Swiftcurrent Creek ghost under rocks

Heart full of emotion, Shadowpup had waited for Silvertongue to come home.

And waited.

And waited.

But Tia Plata never returned.

Maybe an older wolf would have been able to read between the lines and put two and two together, but young Shadowpup couldn’t conjure a reason why anybody would suddenly decide to leave their family.

Tired of waiting, she traveled outside the boundaries of Riverclan for the first time. The path between Riverclan and Swiftcurrent Creek was a well-worn trail used by predator and prey alike, so it wasn’t too difficult to make her way.

She could smell the pack’s marks and instinct told her to stop. Shadowpup sat and waited (not knowing to howl) until she became impatient and barked a loud yap.

Arlette wanted to help with manning the borders. She was not one to fight or warden the lands against rogue wolves. But she could always hit the alarm and be the first to just take some of the hits? Now, she didn't intend to be a punch bag, but she was certain that extra eyes on the border would be always beneficial.

The pale female continued to trot when she suddenly saw a little blob, no a pup! Arlette perked up her hears and then looked around. She didn't see an adult. She woofed in greeting and then trotted towards the child. "Hello, are you lost?," she asked. Arlette, having a soft spot for pups, just assumed that the child was lost.

A pale woman approached from the Creek. Her soft and kind expression juxtaposed her poppy-colored eyes and tattered pelt. Shadowpup’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, never having seen such profuse scaring before. It reminded her of injured Bonario. Maybe this woman had done bad things, like the man she had met.

Her weight leaned back, but the pup held her ground.

Lost?

Shadowpup looked over her shoulder to see if there was anyone else who might fit that description.

Oh, she’s talking to me, Shadowpup realized.

“No.” The girl said pointedly and in a rude voice.

“It’s my Tia Plata who is lost. She hasn’t come home… have you seen her? I know she visits here often.” Shadowpup was certain the Creek wolves knew her whereabouts.

The woman watched as the pup seemed to shrink back from her. Arlette had forgotten about her scars, but she realized with the pup looking at her. Still the pup didn't seem to move away from her. The young child seemed defiant. "No?," she asked, because she was certain the pup might be far away from home. There soon followed an explanation.

"Tia Plata? I am not familiar," she admitted. "I could ask our leader if he know her. Is Tia plata her name?," she asked. Arlette stepped closer. The pup smelled of a familiar pack. Arlette mostly kept to her own within Swiftcurrent and not much of the politics or connections outside the pack.

"I'm Arlette, who are you?," she asked.

The gracious woman handled Shadowpup’s disrespectful tone with the practiced language of an experienced parent. 

“Her name is Silvertongue,” Shadowpup explained as she stood on her tiptoes, puffed out her chest, and pretended to be diplomatic.

“My name is Shadowpaw,” the girl half-lied, for fear of her suffix, pup, sounding too infantile. Adults liked to lie and so Shadowpup knew she needed to play their game. She would be an apprentice in two months, anyway, so what did it matter?

“I am the apprentice to Riverclan’s Dreamleaf,” she went on, fictitiously… for Kestrelcloud had left the pack. Riverclan had no Dreamleaf.

Arlette thought about it, but she wasn't familiar with the name. Unfortunately. She knew they were friendly with Riverclan. Even if they weren't she would never bring harm to a pup. "Silvertongue. Hmm. That doesn't ring a bell for me. But don't you worry. I am not often at the border or getting other wolves." Arlette figured honesty would work best even with children.

"Ah, well, welcome to Swiftcurrent, Schadowpaw," she greeted. She was non the wiser of the pup's actual name. "Oh that sounds really impressive. I'm a healer. So if you are ever in pain or need help you can come to swiftcurrent and ask for me," she offered.

"Now, since Silvertongue isn't here. What would you like to do next?," she asked. Children liked to decide what to do instead of being told.

Shadowpup’s expression became stern when the woman admitted border patrol was outside her usual duties. She had no idea who Silvertongue was and was thus no help. The child became more prickly, grated by every gentle word and nicety. Shadowpup felt this woman was condescending on purpose, unsympathetic to her genuine lack of knowledge.

Furthermore, a Dreamleaf was so much more than a commonplace healer. The girl, with a tiny worldview, thought this lady an imbecile. Did she even know anything?

“No, you’re lying,” Shadowpup snarked as her ears flattened against her skull like an angry mare. "She is here. I know it." Now, she had suspicions that Arlette was trying to cover it up. Because if Silvertongue was not at the Creek... well, Shadowpup just didn't want to think about it.

Abruptly, Shadowpup attempted to shove right past Artlette across the border and into the Creek’s territory. “TIA PLATA! TIA PLATA!” she hollered at the top of her lungs. “SILVERTONGUE! SILVERTONGUE WHERE ARE YOU!!!”

