Ravensblood Forest and out in the woods lighting struck

It had not been long at all, but she still worried. History demanded she do as such.

Kigipigak was amiss.

She had not seen him for the day and then he had not returned at nightfall. Perhaps he trailed after herds, maybe he went off to find something she knew nothing about. It was the lack of knowing that stirred a frenzy in her. She could not afford to go very far, not yet, but she had to at least look.

So she took to a forest at sunrise that bordered some of their western land. A dark forest, trunks dripped with something that seemed ominous. No signs of a herd, no signs of the snowy mountain of a man.

She released a soft, long call. If he answered, she could go home and rest easy knowing he was close.

If not? Well, she would be forced to search some more.

The call stopped them all in their tracks as they traveled into the woods. @Mou, Maegi, and the children: the six of them stunned into silence as the howl shivered through the trees.

Hmmm, she murmured in contemplation, giving her husband a look before clucking gently to the pups to carry on. It was a searching call, someone seeking someone else, and for a moment she was caught up in the web of her lies and thought perhaps—could it be Niamh?!

Or the ghost of the golden woman, seeking her children. Heaven knows what horrors lay ahead for Maegi.

But if it was someone in real trouble, perhaps they could be of help. If they continued to earn goodwill here and there, they could maybe find a home that would accept them all. The Phox bridge. . .they could cross it eventually.

Stay close to me, she told the children, who obediently clung to their parents' sides—perhaps only by virtue of fear of the dark forest and its bleeding-sap trees.

@Peregrine @Prevost @Vesper @Blueberry for reference

If somebody else was going to jump in first, I can delete this, just let me know! :)

Nothing returned back to her. No deep boom of the large man, no scattering of herds even.

Just silence through the long empty (so she thought) woods. Slowly she plucked along, carrying on and trying to avoid the way the sticky bark threatened to snag her. She could not afford to be trapped. It would slow her down, keep her from her hunt.

Although she swore she spotted something pale up ahead. Her heart, in its feverish pounding, sung out for how it might be him even if the build was not right.

Kigipigak? She called out before she lurched to a stop. Now aware of additional movement with the pale figure she had spotted through thick trees.

This was not him, and yet she had not figured out just who it was yet.

The man followed his family diligently, sloughing off a piece of seaweed which had surreptitiously wrapped around his tail and dried there post-swim; it was hard enough to keep up with the rambunctious children on an average day and this adventure was far from that.

The call that came did not mean anything to Mou; he was busy trying to keep the children in line, and ushering Blueberry to quicken her pace with those little legs. While the other children clung tightly to their mother the little ghost ambled and Mou kept close watch of her.

Maegi's words prompted a flick of Mou's attention and a redirect of his ears; then when the whole family began to march up among the trees, Mou wondered what it was that pulled his wife's attention. It had not been a voice that he'd known, and so it remained unimportant.

Kigipigak? Called the voice again, this time close enough to earn a pause from Mou, a glance. He directed Blueberry closer to her siblings and then flanked the procession in case of danger.

She might need help, Maegi answered in response to Mou's silent body language beside her. But no matter, they were well on their way, and it wasn't long before a voice came to her—Kigipigak?

A name? A prayer? Whoever spoke was not pale enough to show through the trees, and so she squinted, slowing her pace and moving cautiously forward. Stay here a moment, she said to her husband, then gave the children a gimlet look. Stay with your father.

Her tone would not be disobeyed, and once satisfied they were going nowhere, Maegi continued on a little faster, heart beginning to pick up pace. She didn't like it here; it reminded her too much of Blackfeather Woods, and she suddenly yearned for the sea—

Movement, and a flash of sun-dappled mahogany pelt. Same as. . .

Her mouth went dry; she was seeing ghosts. She had buried her son and yet here he was, and not a hair out of place. But—but wait.

No.

The trees began to spin around her, even as her gaze fixed firm on the figure just ahead.

It was —

No.

It could not. She had left behind the woods, filled with strangers who ruined her home. No one she knew had been there.

Why here? Why in these strange, awful woods did she find someone so close to her heart?

Why, now, had the world sought to slowly return all the pieces she had lost?

Yet she was not aware that she was not seen for who she was. Maybe it was befitting. The two of them both in the haze of feeling like they were staring at ghosts.

Her lips twisted and contorted as she considered what even to say. Perhaps it was not real. Perhaps in her feverish worries she had imagined up more lost things. She could not waste the opportunity to speak, though.

Ma?

It was not elaborate, it was not much more than a girl-not-quite-woman's soft voice vying for her mother's attention.

She felt like a pup all over again.

the perfect way for sakh to hit 100 <3

Bade to stay behind among the shadows, Mou accepted his role. He kept watch of the children as they settled and Maegi went on. Should they try to leave him, he would reprimand them in his own stern, silent way. Quick to scruff the more rambunctious Vesper who often led the rest to trouble - though, as the time moved on, the children remained mostly placid.

