Stone Circle shadows all around you as you surface from the dark

Merrit waited at the edge of Stone Circle, his head held high and his observant eyes set with tenderness upon the sprawling land below. Showers of rain had dragged in overnight and had carried through from morning to the late afternoon, draping the land in a mist that had showed no signs of relenting. And until a short hour ago, Merrit had thought the rains would not cease. Yet here and now, in this evening hour, the rains had stopped, and enough sky cracked through the horizon to allow the sleeping sun to paint Easthollow in a radiant wash of purple and pink. Birdsong chirped in the nearby woods, and the stringing song of crickets hummed softly from the grass. The evening had turned into something beautiful, and the coolness of the air lent a reprieve from the heat of the weeks that had passed.

Merrit had told his mother to meet him here within the Circle, for a purpose he had left undisclosed. He had no grand agenda; he simply missed her, for until now, he had chosen to leave his mother largely alone, apart from tending to her practical needs where he saw himself able - bringing her food, or babysitting the kids, in the times she needed to get away and none more suitable were able to be found. He had not found the chance to catch up with her properly, but @Valette had agreed to give this night to him - and he found his heart giddy with the excitement of a child. He had never been a proper son to her, but he chose to believe that he was not too late to fix that.

Valette made sure to check everything over before leaving her children in the capable hands of Arlette and Greyback. Her pale daughter had insisted on babysitting while she would go an catch up with Merrit. Valette hoped that with Arlette being there to play with the children that he could take more rest. The female trotted to the stone circle to find her handsome son there.

He looked like Stark, broad and tall but not completely. He had her eyes and had more white in his fur. She was especially pleased that the male had kept his front white 'boots' even after his first puppy shed. "Hi Merrit," she greeted verbally before licking him over his cheek. It was good to see him, she was pleased to see him return to Easthollow. She had not expected that he would. Nevertheless, she was glad she was wrong.

Her familiar voice roused him from his thoughts, and Merrit turned his face toward her. "Mother," a soft smile played over his lips and his tail thumped a gentle stroke against the ground. He returned her kiss, offering her jawline an affectionate lick. There was such an ease in being with her again, nothing like when he had chosen to leave Easthollow. He had stirred his anger against her then, but those days were behind him, and he had no intent to dwell in remorse or to return to them. Only the present mattered now, the present, and the future he strove towards. Things would be different now.

And Merrit teemed with the things he could share with her, of wolves he had met on his travels, and of all he had learned. Of what he had found, and what he had not. His tongue held so many words, and they would surface - eventually. But right now, he stilled his mind and leaned upon a greater want to listen. "How are you doing, with everything?" he asked, sincere in his question, and turned more fully to face her. Between burying her babies, and watching adult children leave, his mother had been through much, and he genuinely wanted to know.

Valette smiled and returned the affection for her son. The female loved spending some more time with her son. When he asked her how things were going she started to nod. "I'm good. However, this litter has been tougher on me than my previous. I am still not in the same shape but I am getting there. It is wonderful to have a mate that stays and takes as much care with the children as I do. However, I do worry that Greyback is pushing himself too much. He is getting older...," she admitted that last bit more softly. "But he is doing wonderful. I don't think I would have made it without him." But then she probably wouldn't have a litter. She learned from her past. She did not talk about the ones she buried. She couldn't talk about them yet. She was pushing down those feelings, hard.

"We are with many members but thanks to our bison her we manage," she nodded. "We will have more pups from Laurel. Hopefully, she had an easy birth," she spoke. She then looked to the side at her son. So handsome, much like his father. However, she had the idea she spotted a bit more emotion on him ever since he returned. "How about you? How were your travels? Will you tell me about them?," she asked curiously. She wondered what he had been looking for, perhaps not, or perhaps he did. What if he had found Stark alive, he would have told her already, right? Valette was not sure if she wanted Stark to be alive. If he was dead then his actions were not as heartless.

Merrit listened to every word she said, and every word she left unspoken. He felt a familiar pain twist within his chest when his mother spoke of Greyback, and how the patriarch had stuck around -- and how he helped, in ways his father never had. A part of Merrit still thought it unfair that it had to be Greyback and not Stark who was with his mother now; the prince wanted to believe that his father would have helped her, too, if he hadn't been so sick. That he would have stayed. That there must have been a reason for him to leave, in the way that he had.

But in this case, Stark's silence spoke. Merrit would never know what father would have done. He would only ever know what he did, what he failed to do, and what Greyback had accomplished in his place. Everything Greyback was, Stark should have been, and Merrit still wished to hear his father's name in place of the man who had succeeded him in every better way.

He almost missed her questions, but her voice shifted enough for him to catch onto the queries she raised. Still, he met her with a distracted, "Hmm?" before he realized what she had asked, and amended with a quick, "Oh - yes. Of course. And - I'm glad you've been supported here," he added as an afterthought. Everything aside, he was thankful.

