Northstar Vale Fram gjøno døri, gjøno kongro-sløri.

There was a bad taste in Towhee’s mouth as she reluctantly left the island, Caracal’s figuring waving wearily from the far shoreline. She peered at Moonspear in the distance, feeling the pressure to return there. She missed her youngest two (and everyone else who lived there, for that matter) but she surprised herself by resenting the mountain’s gravitational pull.

Towhee resisted it too. Rather than retrace her steps, she followed the river inland. She passed through a deep, dark forest, then wandered past the foot of a vaguely familiar plateau. She could see Sheepeater Cliff from here and surprised herself again by moving toward it with deliberate footsteps.

She climbed toward the vale, grinding her heels into the familiar dust near the borders, catching herself off guard as much as she would the residents of Epoch. Towhee took a moment to catch her breath and look around, then howled tremulously for @Tamar, @Jack Snipe or anyone else who had the time to see her today.

Set June 12.

oh good, i need more saleem threads.

Saleem ventured further and further away from the rendezvous site each day. With his father—@Arsenio—never too far away, and with @Sylianos a constant presence at his side, he'd grown even more confident in his exploration skills. He bounded along one of the Vale's many creeks today, chasing after some trail of prey that he hadn't quite placed yet. Could have been a rabbit, could have been a rat, or maybe it was a nasty ol' opossum.

Whatever it was, Saleem wanted to find it. Instead, he soon found himself close to the outer reaches of the territory that Epoch claimed, just in time to hear the awful racket of Towhee up close and personal.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT?!" he screamed back, which would sound like gibberish to anyone outside of Silly. Not that Saleem cared at all.

Towhee didn’t let her head drop back down right away. Instead, she sniffed the air. Everything smelled the same as before. Her lips drew into a thin line. She had no reason to think Maxim may have shown up—someone would’ve fetched her right away, she knew—but some part of her must’ve wondered. Towhee’s chest felt tight, though she reminded herself she already knew he would not be here. He would never be here. Maxim was dead. Nobody could convince her otherwise at this point.

Gently pushing thoughts of him from her mind, Towhee lowered her gaze to peer into the vale. It still looked the part of paradise, even if it had been ruined for her family. She idly wondered if anyone looked after Leo’s grave site and thought, Yes, of course, Tamar and Arsenio would never neglect it, even if the girl’s mother had decided she couldn’t dedicate herself to a piece of ground, no matter how sacred. Surely Jack helped keep it tidy too.

Thinking of her son made her yearn to see him. She missed his father but she had begun to move on from him. Towhee would never “get over” any of her kids. Her tail swayed gently, hoping he would have the time to visit today. She really would like to see Tamar too, to check in with everything and keep to her promise: “We won’t be strangers.”

But speaking of sons and strangers, a pup appeared. Towhee immediately knew this must be either Saleem or Sylianos, though she realized—with a mild pang—they wouldn’t recognize her at all. He yelled something at her but she couldn’t read his lips at all, which was somewhat baffling. Not even one word stood out.

-“Hiya, are you Saleem or Sylianos?”- she greeted, glancing past him in the hopes of spotting one of his parents.

She spoke at him, moving her body in strange ways, bringing back some deep-rooted core memory from his toddlerhood that filled him with a sense of "unknown" and "scary" and "stranger danger." Nevermind that the stranger knew his—and his brother's—name. He wished right then and now that Sylianos was at his side. By himself, he felt incomplete, incapable of handling such a threat. Still, what more could he do?

The young boy raised his hackles, curled back his upper lip, and bared his teeth. Apparently he was of the "fight" variety, not "flight." His tail stood stock straight behind him at a slightly upward angle, and while to an adult he probably looked pretty dang goofy, the truth was that fear drove his actions.

He put on an impressive display. Yes, it was endearingly goofy but Towhee commended his spirit… and his training. She cast her eyes around again, certain that Arsenio or Tamar couldn’t be far, but quickly returned her focus to the youngster. He was the only one here to talk to for the moment.

