Otter Creek Yeah, I'm afraid

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Forward-dated to the evening. Minor PP, lemme know if you’d like anything to be changed. ♥ For @Astrid; in-text tag is for reference only.

It had been so long since his last trip beyond the pack’s borders, a realization that he wasn’t entirely sure he liked, but definitely understood; his body was aging, and so he could not travel the same distances that he had in his youth. This trip, however, was one that he would make no matter the consequences. When last he had been visited by one of his daughters, she had shared the location of her home and even extended an invitation for him to visit, which he fully intended to take her up on. That morning, the Inuk stationed himself along the borders and completed a short patrol, before returning to the depths of the woods. There he found his daughter, Astrid, with whom he exchanged few words prior to inviting her along on his trip; it would be good for her to get out of the woods for a bit, and he wished to spend more time with her. It was later in the day, after evening had rolled around, that the duo set off—but not without Kove first lifting his muzzle towards the sky and loosing a howl, informing @Damien and the rest of the pack of what they were doing.

When the creek was reached, he moved along its bank, coming to a stop just before it snaked its way up into the mountains. Turning towards his daughter, he said, “You’ll want to be careful here. The path is slippery.” Rather than proceeding up into the mountains, however, he settled down near to the water and lapped at its surface, offering his throat some much-needed hydration. As he did so, he considered what next he might say, knowing that he had some news to share before they proceeded any further. Ceasing his drinking, he gave a slow shake of his head, eyes finding their way towards his daughter. The news, he decided, could wait. Instead, he asked, “Are you excited to be going on a trip?” He wished to learn more about his children, as well as figure out which one he could relate to the most.

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[table width=80%][tr][td]She had not expected to see her father, out of all wolves, out on a journey to find her. Whether it was coincidence or free will, the white man had found the disowned daughter and had invited her to come along on a trip. Nyx, although not one to leave her home very often, was somewhat thrilled to explore the Teekon with her ol' man and gladly too the offer (although it didn't seem that way because Nyc didn't show enthusiasm very often). So, over the borders they went on a quite nice evening.

She followed him, recognizing the river from when she had ripped another girl's tongue out. She wasn't going to admit that to her father, but it still brought a moment of power and self-respect to the young crescent moon. They followed the river farther than she had ever gone and just when the river seemed to go upwards did they stop. Perhaps father was tired, or perhaps he thought she was tired. Nyx joined his side at the bank for a quick sip and nodded at his warning. Nakummek. She said tonelessly and resumed waiting until he was done.

Naumani - Miraak only ever took me away from home. That was to the great lake nearby - we shared some thoughts and he taught me certain things. A faint smile crept its way onto her maw recalling the moments spent with the old man.[/tr][/td][/table]

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Since the births of his children, he’d not spent too much time with them. They would cross paths here and there, perhaps even exchange a few words on good days, but the bonds between them were otherwise weak. This the Inuk was aware of, as well as disappointed by. Even the way in which his daughter spoke to him, lacking any true enthusiasm, made his heart sink; it was a terrible feeling. The distance, however great it was, was something that he hoped to cross in time. To connect with his children and create memories with them, as well as better understand them—these were things that he had a strong desire to do but knew well that he must move slow. To rush into things could cause more harm than good, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted. So, Kove kept himself from seeming too eager, a task that was far easier than it should have been—this he blamed on his habit of hiding the emotions from his face, rather than whatever disconnection he might be feeling from his youngest daughter.

Astrid spoke, using the language of his—their—people. It was pleasant to hear, the different tones resonating far better with him than English ever had. “Nakullarpuk,” said the man, glad to know that she wasn’t regretting her decision. In truth, he was still rather surprised that she’d even agreed to travel with him, but he kept that from slipping out. It was rather disappointing to learn that it was not her first time outside of the woods, given that he had hoped to be the first to take her out into the world. No matter, they would have their time together now, and his interest slowly shifted to the reason behind Miraak’s interest in her. Expressionless—he needed to prepare himself, he felt, just in case he was told something that he did not approve of—the ghost asked, “What did he teach you?” He was not against the idea of his daughter being taught to defend herself but, to his dismay, he did not know the other man very well. He was related to Meldresi, his appearance betrayed that much, but his history and mindset were both a mystery. Knowing not what he was capable of, or into, an urge to figure out why his child had left the woods without his knowledge surged through him.

