Moonspear Let the shiver of it sting you

@Rannoch! :D

This was... boring.  As naturally affable as Gannet was, even he could feel his patience slipping away with the situation.  Much as any wolf would, he hated being stuck lying down, but he knew (and had been told a good many times) to move now could cause the healing to go wrong.  The thought of it kept him restlessly bedridden, at least for the moment.

Hydra and Lyra came at times, though he failed often to determine which was which, or that there was even a difference.  All were just Hydra to him, in his assumption, unless the distinction on healing was made.

At the moment, however, no one was there, and Gannet lay facing the entrance to his shelter, watching the birds pass outside and trying to ignore the throbbing from his broken limb.  Even those things given for the pain couldn't ease it entirely, but it was at least at a level where he could pretend to ignore it.

In the days since Gannet's unexpected arrival to Moonspear, there had been an overabundance of topics that had occupied Rannoch's mind. Gannet, for the most part, remained in the forefront. Even before his arrival, Rannoch had known of the black-socked man. Gannet had been a constant source of joy in Liffey's childhood, and she had told him of their misadventures on more than one occasion. 

Rannoch approached the den that he had once occupied with a goose hanging from his jowls. Rannoch had wanted to check-in on Gannet to see how he had been faring since he had undergone Lyra's care. Though his injury had not been as severe as Rannoch's, he knew that Gannet would benefit from some quite after all the commotion that had happened on the borders. 

Well aware that there was a possibility that Gannet might not even know who he was, Rannoch stopped at a distance and dropped the goose at his paws. "Gannet!" he called, beckoning to the wolf that laid in the foyer of the medicine den, "Would you mind some company?" 

After a time, Gannet's ears pricked as someone approached and called out a greeting.  A male, from the sound of it, so not Hydra or Liffey.  He wasn't sure if he was going to meet anyone else, honestly.  He wasn't exactly supposed to be here, after all. 

It it was a welcome interruption to his... birdwatching? So he lifted his head and peered out.  "No." He responded, curious.  Who was this new stranger?

When Gannet responded, Rannoch collected the goose in his jaws and walked towards Moonspear's unexpected guest so that the two would be able to converse without shouting at each other. It took the Delta no time to clear the distance between them, and when Rannoch stopped, he placed the meal on the snowy ground and nudged it towards Gannet. "Eat up," he offered with a smile. 

Rannoch sat then, his eyes settling Gannet. "I'm Rannoch, by the way," he smiled, "My wife, Liffey, had told me about you before you even came here. It's nice to meet you and see you're doing better." Rannoch knew that Gannet was in capable hands but, even with their brief exchange, it was evident that he was doing better than Rannoch had anticipated.

He came, and bearing gifts too! Rannoch would have been taller than Gannet standing, but from their current perspective, he towered over him.  Gannet has grown into his lanky build, but he had nothing on Rannoch's solidness.  His friendly tone, however, gave the pale stranger no reason to expect he'd come seeking trouble, so he simply greeted him with a smile and a thump of his tail.

He took the offer appreciatively, but didn't immediately tuck in.  Instead he paused, cocking his head.  "Liffey's husband?"  She'd really settled in, hadn't she?  That explained why she'd never come home, and Gannet felt even more at ease.  A friend of Liffey's was surely a friend of his.  He was happier still to hear she'd spoken of him.  Her greeting, and now this, showed she hadn't forgotten their friendship, despite meeting so many new faces.

"Rannoch." He tried out the name.  It fit him well.  "Thanks!  How long've you known Liffey?"  He was curious to know, partially because it provided a bit of insight into where she'd been.  They'd both come a ways since their days of play in the Caldera.

When Gannet echoed the news that he had been given, Rannoch couldn't help but put forth his goofiest grin as he nodded to confirm. He couldn't help but smile that way when he told people that he and Liffey were married; joy filled him every time that he mentioned her. 

When Gannet asked about how long it had been, Rannoch paused in thought as he considered the tenure of their relationship. To him, it had felt as though it had just happened yesterday but knew that wasn't true. No, much more time had passed since their fateful encounter underneath the starry sky. 

