A Conclave in the Night That Remains Eternal

Placed near an entrance to Mephala's Web.
Edit; Perhaps @Tanith or the ferocious little @Damien could pop by? :D I think Mel's den is by/in an entrance to the tunnels, but please correct me if I'm wrong about that. :o

The last trip down into the tunnel system had been eventful, and he'd learned how to navigate through them. He was interested to head back into them and maybe see some more things, so he made his way through the territory. Kove was currently moving along a small stream of water, going in the direction opposite of the current. He knew that any water in the web eventually found it's way out into the fresh air, so he took his chances with following the water to get into them. The ghost had considered entering in through the same place he had last time, but that wouldn't be too much fun. He'd seen what laid in the direction he'd taken with Bane, and while there was sure to be other tunnels branching off from the one he'd taken, he was much more interested to see what another entrance might hold for him to see.

Kove didn't move too fast with his steps, as he saw no rush. The tunnels weren't going anywhere anytime soon, so wasting energy just to reach them quicker wasn't ideal. He took his time, taking in the path and area around him he was traveling through, committing it to memory in case he found something in the tunnels worth seeing a second time around. Even if he didn't, it would still be worth his time to keep note of where any ways into the tunnels were located.

Nothing on earth would have ever disturbed Damien's concentration when he was on destroy mode. One of those sneaky tree paws had gotten on Damien's way just a moment ago and he was getting revenge. Until a ghost did the impossible.

Damien stopped biting the root instantly to take a second look at the pale figure that had killed his concentration, but it was gone. Desperately, the shadow sniffed around to triangulate the figure, a figure he thought he would never see again, and followed it into one of those caves where mommy had taken him just a few days prior.

"Daddy?" the cub barked, hoping to hear the voice again coming from the shadows, and he got to a point where the darkness was too much for him. He wanted to continue going forward, but he was afraid that if he took another step further, the light that still crawled from the outside would leave him directionless.

For a second time, it seemed as if Kove had been the victim of mistaken identity. He couldn't blame the little ones, as they often caught him from afar or behind, unable to see the color of his eyes. Like the last time, he turned around to the sound of the voice, calling for his father, and walked towards it. When he broke out of the shadows, he did as he had before and lowered himself down to be more leveled, making sure his face could be seen by the small lupine. “Sorry, bud, but not this time,” the pale man said, his words slow and holding a hint of uncertainty. The male had yet to figure out just how much the whelps understood, nor had he yet figured out that there was a high possibility they were each learning at a different rate. Eventually—probably soon—he would learn, but for the moment he had to just speak and see if anything said was understood.

It definitely wasn't daddy. His eyes didn't match the snow-like daddy ones, and his scent was way too different from daddy's. He knew it because as soon as the older wolf got closer to him, the little shadow ran his nose all over his face.

"Yous not daddy!" The pup stated with disappointment and proceeded to sniff around some more looking for the real daddy. He walked past Kove, knowing that it was safe to go a little deeper, and called once again. "Daddy??" said his high pitched howl and his ears pricked up expecting a response. Kove, although he gave a feeling of safety to the pup inside the cave, was just a "not daddy" on the cub's mind, so he wasn't interesting.

When the cold little nose of the whelp made it's way all over the older one's face, he held himself still and allowed his to realize for himself that he wasn't Bane—that he wasn't his father. He did nothing but nod his head when the other stated that he wasn't his dad, but held an unspoken apology in the depths of his eyes as he heard the disappointment in his voice. He didn't know why the other male would leave, especially when he had children that had just started to get to know him. Kove's head turned some and he followed the little shadow with his optics, watching him move a bit deeper into the tunnel. For a second, he wondered if the boy would ened up spending a lot of time in them once he was older, but those thoughts disolved away when he heard him call out for his dad.

"He isn't in there, little one," Kove told him, turning himseld around to better face the pup without breaking his neck. "I don't know where he went, but I know he isn't in there." He felt bad telling him that. The ghost didn't want to be the one to break the news to him that his dad had left, but there seemed like there was nothing else he could do. He couldn't just make Bane appear out of thin air, but the small voice made him wish he could.

I want to cry.

Maybe Damien was speech-limited, but he was smart enough to understand what Kove was saying. The silence in the caves suggested that daddy wasn't going to come out of the shadows, and the pup's face grimaced. Daddy wasn't there, it was clear, and it was of no use to keep calling for him. He had done it way too much.

Damien turned around to face the pale wolf behind him, with a sad face that was sure to break hearts, "Daddy lost?" he asked with frail voice, a lump in his throat cut shut his voice and a single tear ran down his cheek. He pressed his face against the adult's pale chest, he was the closest to daddy he'd seen.

I think my heart just broke...

When the older male saw the saddened expression on the boy's face, he flinched a bit. He felt terrible for him, and was a bit angry at Bane for leaving. Where could he have possibly gone that was more important than looking after his children? The little shadow seemed the saddest out of the bunch over their father's departure, but he was sure the other two were just as sad inside. His gaze caught sight of the tear that rolled down his face, and kept himself still as he pushed his little face against his chest. "Don't cry, little one," he murmured, trying to comfort the boy.

