The Heartwood But now it's like the night is taking sides

AW

He'd been leaving bait out in the forest for a week now, and had come back to find each night to keep record of what it was he'd managed to lure. Thus far, it seemed like he'd fed a lone wolf, a coyote, and a fox- but the fox had been the first to realize that these offerings were being left in one place, repeatedly- and so, it had come back the past three nights in a row. Bronco left the lure- something small, almost as though it had been dropped, like a hare's leg or half a fish- every evening and carried the rest off himself, returning in the morning to see his lure snatched. Now, though, it was time for him to take back both the bait, and hopefully the fox who had taken it. 

He lay in wait, watching in the darkness to see if it would approach on the this, the fourth night. And sure enough- not long after darkness fell, he could hear a small creature approaching. He scanned the area for a glimpse of red fur but found none, and it was only when he saw a ripple in the darkness that he realized he ought not be looking for a red fox- but for a black phase one. It was a beautiful example of its species- and his heart leapt. This fox's pelt would be absolutely perfect. 

Carefully, but with some amount of certainty, it made its way toward the morsel of food he'd left out, sniffing the area cautiously. He knew it would smell him- but that hadn't seemed to bother it on the other nights he'd been leaving bait out. It probably assumed he was simply a forgetful creature, or one who dropped bits and pieces of food here and there. Nevertheless, it went straight for the bait, and Bronco charged toward it. 

It faltered for a moment, torn between grabbing the hare's leg and running or leaving it behind, and ended up abandoning the morsel of food altogether as it dashed away. On a sprint, it could likely outpace him and out-maneuver him; but Bronco had followed the fox for days now, and knew its patterns. He was hot on its heels every step of the way as he pursued the silvery black creature through the darkness.

That strange, nameless emotion continued to plague Meerkat day after day, until it began to thieve her of her otherwise constant cheer. There were increasingly long spells of listlessness, where she sought somewhere to rest and simply give into this... longing. She didn't understand why she found herself pining like this, though she had begun to realize it had to do with the Firebirds. Every time she thought of them, the peculiar ache swelled in her and she found herself daydreaming of the copse.

Blinking out of one of these reveries, the youth discovered herself cloaked in darkness, seated near the foot of the mountain. She turned and began climbing up to the grove where she shared a den with her older brother. She hadn't mentioned any of this to Bronco yet, though now that she had finally started to pinpoint the feeling, she wondered if he might be able to fill in the rest of the blanks and help explain it.

When she reached their little abode, she found it empty. Meerkat blinked in the gloom and considered going inside and waiting. But she was too restless. Instead, she backpedaled and tried to track Bronco's scent. The freshest trail she could find led her back down the slopes, toward the neighboring glen, then through it. She didn't hesitate. She was going to meet with her brother soon enough, hopefully, and she figured she was old enough now to venture on her own a bit.

There were woods on the far side of Firefly Glen. She paused at the edge of the trees, sniffing the ground, then lifting her head into the air. In the distance, she heard the telltale sound of paws trampling through underbrush. Meerkat's ears pricked and she began to pick her way toward the sounds.

The fox seemes to sense that it wasn't being chased by a wolf who had just happened to find it- but one who had been planning to capture it for days. He knew where its den was, and no matter how many times it tried to zig-zag its way into that direction, Bronco would correct it until eventually, it gave up and began to frantically find some other way to lose the wolf. Unfortunately for the fox, it was right in Bronco's line of vision- and so it couldn't execute its normal range of tricks to throw him off. 

Desperately, and out of breath, the fox finally made a last minute decision and, in finding the bough of a tree that was low enough, it bounded up, barely managing to cling to the one branch, and began to pull its way up the tree's trunk and far enough out onto one limb so that Bronco could not reach it. Still- a fox in a tree (unusual as it might've been) was a fox cornered. And given how poorly it balanced, hunkering its weight down onto the branch so that it didn't slide off one side or another, it wouldn't be too much of a deal to get it down. 

