Swiftcurrent Creek Debut

any + all welcome to intervene given current drama, @Blossom feel free to join too but zero pressure <3

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The creek is plagued with chaos.

But there is no way for an unwitting girl prowling along the pack edge to know it. One who’d come with the good-natured intention of taking in some soft springtide sun with @Reverie, and who’d before been granted admission to enter by the steepy man, Arric.

Reverie will be well into the final stages of her pregnancy, she imagines. And though Tauris was not sure her presence was of any comfort, she would do what she could to offer herself as aid. Even if that was just as an ear to receive a report of pain. She could not begin to understand all the ways in which pregnancy drained a woman, and in truth she never wished to.

Instinctively, her body slopes as she draws near and the wall of scent warns her of the collective strength here. From her throat she utters a low, husky howl and gathers herself in wait.

I'm so sorry for the link I couldn't get it out of my head while writing this

The thing about the snapping of the last thread is that it is often a subtle thing, a soft thing, so quiet that you hardly even notice. It could happen in the morning as you blink awake into a grey reality and feel no joy. It could happen as you step out for a meal not for the call of hunger but because it is something to do, it is the next step in a routine you cling to for some semblance of sense in existence.
There was no sense in her existence.
Everything had turned to hurt turned to panic turned to rage and back again, again, again until — until it all just stopped. Reverie could not have said when it happened. She was hardly aware that it had.
All she knew was that suddenly nothing seemed quite so bad.
So when she heard Tauris's call, Reverie did not think to wait for someone else to answer. She didn't think of the danger. She gathered Blossom up and set off for the border at a cheerful trot, determined to greet her friend. It was a beautiful day, and she savored the opportunity to leave her den.
Tauris! Her greeting was muffled by Blossom's fur. She set the girl down between her paws. Hi! How have you been? Reverie forgot entirely to introduce Blossom, having already gotten a little too accustomed to the unspoken presence of her purse chihuahua daughter.

She hadn’t anticipated such a swift advance from that gleam of gold, and even when she recognizes the color of her friend the surprise gives rise to the wintery ridge along her spine.

“Reverie!” She barks frantically, “you’re…” But the words stop short, because tucked within her mouth is a little patch of blonde fur and realization dawns.

“-a mother!” She finishes with a sound halfway between a gasp and a laugh. The little lump is settled safely between her mother’s paws. Reverie is calm, in a way so unlike the anxious girl she’d known before. Was this motherhood’s bequest? That after all her turmoil, Reverie should find peace in her cause? Tauris stares, utterly perplexed, tail twitching, not sure yet what to even think!

“When…?” The question falls off into a shocked silence.

A mother. Was that what she was now? Reverie blinked serenely, smiled. A week ago, She told her friend warmly, stealing a glance down at her golden daughter as she spoke. Her name is Blossom. Rose Blossom Mayfair. The girl kicked just slightly; more a twitching of her legs, really, but Reverie knew what it meant and settled on her side so she could tuck her at her belly. The girl was content to take her meal then and there, never one to fuss much.
She's an angel, Reverie met Tauris's eyes again, finding herself in a brighter mood now than she had been in weeks. She's always happy. She hasn't cried once! I keep waiting for it... She laughed softly. I would be lying if I said motherhood suits me, but I... I love her so much, it doesn't matter.
Reverie flushed, slightly embarrassed by the emotion her daughter stirred in her. It had only been a week, after all. Really, though, how are you? Your life must be so much more interesting than mine right now! All I do is sit in a den with Blossom all day.

“A week!”

One week of Rose Blossom Mayfair.

Her lips fall into a silken smile. “It does suit you,” she murmurs. 

So clearly it does. Reverie offers her belly to Blossom and she nurses without protest. So she was an easy baby and she hoped for Reverie’s sake she might stay that way. There was no mention of Lestan, and Tauris herself was too entranced by the moment to wish to speak his name. She watches as the little golden head bobs, “She’s beautiful.”

Her tail flicks evasively as Reverie poses her questions. Tauris has always been private. Careful, because it is easier to compartmentalize her life this way. To carry her roots upon her back, duty-bound to one.

But, for whatever reason, she trusts Reverie. The girl has shown by example that it is ok to be vulnerable. That there is even a little bravery in it. So she shifts onto her side to mirror Reverie’s lax composure and draws a chocolate forearm against the other.