His watching eye remained upon the children but Mou's ears kept tabs of where Maegi traveled. She did not go far — and when she stopped, he thought he heard her gasp; then came that voice again but speaking so lowly that he could not make out the word. The fur of Mou's shoulders was too damp to spike, yet he felt the nervous sensation of danger all the same, and situated himself nearer the children as a result.

Feel free to carry on without me for a bit if you want!

How could a single word nearly bring her to her knees?

She stumbled forward, breathless, speechless, only a choked, Sakhmet, escaping her lips before she stopped dead, just shy of embracing her daughter. She was afraid, perhaps, of the girl—the woman—disappearing, slipping away within her embrace.

Wh—What has brought you here? she said incredulously instead, drinking in the sight of Sakhmet. Maegi couldn't get enough. So much the same, that blood-red fur and bone-white gaze, and yet. . .she was grown. She had changed.

But she was still Sakhmet.

Uh, Jakoul had told me, she continued, coming back to herself, suddenly aware that she had let a few heartbeats slip away silently lost in the moment, that you were far away. In a new place.

Safe. And Maegi had been glad for this. But this—!

She almost tumbled into her mother and yet she too felt halted. Like a thin invisible wall spread between them. What would happen if she broke it down?

She told me where she was headed to... Loosely. Just that the dark woman had planned to venture back towards familiar places. I got inspired. Her toes clenched at the dark earth, unsure of herself in that very moment.

I found home, but it's not really home anymore. Strangers live in it. Although even if it had been empty, would it have been home?

I recently made a home nearby though... She trailed off.

Sort of danced around the topic that she had already lost somebody that she had just gained.

Salt in the wound.

Maegi couldn't help a smile as she spoke of inspiration. She, too, had never stayed in one place for long. Granted, some of those times were beyond her control. . . 

But the smile faded as Sakhmet went on. Strangers? she asked, lips drawing tight in a worried frown. The young woman must be speaking of Blackfeather Woods; they had shared no other home together. No, that can't be right. Rowan was leading a pack in the forest, last time I was there. . .do you remember Rowan?

Or anyone in the Woods? Jaes, it had been so long.

And now, the revelation that her daughter was forging a new place to live. She canted her head back to Mou, giving him a gentle croon of encouragement to come forward. It's okay, her voice read. It's family.

If Sakhmet meant to found a pack of her own—that might very well solve the problem at hand.

She nodded softly, she remembered the young boy. Although they had obviously not stayed close and she imagined even if she had seen him...it would still have been like strangers.

It was a dark woman and man, someone there visiting them. I didn't see anyone I knew. Apologetic in tone and posture.

Although her mother gave summons to someone behind her, and Sakhmet watched carefully. It was a mystery as to who would appear out of the ravenous woods.

Eventually he was called to, and Mou noted with some apprehension how enthusiastic the children were. They crowed and surged after their mother, and so Mou followed them foremost. As soon as the stranger was spotted the three older kids stopped and fell in line behind Maegi, while Blueberry hesitated in the grass and turned to look for Mou, who arrived last.

The ghost watched his wife first. She seemed calm, if a little rattled by something, and then he looked with his one eye to the red-furred stranger. There was nothing about her that was familiar, still; he chuffed a soft greeting, and then turned to the children to administer some thoughtful attention in case they were unnerved.

No Rowan, nor anyone from the old days. Her brow furrowed hard; Maegi had expected the young man to be there for the long haul. Now strangers ruled the woods. . .

Perhaps it was more worry for Rowan. How could she be upset? She had, after all, abandoned her birthplace. She had no claim over the forest, nor did she want one. But it struck a sour note within her, and she remained quiet for a few moments, before turning to the approaching Mou and children.

This is Mou, my mate. I don't know if you remember him, she told Sakhmet, glancing toward her daughter. He was away for much of your early life. And these, she gestured toward the children with a smile, are our children. Sort of. Vesper and Prevost are the darker girls, Peregrine the only boy, and Blueberry is the pale one.

No doubt Sakhmet would notice the size difference between Blueberry and her siblings. She looked at Sakhmet, her smile growing crooked. It's a long story I'll have to tell you, she murmured. A lot to tell you, Sakhmet. And you can tell me anything, too—as long as you want to.

There was a chasm between them; maybe that was what had stymied her embrace. History they had not built together. Memories forged separately. They could bridge the gap, but it would take time.

Pale moon eyes trailed over each figure as they were introduced. Mou who she did not remember — or if she did she could not make him out as much more than a ghost in those memories. Regardless she offered him a warm, brief smile.

Then there were children.

Vesper, Prevost, Peregrine, and Blueberry.

She did notice the difference between the last little girl and the other three, but she uttered no word of it. She had grown small and lean herself. She wondered if Blueberry would be the same when she was older.