By the time Meerkat appeared in his peripheral vision, Bronco had tried ramming himself against the tree, only to find that his ribs were still unable to withstand that sort of abuse. He didn't want to headbutt the tree either, and the trunk was too thick for him to simply shove and shake with his paws. So his next trick was a rather awkward one, but ingenius nonetheless. He'd found a long branch on the ground and had picked it up. Now, he did his best to angle the obnoxiously long branch in an attempt to use one end of it to swat at the fox and knock it out of the tree. The fox shifted nervously; the branch swayed closer and closer to where it perched, but he wasn't able to maneuver it well enough on his own. "MURK!" He shouted, dropping the branch momentarily. The fox sighed in relief. -"C'mere a min! I need your help with this stick!"- He called out eagerly, prancing on the spot. He looked from the fox to the branch, and to Meerkat. Yes- if he could get her to stabilize one end of it, he should be able to shove that dang fox right out of the tree- and into the chase again.

The sound of footfalls stopped abruptly, though a new burst of noise disturbed the night air. Meerkat picked up the pace, effectively distracted from her inexplicable emotional state as she soon arrived upon the strangest seen she'd likely ever beheld. Bronco stood at the foot of a tree, a large stick—more of a branch, honestly—clenched in his jaw. He swung it at the trunk as if attempting to sweep it. It took her a beat to notice the fox on one of the lower boughs, her entire countenance brightening as she sorted out what was happening.

"What do I do?" she questioned, bounding up beside her brother, brown eyes roving over the large limb he held before flicking to the fox overhead. It was scrabbling rather frantically for purchase, its haunches coiling tellingly all of a sudden. "Shoot, Bronco!" Meerkat shouted, "I think he's gonna jump!"

He continued to watch the fox with his maw agape, standing beneath the branch and reposturing himself to make sure that he was ready to go when and if the fox either fell or leapt. Meerkat was at a loss for what to do and he was about to mention the stick again when he noticed- just as she pointed it out- that the fox was trying to collect itself onto its feet without losing its balance and falling off the branch altogether. "I wannit!" He yelped. Seemingly startled by the fact that there were now two wolves to worry about, the fox peered this way and that, trying in vain to find the safest way to leap down and away from the waiting predators below. Bronco whirled in a tight circle before he leapt into the air and snapped his jaws together with such a loud clack that the fox was stirred- and leapt into the air, limbs spread, as though it thought it was part flying squirrel. The technique would not work. 

It plummeted to the ground, but the little thing was spry and light, and began to dash off, though the fall had taken a bit of a toll on the dark todd, and had caused a mild sprain to one of his ankles. Bronco- much heavier and clumsier, hit the ground with a thud, but at least he hit the ground running, ready to tear off after the dark fox. "C'mon!" He bellowed, as he breezed down the mountainside, hot on the fox's trail.

Indeed, the fox made a wild leap and soon dashed off into the night. Riled, Bronco urged her to come along before speeding after it. Meerkat promptly scrambled after them both, thrilling to the chase even though she quickly fell behind. Despite her relatively slender frame—and certain folk's beliefs to the contrary—she wasn't actually that agile or quick. Sure, she could run fast in a straight line on flat terrain, but as the fox zig-zagged through the dark forest, every single obstacle, twist and turn caused her to fall further and further back.

Soon, she lost sight of the fox and Bronco altogether in the darkness. Meerkat began to slow, panting as she trotted along in their wake. Despite her own inability to contribute directly, she had enjoyed the chase. Her heart pounded in her chest and she grinned, silently wishing her brother success out there in the unseen night.

When he came back along his trail, he carried the fox's body as carefully as one might carry a puppy, by the scruff of its neck. It'd taken him some time, as he'd elected to be as careful with the fox as he could so that he damaged the pelt as little as possible. He had plans for it, and was delighted beyond belief that he'd not only found, but had captured a unique, black phase fox. There was a bouncey strut to his trot as he approached Meerkat, holding the creature aloft for a moment, before he carefully placed it on the ground, and gently fixed some of the fur around its nape that had become ruffled from his grip. 

"Lookit that!" He said. The healthy creature was an average size, for a fox, but its pelt was a lovely midnight black, speckled with silver-ticked guard hairs. The very tip of its tail was as white as snow. "I'm gonna take this to Kukutux, an' see if she can make it into like...An herb-carry-er, thing, for F-" He cut himself off. Fennec had told him explicitly not to tell anyone. But was there any harm in telling Meerkat? He didn't want to keep secrets from her, but he also didn't want to give Fennec's secrets away. Surely, though, Meerkat didn't count...He teetered on the edge of telling the truth or covering it up for far too long. "Frack. S'posed to be a secret. But you can't tell anybody, Okay?" He asked, sincerity worming his eyebrows closer together as he pleaded with his little sister.