"I'd say... a while?" he concluded lamely as his ears flattened to the top of his skull. "Sorry, I honestly lost track," embarrassment was evident in his voice, "But, I know that it's been long enough for a few seasons to pass." Rannoch licked his lips and hoped that his answer would suffice.

A few seasons.  So probably as long as she'd been gone, about.  Or at least a good part of it.  There was no jealousy in Gannet's heart; he'd never been the jealous type, nor with objects nor friends.  Just happiness that she'd had someone to travel with.  He'd been on his own during his own foray, at least a good part of it, and it was less fun the longer it lasted.

The concept of what he spoke of seemed foreign, though.  Gannet hadn't given much thought even to the possibility yet, despite being of an age where it was likely approaching. He'd never stayed in one place or bonded enough to consider it.  "How is marriage?" he asked.  He knew his parents', and Elwood and Finley, but he'd always only seen it as a means to better lead together.  It was a change to see two wolves not in charge take the same relationship.

"It's awesome," replied Rannoch without much thought; the answer had come to him immediately. "For me, it allows me to spend a lot of time with my best friend." His tail thumped against the den floor as he attempted to give Gannet the best explanation that he could. "And with the promise of marriage, you agree to stay together forever, which is really comforting." Naively, Rannoch had never considered the alternative; he was confident that Liffey was happy with their marriage. 

Wanting to learn more about Gannet and his history with Liffey, he attempted to formulate a question that would allow his companion to speak and provide him more information in regards to her background. When an inquiry came to mind, Rannoch asked, "When did you first meet Liffey?" 

Stay with your best friend forever.  He had had friends he would have liked to have stuck with for good; Liffey, for one.  Whip.  Peter.  But that never seemed to be the case.  He supposed the promise would be nice, though he had a hard time seeing how one could stop separation from happening.  He didn't mean to get caught in the snow last winter and get lost.  Liffey certainly hadn't directly intended to leave him behind when she left home.  Peter and Whip either, Peter especially.  But sometimes you couldn't help it.  Maybe mateship just meant trying harder?

He contemplated this as long as it took Rannoch to ask his next question, and then it left him as he answered enthusiastically.  "we've been friends forever!"  Practically, it seemed.  He couldn't really remember a time she wasn't around; though she was younger, he'd been fairly young when she was born.  

"Least, till last winter."  Winter had never really been kind to him, had it? He didn't mind it much, but it did tend to be the time, if something bad was gonna happen, that it would occur.

Gannet's comment sparked interest from the Delta. Rannoch was confident that he and Liffey had met in the Spring, and he wondered what had happened last Winter. Rannoch's head tilted, and he fixed the resident of Redhawk Caldera with a look of curiosity. 

"What happened last Winter?" he asked, hoping that the information was something that Gannet was comfortable talking about. Rannoch would understand if it was it wasn't, and they would move on if need be.

It was the natural question to follow what he'd said, but he wasn't quit expecting it all the same.  Still, he never minded chatting about himself, though he knew he wasn't great with stories.

"I got lost."  He responded casually, as though speaking of a jaunt he'd taken one day.  "All winter.  When I came back, she wasn't there."  He didn't mind; he'd been sad at the time, of course, but did not take her absense personally at all.  He hadn't meant to leave either, after all!

Rannoch's stomach dropped as Gannet causally spoke of what had happened. "I'm glad that you made it home," he replied, thinking of Cypress; it had been long since he had gone missing, and Rannoch was slowly coming to terms with his brother's prolonged absence. "Being lost is no joke," he admitted with a hint of sorrow, his ears falling as he looked to Gannet. "My brother went missing months ago... and he hasn't come back yet." Rannoch hadn't meant to darken the subject matter but, he couldn't help it. It had been a long time since he had talked about Cypress. 

In an attempt to move their conversation away from Cypress, Rannoch asked, "Where did you find yourself when you were lost?" 