"I didn't find father," he decided to get that out of the way before he spoke of anything else, "But I realized that while I was looking for him, I failed to see the wolves who cared about me here. The wolves I care about, too," he continued watching the sunset, but squinted, "And once I realized that, there was no other way for me but to come back. To live better this time." He had come to see how as well; he had asked his mother about trades before, but their conversation had never moved much beyond words. He was ready for that to be different now. "I would like to learn our history," and if any wolf could teach him that, that wolf would be Valette, "I would like to learn how to heal. I would like to learn how to fight and defend. And I would like to learn how to lead."

Valette nodded in agreement when Merrit spoke of her being supported here. Yes, she had been supported by lots of members who she saw as part of her family by now. Merrit instantly started that he hadn't found his father. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding. She looked compassionately at her son. Not sure what to think of it. She was troubled with the news as well. It was still a part of her life, she had Merrit, Arlette, and Keen because of him. It was nice that Merrit realized that they were the wolves he cared about.

"I'm still so conflicted about your father," she admitted to him. "It is frustrating for me as well, to not know his reasons. And perhaps, it was not even a reason. See? I find it very mature of you to realize this Merrit and have the strength to return," she spoke to her son. It showed that he was better than his father already by just making those decisions. She looked at him proudly. "I'm proud of you. You know that right?," she spoke. "If you have any questions about your father you can always ask me."

Valette dipped her head when he said he wanted to know about their history. "I can tell you the history if you like," she stated. It was becoming a long story. "I cannot teach you how to heal, I am afraid. I know bits from puppy injuries, small cuts and things like that. However, I can teach you how to lead, at least my perspective on leadership that is," she continued. Valette had not felt like a leader when she started as a Beta. The female had been a loyal follower to Steady and grew from there. Steady's leadership had been harsh at times but fair. She tried to be fair and just, without being too harsh. She glanced at Merrit with a smile. "Does that mean you want to take over Easthollow one day?," she asked with a smile. She realized that one day even she would have to step down.

He heard his mother’s quiet breath and wondered what relieved her more - that his father’s absence might still be ascribed to death, or that his absence might ensure he would not return and throw what she had found without him into a state of chaos again. 

His Mother seemed to read his thoughts, and her answer satisfied the questions he considered. His father might be dead, or he might still be alive, but whichever the case, Merrit would not dwell there, for he would not continue to compromise his present joy with a past and a future he could neither change nor predict.

He did not expect her praise, or the look of pride he caught in her eyes. He did not deserve them, but he dipped his nose with a grateful tip and offered her a boyish smile, a look he had sometimes given her as a pup, and that he now reserved for her alone. “Thank you, Mother. When I have questions, I will find you first.”

Sentiment gave way to duty, and he regained a stoic air about him, serious and intense as he considered all he could learn from Mother - and all he would need to look elsewhere to study. “Hm,” he thought aloud, “I will travel to each of our allies and see if they have competent healers who would be willing to pass their knowledge to me, if I have your blessing, of course.” But that was all they could teach him. “In the meanwhile, I would like if we practiced our history together. You are the one who knows it all. And there is no other wolf I would rather learn to lead from than you,” and though he tried to remain straight faced, he couldn’t help but share in the smile she offered him, though his cane far more reserved, and shyer, than hers, “One day, yes. If you find me worthy to step into your place, or alongside you. Easthollow is my family; it is here my heart stands. And if I could one day emulate the strength and kindness I have seen in you, then I will be satisfied to say I have done well to honour our name and to carry on your legacy within the wolves who will come to call this Hollow home.”

Valette was glad that her son would come to her first when he had questions about Stark. She hoped that she could answer them truthfully as she did now. The female had always been very open about her relationship with Stark and that she wasn't keen about the fact that he left. It was only natural. Merrit showed that he was a good son by trying to learn trades that they needed. "Of course you have my blessing," she spoke with a firm nod to the young male. She would love to see him in such an important role as a healer.

"Oh? Well, that can be arranged. It is true that not a lot know about the whole history. So many left us," she ended in a whisper. The female offered an encouraging smile at the young male. Valette was quite touched as he continued about wanting to lead one day. He took a very serious approach towards it. At first, Valette felt that it was more of the Stark in him to speak this way. But then she remembered how dutiful she had been to Steady. She had no ambition to lead at the time but he had been a great inspiration for her. "Oh, Merrit. That sounds wonderful," Valette spoke, feeling almost flustered at the kind words of her son. "I hope Easthollow will be a home for our family for a long time," she admitted.

It was not a bad idea to start teaching Merrit the ropes of leading, alas, how she was leading Easthollow. Perhaps one day she would not be here anymore and then it would be nice to have her family continue this pack. "How far do you want to go back in history?," she then asked, perhaps now she could give him the first part of what he wanted to know.