Hushed Willows ho-ho lunges for the pie.

Poe had been working towards this for months. As soon as she saw them in the distance, her heart had stopped and she'd dropped to her haunches to simply stare for a while and appreciate this moment. There was no guarantee that it was the right place, of course. But her heart told her it was, so she took some time to collect herself and let the glee and triumph settle before she started taking the next steps in her journey.

Happy as she was to have found the forest of willows, Poe was fairly calm as she trotted along. The scent of other wolves grew stronger as she approached, which was a very good sign to her. She had no way of knowing yet that the pack that claimed the willows these days was not the one her mother had once reigned over. She also had no way of knowing in spite of that fact, one of the brothers she had sought for so long lived beneath the arching bows still.

All the Ostrega knew as she stopped respectfully on their doorstep was that she had been gone from home for almost a year in pursuit of this moment. And once it was over, she might finally get to go home. She smiled as she tilted her head back and knocked on the door.

Khali had heard a call echo through the willows. With Lily taking care of the pups and Olive pregnant now he felt the need to greet anyone who Is at the borders. The man was laying beside the den where Lily was, hoping not to disturb her or the little ones he slinked off toward the sound. After a sufficient distance away Khali remained at a steady pace until he reached the sound. The woman who stood to their borders smelled of a pack and one he wasn’t familiar with.

“Hello. I’m Khali is there something I can help you with?” He asked politely as he could muster.  He wondered what pack that she was from but didn’t bother asking her just yet. A small smile formed on his face as he was waiting for an answer.

While she waited for a member of the pack to show her, Poe's attention began to wander a bit. Her gaze slipped across the trees, admiring the little brown notches that she knew would soon enough be burst open with green. She imagined younger versions of her parents coming here and seeing it for the first time, how they felt. From what she understood, their circumstances had been rather dire, though she was positive that at least Harlyn would've been struck by the beauty of the woods in spite of that fact. Her mother had always had a deep appreciation for the natural world, and this was certainly an easy part of it to appreciate.

Her attention snapped to when she heard approaching footsteps. She remained seated on her haunches, but peered eagerly ahead to catch sight of him when he came into view. Her tail wagged a happy dance at her haunches - a joy reflected in the big smile on her face. She was much like a puppy trying to remain politely seated when its owner comes home, but finds it difficult only because they're just so pleased to see you.

"Hi! I'm Poe Ostrega," she said, dipping her head slightly in respect, "I'm... Okay, I'm probably going to sound a little crazy because I'm really excited about this and what I'm doing here is frankly a little unusual, but I think you live in a territory I've spent the last year and a half searching for." Calm down, breathe, okay. "Are you a member of Marauder's Keep?"

She stared at him with giant, glistening anime eyes and held her breath.

He didn't make a habit out of attending encounters like these, not here among Elysium's lot quite yet, but his hunts near their boundary had passed over Khali's fresh trail en route and he felt compelled to follow since he was close enough already. He just made for some extra backup, and maybe a spare set of eyes and ears wouldn't hurt; Silas didn't imagine harm coming their way, but it wasn't like he had other major obligations--so long as he kept up his hunts, and helped restock anything the mothers or pups needed in the meantime.

Since he didn't know how far he'd go, or for how long, he clutched in his teeth the weasel he'd caught and carried it with him. By the time he found the pair of wolves, conversation had begun already, so he was slow to approach with his posture long and low--not intending to sneak up into it, but not the most public with his arrival, either. When he zeroed in on Khali's side, and passed a longer look at the foreign female, and found himself gaping quietly, listening for more far more intently than he had been prepared to do.

Had he even heard right? He had only caught the end of it, but a few unmistakable vowels caught him off guard: Marauder's Keep, and with that he was peering wide-eyed back at her in a new light, torn between worry and.. honestly, everything else there could ever be.

hey pals! I know it's not my turn, but I just wanted to post to keep this moving along. Kind of a very important thread for Poe :D @Khali @Silas

Even as Poe asked, she had a feeling the answer would not be a positive one. Her mother had been hopeful that the pack would remain, but her father had shared a different perspective when Harlyn had been out of earshot. Poe tried to study Khali's face to see what the answer was before he spoke, but was shortly distracted by the approach of another.

