The days were short, but Tuwawi never require sunlight to travel. Like a flame upon the frosted earth, the mother swept between mountain ranges and valleys ceaselessly as she searched for a way home. Everything had happened so fast... and it made the lonely nights feel infinite. She reflected while traveling -- memories of Larus being taken, watching Njal disappear in pursuit, tracking Jokull, a sharp pain and blackout, the dusty smell of her small enclosure... Eventually, the ember had been released miles from Teekon into a familiar land, Chinook, adorned with a heavy tracking collar wrapped tight 'round her neck. Tuwawi could not have know her captures intended for the dam to help repopulate her breed in the old region, and so she immediately took off, like a migrant goose, back to her glacier.
Her body became lean, expression hard, as she crossed the borders, However, her heart became aflutter. Who know what kind of state the pack was in. And what of Larus? Had Njal ever tracked the boy down? Her nose coasted gingerly over the hard ground, expectantly searching for familiar scents.
Malachi thrummed through the glacial land, kicking up the autumn leaves as he wove his way through the forest brush. The youth had long stopped searching for the scent of their missing members in their vast Glacial home, but Malachi refused to give up on them. He had responsibilities here, more than ever before, but he couldn't ignore his need to search any longer.
He could see the land from a distance where the territory stretched inconspicuously from home to the unknown, and toward this end he pressed. The youth did not know where he would go, or where he would run. He did not know where to search, or where searching had already been done. He merely possessed a relentless desire to go, and this time, he would listen.
Malachi moved swiftly to the land's distant edge - and it was then that he saw her, a brush of flame stealing her way through the barren land. The youth drew to a startled halt, blinking rapidly as his mind rushed to keep up with his eyes.
It couldn't be.
Malachi let out an echoing bay of disbelief. "Tuwawi?" His breath puffed a cloud in the crisp autumn air and he took a step forward before breaking into a full fledged run toward the apparition of their fire-kissed leader. "Tuwawi!" He shouted louder, letting his voice ring out as a howl through the chilling land for the pack to hear. His tail whipped behind him in a waving mess as he tore through the undergrowth to where the woman wandered, but in his gut a sharp knot turned. In the shock he saw nothing but her fiery form, and though his gaze brushed over the strange band fastened round her neck, he made nothing of it as his mind fell to a different matter: the pups he'd expected to see beside her. She held none of their scent, and that which she carried held a sharp tang he'd never tasted before. He felt his stomach drop and he drew to a halt paces away, breathless and staring, still not fully convinced the hardened woman before him was more than just a ghost.
![[Image: warden.gif]](http://wolf-rpg.com/images/trades/warden.gif)
| ![[Image: naturalist.gif]](http://wolf-rpg.com/images/trades/naturalist.gif)
1/5 | ![[Image: chronicler.gif]](http://wolf-rpg.com/images/trades/chronicler.gif)
2/5
They had eaten together in silence - an old haunch of a goat which had been buried in a nearby cache, smelling dangerously close to rotten in some places, and almost frozen in others - and then Njal had whisked his little firebug off to bed. She was sequestered in the den like some kind of captive; it had been this way for the past few days since his return. Every night, almost like clockwork, Njal would feed his daughter and then make sure she was safe and secure in the den - never letting her out of sight for long, even to play with her friend Arabella.
Most of the pack remained distant from him; this he chalked up to a percieved awkwardness caused by his unfortunate situation, but it could have been his own doing, and justifiably so. Lately, Njal hadn't let anyone come near Maera. He hoarded her away, citing it was for her own protection. Maybe it wasn't for her at all, but his own selfish need for consistency.
He waited until he thought she was asleep, and then placed himself across the den entrance - acting as an obstacle, a boulder with sharp teeth. Njal's eyes were red-rimmed from lack of sleep; his head even began to dip, but would jolt upright as soon as his eyes were closed - hypervigilant. A mixture of mud and blood still caked his pelt from his foray out of the glacial lands, although the largest segments had fallen away due to activity; he was an exhausted mess, and the gash in his side had likely not had a chance to heal.
None of this mattered as he lay there, adamant in his wakefulness.
