Wheeling Gull Isle seigeda

By the time they made it to the island, Towhee realized trying to make sense of this situation was a lost cause. She stood on the beach as Heda issued unheard orders to her remaining children. Her orange eyes bounced from one pup to the other, still in disbelief that @Anathema wasn’t among them. Her gaze cut back to Heda when the pale she-wolf began shouting, presumably calling her husband’s and son’s names as she took off across the island.

Towhee still didn’t move. She eyed the remains of the whale with an ominous feeling settling in her chest. She then began to walk, not bothering to call out but instead sweeping the island for any glimpse of them. By the time her feet carried hear near The Lion’s Den, she found herself crossing paths with Heda again and some smiling stranger.

She stared at the latter for a beat, then started when someone she thought was Caracal flashed past toward the cave. Towhee spun, realizing it was Dinah even as the young girl disappeared into the darkness behind her mother. Compelled by a decidedly uneasy intuition, she gave the unfamiliar man one last mistrustful look before ducking into the cave herself.

There was Caracal, disheveled and filthy, spread eagle on the cold floor and partly submerged in a stream running through the cave. Ignoring the strong smell of death, Towhee made a noise and rushed to her son’s side, bumping into Dinah as the girl went to clutch at her father. Towhee denied a similar impulse, instead grasping at her son’s stiff scruff and pulling him clear of the stream.

What, she gasped when she let go of him and crouched to check if he was breathing, the actual f—

He was breathing, very shallowly. Relief flooding her, Towhee’s eyes panned over Caracal, wondering at the filth and gore crusted into his fur. He looked like he was wasting away. This wasn’t the work of some fermented fruit. What had happened to him? Where was Judah? She had so many questions but as she rested her paw over the slow rise and fall of her unresponsive son’s flank, an incredulous Towhee could only marvel at just how far a situation could spin out of control.