Had she not been so eager to hear the answer to her question, she might've taken a moment to notice his features more. Had she paid more attention to him, she might've noticed how perfectly he matched Harlyn's description of her older brother. Hell, she might've noticed the look of shock on his face and let that give her some clue.

But she didn't. Poe merely gave him her usual winning, friendly smile, and looked back at Khali.

hope it's okay i replied again too since he can prob have something useful to add and i don't want him to get the sweep x: x:

Silas stepped forward  a little more, maybe half a length closer to the stranger, and set down his quarry slowly at his feet. Then, he flashed Khali a mightily apologetic look before he could even find his voice to explain, or attempt to. He really hoped he had not misheard. This was going to be a mistake if he had, somehow, but he swallowed his doubts and pressed on, hoping that the shiva might understand where he came from with this interjection.

This place has not been Marauder's Keep in a long time... he said with his ears splayed out, angling back too. But I was.. when it was.. he added, knowing fully that this begged more explanation--which he didn't like, but, felt it necessary. She looked so eager and hopeful for anything and given what he knew, and what he had lived, he wanted her to have more than just a "nope sorry" to take with her.

But that didn't mean he knew why she asked. That worried him too.. in a situation where it was all kind of worrying already. He didn't like thinking about the Keep sometimes, namely how it had ended with Stark's cold abandonment, and this made him do exactly that.

Yeah I'm just going to continue too >_> I have plans to ship Poe out of the game soon so I need to get through this <3333

The former wolf didn't speak, but the new one did. Poe turned her attention to him, hope flaring bright in her heart at his words. He knew the Keep! He'd even been part of the pack! She couldn't believe how lucky she was to have actually managed to find a former member of her mother's pack. She had worried for some time now that even if she'd found the Willows, it would've proved to be a dead end. This was far more than she could've hoped for.

"Were you? Really really?" Poe asked, her smile bright and attention now fully on the new boy, "Do you know a wolf named Pippin Ostrega? Or Silas? They were a part of the pack back when my mom lived there, like two years ago. No! Three. Or... No, sorry, three. Three, right?" Poe paused to consider, but only for a second before she laughed at herself with a shake of her head and continued, "Ah geez, I'm sorry. This is just so unbelievable... But in a really cool way! I just can't believe I found the place at all and now I've even found a former Keep member! That's like.. nuts! I j--" Another pause, but this time to remember herself and realize she was rambling like a buffoon again. She took a breath to real herself in before starting again, calmer this time.

"I'm sorry. My name is Mariposa and I have a rambling-while-excited problem," she grinned, "I've been searching for this place for a long time now, though more so for the two I mentioned actually. They're my brothers. My older brothers. Do you...?" Stoooooooooooooooop. Jesus, girl. She bit her lip and gave him a sweet smile, apologizing for her chatterboxery once more without speaking (for once).

He was no more settled into the situation by the time her attention spearheaded right for him in full, and though his ears remained tucked back to signal his trepidation, he listened hard to the barrage that followed. 

Which.. it swiftly unfolded unexpectedly--she was looking for Pippin and Silas. His blood ran cold then, eyes wide, spurred first by the dread of recollection--that he would wait for them to send word, return, or otherwise. That had been years ago. He had lost count many moons since, and life had chewed him up and spit him out since. Thankfully he had inevitably come full circle and returned to where he had been abandoned. Ah, uh, yeah.. Why was his throat so dry? He was processing this carefully. Being so far gone from all of the family left him feeling strange to be faced with it so suddenly. She was a sister he knew nothing about.. except for everything she hit him with here, right in front of him.

I'm Silas, he awkwardly puttered when he felt that maybe he could get a second to get it out of himself. She was a lot of words.. and a lot of memories and confusion all coming at him fast. It was nothing against her, or maybe more towards what she represented--that his parents had reunited, somewhere at sometime, and that he had more siblings, and that maybe they had all gone on to live a happy fulfilling life separated from him and his. Did they ever look back and wonder of him..? But, too, he wanted to be happy. They lived! So I'm your brother.. but I don't know where Pippin went, he went on with before she could fully explode into rambling again. Why are you searching for us?