He moved his head into a rather awkward position to nudge the top of the boy's head with his nose. "You're right, he's lost," he told him. "But you can always find someone when they're lost. I am sure he will return to see you someday if you don't find him first."

What am I doing.

Kove's words were not only soothing, they also gave the kid some kind of hope he would hold on to for a long time. A hope that would later on consume him from the inside.

The relationship Damien had built in such short time with his arctic father had been such a strong one that it would be long before the memories of him faded away in the pup's mind. Of course, he would pay attention to other things, he was a pup, but the image of his father's platinum eyes would always be there, haunting him.

"You not leave...?" the pup asked concerned looking up with big silver eyes, having gotten somewhat attached to the not-daddy that was trying to comfort him. Maybe not one of the best choices he could have ever made.

Setting us all up for tears, that's what.
Kove is going to have to come back and tell Damien where he is. I'm forcing him to. Or he could try to get Cicero to tell him. Not so sure that would work, though. xD

The Inuit man didn't want to hurt the boy's feelings, but he also knew he could not lie to him. His heart belonged to a woman, and he believed he would leave someday to be close to her. He didn't know when, or even if that would actually happen, but to him there was a chance. “If I ever do, I promise you I will come back to visit you,” he told him, not knowing that he would say something similar to the boy's brother someday. “I won't leave you without making sure you know I'm heading out first, alright?” Kove didn't want the miniature shadow to start crying again, and hoped that his words would prevent that from happening. He wasn't lying, either, as he didn't want to leave any of the children alone. They'd already lost their father, and though the ghost was far from being related to them, he didn't want risk giving them the taste of abandonment again.

“If I leave, I'll let you know where I go, too,” Kove assured him. He didn't know that he would not be able to tell him himself later on, but he did know that he would find a way to get the message to him. “Your father might be back before then, though, you never know.” It was false hope he was giving him, but that didn't keep the words from falling from his mouth. If it was meant to happen, then Bane would show himself again, and the boy would be reunited with his father. Hopefully.

I'll take that as a promise! Damien is about to be twice as sad. :(

Damien hugged the ghost's leg once again, this time tightly as he sobbed some more. There were things he hated in life. One of them, was sticky glowworms, but an absent parent was by far the worst.

Damien had started to show some big sentimentalism through his early life, the kind that soon would teach him that the universe's only purpose was to make things difficult, the kind that would teach him the necessity of becoming a tough, cold-hearted man. "Pwomise." Damien repeated, trusting the arctic wolf's words with his tiny beating heart.

Feel so bad for poor Damien. D: Kove will probably start a trek towards BFW soon to see him, if you want, that is. I don't want to force you into a thread if you aren't yet ready for one. Care to end this one soon? Kove could get him back home. Edited to end it here for you. c: Hope you don't mind the minor PPing of Damien allowing Kove to carry him home.<3

Kove lowered his cranium so he could touch his nose to the boy's forehead in an attempt to comfort him. Aside from that, he did nothing. He allowed him to hug his leg and let his tears fall, thinking it might be good for him to let it all out. Though it was rare for the older man to actually cry, he had once been told it could be therapeutic. His father had never approved of such things, as he was suppose to be the strong one of the litter, but his mother had made it clear it was okay. Besides, Damien was not his child. He was simply a boy that needed someone to comfort him and let him get out his feelings, and Kove was fine with doing that.

The Inuit man offered him a warm smile, nudging him gently with his snout. “You'll be alright, you know. Even if you can not find your dad, or if I leave, you are strong enough to survive anything.” He hoped the young one would be able to understand that, and that he would continue forward always no matter what the universe threw at him. For his sake, he wished that the tiny shadow would not harbor the hate in his heart, that he would be able to have a kind side to him when necessary.

They could have stayed like that forever, with Kove allowing the child to cry on him while he attempted to comfort him. If not for the world still moving around them, they really could have. He was sure Meldresi must be worried, or at least curious, about the whereabouts of her son, and he was sure she could do a much better job at comforting him over matters concerning Bane than he was able. Mother's often seemed as if they possessed a magic capable of making their kids feel better, or at least his own had. So, once the boy seemed to settle slightly, the larger male picked him up carefully, not wanting to risk accidentally harming him. As gently as he could manage, he started heading towards the child's place of rest, moving slowly at first before he gre comfortable enough to move a bit quicker. Though he probably should have, he didn't hesitate in walking right up to the Queen's den so he could place the little warrior down. He nudged him along with his nose, moving him closer to the entrance, then took a step back. “If you ever need help with anything, or just someone to talk to, I'll never be too far away,” he said, not knowing that he would eventually be going quite the distance away. For a second after, he just stood and looked after the boy, before realizing he should leave. With only a single glance back over his shoulder, the ghost wandered away from the leader's den, pale figure moving off into another part of the dark forest.