The Heartwood graunsheika

for @Towhee & @Phox! open also to @Ava Amara, @Anathema, @Malakai, @Simeon, and @Dinah <3 no posting order!

the small accompaniment eventually reached the current stronghold of the redhawk wolves. heda, who was exhausted, exhaled a relieved breath as she caught towhee's scent, crouching for a moment at the edge of the forest.
and when she raised her head, it was to gaze back along the way they had come, her eyes fixed in the direction of sweetharbor. 
she had been too harsh! too swift to justice; too — too many things. unfair. her anger at caracal's escape when her only escape was him had overcome her good sense. and she had left judah besides, and almost ana.
"i need to go back," she told them quietly, earnestly, before she let out a howl. towhee would need to be found, but she wanted to announce herself in case others were close. "let's go find grandma, and then i — i need you to stay with her while i go back for judah and — and daddy."

Where regret had swallowed Mama, Dinah had chewed the fat and collapsed to resentment.
Anger and tears were now what drove her onward; further from home, further from two people she loved so deeply even still. But Judah had turned his cheek; Judah did not know what she had seen and didn't care to listen. And Daddy—
For each night that passed, she had dreams about them both. One night it was a dream of returning to them and smelling the saltbrine on their fur once again, of the splintering summer sun through the trees and the soothing air of lavender. The next had been a dream of denouncing them, denouncing God; saliva flying from between teeth, rebuking them for their sins, the near-death of Ava!
She fought with herself.
She cried often; her waking moments were divided between a strange sense of calm and disastrous weeping.
She stuck close to Simeon and Mama; the two, the only two she felt she had left. And yet she knew that if Daddy and Judah were to appear right now before them, all would be forgiven instantaneously — but should it? Should it?
She didn't know. God was not here to tell her. It pained her that she still often thought of Him.
Gramma. Gramma was here, in this jagged forest. Gramma would help.
But Mama, too, now, wanted to leave — to bring them here. Anger anger rage No, she snaps her teeth before she can even think about the words coming from her mouth. he'll just ruin everything again!
Tears, again, burning and empty; pitiful, for there were none left for her to release.

Her brother departed for Moontide and Towhee slept alone, the pelt—shabby from use—soft on her cheek. Not many had come to see her, though few knew she was staying here. She mourned Batman’s continued absence but came to terms with it like all the others, her hopes of his return dying like the brown leaves lining her makeshift bed.

Something woke her with a start. Towhee opened her eyes, sat up and looked around groggily. She slowly stood and stretched. Dead leaves tumbled from her coat when she shook it, dust dancing in the motes of October sunlight dappling through the shedding treetops.

The scars on her back tingled, which was a little unusual. Maybe it was the cold or she’d slept on them funny. Towhee took a breath and looked around the woods, sensing something that made the fur along her spine start raising too. Face scrunching, she began warily walking through the trees.

She came upon a most unexpected scene: Dinah looked as if she was arguing with her mother, what was left of the youths lingering in the background behind them. Towhee blinked, then scanned the small crowd again. No, one of the twins was missing. There was no sign of Caracal. And all of them were very far from home.

Dread knotted in her stomach as she demanded, What’s going on?

feel free to keep throwing anyone in! <3 gonna post again in this one bc of plot movement <3

it was not long before towhee joined them. the young mother's eyes blurred, relief mingling with a mounting fear of her mother-in-law's response. towhee had always been level-headed and no-nonsense, kind to heda, but this situation was the first of its kind.
still, she stepped forward, and took a breath, and began to break into the story of how saint had disappeared, how ava had almost drowned. how she and caracal had been stretched too thin. how he had sought respite in the fruit and how she had finally fractured to see him seek an out that wasn't hers.
how she had gathered the children and left the island after believing ava had almost died due to caracal's neglect. that she had been wrong, but it had been too late; that she needed to go back to speak to him, to gather judah; she was finally crying, her breath coming in hard hot sobs, as she prepared for what she assumed would be towhee's anger, the general misery of her children standing around her like a fogbank.

They had went from the island, passed open land and into the bleeding forest. Now they had opened through more open plains and flatlands into another forest. This one was far less gloomy and dark then the last. It was littered in smaller, younger trees, some which had white trunks with black markings that Malakai found quite pretty. Vibrant golden leaves topped them, with the autumn season and between dotted spruces which mimicked those of home. 

It was a quaint forest and yet those few pleasant quiet moments would not last. Mom spoke of returning for dad and Judah while they stayed here with grandma. Kai's ears perked, opening his mouth to ask if he could join her. He missed his twin so dearly! Not having him at his side was like loosing a limb, though he may never admit it. Then, Dinah cut in before the words could leave his mouth. So instead... The only one that's ruining anything is you with your constant whining. He seethes, given along with a flash of clenched teeth with his utter disgust of the words she speaks. Look at her! She who spends so much time trying to get those little devils to like her, even when they attacked a holy man for no good reason! And now, how quick she is to cast aside her own flesh and blood! 

His sun and moon eyes shot hard and cold onto Ava and Ana. They were ruining this family! Could they not see!? One attacks a noble man out of no where, one having bit dad before. They were causing a rift between their parents. Constant trouble makers! They were tearing them apart! They had been happy- once, until them. 