Poe noticed the male seemed a little uncomfortable by her rambling, but it wasn't until he introduced himself that she realized why, at which point her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach with a nearly audible thunk. She gaped at him in shock, having not seen that particular news coming at all. It did occur to her that she ought to have, seeing as all of the clues were there in hindsight. But she hadn't, and thus she had gone about this completely wrong.

But, no helping that now!

"No way..." Poe murmured, a smile reappearing broadly across her face. She held her excitement together this time, fortunately for all of us, so she kept herself quiet as he continued. The question he landed on sobered her enthusiasm a bit, but only because she knew how poorly this next bit might go. Harlyn and Mordecai had both agreed that Silas and Pippin may very well harbor resentment towards their parents for what had happened. Poe knew that she would've, had she been the one left behind.

"Mom sent me," Poe answered, grasping at the speech she had rehearsed for months now and not finding it anywhere in her head, "She and dad. They felt terrible for what happened and Mom was--is--desperate to know that you and Pippin are alright. Neither of them can really travel anymore though, so Mom sent me, almost a year ago now."

Some of the shock really seemed to set in after he introduced himself, even with his poor explanation and awkward handling of the entire thing. Ah, sorry..! he un-slicked his ears then, forcibly. She deserved that much at least. He was not making for a very eventful newly-found brother as he couldn't tell if he was more excited or startled, so he slogged through a muddy both. I just didn't really expect.. any of this, really... So I don't know how to feel... every ounce of his posture and expression seemed to radiate, down to the blown-out wide eyes he wore when she said mom sent her.

His heart hurt, conflicted, alongside the rest and unsure of what to say for a long heavy moment after he heard more. Of course they felt terrible. He had felt terrible too, abandoned! Although he had elected to stay in the first place, so was it his fault too? In hindsight, he knew that he should have just gone with them in the beginning--especially when the Keep had left him behind eventually, too. He could have stayed with Harlyn, gone back to her healers, then from there, who knew?  But that was.. that was the past, and he was a different wolf now.

Her answer gave him plenty else to sort through. Well.. I'm well.. I'm alright. I just returned to here a few months ago, and it is a different pack than the one mom knew. I live here with my mate and it's.. it's alright. Silas offered, or attempted to. Then, feeling a furrow to his brow as he thought about his parents again. I hope they're both okay? he asked back, keying in to her saying they could not travel. Perhaps age was wearing on their healths, or a life spent haunted by bad luck had started to catch up. Really, he didn't want to think about it. I'm glad they were able to reunite, he muttered. He had always imagined they had, and here stood the proof well enough. Where are they now? Are you going back?

Over his apology, Poe shook her head to dismiss it. She gave him an understanding smile and nodded as he continued. She couldn't imagine being in his position and to have all of this suddenly dropped on her head out of the blue. She had been gifted with her mother's empathetic nature as well as her patience. Not so much her ability to hold her tongue, though. "It's okay, I'm told I can be overwhelming even when you see me coming," Poe commented with a small grin, "And I get it. This is.. kind of overwhelming for me too."

She listened raptly as he spoke of his own history, mentioning a mate which gave her inner girl a little spasm of GLEE! over the romantic story she was certain was involved. When it came her turn to answer, she nodded. "They are," she said, "Dad found Mom and Larkspur about a month-ish after they arrived in the Forest where Mom's family has lived for centuries. They're there still, and that's where I'll be headed next probably. Mom wanted to come back the following Spring and check in on you guys, but I kinda got in the way of that. Me and my brother, Cajun. Your brother too, actually. But.. you got that."

She fumbled a little, but hopped back on track. "They lead the pack now in the Forest. Mom's the Archdruid, which is the alpha equivelant in a traditional pack. That's why she couldn't come herself, and why she sent me instead," she explained, then paused before admitting, "Well... that and they're both kinda old. They're in good health for their age, but not really up for long journeys anymore."

