainly, it was the bone deep fatigue that truly hindered the shadow. He partially expected the renegade group to come back for another round—worried about it, for he felt disgusted at the prospect of Arric or even Lestan now being hurt further by their stubborn and malicious ways. 

Was the creek worth it? 

No. 

So why did they stay?

Champagne eyes bore down to a scarred face, the wounds healing with scabs and the promise of scarring. Long gone was the youthful Akavir who had fell in love with a goddess of a wolf and had followed her blindly. Now, fangs sought purchase on any flesh that date cross him, and his cause meant everything and yet nothing all at once. 

Life had far surpassed convoluted. 

So when the scent of another teased at his nostrils, the stocky Mayfair bristled, ire in his eyes as they sought the next assumed opposer of his claim. A howl resounded, and in turn, his own beckoned the other further—already knowing if this one announced themself they did not run with the tag tag group that was haunting them.

And his own legs struck closer, looking to close the distance.

What met her was a scarred, charcoal face. She stared into the golden eyes, brows furrowing, widening, then furrowing again.

Lilitu would have stood down and retreated were it not for the odd note of. . .familiarity that lit their path.

My name's Lilitu, she admitted, lifting her chin. I'm looking for my sister, Arielle.

For however long, the two wolves stared at each other across the creek.

There was a moment of clarity—as heart rendering as it was to the man. Fate was fickle, it seemed, and vaguely, he wondered if he was being punished for something he had done wrong this life or one past. His daughter before him didn’t recognize him, and that thought alone was almost enough to bring the man to his knees.

The jut of her chin—the flicker of something in her gaze. She had grown so much since he had last seen her. She sought Arielle—he had as well, when he had fallen into the rapid waters near their old home and been swept away from his family. His return to a pregnant wife and his other daughter also seemingly missing… Having gone to look for him.

“They’re not yours,” Ibis had accused, when he had offered to help raise the new litter she had carried… “None of them are.”

Those words had a meaning to them—a mystery he had never gotten to truly ask before she had been taken.

A certain side of Ibis he had been blinded to, it seemed.

And even if Lilitu had not been his in the most mundane of ways through blood… She goddamn well was his daughter. “Lilitu…” He croaked, trying to keep the emotion from welling. For while her chin would jut up, his would only fall further. “It’s me. Akav— Dad….”

He repeated her name, and she wanted to credit the man for his recall when he continued. Akav— Dad—

She needed no other introduction.

PAPA!! she exclaimed, and splashed however far she needed along the swift-running stream. Whatever the distance, she crossed it and nuzzled her father along his—so scarred—visage, pressing her nose into his ruff to take in his scent, heedless of his reaction.

How long had it been?! They'd just missed each other after Ibis's death; she regretted that often.

Now, here they were.

Oh, Papa, Lilitu replied, pulling back, and burst into tears. Her eyes raked along the wounds upon his face. What's happened? Are you alone? Or with this pack, here?

Do you know where Arielle is?

A question that, perhaps, could wait.

Her reaction stunned him to silence for only a moment—whether he had expected anger, or confusion, or sadness, he didn’t know—but when he was met with exuberance, and the way his daughter ran to him instead of from him—it was like coming home. It was the way he had envisioned coming home to always be like, that fateful day.

And so he bounded forward, ignoring the uncomfortable stretch of healing injuries, and quickly gathering the girl into his embrace. She burst into tears—the splash of water that had sprayed over them just may have hid his own—and he was torn between planting rumbling kisses upon her crown and holding her close, and then pulling back to look at her.

She was different. She was so very different. And yet she was the same.

“Lilitu,” he replied, his voice hoarse. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” he admitted, the words coming from a raw throat. “I…” She questioned him—but he just wanted to know more about her. “I’m starting a pack here,” he finally noted, knowing he could not touch upon the dangers of the wayward band of rogues at their doorstep. Not just now.

“But you. Where have you been? Are you okay?”

lord i'm sorry for the wait!!

A pack?! Well, she supposed that made sense, although she would have rather had him back at Brecheliant. Then again, she'd been kicking around Akashingo instead of her family's regular place, and so she couldn't really judge him, and oh, this tied neatly into his questions. . .

I'm fine, Papa, Lilitu replied. Even better now that I've found you. And I—well, at Brecheliant, mostly. Except I, um, sort of got married. To this prince, in a place called Akashingo. They wanted me to marry him and be a princess and so, I did.

Her vivid green gaze met his, gauging his response. It was a lot to chew on. Way more than 'I'm starting a pack.' But then, Lilitu had never been lacking in words.

Of what Akavir imagined his daughter would inform him of her life, it hadn’t been this—he was both pleased and surprised to know she remained at Brecheliant… Yet not without a stab of guilt. Perhaps, had he faced his fear of the pack he would have at least stopped in to see how Maia was doing. And their reunion could have been much sooner than in these circumstances.

But… His little Lilitu had also been whisked away by a prince, and had become a princess. As if life were a fairytale—and the ice that gripped him in that moment stirred him to recall the days of the Empire… Ibis, too, had been what they had deemed royalty there—Lilitu, in many ways a princess by birth right in many regards.

