Altar of Twilight There is no reconciliation

Tulukiri followed the scent of beasts away from the village. She did not have backup; this was a scouting mission, something to impress Moonwoman or flaunt before the other women - as a man might to fellow warriors - and it was a scent she did not know.

So when the cougar launched itself from a ledge, it took a full minute before Tulukiri registered the pain. Another thirty seconds to recognize the stench of blood and the red that covered the stone was her own. The last thing she would see was the stare of a wide-eyed cat, before it grappled her body and tore it to pieces.

ani was just — gone.
chickadee had fallen into a grey funk that wouldn't lift no matter what she did. she wandered outside the territory, intending to spend another day looking for her sister.
even though she knew it would be futile.
what she stumbled onto instead was so unspeakably violent that her well-loved and sheltered mind could not comprehend it.
the world blacked out, and when chickadee came to, the only thing she heard was the low, broken sound that wouldn't stop pouring out of her own mouth in a low monotone, eyes stretched wide, paws pounding, running until she could not.

my only post here, to catch her up <3

Maia wouldn’t find the scene until a day or two later. Both Chickadee and Ani were missing; the latter girl Maia worried about more but Chickadee hadn’t told her she was leaving. Why hadn’t she told her?

Neither boded well and Maia was quietly frantic, combing the areas nearby without feeling able to venture too far. It was a frustratingly familiar feeling. Ani wouldn’t have left without saying anything. Neither would Chickadee. Not if they had left of their own choosing - and she knew they hadn’t left together. Ani had disappeared first.

Chickadee’s trail was not easy to follow, but when she’d managed to catch a trace of it, it wasn’t long before the scent of old blood and death drew Maia in. A part of her hesitated with the horror of it, another had to know, and it felt terrible to be relieved when it clearly wasn’t her daughter who lay there.

But Chickadee had been here, and she’d been afraid. Maia stared at the slashes on the dead woman’s body and felt the panic settle in, shortening her breath and bringing tears to her eyes. No. Please, no….. CHICKADEE!?. Baby, please, where are you?!

If whatever did this had chased her, or had taken her. Maia wasn’t thinking nearly clearly enough to note there wasn’t any of her daughter’s blood here. She continued her frantic search, sobbing, calling for her daughter until her voice couldn’t any longer. Calling for Ani. Calling for anyone.

She wouldn’t find them. And eventually she would return to @Eljay, and to her boys, and tell them what she’d found. But she wouldn’t stop looking. And she refused to believe the worst. Her heart couldn’t take it.

Okay since this is getting a lot of tracks through it. We'll have moonglow find her and take her home. @Kivaluk @Chakliux Delaney if you want me to delete this and let you find her first let me know. :)

They had left the fields behind them and had traveled on their search for Tulukiri. Sooner than he had realized, Rodyin smelled the she wolf of Moonglow and with it the scent of acrid cat. And he froze, head lifted, nose twitching, ears forward.

Narrowed yellow eyes and he watched. Chakliux, Kivaluk be careful I smell cougar. Be on your guard.

In the midst of it was other scents for other wolves, but they were faint. Rodyn moved forward in a stalking motion and what he saw would forever haunt him. It made the bile in his stomach roll and pitch. She was there, but her body and pelt so ruined that there was no life that dared to peek from her closed eyes.

Rodyn fought the urge to puke. He looked around them. The other wolves scents were here, but none near enough the body so those that had found and moved away.

Rodyn studied her sad form and sighed. Should they bury her here or try and find a way to take her home. He would wait for the others to weigh in, but he looked on with Sad Eyes. Though he kept his gaze moving around making sure the cougar wouldn't return.

the scene was damning.
chakliux stooped by the mess that had been the hunter-woman, his eyes hard with anger, his heart soft with respect.
he sang over her body quietly, a low chant that had no translation.
"i will carry her," he said to first-hunter. perhaps the moonwoman had something to do for her spirit.
chakliux let out his breath; he sighed.

kivaluk comes across the scene not too long after rodyn and chakliuk; and what he sees is nothing short of a massacre. at first, he isn't sure what he is seeing: blood, he can tell; but it takes a few seconds for shock perhaps to entirely wear off and for realization to set it.

it is tulukiri.

or it was.

what was left of her was in literal shreds.

the scene does not make him nauseous, but it ignites something akin to horror within him.

fear.

what if his father met a similar fate? if it was so, it wasn't as if his mother or him would know.

a numbness rushes into kivaluk then, forcing him to tear his eyes away from the gory scene. he does not tell chakliuk that he thinks it is unnecessary. instead, he settles for a numb silence that he would keep the entire rest of the journey back to moonglow.

Rodyn nodded his head to Chakliux. Very well. Kivaluk and I will keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't come back. Let's get home as quick as we can. We have much news to share with Moonwoman, Sunman and Star Hunter.

There was a sadness to him as he carefully helped to put the remains of the hunter girl upon Chakliux. A tightness hung in his chest.

They would then embark and carefully make their way back without any issues, but once there. Rodyn would be sure to back track and try and clear some of the blood that would fall.