He was soon grateful that she took his awkwardness with an accepting sort of grace, and they seemed to reach an understanding there that this was.. this was something different. But he had to focus on taking it all in, and piecing together the timeline of his family where he knew his had gone off separately. It was odd to think about suddenly, and even with the more he knew, it still felt strange to him.

At least it hadn't sounded bad for his family, even without him. He knew he should be happy for them and plus, he had new siblings and his parents were safe with his mother in a respected position right where she belonged. That's all.. pretty understandable.. he replied, though it did make him sad to picture his parents aging. Yet, it was an achievement to reach that right in the first place too. It wasn't bad news, just life.

But he hadn't missed that she said she would head there next. That fact did bring something out of him and he shifted himself uneasily. If.. if you do go back to them, will you tell them I am here? It's called Elysium now. I don't know if forever. Qilaq and I needed a place to rest.. still do, I think, he glanced away. He did, even if he couldn't entirely speak for his mate right here and now. Maybe she did too and rightfully so, he didn't know if they would wander again any time soon. Where is that forest? Will you tell them too.. that I regretted not going with them more than once..? I survived, but.. I don't know. Again, he could barely look at her and he felt bad about it as his words shrunk. Maybe he could've been in her life better, not abandoned here alone with Tambourine in the dead of winter. It would have been much different.

There had always been a number of unknowns floating around in Poe's mind when it came to this reunion. Whether it would even happen was obviously one of those, but how her brother(s) would take her sudden appearance in their lives and the message she brought was also quite high on the list. Harlyn had tried to prepare her for any possibility, whether it was sadness, regret, or outright anger. Poe had to admit she was glad that she hadn't been met with spitting rage over what her parents had done (even though she would never have blamed them for it), but she still could recognize that there was turmoil and tension here, and maybe some feelings about the situation that were very strongly felt, but not being said.

Poe, fortunately, was a gentle creature. She wouldn't pry. She hadn't been sent to heal them, after all, even if it was in her nature to try. Just to learn. "Of course. I'll tell them anything you want me to," Poe replied, smiling as she connected some dots, namely that Qilaq was the name of her brother's mate. His question about where to find the forest piqued her interest, immediately sending her to wondering if maybe he was asking so that he might find it one day. She held onto that notion, though, and kept it to herself.

"It's called Sablemoon Forest, and it's far to the South of here," she answered, "If you pass this mountain range to the West, and then again the next and enter the Hinterlands, there's a river that takes you from the coast on down through the land and out of the Wilds. You follow that through all of its twists and turns until you reach the Coast again. There's a mountain range there, and a visible gap between them. Pass through there, and you'll find the forest."

It was a bit more complicated than that, but I have zero idea how else to come up with a description so we'll go with it. "I have a message from them too," Poe said, boldly broaching another level of discomfort, "They love you, and they've thought of you every day since they left. And they're sorry for not find a way to you sooner, and for leaving in the first place. Mom didn't want what she needed to do for Larkspur to ruin the life you had been building here. She thought that she was doing what was best for you both. She didn't realize till later that she perhaps.. hadn't. She's regretted it ever since."

Poe watched her brother carefully, uncertain of what would happen next as she forwarded them into that next unknown.

When she continued to take this in stride and said she would take word of anything he wanted her to, he suddenly wondered--what else did he want them to hear? He couldn't say he had planned for that opportunity to come out of nowhere like this, either and now it had him wallowing in some strange sense of dread. Mostly, he liked to fool himself into thinking that he had internalized this all away to where it couldn't make him wonder about things like that--but how wrong that was. Oh.. well, thank you? Tell them I missed them.. That was the simplest bit of it, almost. Probably not all it could be, but he was never so skillful at expressing himself like that.

Anyway, as he listened carefully to these details of a roadmap. Maybe once before, he had passed by there. He couldn't recall all the places he had been when searching for Qilaq, or wandering lost somewhere in between that. I'll try to remember that, the hunter said, attempting to mentally repeat it. Just in case. Elysium was his home, but Ostrega was his blood and they were no stranger to the urges of wanderlust. Maybe a piece of him liked the off chance that somewhere else in this world, there may be a place welcoming enough towards him too.