It wasn't long before she caught up to Bronco, complete with prize in hand (well, mouth). She grinned as she moved closer, tail waggling in celebration of his trophy. He set it gently on the ground and Meerkat moved forward to sniff at it, ears pricked toward the sound of his voice as he explained his intentions for the fox's skin. She blinked and raised her head when he fumbled over his words.

-"Who's Frack?"- was all she could think to ask, looking owlishly at her brother. -"Oooh, did you find another possible girlfriend?!"- Meerkat couldn't help but wonder. It made her feel a little sorry for Toad, though it was of utmost importance that Bronco find a match that made him happy.

He practically beamed at his prized catch as Meerkat inspected it. Once she had, he reached down to nuzzle his nose into its soft, glossy fur, rubbing his cheek against its shoulder to revel in just how plush the fox's pelt was. Yes, this would be perfect. 

He was surprised to realize that he'd not given himself away- and laughed when Meerkat asked him about a wolf named Frack. "No, no, nothing like that," He said. Maybe he wouldn't have to tell her, then; maybe they could just bypass the who and take another moment to appreciate what it was he'd caught. "Some pretty though, innit?" He asked. "You ever seen a fox that looked like this one before? I bet they're kinda rare," Clearly, he didn't feel terribly bad for having killed something that might be in limited supply- it was a fox, after all, and he didn't feel as though its looks should grant it an exceptional life when compared to a common, red fox.

He refuted her guess but offered no other explanation, which Meerkat found intriguing. Before she could press him further, he pointed out the rarity of the fox's pelt. She shook her head. She hadn't ever seen a black fox before, though she hadn't seen many foxes, period. The few she had spotted were all various shades of reddish orange, kind of like the splashes on her mother's coat.

That thought came out of nowhere and made Meerkat's heart suddenly lurch painfully. She found herself swallowing against an unexpected lump in her throat. Thinking about Towhee always made her miss her mother, yet in a fond sort of way, not painfully like this. It seemed so strange to her that she would only develop this degree of wistfulness several months after leaving home.

-"Hey, Bronco? Have you ever felt like..."- she began to ask, rather apropos of nothing. Meerkat paused, trying to gather her thoughts and find the right words. -"Lately, I've been missing the Firebirds, like, really intensely. I feel almost... sad,"- which was the trippiest bit of all. Since when had Meerkat ever felt sad?

There was a frown. Disappointment. Sadness? "Oh, Meerk, it's Okay," He murmured, thinking perhaps she was upset because he'd killed such a beautiful creature. Maybe he shouldn't have said that they were rare- but before he could explain that he was sure there were many more like it out in the woods, she brought up something else. She brought up the Copse, something he hadn't expected her to ever talk about with such regret and longing. 

He felt disappointed himself, knowing that he couldn't just tell Meerkat that he felt the same way, to make her feel better, because he didn't. The relocation to Moonspear had brought him so much freedom and relief that he'd finally felt an aching weight lift from his shoulders. His little sister, it seemed, longed for their homeland and, likely, for her parents. "Awww," He sighed softly, and reached out to first, gently move the fox carcass aside- and then to wrap it around Meerkat and pull him closer, snuggling up to her and resting his head atop hers. "It's OK to be homesick, Meerk," He said, his jaw rubbing across the top of her head as he spoke. "It's just like...Missing other wolves, when we don't see them so much anymore...But...Home'll always be there, y'know?" He said. True, they had relocated during the flooding- but they had returned, afterwards. He pulled away so he might study her features a bit. "D'you think it's home you miss, or our family?" He asked. "Does it hurt more when you think about someone in particular?" He followed up, in case she didn't have a clear answer to the first.

She went easily into Bronco's arms when he pulled her into them, leaning against her brother and finding relief in his comfortable, familiar embrace. He offered solace of another kind: he gave a name to the feeling she'd been experiencing. Homesick, she murmured in her mind. It made her think of the word "heartsick," which felt quite apt.