What of the darker set of girls? What would they grow up like?

The only boy? Well, her heart skipped a beat when she considered him.

The disgust she had felt at the pregnant woman's form was not present here when faced with a litter of children. Perhaps it was because they were already out. They were her mother's children. All of them. No matter whatever story Maegi held for Sakhmet.

Which meant —

Siblings...? Can I... She swallowed the lump in her throat as she sunk down some to see them better. Call them that? A look from them back to her mother.

This took precedence over telling her mother of the plateau, of her hunt for Kigipigak. Soon she would fold them in. First she needed to know what she should call the quartet her mother and Mou had brought forth.

Although Mou felt uneasy when paraded out with the children, he knew he had no need to be. It was strange to be meeting someone so important to his wife for the first time - from a part of her life he had somehow missed no less - but he would come to terms with all of that eventually.

He gives a small, meaningful bow towards Sakhmet and the motion carries down to Blueberry, who has started to branch away from her dark siblings; he quickly halts her progress and noses her back among the group, perhaps overzealous with his protection.

Maegi felt as if someone had seized her heart and was squeezing it, tight, when Sakhmet spoke. Of course you can, she said, her voice barely a whisper as it tried to escape her trembling lips. Finally, she stepped forward, letting herself press her muzzle into her daughter's shoulder. Breathing in the scent of her. Remembering. . .oh, remembering how little she had once been.

How big she was now! But still Sakhmet.

After a moment, she turned to her smaller children, crouching lower to address them. Hey, Maegi murmured, smiling. This is your older sister, Sakhmet. 

They stared at her with round eyes. She didn't think they'd remember how she'd talked about the ruddy girl while they were still much smaller, crooning memories into the air as they suckled at her teats. How she'd spoken of Sobek, the twin, and Anansi, the ghost, and wept for them anew. 

Her love for her eldest living child hadn't died, she found now. It had only grown.

Tell me more about this plateau, she prompted, straightening after a moment of reveling in the first interaction between the latest generation and the first.

Hi, She cooed out to them as she gently leaned into her mother's touch, unsure if they would even utter a word back. Just because she knew who they were now, did not mean they knew (or felt) the same.

She could only love them unconditionally, like her own siblings now lost, and hope for the best.

Oh, it's very nice. Some muted pride in her voice. It's mostly forested on the plateau, but there is a stream that runs through. Even a herd of deer live within. She hoped to paint it as a cozy sort of view for the family before her.

I did have, um, two others with me but...one went missing. It's why I came here. Looking for him but —

Hurt morphed into a brief smile. Eyes looked over all of them, even Mou, before they returned to her mother.

Found you!

Unexpected, but not unwelcomed.

As Sakhmet described the place, her gaze slowly shifted to Mou, and her smile grew. Food, water, shelter. . . It seemed too good to be true. And although she had wanted to stick by Aiolos, having grown fond of the man during their moons together on the island, she could not turn down the chance to be with her daughter—

We are looking for a home, Maegi said, turning her attention back to Sakhmet. Our old pack has disbanded. Would you. . .take us in, Sakhmet?

It was almost pathetic, the tremulous tone of her voice. Her fear of uselessness brought on by her disability clouded every word. She was a grown woman—but Sakhmet was the head of this new territory, this prospective home, and she wouldn't dare barge in on her without asking the proper permission.

Maegi knew her place. And she knew the place in which she wanted to be, with Mou, with her children.

Perhaps with Phox, too. The time had come, now that they were apart, to tell him.

As the young woman swept close to meet the children, Mou tensed. He didn't do so deliberately. This wasn't someone he knew. He was on high alert, even with Maegi's relaxation around the girl. He gave her a watchful eye while she introduced herself and said hello; it was during this time that Mou noticed a vague resemblance between her and Maegi. Or maybe it was a resemblance to the brother-in-law that had once lived within the woods? Close enough, at any rate, to ease some of Mou's deeper worries.

He felt relief as she turned her attention back to Maegi. Both ghosts heard the tale of the missing friend, both locking on the obvious opportunity of the plateau. Mou's ears cupped the air as he looked more expressively towards the two women.

Mou need not say anything; Maegi spoke for them and shared his feelings on the subject. He busied himself with watching over the children as they grew slowly bored of the introductory process, and began to entertain one-another with some light nips and tugging games.

can wrap up here or on a reply and get them settled into the plateau? :D

She would never, in this lifetime or the next, dream of declining her mother. Especially as the pale, marred woman stood now.

Packless with her mate and a bundle of children by their side.

If there was any hesitation, it was only because the young Melonii's heart swelled with love and she needed to make sure this was not a dream.

Please...please, come with. Sakhmet needed them as much as they needed her it seemed. We'll make it the best home. For all of you. A soft, crooked grin as she watched the children in their tussles.