Ahead came the large and familiar figure of their grandma- black, white and red coat standing out proudly. She comes and mother rushes to her, explaining it all, leaving the four pups to watch and listen as it is all spoken allowed and Malakai feels the strength of their family crumbling.

posting again since she was addressed! will be my final post unless she is stopped <3

Drowning, whirling in a sea of despair Dinah did not entirely comprehend — Gramma appears in a cloud of smoke and for a brief moment, all felt well again. Her expression softens, shoulders slumped as she leans forth immediately, red face buried in the proud white chest. Mama's words seem to fade to static, nothing but garbled background noise, and in this moment, her eyes blur. The evergreen mixes with the warm hues of Gramma, of safety yet again;
Until a grating, prepubescent shrill strikes her from her tiny moment of solace. To her chagrin; Malakai, teeth bared in a deathly grit, every bit of his stature screaming malevolence.
He picked the wrong time to say that.
Her head snaps around viciously, eyes hardened to a fury she did not know she had in her. You shut the fuck up, Malakai, reeling, surging, lungs tightened. you weren't there. You didn't know what that was like! You don't know anything! What did I ever even do to you?! pearlescent nails dig into the soil. I can't even ignore the fact that you exist without you picking on me! What is it gonna take for you to leave me alone?!
Burning, burning, hot tears, a growl of her own now rippling from somewhere carnal deep in her belly. The silence is heavy and it rings in her eardrums; madness madness madness this is madness! Brother, not brother, something else entirely for he was not her blood; not her family— Get away from me. I hate you!
Haphazardly, she tears herself from the bodies of the only love she had ever known and disappears into the coverage of shrubs. She did not know where she was going — anywhere, anywhere but here.

The tears in Heda’s eyes did not bode well. There was a pit in her stomach as the young mother stepped forward, looking utterly cowed as she relayed a story to Towhee. Her orange eyes hung on Heda’s lips, various expressions crawling across her face. By the end of it, her eyes were squinted and she wore a look of severe frustration, having to parse Heda’s words through a fit of crying.

Before Towhee could possibly process everything and formulate a response, there was some sort of commotion behind Heda. The Redhawk stretched her neck to watch as Malakai and Dinah appeared to shout at each other, though Towhee didn’t catch any but the last few words from the latter’s lips: “Get away from me, I hate you!”

Dinah Redhawk, Towhee thundered as the girl tried to slip away. Gritting her teeth, her eyes cut to Heda. You don’t solve problems by yelling at people, then running away and crying all over yourselves. Everybody here needs to put on their big girl—and boy—pants right now. We’re all going back to the island, she said imperiously, shaking her head, where we will talk to Caracal about his issues and be there for Judah.

Although she wanted to demand why Heda had decided rounding up (almost) all of her kids and running away would solve anything, Towhee pressed her tongue against her teeth. She did think it was an emotionally disproportionate response to the situation but Towhee knew firsthand what cruel challenges had been thrust upon her son and his wife via their eight children. Instead of yelling more, she touched the young woman’s shoulder.

You have to communicate with him, Heda. It’s not you against Caracal, it’s you and Caracal against the problem.

Towhee sighed and dropped her paw, looking around to see what the kids made of her words. Hopefully this exodus hadn’t done much further damage, especially if everyone turned around and went back right now. Towhee couldn’t see any reason the family—what was left of it—couldn’t be reunited and reconciled on that holy island of theirs.

Ana listened in unsettled silence to all that unfolded between her family. She'd started to trail after Dinah, idly, until the boom of Towhee's yelling stopped her in her tracks. A snarl tore itself from her throat as she whipped her head around to fix a hateful glare on the woman she knew as her grandmother. Her hackles lifted, and for a moment she was still.

Then she dropped the glare and hurried after Dinah. Ana knew that she was not wanted, and so she would not linger in her sister's company. She only caught up long enough to whisper after the redhead, hoping that Dinah would hear, a soft Love you,

That was what siblings said to each other, wasn't it?

Then she would let her sister disappear into the undergrowth, watching with sad eyes before she turned to slink back to Heda. Heda; leaving.

Ana would not return to the island.

all that they had built came apart. heda, grateful for towhee's firmer sense of love, turned helplessly toward the children. but her voice was weak then to stop them, and again she fell back upon her mother-in-law's strength.
now given the necessary guidance, she began to kiss the small heads of the little ones. she begged malakai to stay put and dashed after dinah; she tried to keep an eye on ava and simeon in all of this, though her attention was lastly diverted with a cry of "ana?"
more tears, more cries.
more delay, until the truth of the matter grew clearer and clearer: that ana would not come home, that she had lost one to the shadows and the other to the mainland.
and the list of heda's failures grew.

Dinah immediately threw a hit. Malakai regarded her with a blank starez unwilling to reveal any further emotion to her antics. He would be happy enough to smack her to the ground for her words, yet held back, even leaned back away from her, as though possibly threatened. 

Their grandma's voice boomed, swiftly repremanding Dinah for her words. After all, it was her son which Dinah was so happy to dismiss. 

Then, he turns back to Dinah, but in her fued and need to leave, she likely so did not hear him. It didn't matter, because the only one who needed to hear him was God. 

I pity you, sister and will pray for you, that one day you may find your way back to God. He receives his mother's kiss and sees the strain in her eyes. He remains sitting exactly where Heda willed him to stay, his bi-colored eyes sweeping both Simeon and Ava. And he preaches, “If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.” - Malachi 2:2.