Gannet was sorry to hear about his brother, and nodded in agreement to his statement.  "Mine too," he responded, thinking on Whip.  It had been a long while since he'd disappeared as well; more than a few months, he thought, though maybe it only felt that long.

"I was.." he had to think for a moment, remember the way he had returned.  The direction where he'd found the Caldera.  "South," he finally finished, smiling.  He'd met a good many interesting wolves, and it had been fun running with them a while.  "It was like this, but different."  Blissfully unaware of how very undescriptive they sentence was, he moved on.  "Have you ever gotten lost?"

South. Rannoch's ears perked, and he leaned in as he regarded Gannet. "I've never been that way before," he admitted. When life had taken Rannoch away from the Teekon Wilds, he had gone East. Rannoch opened To the information, Rannoch shut his mouth and nodded; despite Gannet's vagueness, he understood what had been said. 

"Yeah, I got lost as a kid," replied Rannoch. "I was along the coast for a few months during the Winter. It was really lonely." He shrugged then, finding himself incapable of recalling anything else about his time away; Rannoch had repressed that time in his life. "I'm glad to be back here, though," and he smiled at his claim. The Teekon Wilds would always be home to Rannoch.

Maybe going out and getting lost was somewhat of a passage of age, so many Gannet knew of had done it.  Well, at least gone out, if not gotten lost.  I'm glad to be back here though.. So this was his home.  We're Charon and Amekaze his parents?  Surely not; there was no resemblance.  "Are you from here?". Maybe his parents, like Gannet's own, were dead.

"Me too," he added.  This was his home as well, not this place, but the Caldera.  Despite everything he was glad to be here, though some he knew were not happy he was.

Despite his reluctance to share too much of his history, Rannoch felt comfortable enough to share some details with Gannet. "No, not from Moonspear," Rannoch replied with a shake of his head. "But, I wasn't born too far from here. I was born into a pack named Neverwinter Forest, and my parents were the Alpha pair there." Despite the dull sense of longing that he felt, Rannoch also found the conversation thus far to be therapeutic. 

With newfound confidence, Rannoch elaborated. "After I went missing, my parents were apparently killed by a bear, and the pack disbanded due to their absence," he disclosed with a noticeable sadness in his eyes. Perhaps there was something that had changed recently within Rannoch's psyche, as he no longer felt dread in sharing what had happened. Instead, it felt like a weight that he had been carrying had suddenly lifted. 

"My brother, Cypress, went missing, too, but I don't think he's dead," Cypress was strong, and Rannoch could not envision that he'd easily leave this life. He had spent many nights contemplating this but, Rannoch was confident in his belief of his brother's state of living.

Suddenly, he wondered, "Do you have any missing siblings? Or have you had siblings that got lost and came back?" He asked Gannet with a tilt of his head.

Gannet listened quietly as Rannoch told his tale.  They had similar lives now it seemed; Gannet's parents had died as well, though the pack lived on, safe in Finley and Elwood's care.  Due to his propensity for wandering, however, the Caldera hadn't felt quite as much like home without them... every so often there came a day where he felt the ache of missing both his parents and siblings, though he never dwelled too long on the sensation.  Finley and Elwood were great, but they had family of their own to tend to.  Gannet had the unfortunate timing of having been raised by Peregrine and Fox; not one of their brood, like the youngest RedHawks seemed to be.

"Why do you think that?"  He asked, not wanting to be a downer, but wondering how he could know.  Gannet himself had no idea as to Whip or Ferret's status; they could be dead, they could be fine.  "Two brothers.  And some younger ones still around."  He frowned slightly.  "Titmouse, my little brother, is why I'm here."  And he probably wasn't around anymore.  Hopefully not.  They'd look for him at the Caldera; he'd never been the type to seek a challenge, Gannet didn't think, so likely he'd run.  Good.