The holler of a youthful voice echoed across the lands, drawing the man’s muzzle up sharply and causing him to adjust his trajectory along the borders. His pace was quick—his mind sharp with the name that was called, and soon his pale gaze fell upon Arlette and one of Riverclan’s girls.

He attempted to hide the bewilderment of his features—the girl was clearly distraught, and he was quick to turn to Arlette, studying her before intercepting the girl with a crooning bark—hoping to draw her attention. “Silvertongue isn’t here, leanabh rionnag.” he murmured to her, eyes softening, tail giving a gentle flick in the air. “Did she not tell your pack where she was going?”

Her angered words—the scour of her teeth still marked upon his brow and cheek as the wound made to heal. But it was the hurt in his heart that clung to the true scar tissue.

Arlette had not really expected such an outburst from the child. Then again, tantrums were to be expected. Arlette stayed calm though, she was not one to go yelling back at children, or be offended by their anger. She angled her head. "It is not very friendly to accuse someone of lying," she pointed out. The female was about to continue when Akavir came onto the scene. She watched him, he seemed to know the pup. Interesting.

Arlette dipped her head in greeting to him and stepped back a little to watch the two interact. Perhaps the pup was going to accuse him as a liar as well. Arlette was oblivious to most outside connections. That was on her. She had only wished to help the pup.

Shadowpup, huffing and puffing with frustration, only acknowledged Artlette with a curt flick of an oversized ear as she crossed the border hollering Silvertongue’s name. It wasn’t an accusation. It was the truth!

The girl only made it a few steps before a man with crepuscular furs quickly intercepted her. Shadowpup balked, surprised by his swiftness, but she stood her ground even as her tail tucked tightly beneath her squatting haunch.

He corroborated the woman’s story, but the pinched look on the child’s face telegraphed that she wasn’t having any of what he was serving.

“Yes she is,” Shadowpup retorted assuredly. However, his next words gave pause.

Did she not tell your pack where she was going?

Again, Shadowpup has been left in the dark. Her heart squeezed so hard that it skipped a beat.

Silvertongue wasn’t here. She left.

Not wanting to believe it, and too proud to admit she played an even smaller role in Silvertongue’s life than she ever thought, Shadowpup began to bark at the man.

“YES, she told me,” Shadowpup lied. “She told me she was coming here! She’s always here! You’re all liars!” Tears began to bead in the corners of her eyes as she attempted to walk past Akavir.

“SILVERTONGUE! T-TIA, TIA PLATA!” surely she would hear her cries and suddenly appear? “TIA PLATA! MMmmm-MOM! MOMMA!”

The girl was bereft—her insistence stemmed from a hurt that Akavir was all too familiar with when it came to the silver Sharpfang. He cast a sideways glance to Arlette who greeted him quietly, forcing the corners of his mouth to lift in a sad smile to the woman before his focus fell back to the girl—her words becoming louder, the accusation of liars falling from her lips.

She made to walk past him, bellowing the woman’s name, and he sidestepped, allowing her to do so. If this was what she needed to believe them—to scour the creek lands—he would allow it.

“You can search for her,” he offered her, unsure if she heard his words over her summons of the woman who had fled the valley. “And after, I can go with you to Riverclan, and we can talk to your father, okay?”

Because if the girl did not know Silvertongue had fled, clearly, she had not told her pack. Even worse, if she had actually told her pack she would be at the Creek... then that would need to be remedied.

He stole another glance to Arlette, unsure how she wished to deal with the situation further—escort them as well, or continue on her way.

Akavir seemed to try to talk with the pup but it almost seemed that there was no sense to talk into her. Arlette glanced at Akavir. "She seems familiar with you. I think it might be best that you go with her, and bring her home," Arlette suggested. She was a mere stranger, and the pup had not been very attuned to her it seemed. She didn't mind, she was long glad that Akavir was here to take hold of the situation.

"You can howl if you need my assistance or help," she offered him. She would continue with her patrol of the border. Just to help out, and maybe to spot some other wolves ... or pups on their border. Anything seemed possible. She dipped her head to her leader and continued her way.

- Arlette exit -

Last one from me!

Shadowpup, overcome with anger, sadness, and fear, continued to call Silvertongue’s name to no avail. Overcome with emotion, crocodile tears began to roll down her cheeks. Why had she left them? Why was she always in the dark?

She flinched at the baritone voice of Swiftcurrent’s leader.

You can search for her. And after, I can go with you to Riverclan, and we can talk to your father, okay?

A wet, sad sound gasped from the child. “O-Okay,” she relented. “F-finally, someone with s-s-sense,” she added, impolite.

No matter how hard she searched, not a single fresh whiff of Silvrtongue’s scent could be found. Tired and drained, Shadowpup would retreat back to Riverclan with Akavir and speak with @Crowfeather about the Sharpfang’s disappearance.