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[table width=80%][tr][td]The disowned daughter had held no real desire to spend her time with her father; as much as she didn't hate him, he was... old and had seemed kind of lame. She was surprised as how honest she was being with herself. Usually she wasn't so good at keeping her thoughts straight about another being. Of course, when he had offered her to come along on a trip had he risen in the cool-ranks, but she still had to see what dangers he could conquer before they got back home. Internally, she sighed, feeling kind of sad knowing she had to return sooner or later - so long had she dreamt of a life outside the borders of the dark woods, and now that she was finally getting a taste she wanted more.

She nodded at Father's approval. Strange - she wondered what Nemesis would've thought of her private lessons with the old Miraak. Knowing the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, it probably still wasn't enough to satisfy her... Bitch. Her ears perked at Kove's question, and her curved mouth turned into a little circle. Well, we had some fighting lessons, some about our beliefs and one about how sex can be used as a weapon - he even thinks I might be a courtesan in the future. She rambled, perhaps spilling too much - but it just felt so great to talk about her own life for once.[/tr][/td][/table]

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Warning: this post is shite.

The girl spoke, answering him, but what started as something he could support quickly shifted into something that made his fur bristle. A flicker of emotion crossed his face, the display brief and unable to linger; it had become something of a habit as he grew older, the limitations placed on his expressions. Sitting up, his body grew stiff and his eyes focused on her own, but there was nothing that might hint at the thoughts swimming in his head. The notion alone that his daughter might someday live her life as a courtesan, of all things, put a sour taste in his mouth, as well as made him question the other man’s intentions. He considered speaking with Miraak, perhaps even insisting that he keep himself away from the youngest of the Apaata girls, but was quick to decide that speaking to Astrid directly might be best.

Shifting, the man cleared his throat, ridding it of whatever crude remarks had become trapped. “I don’t think you should be a courtesan,” he said, keeping things simple and direct. “If you want to train to be a warrior, then do that, but I can’t let you just give your body to any man that wants it.” He could only imagine what his mother might have said, had she lived to hear her granddaughter’s words. “You’re better than a courtesan. That life is beneath you,” added the Inuk, his words accompanied by a slow shake of his head. He couldn’t recall any of his family members having ever lived with such a complicated lifestyle, and so he didn’t want to see his daughter do it, either.

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[table width=80%][tr][td]It was already obvious that Nyx did as Nyx pleased and did not hold the opinion of her parents in high regards. It was her life and she would live it the way she wanted - not even Kove held the power to stop her when it came to her choices in life. Sure, she'd take his opinion into consideration but she ultimately decided. Her time as a dependant little whelp was over and she did not like the sheltering tone that came from her father next. Then again, she did not wish Miraak trouble; the old man was a good teacher and a good man.

And so, she burst out laughing - a high sound that was foreign even to her ears. She threw in as much emotion as she could muster, making it sound genuine and real. I was kidding - Oh my Stars, dad! She chuckled, a grin on her petite, pretty face. Sooner rather than later her father would be gone anyway. This façade she held up only applied to those in her way. At least she now knew that her father held her higher than what she actually was. How brilliant. Aaahh... You should have seen the look on your face. A soft giggle was the end of her outburst as her bi-coloured eyes sought the approval or even amusement of Kove.[/tr][/td][/table]

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It was not an argument that came in response to his words, but laughter. The sound, having become but a stranger to him in the recent years, made his ears fall back. His expression did not change, displaying not even a hint of any known emotion; he was but a statue, wiped clean of trivial feelings by his daughter’s antics. Amusement never crossed his features, nor would it ever, as he glanced away from her. The Inuk’s eyes found their way back towards the water’s surface, where they lingered as he considered what words might next leave his mouth. Ultimately, he merely shook his head and pushed himself forward, placing several steps worth of distance between them. “Stuff like that is nothing to joke about,” he stated, calm yet stern. “Those types of jokes would have resulted in a punishment up north. No elder wants to hear a family member of theirs say something like that.” Although he was well aware that he was in the north no longer, he couldn’t help but default back to the ways in which he was raised. And, as more years passed, the more the distance between the north and the south began to blur.

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[table width=80%][tr][td]Her features drooped into her usual, serious expression as her father was sure to go on and lecture her again. It was something she really hadn't missed in her time she had spent alone growing up. She knew not the rules of familial bonds nor the boundaries placed there by her one parent. All she knew was Atshen when it came to her family, and one could definitely argue that their relationship was unstable to say the least. We are not in the north. She reasoned, pulling her gaze from her father's white coat and to the sky. And jokes can be about anything. They are not meant to be taken to heart. She spoke again.[/tr][/td][/table] 

The table bit shown in all of my posts looks ugly as shit, I groan. Alas, I am far too lazy and lack the time to go through and edit it out of every single post.