“Oh, you know, just my usual antics,” There’s a flash of an impish grin.

“But… I have met a sweet boy,” she flushes then like a damned love-struck pup. Spirits, this is humiliating. 

And then to quickly turn the subject, “and an… interesting girl. I think you two have met before. Um… Byerna?” The name is elongated on a tongue that fights to shape the strange sounds.

Reverie glanced down at Blossom again when Tauris disagreed with the sentiment that motherhood did not suit her, and thought that maybe she was right. She could not remember ever being as certain about anything as she was about her daughter. Even Lestan...
Oh, Bjarna! My sister, Her tail swished across the ground fondly as she recalled the pale girl. She's wonderful, isn't she? I'm glad you met her. Everyone deserved a friend like Bjarna; someone sweet and patient and steadfast, who would always help when she could. Particularly Tauris, who was only marginally less ragged and travel-weary than the first time they'd met.
I want to hear more about this boy, Reverie prompted teasingly, though she could not help but feel a little wary for her friend. Love was a sweet trap; did Tauris really need that in her life now? But she had seen the way her friend turned shy and bright-eyed, and she remembered that feeling well. Maybe it would end better for Tauris than it had for her.

Her gaze returns to the suckling pup, so blissfully innocent in a word where every need is met between soft, maternal embraces.

“Bjar-na,” She repeats after a pause given, “She is your… sister?” Bjarna had said so too, and perked right up at the mention of Reverie’s name. But how could they be related? Certainly there was no resemblance between them.

“Yes,” she answers slowly after some thought, “Kind. Like you. Though she does not seem to be fully… wolf.” Her jaw clenches and she cannot help to feel she’s misstepped. But she has never met a girl like Bjarna before; more cloud than canine- where has she come from? These are things she cannot ask Bjarna herself, with scarcely a common language between them.

“I’m sorry, if that’s… sensitive.” She adds preemptively and shifts her silver stare to the buds of new grass under paw.

Her next mention of the boy is playful and Tauris feels her nose gathering heat in memory of @Louis.

“He was sweet, that’s all. He’s a traveler, like me. Anyways, he’s probably long gone from the valley by now and never to return. Really I’m not even sure why I brought it up.” She shuts up and again thinks about Reverie's Lestan. The name dies in her mind well before reaching her tongue. Did it really matter if Lestan was present here, or not? Reverie had support all around her. Daughter was healthy, and mother looked…at peace.

“Are you happy?” She gave her friend a sobering look.

quick cameo! Skippable, she’s just reacting to her surroundings!

She didn’t mind being moved. Blossom was an easy child in that way, merely accepting what came her way like a duck accepted water would wet its wings if it dove into the water, but would slough off.

She had never known cold since she had found the sun.

She unlatched with a faint pop, tumbling blindly onto her back, but accepting it without complaint. She just tucked her little legs over her chest and seemed at peace with the world.

She did let out a little chirp of a noise, but that was mostly her just contributing to the conversation in her own way. She was content where she was, really.

She found me, Reverie explained. When I first came here, to the valley. She took me in and decided we were family. I don't know where I'd be without her. So they were sisters; not by blood but in their hearts, where it truly mattered. She tilted her head at Tauris's claim that Bjarna was not fully wolf, however. That had never occurred to her.
Was that why she looked so strange?
I'm not fully wolf either, you know, She murmured idly, but did not follow up on the thought. Reverie was unbothered by it, ultimately. It didn't really matter. She was far more interested in Tauris's description of the boy she'd met, but her friend seemed intent on writing it off. A traveler.
She had been a traveler when she'd met Lestan, but that one meeting had changed everything. Had Tauris not presented a question just then, Reverie would have told her that. She would have told her about how love can change anything, everything, even if it is not always for the better. Instead she found herself thinking once again of Lestan. The question of her happiness would always lead back to him, it seemed.
Reverie smiled. As happy as I can be, I think. So much has happened, A certain weariness crept into her expression, a somber aspect. The smile faded. Lestan left me. I don't know where he is now. And there's this woman... she's stalking me, or something. She wants Blossom. Her eyes darkened a little at the mention. If she comes here, I'll kill her.
She carefully brightened her expression. But I have plenty of support. Arric; you met him, didn't you? And Moss, she's my - friend. They've been here for me.

