Ankyra Sound boom boom

Approaching from inland, Laurel didn't see any grotto. But she'd found the rude guy's scent at another pack at the coastline, so this had to be it. It was the only other pack she found in the direction he had pointed in, anyway. Glancing around she didn't notice anything that suggested a barrow, but then again, maybe it was deeper into the territory. But then how would he know? Well, whatever, it didn't really matter. Any pack might know more about Lucas or Wyatt's whereabouts, after all.

She waited at the borders without calling for anyone. In Laurel's experience, leaders didn't necessarily know more than random pack wolves anyway, and sometimes they knew less. As she sniffed around the borders, she thought... Was that a trail of @Wyatt's scent? But it had been so long since she had seen him last that Laurel wasn't too sure if she had the right scent there, or if she was just imagining things.

since the wound on her neck had finally knitted shut (though it still remained painful, bald and raw), caiaphas found herself wandering with returning frequency towards the borders. the drageda scum had tried nothing since their raid -- and caiaphas, ever one to distrust the quiet, wondered what silly little plans the dogs of the cliff concocted above.

she was moving at a pace that suggested leisure and ownership of the woods when she came across laurel sniffing between two massive boughs. her tail instantly rose, but the wolf bore no scent of drageda -- and to caiaphas' inquisitive nose, seemed to possess a rather heady pineland scent to her.. as if she were a rogue in this seaside world, and belonged somewhere far more inland.

lifting her head, the siren cleared her throat -- her eyes measuring laurel with a rapacious and experienced efficiency.

One ear turned the way of the stranger that approached, then her head followed suit. She looked at the wolf, whose body posture exuded leadership. Laurel's posture dropped, for she knew it was better to seem meek than come on too strong at a pack's border. Her tail hung between her hind legs and head carried clearly lower than the area's leader.

No words were spoken but Laurel could hear the silent question linger, as she often had looked upon wolves with the same expression before she was a leader no more. I'm Laurel, a traveller, she introduced briefly before cutting to the point: Do you know a young wolf called Wyatt? Not exactly the child she was looking for, but.. while missing all her children, even the thought of seeing Wyatt again made Laurel feel giddy, all the negative feelings pushed to the back of her mind for now.

wyatt?

the siren's ears pulled back, and for a hot moment her temper flared. what was with all of these detached relatives coming to her door, asking for the whereabouts of what was now in all rights, her children? it was almost as if caiaphas herself had not been displaced from her brood once.

she quickly adjusted the flinty look that had crossed her features, affording laurel a brief smile that was meant to be reassuring and in all probability, was anything but. "wyatt is here." she intoned easily enough, though in truth she felt little goodwill about letting this wolf in when she had spurned takiyok from rusalka's gates. but then again, laurel had provided caiaphas with some humility, her posture bent in the manner of a true subservient. as caiaphas recalled it, takiyok had been too brazen -- and she was not a wolf to trifle with or amuse fools.

"of what relation is he to you?" she queried, suspecting the truth well enough.

Wyatt is here, she shared, and Laurel's heart skipped a beat. She felt a weird mixture of happiness to know that he was here as well as a bit as if a shackle was tied to her legs. Maybe it was good that he was here, and maybe it was good enough to know that he was happy and safe. Maybe this was her chance out of having to be his mother.

Instantly Laurel felt suffocating guilt as she thought these things -- what sort of mother was she? Wasn't it good enough to have Wyatt if she couldn't have Lucas, if she'd never find him..? She was distracted and looked up to meet the woman's gaze when she asked for their relations, and then she looked away again, realising her eye contact might be interpreted as brazen. I'm his mother, she said, though there was little love in her words. It wasn't the tone of a mother who wanted her child back; it was a doubtful tone. She stated a fact while she tried to process the guilt she felt at not wanting him home as much as she should have. Should she try to drag him home..? And what if he didn't want to..? Maybe it would all work out by itself if she tried to force him to come. He had left, after all, and apparently by himself.

How did he get here? she decided to ask. Is he well? No passion in her voice, only a strange kind of feeling of duty, like a general asking about their soldiers' wellbeing. Guilt plucked at her brain. There must be something wrong with her to think like this of her Reek look-a-like child... But she could find nothing more than guilt. No genuine compassion or motherly feelings, especially if he was doing well. Now if he'd gotten here while wounded she would of course take him home right away (and then continue her search for Lucas), but if he'd come on his own accord and actually wanted to be away from her... It made her a little snippy because she didn't believe she deserved that from her own son, especially as he had left without so much as a word, but it was a relief at the same time.

the chestnut loner revealed she was wyatt's mother, a token of knowledge that caiaphas had already intuitively suspected. yet, what troubled the siren queen was the detached way in which laurel addressed the subject of her estranged son -- the polar opposite, it seemed, of the heated passion of the last estranged relative to darken her doorstep.

allowing some of her defensive posture to drop, caiaphas roughly studied the woman in a way that conveyed she had caught the lack of love in the woman's tone. "i do not know how he got here, he has not shared it. but i found him alone, not so far from here, and there are other wolves his age here. there was a big storm and they all arrived around that time." whether it was connected or not, caiaphas didn't truthfully care. "he is well."

if she was a more generous wolf, she would have asked laurel if she wanted to see her son -- but caiaphas was not a wolf known for her token kindness, and instead she simply stood there, letting the silence drift between them without a single shade of remorse.