The Inuk knew that he lived in the north no longer, for it was something that he could never forget. If he were to look around him, he would find only those of his blood that had been born from his coupling with another being, rather than aunts and uncles, cousins and distant relatives of all other sorts. And although he loved most of his children dearly, they were not of the north, nor would they ever be. The customs were not known by them—something that he had always hoped to fix, but few had ever shown much interest in his homeland—nor the vastness of their family. It bothered him greatly, truly and terribly so, but the information was not something that he could force into anyone’s mind. That, perhaps, troubled him just as well.

Heaving a sigh, he said, “I know that it’s not the north, but sometimes I wish that it was.” The comment made about jokes and their contents was ignored, the subject being one that he knew would only lead to an overly heated discussion—something that he was not in the mood for. So, instead, his focus went into the home that he had left behind so many years ago, into the family that he missed and the lifestyle he could never again settle into. “Do you know anything about the north? My family?” asked the man, turning his head to glance her way. “You speak our language when it suits you, but you don’t understand the meaning behind it all.” Had she been born in the north, in any of the packs that his family had created, then perhaps she would have developed some understanding of it all, but she had not.

Her brows furrowed at his words, eyes searching for his face yet again to see if he truly meant what he was saying. She couldn't imagine what it was like to go from home to somewhere no one knew her and where she was all alone. Was that what had happened to Kove? Was his coupling with the awful Nemesis perhaps just a way to cope with his grief for the life he had left behind? This alone made her wonder what the North was like; where one took jokes to heart and where they seemed to be more strict than in the wilderness of the Teekon.

I do not understand a lot of things. She admitted defeated, pulling her ears down slightly. Why did you leave for the Teekon if the north held your family? your loved ones? Surely it was not for Nemesis. She asked then, curious as always about how the minds of others worked.

Questions were asked, accompanied by a statement that made him snort. “It was definitely not for Nemesis,” he confirmed, shaking his head slowly, almost as if to rid his mind of such an absurd thought. “I didn’t know Nemesis when I left, and not even after I arrived here. I joined Blackfeather long before she set foot on these lands.” He had been around for a long while now, had seen members come and go. “Your mother was not my first wife, and you and your siblings are not my first children,” was then added, just to further show that the woman had played no part in his departure from the north, nor his settlement into the Wilds. The woods, coupled with his sense of adventure and the young Scarlett, had kept him grounded. When combined, they’d made it so that he couldn’t just leave and return to the land whence he’d come so easily. No, he had needed to stay, for not only them but the children he had created, too. And though neither Scarlett nor two of his daughters were around, still, Blackfeather stood tall.

As for why he had left the north in the first place... “I left home when I was younger, driven by impulse and the nagging need to explore that plagues many within my family,” the Inuk explained. “Some of your older siblings, such as Xan, also experienced the same feeling.” The same urge that could drag even the most devoted of wolves away from their homes, and an urge that he both hoped for and dreaded seeing arise within a few of his children.

A sly smile crept upon her muzzle. Who would ever give up something for Nemesis? It seemed no one had to; that woman took whatever she wanted and did as she pleased. Soon enough though, that would come to bite her in the ass. Her childhood had been stolen, but no more would Nemesis mere existence pester her. Then something came that was not expected. She let him finish but soon found her maw hanging agape. I have more?! She questioned loudly, terrified. 3 brothers were enough! Oh God dad, why?!

There was nothing more to be said about the north, it seemed, her focus having clearly honed in on something else—her elder siblings. Following her dramatic reaction, he merely observed her for a long moment, almost as if he might be waiting for something more. When nothing came, however, he shrugged it off and nodded his head. “Yes, you have more siblings,” was his response, nearly monotonous and undoubtedly blunt. “A brother and three sisters—Alexander, Sesi, Nanook, and Desna.” Scarlett’s children, and the ones that he would likely always love the most. Perhaps it was because they were his first, or possibly because their mother still haunted his dreams each time he closed his eyes. Either way, they had always held his favour and likely always would.

“Maybe you’ll eventually meet them,” added the man, though he knew there to be a slim chance of that happening. His son had gone off on his own, two of his daughters were missing, and then the daughter closest to them was sure to be busy. Well, not too busy that he wouldn’t visit her but definitely too busy to deal with Astrid.