She twists her snout away, so that she may shade the conflict she feels from Reverie’s view. Bylaws in Lyotak had been very clear about the scandalous consequences of commingling outside their species. Wolven bloodlines were not to be diluted with the genes of inferior cousins. Coyotes were pests to be driven off the mountain. Didn’t all wolves think this way?

But this was not even a thought, it seemed, in the mind of a southern wolf who freely lays outside their class. Tauris adjusts and gives flick to a dark tipped ear as a way of shelving the thought for a different day.

She is relieved when Reverie drops the subject of the boy. She doesn’t think she can handle any prodding where he is concerned, their encounter having been so… awkward, and Tauris having presented herself as some infirm airhead instead of a northern huntress. Her leg fur pricks in shame to relive it again even if only in memory.

Then his name is spoken and a stillness settles over the two young adults. She had wanted so much for Reverie to have the happy ending with her creek boy who she had so much love for. But it was not to be. How could they not have been enough for him to stay?

How could he leave them?

She ached looking down at Blossom, in a perfect shade of early sunlight against her mother’s deeper sundown. Maybe Lestan’s role had always been to unite Reverie with Blossom. But a man who chose to leave a young mother and daughter would never be a father. He deserves neither of them.

But so quickly Lestan’s leaving is all but forgotten when it is revealed there is a woman who’s come for the child.

“What?!” A stalker? With rising alarm she scrambles to her feet to rake the trees with fretting eyes, her tail drawing jagged arcs behind her. “Why? Reverie are you in danger right now?”

Blossom was so small. So helpless.

Her news did not settle well with her friend. Reverie could relate; it hadn't settled well with her, either. For days she had cried over Lestan, questioned herself endlessly, gone over and over it in her mind until none of it made sense anymore and she did not even know why he had left. Did it matter?
As for the woman —
I'm always in danger, Tauris, Reverie mumbled quietly, tiredly, her gaze dropping to Blossom for a moment. Her daughter was so peaceful at her side. It seemed she was the only one who could find peace there. Don't worry. Her eyes lifted again, something cold and hard sparkling in them now. If she comes near Blossom, I'll kill her. But she won't. My pack will protect me.
Reverie reached out to brush her nose through Tauris's fur if she could reach her. It will all be okay, She told her softly. After Lestan, I... I don't think anything could ever compare to that pain. Whatever happens next, I can handle it.

She allows herself to settle into Reverie’s reassuring nuzzles.

“Of course it will be,” she smiles thinly for the golden mother’s sake. But she did not doubt it, either. The creek pack’s claim here was overwhelming, and if Arric was a standard of their strength, then really what force would a madwoman have against the might of the pack?

She exhales and grazes her cheek against the earth, observing the world from Blossom’s point of view. Stalks of grass grew as tall as ancient pines and beetles held court with a procession of worms. How blissfully wondrous was the little kingdom that existed only here in this patch of grass. And Blossom at their center, a golden queen.

“What type of girl are you, hm?” Her whisper asks the little pup, who seems to wobble in answer.

“I’ll bet you’re kind. And strong,” She looks up from the dirt into Reverie’s eyes. “Like your mama.”

Tauris made such a sweet scene with Blossom, speaking kindly of Reverie in ways she was not sure she deserved.
Because she was not strong.
The only battles she'd ever truly fought had been against herself, and the rest had always been handed to her, ever since she came here. No one told her no; no one left her to fend for herself. They looked at her and they saw something soft, something lost, a helpless girl with far-away eyes and a shy smile. She had wanted to be independent, once; she had wanted to reach out and grasp the world and shake every secret from it, with no one but herself to share it with.
And then...
It was horrible, you know, Reverie murmured, gaze fixed on Blossom. I was alone. I wanted to be alone. Well, no, I didn't - I wanted Lestan there, but he ran from me, and I couldn't trust anyone else. What if they left too? So I had to - I - I had to get rid of her, I had to make it stop, I almost died, I think. Her voice wavered and she looked away, away from the daughter she'd tried to kill. And so did she.
I don't remember all of it. I remember waking up and expecting - I thought she would be dead, but she wasn't,
A gift.
Small gods.
Reverie was trembling. And something happened. Someone found me. Someone - She went stiff with sudden terror and the words caught in her throat. Then she took in a deep breath. She forced herself to relax. I shouldn't talk about this. Not now.
As quickly as it had come over her, the panic faded. In its wake she felt deeply tired. You should come back to my den with me, Reverie invited softly. Arric had led her into the territory once before, and so she felt safe in making the offer. Tauris was a friend. I have some food there, if you're hungry.