Laurel was too busy with her inflection to even really notice the way that the other studied her. She was too busy torn between feeling super guilty and relieved about Wyatt. It wasn't that she didn't love him -- she really did -- it was just that being his mother was a very tiresome affair. For that she felt guilty, but also... If he was happy here, then wouldn't it be a win for both of them? Then why was she still feeling guilty?

Luckily for Laurel, she gratuitously used the mouth that she had been given at birth, so she didn't need to be asked if she wished to see her son. She simply asked, with the same neutrality -- that was in fact the result of a storm of emotions going on in her head, so she got into her "thinking face" and voice: Can you call for him? I'd like to see him. The way she spoke was almost a little entitled. Which Laurel hadn't really meant that way, but once it was out, she didn't correct herself.

caiaphas, driven by her own selfish agenda, was conflicted -- she had denied the last relative that came to her borders entry, and in setting precedent, ought to do the same for the estranged she-wolf that now stood before her. yet in that same vein, her ego had been adversely stroked by takiyok's fire, and laurel had done little to earn that same contemptuous treatment the pale northerner had manufactured in caiaphas, by wit of her arrogant treatment of the siren queen.

almost manipulatively, caiaphas also knew if she appeased this woman, perhaps she could assimilate her into rusalka's ranks. they would need more meat shields wolves to help defend them from drageda's aggression, and the wolf was clearly a hardened loner -- that alone made caiaphas wonder if it was perhaps better to catch flies with honey, given rusalka's current directive.

and yet, as laurel asked for caiaphas to call for him, caiaphas wondered why @Wyatt had not shown his face already-- he was often with illidan, and the two made generous trips around the borders.

caiaphas twitched an ear, her face writ with contemplation.

at last, she came to a decision -- her head was thrown back as she called, though she suspected if wyatt had any intention of appearing, he would have done so a long time ago.

Wyatt froze mid-step, not too far from where Caiaphas and Laurel stood—he recognized his mother almost instantly. What had seemed to be an innocent request had unexpectedly turned into his worst nightmare—somehow, someway, his mother had found him. Unable to wrangle the many emotions that came from seeing Laurel, Wyatt's expression soured, and his ears fell flat. 

"What are you doing here?" Wyatt asked, hellbent on keeping his distance from her.

Laurel nodded appreciatively at the woman after she had called for Wyatt. They waited in awkward silence, though luckily they didn't need to wait for very long. The familiar form of Wyatt appeared before long. The likeness to her father made an involuntary shudder run across Laurel's back, though she hid it by shifting her weight from one side to the other.

His own reaction was not very different: the tone of defiance in his voice showed that he very much had hoped not to be found. This brushed Laurel's hair the wrong way; she'd always wondered if he had been killed or had an accident and had wondered how he was. How could he leave without telling her? I was worried! How could you just leave without telling me? And suddenly, it turned into something a little deeper as the words she said really sank in. He'd left. Just like Reek had left. Just like Saena had left. Just like everyone except for Indra always left. Even her own child. I just wanted to know if you are alright, Laurel said with a pained expression on her face as she looked at Wyatt. Perhaps they hadn't always seen eye to eye, and perhaps she hadn't loved him with the same fervour she'd loved Lucas or Piper with, but he was still her baby, too.

caiaphas embraced the silence that settled between them, she herself being a wolf that favored quiet. they did not wait for long -- the first thing caiaphas noticed as wyatt approached was the hunched defensiveness of his posture. bemused, but unwilling to interfere, the sylph sat to the side and observed.

she would not interject unless wyatt called upon her, and though she took pains to hide the sharp inspection of her wandering gaze over laurel, one might notice the invasive way her yellow eyes drank in laurel's features, measuring her tone, expression and inflection with care.

i'll just finish this w/a vague fade since wyatt is at ppc now.

Wyatt didn't seem to care very much for Laurel's appearance here, which admittedly made Laurel feel frustrated. Why didn't he see that she cared for his wellbeing? He was just such a difficult child, always had been, and here he was displaying his difficulty again. Why could he not just be happy to see his mother again?

Little words were exchanged between them, and Laurel left feeling very double-sided. She was happy that he was healthy and had found a place to live where she didn't have to fuss over him all the time. But she also felt snubbed by him not caring at all whether she was healthy and happy. As if he wouldn't even care if she would keel over and die tomorrow.

Laurel ended up leaving for Indra after a short conversation, her stomach heavy with the double feelings.