Larksong Grotto Plastic bag, middle class, polyethylene

Maybe @Vuk? Or @Terich-mir? Or both! I have to be bit vague because of Reek's thread with the bear, but I wanted to get a new thread up.

What Reek had believed would be an emotional catharsis turned out to be a curse. After visiting what he believed to be the grave of his ex-mate and first litter, the maplewood, the emotional burden of guilt hung heavy on Reek's back -- renewed in full. He washed his paws in the blood of his former claim and the family that he had left behind. The fault, in his mind, lay completely with himself. With the first deal he had made with Sleeping Dragon, he had drug his old wolves into an inevitable conflict. Though he had been cut off from the wolves of the maplewood, it was still his responsiblilty to protect them from afar... in that, he had failed.

In the end, Reek was powerless. The coalition between the grotto and the dragon wolves crumbled and factors beyond Reek's control escalated until the maplewood's destruction was inevitable. There had been too many variables tossed into the equation to the point where Reek no longer felt in control -- where arguably, he had never been in the first place.

He had made it this far by trying not to thing about it, but try as he might, Reek returned to the grotto with a heavy heart and a broken spirit. His eyes trailed the ground as he walked: his head, full of thoughts about the children he had condemned to death -- his own. Once over the border, Reek directed his course straight to his cave.

Usually, he greeted his tenants with a gift of some sort. Something for Seff to play with when he got older or a scrap of food he could scrounge up, but this time, Reek returned empty handed. He entered the cave unannounced and settled against a wall with his head rested gently on his tucked forepaws.