Redhawk Caldera it's dark again

tentatively marking as joining..we will see. @Maia @Teya

his mother had wanted him to find peace. she'd wanted it so desperately, she'd left the rest of their family behind in search of it; so desperately, she'd left him behind too. he knew the decision had torn her heart in two, and for that reason alone he might have spoken up... if he did not know, deep in his heart, that his unhappiness had become her unhappiness.
he was broken, and he was breaking her, too. with time, he found himself unable to stomach it - watching her slow descent into the same misery that had such a firm hold on him. so he'd let her think that maybe it was the right decision, leaving him; that maybe he could find happiness.
as soon as her scent faded, he'd left. leaving didn't help, not really, but keeping his paws moving seemed to help. it occupied him. gave him something to do other than... think.
thinking was dangerous, he'd learned.
but so was drifting obliviously through unknown lands. he nearly crossed the border before he noticed it was there, and when he did notice it he scrambled back several yards. the last thing he needed was a confrontation, but loneliness froze him in place as he truly registered the opportunity for interaction. no stranger could replace the company of his parents, or his brother, but... well, akkuma was terribly lonely. indecision and curiosity held him there for far longer than it should have as he waited to see if someone might appear.

It likely took a while for Maia to pass by, but she stopped as soon as she noticed the stranger lingering. He didn't seem interested in passing the threshold and was maintaining a polite distance. Maia approached curiously, then stopped at the border with a curious smile.

Hello. Who are you, and is there something you were looking for? It would be strange if he was there and wasn't looking for a conversation, but Maia didn't want to assume. It could be he was so lost in thought he hadn't realized where he had stopped. She'd been in similar situations before!

it was awhile before anyone appeared, but he didn't turn back. he didn't even really consider the possibility of an actual conversation, much less what he'd say. so naturally, the moment he saw someone, akkuma was overwhelmed with anxiety. striking up a conversation always sounded so nice in theory, but what did he even have to talk about? certainly not his seemingly perpetual sadness, or the fact that he'd more or less orchestrated his own isolation from his family because of it.
the woman was nice when she spoke, at least, and her questions were easy enough to answer.
um, i'm akkuma, and... i don't really know why i'm here, akkuma offered an apologetic smile with the sheepish admission. is this your village? he asked abruptly, changing the subject before his own awkwardness could sink in.

There was something that looked lost about him. He appeared to be young and spoke softly, two things that made her immediately want to help in whatever way she could.

You could say that. This is Brecheliant, and my name is Maia. Is your home near here? Or was he alone?

the woman gave a strange answer, but then, she probably thought akkuma was being pretty strange too. she hadn't commented on it thus far. so he tried to follow her lead and take the weird interaction in stride, and tried not to recoil when she asked after his home. it was difficult, though.
no, i... guess i don't have a home anymore, his gaze fell off to the side, a mixture of shame and guilt tinting his expression. only for a moment, though. what does brecheliant mean? this question was genuine curiosity on his part, colored by the assumption that every village's name had some kind of meaning, something that defined the people. as his own home had.

It still felt strange to think of this place as hers. In her mind it would always be Eljay's... he and the Caldera were something more than what she had with it. Her home here was just by proxy.

She tried to get her a handle on her awkwardness, especially when she noticed the glint of sorrow that seemed to flash across his expression. Poor thing. It wasn't right for someone his age not to have a home to settle in.

It's the name of a forest full of magic, from stories my mom used to tell us. Maia answered, smiling. There aren't as many trees here as there were where we used to live, but we brought the magic with us. So we kept the name anyway. It would have been strange to leave it behind.