When an excitable call rose up from the distant edge of the land, Njal's head jolted up - and at first he was confused, thinking perhaps he had started to dream, and then angry at himself for allowing his attention to wane. There was another noise, like a voice but drowned out by distance; when finally Malachi's howl reached in to the heavens, Njal was urging himself to his feet. He gave a cursory look around before changing course and heading for the root of the summons.
As he finally came to a gap in the trees, the ex-Alpha scrutinized the horizon. He saw a gray figure moving out and away from the forest that he currently lurked within; with a squint and some quick assumptions, Njal deemed that shining shape to be Malachi; he was making a bee-line for—Njal's eyes snapped wide open as soon as he recognized her fiery coat. Even from a distance he could recognize his own wife.
But he did not move.
He stood and watched as Malachi went to her, likely greeting her with the enthusiasm that the weather-worn father should have had. A part of him wanted to go out there, to intercept her and cover her in kisses; to wrap himself around her and be close. Oh, how he missed her. Something kept him rooted to the spot — and then he was moving again. But in reverse. Turning sharply and heading back through the forest, to the den mouth. Once there, Njal ducked inside and carefully positioned himself beside the sleeping girl.
Danica heard Malachi's shout and her head shot up, eyes narrowing. Tuwawi? She had returned? Getting to her feet, Danica surprised herself by balking a bit.... she wasn't so sure she wanted to go. She had grown closer to the mother in her time here, but Tuwawi had withdrawn in the time since Larus's abduction, a process that ended with her abrupt departure. This had not upset Danica, who understood entirely the need to follow one's own path despite the reasoning of others. She was more worried that her own plans would be even further shot to hell if she spoke with her once more. Her conversation with Bazi had left her more than enough to think on, thank you.
But such fears had never held her back before, and she wasn't about to let Tuwawi come home with a sub-par welcome committee just because she had her own issues. She might be a pretty crappy friend but she was better than that at least.
Confident steps not betraying her previous indecision, Danica joined Malachi, her own approach however a bit more restrained. "Welcome home," she said, genuine pleasure in her voice and clear on her expression. She took in the strange device around her neck with some curiosity and wondered perhaps if they would hear the tale behind how it came to be there.
She drew near, if only to flare her nostrils at the unseemly millstone 'round Tuwawi's neck. Danica had come, and Malachi, but like the fierce woman with whom she had hunted the cat, the Egyptian too approached with some misgivings, but offered the redflame a small smile. "It is good you are home, Tuwawi."
He hastily approached as Tuwawi's ears canted forward to receive him, though her expression remained unmoved. A potent concoction of emotions had braided themselves within her spirit. Anger, grief, and sorrow all gathered -- hidden away from prying eyes. The result was a shelled husk and an apathetic gaze; a mother who had not yet come to terms with her loss and abduction.
He stopped short just a league away, quickly joined by the loyal Danica and Hatshepsut only moments later, but there was only one thing on the ember's mind. "Where are my children?" she wheezed, glassy eyed. Without waiting for a response, Tuwawi began to call for them. "Jökull! Valtýr! Mae! Lár—"
Tuwawi sputtered the last syllable, choking it out. Suddenly she felt unbearably hot; the thick leather wrung tight 'round her throat like suffocating hands.
Danica and Hatshepsut arrived by his side, and though he took comfort in their presence, Malachi felt the knot in his stomach tighten when no one else followed. The one he'd hoped would be first to respond to his call was absent: Njal had not come. But he could worry no further, not on Njal. Malachi's ears slicked back at Tuwawi's cry and the youth lowered his gaze. "Maera's safe. She's in the den." The words came with difficultly and he dared not meet the mother's face. "We don't know where the others are... Njal has returned." But he had come without Lárus, and they had failed to find trace of Valtýr and Jökull. They had failed, all of them, and he felt the guilt sink heavy within.
| 1/5 | 2/5She remained silent after this time Malachi delivered the news, watching Tuwawi carefully but not unkindly. Waiting for the news to sink in. She was saddened at the disappearances as well. She had hoped the pups had simply left with Tuwawi, but she had known it vain. Mae's continued presence had revealed that to be true.