-"Both,"- she answered readily when her brother gently pressed for more details. -"It started after the last time we went there. I don't know why. But I suddenly miss the copse, like, super badly. And I miss everyone there, but especially my mom, I guess."- Her lip very nearly wobbled, though Meerkat managed to take a deep breath and hold it together, clutching more tightly at Bronco.

-"But I don't want to leave Moonspear or anything. I like it there, a lot. I like living in the grove with you, in our sparkly den. I like all the friends I've made. I just wish I could live in both packs at once. That's not a thing, is it?"- Meerkat couldn't help the hopeful note in her voice or her soft gaze as she leaned back to look into her brother's face.

He'd figured that Meerkat might be missing her mom, but he could understand missing her birthplace as well. There were comforts and memories that she associated with the Copse, having been born and raised there in such a loving and scenic environment. The mountain itself was a physical challenge, and while Bronco had adjusted to it enough that he found himself enjoying the challenge (and the fact that it was starting to make him RIPPED) he realized that Meerkat might not feel the same way about having to face either an incline or decline every time she went somewhere. 

She sounded quite woebegone when she spoke, and Bronco held her tight, giving her a squeeze when she admitted that she missed her Mom. He figured Towhee might do the same, if she were there to comfort her daughter. In her place, he would step in, and do what he thought Meerkat needed most. "Yeah, I bet. You've got a pretty awesome, wonderful Towma," He said. "D'you think you're just missing her, or are you worrying about her?" He asked. As a child, he had departed from the pack once- and when he'd come back, he'd only had weeks with his father before he had passed away. He didn't want to think that Meerkat feared that she might one day realize she was missing out on time that could have been spent with her mother- but realized that it was still a possibility. 

When she looked up at him with her warm, brown eyes, and touched the tip of his nose to hers. "If you feel it, it's a thing." He said. "I think it's definitely possible to love two places, and all the wolves that come with it. And to miss one of them, while you're at the other. D'you think you'd miss Moonspear, if you went back to the Copse?" He asked.

Still clutched tightly in Bronco's embrace, Meerkat could only shrug at his question. She had no idea where the feeling had come from or why it afflicted her now, months after leaving home. She hadn't felt like this the day they'd left, nor after their first visit. It was confusing and inexplicable, though talking to him about it definitely helped her make some sense of it.

-"Yes, I'd definitely miss it. I swear I don't want to leave."- She paused thoughtfully. -"Although..."- But she let the thought trail off and didn't finish her sentence, instead lapsing into a thoughtful silence as she hashed out her own thoughts for a moment. When she spoke again a beat later, she said, -"I do really miss certain places in the copse. I didn't even think about it at the time, I was just so excited to get going. But I miss the rendezvous site... seeing Weejay's garden... the river..."-

Abruptly, she found herself thinking of Nüwu. Meerkat hadn't known about homesickness at the time, yet that must've been what her friend had experienced while temporarily displaced from her home. She found herself wondering if Nüwu and her mother had ever returned to their island, with sand similar to the silt that lined the river winding along the edge of Sun Mote Copse. Her heart twinged in her chest and she tipped her head to peer up into Bronco's eyes.

-"This is totally random but if I wanted to take a trip somewhere—other than the copse, I mean—would you go with me?"-

To Bronco, it sounded like Meerkat was definitely homesick. She was a year younger than he was, after all, and he'd taken an entire year of pack life with the Firebirds before he'd decided finally to venture out. Even the others his age had waited until they were about a year old. Meerkat was much younger- and perhaps, he wondered, that made all the distance. While he was a loving and careful guardian, he wasn't her parents, and the mountain wasn't her familiar birthplace. So for her to be homesick made complete sense to him. "It's OK," He said with a smile. "We had a pretty great place to grow up- an' maybe you didn't get as long there as most of us did, so it's OK to miss it." He said. A thought struck him and he chuckled. "Even right down the smell of the bog alnog the borders," He said. 

Her train of thought seemed to switch after a moment of silent and she looked up at him as though she was about to ask a very important question. So he was surprised when she mentioned not the Copse, but somewhere else. "Oh? Of course; that's what I'm here for, silly," He said, and nuzzled her cheek. "Where'd you want to go?" He asked, having a feeling that she might have somewhere in mind already.