A shiver splits her spine. There’s something so erratic about the pace of Reverie’s speech, ambiguous and ominous. She was alone and then she wasn’t- they almost died but then they lived- she would want to ask more but notices the worry on her face.

She lifts her head to give a long and hard look at the golden girl who upon her back carries a lifetime of troubles.

And helplessly, Tauris knows there is not a thing she can do to aid in this- because it is only Reverie who could make peace with her worldly existence, as they all must try to. It is the plight of wolfkind to float forever in an endless ocean of suffering, and they are all just paddling against the tides, unaware of what sized wave is heading towards them next and wondering: is this the one that will drown me?

“I don’t like to trust either. I’ve been disappointed so many times. Mostly by myself,” She admits bleakly. “But I guess we have to at some point take the risk and put our faith in somebody else.” She shrugs, not really sure what point she is even trying to make with that. She looks down into Blossom’s sweet little face. Maybe this doesn’t need to be the case for Reverie’s daughter. Maybe Blossom gets to grow up in a world where love is unconditional, and she can trust freely.

Immediately, slaver fills her jowls at the mention of food. Of course, she’s hungry. Tauris is always hungry. But her ears draw back in hesitation.

“Your pack’s not gonna… jump me right?” She laughs nervously but there’s true fear in her stare. There’s a madwoman about, after all, and it’s not wise to test the patience of tense pack wolves. But she’ll agree either way, because she knows mother and daughter will be safer within the confines of their pack.

Reveri smiled a little sadly at Tauris. She didn't know how to tell her that she had already tried, that she had given so much of herself to Lestan — a piece of her that was gone forever now that he had left. Even if he returned, that part of her never would.
She was learning to be okay with that, at least. You shouldn't be disappointed with yourself. All we can do is our best - and it's usually not enough, If there was anything Reverie had learned over the last few months, it was that. Sometimes, no matter what they did, their efforts would always fall short — and the only consolation was the chance that they might find something unexpectedly beautiful wherever they landed. That was the whole point of trying.
Reverie considered Tauris's nervous question briefly. Oh! I have an idea, She carefully removed herself from Blossom and stepped over her to brush her fur against Tauris's, if her friend allowed the touch. Now you'll smell like one of us.

I adore her so much <33

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Her muscles clutch and there’s a sharp inhale as Reverie draws herself against her side. The sensation is soft and warm, and so starved Tauris has been for affection that the gilded girl could not possibly know how soothing it was simply to be touched by another again.

Though she felt guilty, too. About the fleas.

When Reverie decides the loner girl is sufficiently doused in the creek scent, Tauris turns her cheek to sniff her shoulder.

“I do,” she laughs. She smells like pack. Her tail wags.

“Come on, Blossom, wanna show me your home?” She asks Reverie’s mini-me.

Tyyy, I adore Tauris too <3

If Reverie noticed the fleas, she gave no sign of it. She took her own hygiene very seriously, and generally paid no mind to such things simply because she knew it wouldn't be a problem. No flea could stand against her generally-neurotic ways.
She couldn't help but smile at the way Tauris interacted with Blossom. Her daughter brought so much joy already, the brightness of her soul impossible to shroud even with the inherently bland nature of infancy. At just one week old Blossom had touched perhaps half a dozen lives, and changed all of them in some way.
There was something very special about the little golden Mayfair.
Reverie grasped her gently and began the trek back to her den, keeping close to Tauris's side and avoiding the scents of her packmates. The trip there was thankfully quite uneventful, and she invited her inside with a gesture.
She curled around Blossom and sighed. It was a relief to be back in the safety of her den, as much as she hated to admit it. After a moment she remembered her promise, and reached out with a paw to nudge an untouched rabbit from earlier in the day in Tauris's direction. Reverie really made an effort to eat enough to feed Blossom, but occasionally she hit a wall and just couldn't. She felt so... fat. She was fat, and she hated it.
Tauris - do you believe in magic? Reverie asked idly, to distract herself. She was thinking about The Garden now. She could never tell anyone, she knew that, but sometimes she wanted to. Just sometimes.