Yet, could not everyone begin a pack and legacy, claiming themselves a king or queen among all?

He was silent a moment—and then—carefully: “Where is your prince?” Title be damned—should the man who had the privilege to wed his daughter not be here, by her side?

Of course, it must be strange to him that she was alone. She swallowed and replied, In Akashingo, Papa. Our marriage was. . .for politics, not for love. 

And really, what had it helped? She supposed her time upon the mesa had been lush and luxurious, but had it benefited her family in Brecheliant? She wasn't so sure. 

Again, she regretted her choices. No changing them now, though.

I stay with Brecheliant, mostly, Lilitu explained. But I'm here, now, looking for Arielle. You haven't seen or heard of her around, have you?

Her stare was hopeful, but she already knew the answer was 'no.' Akavir would have mentioned it by now. And so, she would have to forge on—though not without a long, loving reunion with her father, who she'd missed dearly.

A less trained man would have withered before the girl’s eyes at the disappointing news. Instead, masked, Akavir maintained his neutral facade, though his mind was swiftly at work, keeping the information for now. A marriage for politics—a prince. His Lilitu seemed to have fallen back into the hands of yet another royal empire of sorts, much like the one he had tried to pull his family from before.

All for naught.

He wanted to ask what sort of politics—what did it benefit either Brecheliant or Akashingo. But no, he held his tongue—this surprise and precious moment was for he and his daughter to reunite. And come time, he would certainly be banging down the door of his old home—he sure as hell would be questioning Maia just what she played at, as if his daughter were a chess piece on a board.

“Arielle?” The name of his assumed dead daughter drew his attention with a snap, the flare of his eyes fast upon her. “Never since she disappeared and I went to look for her, bab—“ he bit the word off—she was no longer a pup—she was grown, and the word now felt almost foreign on his tongue. “Have you?”

She noticed how he caught himself, and her stomach flopped like a landed fish. It warmed her heart to hear him almost call her so. Even if he had no news on Arielle.

I saw her once, a few seasons ago, Lilitu replied. She was with this pack. . .Ursus? They worshipped bears. But I think they're long gone; they're not staying in the valley others said they were.

She let out a sigh, shuffling her paws, frustration coming to the surface. Now she knew how he felt, she supposed. He'd been gone so long, looking—and she thought she could go to the ends of the earth to find her sister again.

She forgave him, finally.

You can call me 'baby', she added, smiling again. She drew close to him, taking in the various smells and feel of his pelt. So familiar, yet so different. It had been a long, long time. I'm still your daughter. Right?

Akavir was struck a moment—these years he had thought Arielle dead. The assumption of it had been the only possibility to him, after he felt he had devoured valleys and land seeking his lost daughter, only to fall into the water and be swept away.

The catalyst of the end of his life, despite the breath he still drew.

He stared at Lilitu—his carefully guarded features open as overwhelming emotion was cast over him—relief, anger, sadness, worry—relief again. Arielle was alive, but she still was not home. He had never heard of a pack called Ursus—and what struck him as mostly odd was that the girls had found one another—and then split apart once more?

He swallowed thickly. He could question his daughter to the moon and back, and he would still not have all the answers he needed. In the end, it came down to the horrifying nature that their family had been wrenched apart, and no amount of seeking answers would remedy the time missed.

They could only go from here—wherever that path might lead. “Yeah, baby,” he crooned, moving to press his forehead against hers softly for assurance. “Of course you’re still my daughter.”

Did she know something, as well, in what Ibis had led on to before her death?


"When you're ready... You always have a home here. We don't have any princes, but I'd be damned if you weren't treated like the princess you are."

She had no idea. No idea about the complications of her parentage and what Ibis had kept, at least from her, to the grave.

All she knew was this man was her father, and she'd found him again.

Thank you, she whispered into his ruff, grinning through tears. I just. . . She sniffled, pulling back, and laughed a little. I wish you were closer to Brecheliant. I want to split my time between both of you.

And then, there was Arielle. A journey, perhaps, without end.

But at least Akavir was alive. Whole. With a home.

I feel like any reply I tried to come up with was terrible.. and I'm so sorry it took me so long to post. <3

Her head buried itself to the thick fur of his neck, and he held her there, savoring that reunion to the very depths of his soul—for never again had he thought he would have a chance to hold his daughter like this again, and not a day passed where he hadn’t longed for the days where she and her sister had been tiny—squirming in the embrace of his arms as he entertained them, allowing them to climb his back and test their puppy teeth.

“You always know where to find me, now,” he offered, his thoughts turning to Brecheliant—wondering her relationship with those who remained within its ranks—whomever they were. Maia, surely. Eljay? “When you find Arielle… can you bring her to visit?” There was so much to say to his other lost daughter—to them both… and time was a fickle thing.

same here <3 it's all good. fade?

Of course, Papa, she said in fervent response to his request. That was all she'd ever wanted, was all of them to be together again. Even if Ibis had to be with them in spirit only.

With his permission, Lilitu would stay a while at the creek and get to know the wolves who'd pledged their loyalty to her father.

It took a herculean effort to move on, but she did, eventually—

Knowing she'd be back again some day. With Arielle by her side.