"...maybe you didn't get as long there as most of us did..." These words hit a nerve, making her heart twinge poignantly. Meerkat was pretty sure he'd hit the nail on the head there. She'd been so young and eager, she hadn't really given her decision the weight it deserved. It was all catching up to her now, as she grew older and wiser in the ways of the world. Despite her insistence that she didn't intend to leave Moonspear, she began to wonder if she might head back to Firebirds eventually. They hadn't really talked about that, any more than they'd discussed much beyond the relocation itself at the time.

Taking a deep breath, Meerkat refocused on her newer train of thought. -"Did I ever tell you about Nüwu from Yuèlóng? I met her in Firefly Glen a while back, during the rainy season. I think she was homesick, though I didn't know what that was back then. Her pack had to move to avoid flooding. But I bet they're back on their island now, right? I think it'd be fun to visit there sometime. First, I gotta figure out where it is, though..."- Surely someone from Moonspear knew and could point her in the right direction. Most likely, she should consult with one of the leaders about it, to ask if there was any existing relationship between the packs.

She seemed to seep into a more comfortable zone when she began to speak of something else- a friend of hers that she'd met, and he was interested to hear that his little sister had found a stranger in the Glen who seemed to be a friend. Part of him begged him to warn her not to go too far from the mountain, not on her own and not so long as there was a threat lurking out in the wilds somewhere- but given the fact that she might still be rattled upon discovering her homesickness, he elected to save that warning for later, when she might be able to handle it more steadily. Now, though, it felt best to pursue this distraction. 

-"Hmm, I don't think so?"- He murmured thoughtfully as he tried to recall if she'd mentioned either name before, but content to receive her story now. His eyes revealed a glimmer of sympathy for Nüwu, who had been displaced by the flooding- just like their own family had been. His expression turned to one of surprise, though, when she mentioned where Nüwu actually lived. -"An island?"- He echoed, -"Like an island in a river, or like an actual island in the ocean?"- He asked. Like his sister, he had little to no experience with coastal life, and had never seen a real, coastal island before- though the idea of seeing one clearly piqued his interest.

When Bronco asked after the island's location, Meerkat almost said she wasn't sure. Then she remembered and said, -"She mentioned seawater, which means it's in the ocean, right?"- She blinked, more curious than ever about Nüwu's home. If she wasn't mistaken, Bronco seemed rather intrigued too. -"I'll ask Aunt Hydra about it. I want to visit Nüwu but it would be cool if I could go to Yuèlóng as an official ambassador, with you as my professional bodyguard."- She grinned at the thought, momentarily forgetting all about her homesickness.

But it began creeping in within moments and Meerkat admitted, -"I'm really tired. Can we head back?"- She glanced at the fox's carcass. It was small but might be burdensome simply by merit of the distance between here and their den, especially considering the incline. -"Do you want any help with that?"- she offered, glad to take turns if it would ease the trek.

Wanna wrap? :D

Official bodyguard- now why wasn't there a trade for that? Because he enjoyed guarding the borders and being called a guardian, but he absolutely loved his sister- and would have settled in to the official title of "Official Bodyguard" with pride, had it actually existed. Nevertheless, it made him feel proud of himself to know that Meerkat wanted him around, to go on journeys with her and to accompany her. He didn't sense that she wanted him to escort her out of fear- but as a comfortable precaution, and enjoyable company. He spent a lot of time with Meerkat- and was glad that she wasn't trying to ask him to take a step back. 

-"Cool,"- Bronco said, picturing an island out in the ocean. Of course, he had other questions- were they supposed to swim to the island? And if so- how dangerous would that be, considering the waves? Fortunately, Bronco didn't know much about sharks otherwise he might have shut down the entire expedition right there, not knowing that there was a landbridge. He nodded, though, with a fond smile on his features and he gave Meerkat one more good squeeze. -"I'm down for that. Best to talk to Hydra first for sure, since she might know where to find this place, and if not- I can still get us out to the ocean and we can travel along the beach until we see it."- He said. After all, it couldn't be too hard to spot an island big enough for a pack of wolves, right?

They would have quite a fair distance to go to get back to their den, but fortunately, Meerkat offered to help. He could have carried it on his own- but it was sometimes more fun to share. -"I can carry it, but if you'd take it by the tip of its tail, so it don't drag an' I don't trip on it,"- He offered, with a laugh, before they collectively made their way up the mountain, carrying the fox like a precious offering for a prince.