Sisters... She never had a sister before then. All she knew was how it felt to have brothers - the favoured, the strong. It dawned on her that, if these women could leave, so could she... Not now, but perhaps when the time was right... Or maybe not even then. She had sworn her loyalty to their woods in her heart - she had sworn it to Damien.

Maybe not. She replied. How come they are not within our ranks? She asked then.

Although it was his hope that all of his children might someday meet, he knew just how unlikely the notion was. A few might meet in the distant future but, as things currently seemed, never would they all be together. A bothersome thought, truly, though he spent little time dwelling on it. There was a question to be answered, and so his attention turned from wishful thoughts to reality.

“Because they were not born into our ranks,” was his reply. “They were born into the pack that I founded, and once led, with their mother. And when things fell apart, your brother was the only one that chose to follow me back to the woods.” For a good portion of his childhood, Alexander had been a member of Blackfeather Woods. Something had happened, however, that pushed him to take his leave—but this something remained a mystery to the elder Inuk. “I don't know why your brother left,” Kove told her. “He never did give many answers, even when he was just a boy.” Nor did the man ever press for them, though he now wished that he had.

Founding packs? How did one do that? Why had Kove never told about his pack-founding skills before and not gone out of his way to teach her how? Today was a day of mystery, the past of her father and the new of lost siblings. The Night was interested and yet a little angry that this had never come up in one of their conversations before. 

Is my brother a mute, or was he just not fond of speaking? She questioned. What was your pack called? Who was the lady you took as your own before Nemesis? Why did she leave? She shut herself up before the questions became too personal, but she was afraid she had broken the ice too suddenly.

In an instant, he was bombarded by question after question, the words seemingly having no end. A frown darkened his expression, then deepened with each word that passed his daughter’s lips. Just as the final one had escaped her, he barked a sharp, “Enough,” before falling silent for several, long seconds. Closing his eyes, he drew in a breath and focused on soothing himself, the search for his piece of mind having begun. And, once it was found, his eyes reopened and he stared at his child, expression void of every emotion known to life itself. There had been a moment, ever so brief, during which he’d allowed for his anger to rule his being—an occurrence that he was not fond of, nor would he allow to happen again in the presence of his youngest daughter.

“Neither,” he began slowly, answering the first inquiry. “Alexander has never been a mute, just as he’s never even been silent. He just doesn’t like answering most questions.” Or, when he did, the answers weren’t the least bit insightful. “My first wife was Scarlett—a wonderful woman, and someone that I probably never deserved. But we claimed a home together anyways and declared it Bearclaw Valley.” He had wonderful memories of the place, as well as of her. Yet, nothing can always be great. He also recalled the bad times, along with all of the negative thoughts he’d had and words he’d spat following their separation. The memories were enough to make him say, “As for why she left, I can’t share that with you.” Surely, it would have upset him even more than her onslaught of questions.

She knew it hadn't been wise to ask so many questions at once, but Nyx was a curious creature when it came to her father's past. She had never found him an evil man - not nearly someone a woman as Nemesis had deserved. Strangely, she rather liked him, even though he had also not played a huge part in her younger months. Hell, he was more of a friend than a father, even though she was proud to call him it. That he answered her questions, despite having clearly had enough of them, was a sign that he was a far more reasonable wolf than her supposed mother.

She listened intently, though it was not said in a story-telling way - not like Damien's. They were more matter-of-fact-ly, and she wasn't sure if she liked it more. A wonderful name, too. She softly commented when he told of Scarlett, going silent again as he continued. That he wouldn't tell more was something she rather not questioned; it was fine as it was. She weaved her own little ending to it and was done with poking her nose in places it didn't belong in.

Shall we continue? Was the last question that came out of her.

A wonderful name indeed, though he wished she was not only that. Alas, he could not alter the past, nor could he revive her and start anew. Things were as they’d played out in the years prior, and that was something that he would simply have to live with; though it pained him to do so, he could not do otherwise. Realising then that the questions had ceased to come—the last words spoken in relation to the topic were of Scarlett’s name—and the request to continue was made, he gave a stiff nod of his head. Turning his nose towards the mountains, however, he felt himself unable to challenge their might. Speaking of the past, however vague he might have been, had taken a great deal out of him, as well as continued to weigh heavily upon his shoulders, even then. Thus, it was with a shake of his head that he turned back towards the woods and said, “We’ll return home for now. I’ll take you north another time.” It was with those words that he turned his body fully and nudged at her shoulder, insisting that she walk along with him as his legs carried him home.