Are you looking for a home? She didn't want to assume or pressure him into staying if he had family he wanted to find. But she didn't like the idea of him leaving here alone one bit.

we can pull this to present if you prefer, i know things have happened for maia in the time since i made this <3

magic. akkuma's attention was captured and raptly held by this detail in particular. he almost wondered if he'd stumbled into some other world, separated from reality, a place where magic didn't seem nearly so casual and tangible. maia spoke of it as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
then she asked if he was looking for a home, and he felt guilty all over again. he was making his parents look terrible, wasn't he? he almost started to explain about his incurable sadness, and how his mom had tried to help. even in leaving him, she'd been trying to help.
instead, he found himself saying, you mean, like, here? he looked past her, into what was currently off limits territory. i... yeah. i mean, i don't know much about magic. is that okay? his eyes found her again, a little anxious.

no worries!! Yeah, it'd probably have to be present for him joining, I'm fine assuming this happened more recently <3

Only if you want. She reassured him quickly, not wanting him to think she would force him into it. If he wanted to continue on he was welcome to, even if Maia hated the thought of it. He'd made it this far alone, hadn't he? She had no right to force him into accepting a new family.

It had to be so lonely, though. She remembered.

You're in luck. That's actually my favorite kind of answer, because it means all of my stories will be new. And I love teaching about magic best of all. She added with a growing smile, but she tried not to let her hopes get too high. It wasn't a yes yet!

They had a place for him here, she knew it, just like they had a place for anyone who needed it.

thank you for your patience + flexibility with this!! i'm hoping this time i can establish someone in brecheliant and actually have them stick bc damnit i wanna write in this pack

akkuma decided right then that maia was a little too nice for a stranger. it wasn't suspicious to him, it was just..weird. she wasn't his mother or anything, and he was only some weird kid loitering at her doorstep. but he hadn't known enough unkindness in his life to question it too much. his insecurities prickled at him, but he trusted her.
that sounds cool, he said, a touch shy now that he had made up his mind. i think i'd like that. i mean, i'd like to stay, and hear your stories. it was probably a weird reason to stay. he didn't care; it made him feel something other than sad.
besides, if it didn't work out, he could always leave.
or they could take him somewhere far away and leave him behind, as his mother had. but that thought was unkind, so he pushed it away.

Maia sensed his trepidation so she didn't move closer or to embrace him, not the way her instincts urged her to do. He isn't yours. Perhaps it was hormones, or perhaps it was motherhood that changed her, but it was hard not to see her children in about every young wolf she encountered. Sometimes she wondered, jokingly, if she was losing her mind with it all. Who adopted every wolf they crossed paths with? It was ridiculous. Eljay already had to put up with enough of it between Ibis' children and Shenanigans - not that she felt in any way he minded. But this boy hardly was at an age where he needed a mother.

She could think that, but funny enough, it took a little more than that to convince feelings not to feel. Let him be, she warned herself, even as she nodded and gestured for him to follow. She wanted so badly to ask where his family was.

It's a deal. For now, how about I show you around a bit? I can introduce you if you like, but you'll meet everyone soon enough. She would show him the more important landmarks and how to find his way around the Caldera at least. She'd understand if he wanted to rest, and have a bit of time to himself, before he was thrown into greetings with a bunch of strangers.

No worries! this can be my last <3 and Brecheliant is meant to be a more relaxed pack! So if you want, you are more than welcome to have an ic reason for frequent comings/goings, even if it's just scouting about. Maia would encourage a very open door policy and you never need to worry about being added back if you do fall inactive

ooh, ty for letting me know!! that will be helpful for sure. i'll archive it here

well, that was easy. akkuma wasn't sure how to feel about it yet. acceptance was something he'd always been readily given, but he hardly ever felt like he deserved it.
maia was kind, though, and he was at least sure that felt nice. it reminded him a bit of his mother. out of all the family he'd left behind, he missed sakhmet the most. she had done so much for him, and he tried to remember that more than anything, though he couldn't quite shake the feeling of abandonment.
well. this was a new place, and maia was not his mother, so she couldn't abandon him. he would run with that for now.
yeah, that sounds good. both of those things. thanks, the idea of meeting the others alone was intimidating to him. better to have maia at his side, whose radiant warmth was sure to fend off any coldness from the rest of the strangers he now had to meet. he hoped he could take it from there.