Larksong Grotto Let's play catch-up!

It was obvious to see that Emory could sense the growing emotional burden placed upon Reek through recounting -- and mentally re-living -- his roller coaster life. She released him from his saddening task, but Reek shook his head. "No," he said. "I have to." While talking about his history hurt here and now, Reek was sure he needed to get it all out somehow. He had no one else to talk to (save Jhala) and Emory, having known her so well in the time before Reek's maddening stint in the Teekon Wilds, was the only one he'd trust with his full history.

"We traveled east in search of a new home," he continued, motioning in the direction of the Phoenix Maplewood. "One day, Saena broke off from the traveling party and found a beautiful maplewood just beyond the hill where we had made our camp. Naturally, I followed her." Reek's eyes shot downward and his expression quickly bore the lines of sadness.

"I didn't find her alone..." his voice trailed off, breaking with emotional strain. It was strange, how even after so much time, the moment he found Saena under Luke at the discovery of the maplewood had effected him deeply and permanantly. "She was under another man. It was just so... I dunno, intimate. It broke me Emory -- I felt so small." Reek could only imagine that was how Saena had felt when she found him and Tavi... perhaps even moreso sinse they had actually been physical. "I flipped my shit, but she insisted nothing was going on between them: that he was just a friend, but I still had my suspicions. She introduced me to her friend as her mate and the issue was settled." At least, Reek felt the issue should have been settled there, but the insecurity spurred by the presence of the bluenosed wolf would always burn within Reek's stomach.

"We claimed that maplewood for our own," he continued, lifting his gaze from the ground. "But, for me, life was never as smooth there as it was in Redtail Rise." They both had their tribulations, but Reek viewed his time back in the Rise with rose tented glasses. His view, permanantly affected by nostalgia. "There were bears, coogars... Saena lost her tail completely, but we survived." It was their tenacity -- the will to endure -- that Reek attributed to the longevity of Phoenix Maplewood.