She pricks her way into the claimed land with gingerly steps, tail folding timidly to her belly and holding fast to Reverie’s side. She is relieved when they come upon the den and she can tuck herself out of view. She heads in behind Reverie and blinks to adjust to the filtered light. The shallow space here smells of newly whelped pup and food.

Reverie slides a hare towards her and Tauris bites back her enthusiasm to first say, “Thank you.” She takes a modest bite but her manners don’t last long. Soon she’s got her claws wrapped around the titillating kill, cracking bones with her back jaws to get to the sweet marrow inside, slurping and smacking her lips in pure ecstasy like this is her last meal on earth.

Reverie sits in quiet contemplation as Tauris feasts, and when she does speak Tauris’ ears flick up in attendance. She dabs at the blood on her maw with a tongue.

“This hare tastes like magic,” She barks between chews. Then in a voice more thoughtful, “I dunno, Rev. Do I think wolves can fly? No.”

“But, I think, maybe, there can sometimes be magic in the ordinary. If you care to see it.” She ran a lip across her teeth and fixed Reverie with a look of intrigue.

Reverie almost laughed, wondering what Tauris would say if she knew that she could fly. Not here, not as a wolf, but... well, it was a fantastical idea nonetheless. Yet it was the truth. At times she felt as if The Garden must be more real, even, than reality itself. No other place felt so peaceful, so... right.
She shifted closer and reached out to idly preen at some of Tauris's messy fur while she spoke, if she allowed it. Magic in the ordinary; she was more right than she knew. There was a certain sort of magic to this place, Reverie felt. Something wild and impossible to predict, a spark that never died but only passed from one being to the next as it found its place with each. This was living, and she could see now that it gave a gift she could never have had in The Garden.
The opportunity to choose.
She drew away and glanced at Blossom. Sometimes I think there's something a bit magical about her, Reverie confessed softly, the closest she dared to telling Tauris the truth. I'm sure every mother must think the same about her daughter. But - there's just something - oh, I don't know. Maybe it's just hormones. She had realized that she could not explain, not without sounding — crazy. And she knew she wasn't, she knew that now. It was just that no one else did, or ever could.

She flinches with Reverie’s touch- how rare it is to be nurtured in such a way, how strange it feels to be held by wolfkind again. The gold girl sifts idly through her mattes and fragments of forest litter like it’s second nature to her. With every brush a little fear allays. Her eyes fall to close and she leans into her strokes.

Her eyes flutter open to find the sunlit bundle that is Blossom. She certainly looks like a little fairy-creature, not unlike her mother.

“Love gives magic,” she concludes after a breath. “That’s cheesy as hell. But I think… it might also be true.”

Reverie didn't really have much of a concept of what was cheesy. Sometimes she said things she thought were childish or stupid, but it was never the sentiment she regretted, only the delivery. So she tilted her head a little at that, questioning for a moment until she decided it wasn't worth asking about. Love is the best kind of magic, She said instead, smiling gently.
Then she reached out slowly to continue grooming Tauris, not unaware of the way the other girl had tensed and then settled under her touch. Idly she considered finding a remedy for the fleas and pressing it on her before she let her leave. No one else was caring for Tauris, that much was clear.
Honestly, she didn't want to let her leave.
But she didn't dare ask her to stay, not with everything that had been happening — to the Creek, to her, because of her. Tauris deserved better than this, although Reverie couldn't help but note that Akavir and Arric were perhaps the best protection to be found in this valley. Still; better to not need protection at all. So Reverie did not ask.

<3 crying that this in their last rp for now

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She falls silent, into the words, into the magic of this moment. Into Reverie’s gentle brushes. Listening to Blossom’s tiny breaths, smelling the musty fragrance of a home. Allowing her endlessly-ticking mind to be present here.

And she thinks, maybe in addition to love, there is magic in kindness.

I knowww, I've been putting off fading this one ;; probably my last post here though. Hopefully they will meet again one day <3

In the end she took Tauris back to the border herself, stopping along the way to pick up something for the fleas. She pressed it on her friend without judgment, or even much acknowledgement of the problem itself. Reverie was nothing but cheerful in her goodbyes, but when the other girl was gone she felt a sense of loss. She wished that Tauris could have stayed. She wished that she could have gone with her.