Noctisardor Bypass morgenstern

mahler had not gone at once to sequoia.
he had filled his hours with patrols, with searches, with filling his pharmacy. he had avoided all. he had looked for iana again, and praimfaya after, though it was long known that those searches were futile.
finally with pelt full of leaves and paws stained he trudged back toward the rendezvous at dawn, hoping @Sequoia was near and he would not have to call for her. much as he had come to love the children, the gargoyle did not know how to comprehend their nearness now.
within his mind, wylla's hurt voice told him that he had wasted no time.
mahler felt the ache reverberate.

As usual, she was at the rendezvous site, watching over the kids as they did their shenanigans. All four seemed to be getting different every day, their personalities really starting to shine through. Soon, she thought, they'd start discovering what skills they wanted to pursue long term.

It wasn't unusual for Mahler to come around, and Sequoia lifted a forepaw to wave him down from where she lay in the grass. She was blissfully ignorant about what had transpired between Mahler and Wylla, nor was she going to bring it up unless Mahler approached the subject directly.

mahler came to crouch near, a gargoyle carved from flesh and still as stone.
there was no soft greeting in him now. "vylla intends to take our daughter to the sea for a time. she will be gone a vhile."
"there is a place for you as graf here. now. later. vhen you vant it."
a breath to search her youthful features. 
"vhen she returns i vill step down. and i mean to see if she vill take my position beside you. i know vhat has transpired. but i also know that she has led many times before. she is a guardian. and she is fair. she does not need my vord on her merit, but there vill alvays be strife here if you are not equal."
again, a breath.
"the problem is that i cannot be balanced between she and rivenvood. i do not know how to put vone before the other, and almost alvays i choose our land. but i do not want to rule now. i am done vith it."
"i vent to speak vith her on your behalf and it — vell," he trailed off. "i made a mess of things. and i vatched it happen. and rivenvood must not suffer for my actions."
"i must make a much different choice now."

Graf? Her? Sequoia scrunched up her face at the mention. What did this have to do with Wy—ohhhh. Wow, Mahler really was not a mediator at all, was he? Why did he think that pushing the two of them together was a great idea, let alone promoting the both of them? If it had not gone well with Wylla, then this was such a godawful idea.

Mahler... does Wylla know about this plan? The way he spoke of it, it did not sound as though she did. I'm sure you mean well, but I have no interest in leading; I'm happy to be a mother here. If Wylla is okay with that, then I'm okay with it. I had hoped that you speaking to her would help, but now... now I feel like I've misjudged the situation.

Knowing that Wylla had fled from Rivenwood sincerely made Sequoia feel bad about how things had gone. Had she blown things out of proportion? She frowned, wishing now that she could talk to Wylla and know more, but knowing that approaching her now was a terrible idea. Why couldn't things be simple, like they were with Laurel? Even Praimfaya had been... approachable in a way.

mahler had watched sequoia settle into motherhood. the more jagged of her edges seemed to be departed now. while he was disappointed to hear her decline, he was not surprised. "you helped me to build rivenvood. i vould be remiss not to ask you."
to wylla. he let breath escape his nostrils. "she is angry you told me at all, as it has been time between the incident and now. i asked her to talk to you, and — it still must happen."
"she does not know of this, because i have only decided it, and she has gone. i vanted to ... parse the snarl here, between you before it happened."
"i should have allowed to two of you to speak. this is part of the reason i believe i am no longer fit to lead."
he had spoken so much. mahler chose to silence himself now.

Sequoia saw more clearly now that whatever Mahler and Wylla had going on, it was even more serious that she originally suspected. Whatever was happening, Sequioa felt the pull even stronger now: she really, really flubbed this one, and she needed to make it right.

I do need to talk to her, but I'm worried about it coming off as... I don't know. I get the feeling it's a touchy subject, especially if she's run off to cool down from it. You know her better than I do; what would be the best way to approach her?

As she asked, she turned over in her mind what Mahler had said about not being fit to lead. She thought that was a load of malarkey, especially if he actually considered Sequoia was fit to lead.

"vylla is a direct individual. i vould simply start vith, ah." his voice trailed off, for he did not want to tell sequoia to apologize. and yet it felt as though those would be the only acceptable words. 
of course she had gone to the sea. he felt foolish for so belatedly understanding those implications.
"be direct. she has — vhen she returns —" would she? "— she vill keep to the borders, more than likely."
mahler thought surely nothing of what he had said would be helpful.

She listened, trying to figure out what might work best with "Vylla" as he called her. Directness. It sounded as though approaching her would be the best route, and Sequoia figured it would be a good idea to start with an apology. She might have overreacted a bit, and she could certainly apologize for that now that she'd had time to reflect on things. Sequoia knew her imperfections, so admitting those would be easy peasy. Hopefully that would be enough to let them start over.

Okay, she said. Thanks Mahler. I mean, we totally screwed this up—a grin—but I'd like to make it better.

"you vill," he assured her, swiftly as he was able. mahler did not attempt to smile, for it would not be genuine. but his gaze lifted somewhat. wylla was not cruel. it was mahler, always the barb between them. this issue would be fixed with the work of both of them, he must trust it.
"i am going to finish my valkabout," the man decided softly, beginning to gather himself. he reached to brush her shoulder with a steadying touch, more for his own emptiness than anything, and then turned away.