Rannoch could feel his confidence falter as Gannet voiced the very concerns he had felt; the comment had struck the Delta's Achilles Heel. Rannoch looked away quickly, unable to hide the sheen in his eyes that gave away his remorse. "I just do," he replied, his voice quiet as he focused his gaze on a random spot on the floor. "I can't imagine him, of all wolves, being dead— it breaks my heart. And maybe, just maybe... he'll come back someday." He temporarily stewed in his sadness, unable to face the reality of the situation just yet. 

At the mentioned to Titmouse, Rannoch perked to attention and regarded his companion curiously. "I took care of Titmouse for a time. He was a member of my pack." Ever since hearing of what the yearling had been accused of, Rannoch had thought of him often. "Between you and I, I don't think he was capable of such a heinous crime. It just doesn't make sense to me." 

He watched with interest as Rannoch struggled a bit with his answer, but did not feel taken aback for instigating the reaction.  He accepted the words at face value; he supposed it could be true, and if that was what Rannoch wished, there wasn't anything wrong with it.  He supposed he didn't imagine Whip or Ferret to be dead either; not because it couldn't be, but because why would he, if it upset him?

Besides, this next tidbit interested him more.  "You had a pack?" He asked, interest piqued.  He looked about Gannet's age, and seemed he'd been here a while, so Gannet generally assumed he'd been following.  

It was nice to hear someone agree, also, someone who didn't believe his family needed to pay for something.  A small breath left him as Rannoch said his final words, and he shook his head.  "They think so." He said, somewhat disappointed, but accepting.  It was nice to hear, but Rannoch's beliefs meant nothing, Gannet knew, in comparison with Charon, Amekaze, and their closest family.

"Yeah, a while back," Rannoch replied. "Myself, Liffey, and a bunch of yearlings lived in an area called Northstar Vale; it all went well until Cypress went missing. When he didn't come home after he had said that he was heading over here to Moonspear, I went looking for him. When I reached the glen just below the mountain, I was attacked by a wolf named Vaati for no reason at all. Thankfully, Hydra, Alya, and Lyra were in the area, too, and saved my life." He paused for a moment to allow Gannet the chance to digest the information. "I've been at Moonspear ever since to both repay my debt. Liffey found me a few weeks after everything happened, and stayed here since then." Having no idea what became of the Vale, Rannoch sighed as he paused to think of the wolves that he had left behind. "I'm not sure what became of the Vale. Hydra went over and told them what had happened, but I'm not sure if they're still there or not." 

Rannoch couldn't help but align his acceptance with the tone in which Gannet replied; although he was disappointed, there was nothing that they could do to change leadership's mind. "I just wish there was a way to prove his innocence," he said.

This wolf liked to talk, and Gannet warmed to him quite a bit, because he preferred to listen.  His story sounded familiar; the white wolf.  It clicked, and he thought back to his own encounter with him.  He hadn't seemed like the type to just attack someone, but then again, sometimes individuals did surprising things.

"Yeah."  It was the only thing he could think to reply.  They were stuck, himself literally, in this situation, and there was nothing he could do.  He got the feeling that even trying would only make things worse.  "He just.. runs."  Gannet finally added, looking at Rannoch, perhaps for confirmation.  It wasn't smart, but he recalled some of the tension between Towhee and Titmouse.  He hadn't been around much, but he'd been around enough.  Even his family had thought him flighty.

Rannoch frowned at the information that Gannet had shared; he still didn't understand why Titmouse had done what he had. "I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't run," he wondered aloud, seeking his acquaintance with wide eyes. "It all just seems so... suspicious to the others," he added with a frown. 

"I don't blame them, either," he added quickly, realizing that he might have insinuated something that he had not intended. "But, I know Titmouse and know he doesn't have a murderous bone in his body." 

Gannet simply nodded; he wasn't sure what else to say to that.  There wasn't really anything to add.  It helped to know Moonspear wasn't of one mind, but when it was the minds that mattered that were opposite, little could be done.

So instead he changed the subject, asking about Rannoch's pack once more, in more detail.  He wanted to know how he knew Tit, what they'd done, where they'd been.  It was a lighter note to end on, and when Rannoch eventually needed to head off, Gannet was cheered some by it.