As he heard more, he still frowned.. unsure for a hesitant second. It's... I don't want them to have to be sorry. I guess I understand it all.. maybe not at the time, I do better now, Silas shook his head softly, although he could appreciate the explanation and its justification. There was no arguing with that. It was just how it happened to go, I think. Maybe we all chose wrong. Tell her also.. that I'm sorry, too. he nodded. He didn't know what else she might want to know! There was so much, not that he had enjoyed most of it, but maybe he had a future she could be proud of yet to come.

It was a little odd to be delivering such a personal, meaningful message. These weren't words she ought to be saying to him. Sure, Silas was her brother, but they had never met before. These were Harlyn's feelings and regrets to share with him. But the gods had not given her mother the strength to come deliver these words herself. Perhaps that was part of her mother's punishment for abandoning her sons. They had given her the sight to see that she had made a mistake. They'd given her a heart that suffered under the remorse of that mistake made. Then they'd taken away her ability to rectify that mistake herself, thus stealing her chance of ever seeing her sons again.

Poe didn't wonder if that was punishment enough. It was not her place to decide anyway. And in any event, it was a distraction she didn't need from what she was here to do, which was to be a mouthpiece, regardless of how well suited she was for the task.

The girl nodded gently, biting her tongue against telling him not to be sorry. She personally felt he had every right to be angry, but again, goading him on was not why she had come. "I'll tell her," she reassured him. After a pause, it appeared he didn't know what else he wanted to tell her. So, Poe took the opportunity to ask something she suspected she already knew the answer to. "Pippin... He's not here, is he?" she asked, frowning a little.

Being as unnerved as he was at the mere thought of his parents eventually suffering from the natural causes of time and aging, harboring too heavy of bad thoughts against them felt taboo. Silas had already done a lot of his own hurting over it, so by now, it seemed there was little left to feel about it except confused and maybe a little bit weird--knowing that it was within his bounds to feel more, but he didn't have the energy to waste on it, evidently. Maybe having it all be so secondhand, and sudden, wasn't helping.. but he also wondered fleetingly if he would ever actually see his mother or father again. Now at least he knew that unless he went to that forest, odds were painfully slim; it was still too soon to decide how to feel about that information, but it didn't seem to be relief..

No.. I haven't seen him in years, Silas admitted as he slowly shook his head. I.. was traveling a lot before returning here this last winter, and never came across any trace of him on the way, he detailed. Not that he had been specifically looking, as the absence of his littermate brother was another one of those well-healed, often-ignored old wounds, but nothing had ever come up in on his long and winding road. And he was gone from the Keep not long after we arrived. Honestly, I don't know if I would even recognize him if I saw him.. he said, preemptively ready to fumble through his question: Did.. Larkspur? I'm guessing mom's pack helped her heal, right? He was so out of the loop of it; Mariposa might have mentioned already if it had been worse news.. so hesitantly, he was hopeful just to get any confirmation.

I'll hear anything else you want to tell me.. too. About them.. you, any of it... About the life of theirs that he had missed out on. I do want them to know that I am well.. though. Qilaq and I have each other, a home, and a quiet purpose here, he tacked on, so it did not have to seem all so dour with him. He struggled for his place to feel the comforts deserved, but beyond his anxieties about it, he was doing better than he had in months--and he wanted his parents to take some peace in this.

Then came the knowledge that Poe had already figured out on her own. Pippin remained lost. She did her best not to show her disappointment, which was made easier by the fact that she had seen it coming. She'd always figured that he would be the harder brother to find seeing as he had left the Keep before her parents. Still, it was a bummer to know she would likely be returning to the Forest with her mission incomplete, but she nodded her quiet acceptance of the facts Silas shared.