-“You’re a very daunting guardian,”- she acknowledged, lowering her body into a sphinx pose. -“You might not remember me but I’m your Aunt Towhee. Your parents are good friends of mine. Are they somewhere nearby… Sylianos?”-

She had no idea if she’d gotten the name right but Towhee figured it was a 50/50 chance. Hopefully he would jump to correct her if she was wrong. Either way, she was tentatively hopeful that she could reassure him into a conversation.

Reyson came up behind one of the twins and tilted an ear forward. Only to let a smile light up his scarred face.

Hello Towhee.

He couldn't sign but he did his best to say hello albeit clumsily. He'd seen it enough, but he spoke it too.

He shifted and studied her. She look3d as well as could be and a small pinprick of longing to see Maxim hit him. The first wolf He'd made a friend in the teekon.

He didn't pay attention to her words, adrenaline and fear pumping blood straight into his ears.

Thankfully, a familiar face arrived in the nick of time. Reyson was a welcome sight indeed, and Saleem relaxed—though he still wore a side-eye for the strange movements shared between his pack-mate and the strange lady. Saleem found his way behind the large, scarred wolf so that he might have a buffer between himself and the stranger. From there, he could observe much more comfortably.

last one from me unless you wanna tag me in again!

He didn’t react to the name in any way, mostly because Reyson appeared right then. The pup scurried behind him, still mean mugging her a bit. Towhee huffed a laugh through her nose and then shifted her attention to her old friend.

-“Hey, Sunshine. I was in the neighborhood so I thought I’d stop by and check on you guys here. How is everything?”-

Reyson turned his head and looked at the pup behind hia leg and offered a small smile. So cute. Then he tirned back to Towhee and chuckled.

Okay. Arsenio is back in leadership now that the babies are growing. Meadow is expecting. I'm not sure if i can be a good father and babies still scare me.

He gave her a look then remembering well when her children had been sicced upon him. And won.

How are you Towhee?

She remembered what she’d said to Tamar about their men right before leaving, so this was fantastic news about Arsenio. Of course, it was good to hear Reyson’s and Meadow’s good news too. Towhee felt something like a sigh of relief escape her, knowing that her family’s departure hadn’t somehow ruined Epoch. They were doing well for themselves here.

-“That’s all great to hear. Well, y’know,”- she said, pointing at an ear and laughing. -"Congrats to you and Meadow. You’ll do just fine."-

She glanced at the “stranger danger” pup behind Reyson and it really hit her: they’d all moved on with their lives, just like they should. Towhee would’ve liked to catch up with the others, though neither Tamar nor her son had shown up. Rather than take this personally, she decided they were simply too busy living their lives to respond to an impromptu call.

-“In fact, you know what? Don’t let me interrupt,”- she insisted a moment later, retreating a step. -“It was really good seeing you, Sunshine, but you should get back to Meadow. Can you just tell everyone I was here and that I said ‘hey’? Tell Jackie in particular I’ll come see him again soon.”-

Since this is a month old, I wanted to go ahead and fade it. I’ll toss her back this way soon enough! :)

Reyson tilted his head at the small sigh that had escaped her. His eyes briefly returning to the child at his leg again.

Her chuckle made him return it.

A twitch of his ear and a frown. Are you sure Towhee? You dont want to rest or eat?

He was concerned for her, but he wouldn't keep her if she didn't want to stay. He dipped his muzzle down.

-“Yeah, I’m sure. I need to get back to Moonspear,”- Towhee replied. -“On that note, tell my son he’s always welcome to come visit me there too. That goes for everyone else here as well. I can be your Sherpa, show y’all around the mountain…”-

Towhee’s offer was genuine, though something felt wrong even as she made it. She hesitated, trying to sort out the sudden misgiving, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of it at the moment. Perhaps it had something to do with her inexplicable reluctance to hurry back to the mount.

-“You take care, Sunshine. You’re gonna be a good dad. Don’t overthink it. Just enjoy it. I’ll see you later,”- were Towhee’s final words of parting.

Her fiery gaze swept over the vale behind Reyson one last time before dropping back to his face. She nodded at him, then grinned and waved a paw at the little one still crouching behind the soldier’s leg. Towhee then swiveled and made herself walk due west.