But! At least it wouldn't be a complete failure. And with that thought, Poe bounced back. "They did," she answered, "Her spirit recovered greatly from the work of the druids. She actually took up travelling when I was very young and lives a nomadic life now." She didn't really have any further information on her older sister beyond that. It had been a long time since they'd had news of her, and obviously Poe hadn't been around home in an even longer time to know if there'd been any word recently. She had faith that her older sister was doing well, though. Just as she had faith that Pippin was likely doing well also. The gods had put her family through a lot for what Harlyn had done. It simply made no sense to continue punishing her children.

She smiled at his request, her heart warming as she realized something. "You're a lot like dad," she commented thoughtfully, "I'll have to let him know. He'll be very pleased." She considered his question then and turned to answering. "There's honestly not much more to tell about Mom and Dad except that they're good. The pack is safe. The Forest is peaceful, no enemies to speak of. Life is as quiet for them as can be, in spite of running the show and all."

"The only thing maybe is... they tried for another litter the season just before I left, but the gods didn't see fit to bless them again," she continued, "So mom turned to pestering us about grandkids. Not sure what your and Qilaq's plans are buuut..." She grinned a little.

His littermates had become such distant memories for him and frankly by this point, he too liked to picture them doing well--surviving at least, comfortable in wherever it was that their lives took them, in whatever capacity they needed. That was probably all he would ever need to know about them anyway, and the little bit about Larkspur was uplifting enough for him. Even without ever seeing her again, at least knowing that life had turned around for her was something he could take some solace in.

But, he smiled softly, but still somewhat awkwardly because he was truthfully surprised to hear he was like dad--which was not really a comparison he would've thought to make himself. You think so? he asked, mostly rhetorically. He didn't need an answer, but his tail swayed gently anyway as he listened on, nodding slowly, for any little piece was perhaps all he might ever have the chance to get. Despite not knowing what he wanted to know, he just knew to be happy for any of it--but it was hard for his expression not to turn downwards when she made the mention she did, and trust him, he did wish he could have better news on that regard to send back too. I see.. that's.. that's sad for them, he said quietly with a glance down. Timing has not been right for us yet, either. Which led him to wonder if this was the absence of some great god's favor too but to him, nature had made it pretty clear; neither of them had exactly ever been ready, or in a very good position for young anyway. Not that they were at their end, though. But.. maybe one day, he offered, trying to lighten where it all threatened to sink.

Poe's smiled faltered slightly when she realized she'd inadvertently stepped on a touchy subject. It slid right back into place after only a heartbeat, though this time it was one of understanding comfort instead of mischievous amusement. She gave an optimistic nod of her head as he made his final comment, but otherwise allowed the topic to slide.

"Well, I don't want to take up your whole day or anything, but... I don't have anywhere to be if you wanted to like.. hang out for a while?" she asked tentatively, "We could go for a hunt or just wander for a bit? Maybe Qilaq could come? I'd love to meet her. I could tell you about the time Caje and I tricked Mom into thinking the Gods had turned him into a crow...?" Poe gave a hopeful smile.

Thinking we could do a fade here if that works for you? <333333

More than happy to gloss right on past the subjects that made him sad, her optimistic smile was difficult to disagree with--not that he wanted to! Sure, yeah.. I'd like that, he answered, but his contributions to their stocks for today were enough, and well if they weren't, he'd double up tomorrow. To spend time with family was not an opportunity he ought to snub, and the sanctuary of Elysium was a welcoming place. Not even for a second did he take the time to hesitate over it since how else might he come to know her better, if not now? Even if only for the day, or a few hours.. anything was better than nothing. I actually know a few good trails. We can.. see what we see? And Qilaq shouldn't be far, he said, smiling back softly enough for him.

He could warm up better with a little more time, too, and before he loosed a low howl to let his mate know they would be coming soon to find her most likely, he began to guide their course down routes so familiar to him. Along the way, he was hopeful that Mariposa could take in the scenes--these were the backdrops to a large portion of his youth, and as they traveled, he let the conversation carry so that he may know her more as a sister and deeper insight to his family, and vice versa--him, a brother, something he had not been able to be for quite a long time, so pardon the rust.