The Heartwood Tréximo

Heavy clouds created a dismal backdrop over the mountains to the west. The white of snow had blanketed the range, stretching from the grounds where the rock shifted to the sea to the southern peaks that were covered in overcast. The flatter terrain that led away from the Sunspire into the patchy woodland had been quiet. The only sound that signaled life was that of snow crunching beneath paws.

Antigone lifted his red head up and squinted back over his shoulder. He did not know if he would return to Epoch. He did not know if he could. Shame gnawed at his belly. He thought of the look on his mother’s face when she had asked him about Meadow. Anger resurfaced and huffed an exasperated breath through his nose.

The young wolf prowled further west.

in the end, chickadee did leave brecheliant.
she told herself that she would be back, that she was just going to look for ani a little, maybe experience a bit of the adventure that her sister dwin had been able to find out on her own journey.
there was a sore place in her spirit.
had she been here before? the saddened girl pulled into the shadows of the forest and paused, leaning her shoulder against a tree as she sought her bearings.
hunger clawed at her belly.

*school girl giggle* I get a CHICKADEE?! Oh man it’s my lucky day. :3 <3

Watch me become an Pokemon master but only for Ebony characters. >w< ‘Gotta catch ‘em all!’

The boy’s red ears perked sharply as an unfamiliar scent found his nose. Antigone turned sharply, searching the woodland with a sweeping of his eyes. Against the snow and the overcast skies, the young girl’s greyish figure didn’t capture his attention until he swept back a second time.

She was leaned against the bark of a tree. Antigone squinted, watchful. He wondered if she was injured. She didn’t look like she was much older than himself or his sisters. A pang of sadness clenched at his belly. The boy wondered if Zulema or Zosime had looked for him.

Are you hurt? he asked, voice drifting from his place in the trees.

u FLATTER me even as i myself stalk sneakily after every teo char to ever exist <3

chickadee jumped, flinched, bristled. she stared all around herself, ears pinned back against her skull. "no!" the words came out in a shout.
finally she found him, or maybe not? sunk back into the trees, outlined in shadow. chickadee shivered a little. "i'm fine."
there was little chance she was convincing.

*tattoos Ebony praise on my heart*

The girl shouted at him!

Antigone’s ears fell to his head. He took an insulted step backwards until his courage could be found. He’d never been shouted at by a stranger before. It was shocking for a boy who had only been interested in assisting her with whatever might have been wrong.

The peachy highlights of her fur reminded him of Meadow. He took another step forward so that he might reveal himself to her. Speaking from the shadows would only inflict more shouting, he felt.

You don’t sound fine. The young wolf’s voice was clipped with doubt.

:D

chickadee held her breath a little as the boy came closer but, why, he was smaller than her! she stared at him with far less fear as he stated what she had not thought was so obvious.
his eyes pierced her; he looked like he was hooded in blood. in spite of herself, chickadee wondered if this feeling was what ani had experienced, seeing stratos for the first time.
"yeah well, i'm — i'll be all right." chickadee had missed her offense. "are you from around here?"

The girl was not very convincing. Antigone eyed her with a skeptical stare before her question reached him.

Not really from around here, he admitted to her in his sullen voice. The boy’s navy eyes shifted to peer through the trees, eastbound to where Epoch rested in the vale. She didn’t smell like any of the wolves he’d met from Mereo. She smelled like something else, something curious and unfamiliar. It eased the boy into a false sense of comfort. Whoever this girl was, she would not be a risk to his runaway plans.

Can I ask your name? Antigone prodded. You’re uh-

Pretty? That felt gross to say to a girl. It felt worse to think it about a girl that wasn’t Meadow.

Your colors are nice.

his eyes were the color of a night falling over the lake, and the more chickadee looked, the more she saw the contrast against the scarlet.
her stomach flipflopped. "thanks," she answered, "so are yours." the girl offered a tentative smile, a single sway of her tail. "i'm —"
her name connected her to her family and to brecheliant, both things she loved.
but what came out of her mouth was "sorcha." and she didn't know why she said it.

Sorcha, he returned, nodding his head.

The name didn’t mean anything to him. It sounded nothing like the names that were given to his family and nothing like the names Towhee had given her children. Antigone wondered if the other packs had a theme in the naming of their pups.

I’m Antigone, the red-hooded boy extended his name with a wave of his tail that matched the one she had offered him.

The peach hairs on her body captivated him for a second longer before he asked, are you running away from home, too?

antigone. it fit him, though it did not sound like anything she had heard before. and he was direct, blunt as dwin, in fact. she blinked rapidly several times before clearing her throat, greensky gaze falling away from antigone.
"i'm looking for someone," sorcha chickadee blackthorn mumbled. "but i don't know if i want to go home afterward."
a quick breath, tears stinging the back of her eyes as she glanced toward him. "or ever."

Sorcha said she was looking for someone. Her voice grew tighter as she spoke. She admitted that she wasn’t certain she wanted to return home, ever.

Antigone wished he knew how to tell her that he understood. His dark eyes were contemplative. She had pulled the green of her stare away from his face and with it gone, he felt colder. The snow had started to hurt his paws and chill the length of his sandy brown legs. Where could children go, if they could not go home?

The boy had never been one for impulse, but he couldn’t help but dread the thought of going back to Epoch. If he had to look at Reyson and Meadow in love, he might drown himself in the vale’s waterways.

You don’t have to go home.

Antigone felt a tightness in his throat.

We could go somewhere else.

chickadee swallowed hard. he had said he was running away and she wanted to ask why. and she would.
but what she said was "where?" and this time she did know why she'd asked. she had been wanting to leave for a long time, needing a reason to disconnect herself. chickadee might not have known it but this very month she would turn one year of age.
the wanderlust had risen up into a miasma of sorrow, was all.
she looked quietly at antigone, wondering if he had some answer.

Where?

The boy hadn’t expected her to humor him. He’d anticipated that there would be a moment of hesitation before she brushed him away. Why would a girl leave her home to journey into the wilderness with a stranger? Antigone wondered why he considered doing the same, but he knew his reasons well enough. There was no better motivation than unrequited teenage love.

Anywhere, he breathed out, realizing that they would not be bound by a pack’s borders. They could go where they pleased and sleep wherever they wished. The seasons would change soon enough. The light would warm the snow and melt it away from the land.

Maybe nowhere, Antigone added after a pause. We could go until we found a new home. And if we don’t find one, then we keep going.

but she had a home. a mother, a father. siblings. 
but she didn't have ani, and that mattered so much more than she was willing to admit.
and between the two of them, ani had always been the natural leader. therefore when antigone suggested he had a plan, follow-along chickadee found herself slowly nodding.
"when?"
shouldn't she go home first? the wrongness of leaving without a word stumped her, and she fell silent, face touched by concentration.

Was this what real power felt like? 

Antigone realized that he was serious. When she asked him her monosyllabic question, he knew. Meadow and Reyson would be too much for him. He thought of her carrying his children, of the way that Towhee had created a replica of herself in her new daughter… 

What if Meadow made a child like Reyson? The image of a hideous scarred child churned his stomach. 

Three days. I will meet you right here, Sorcha. And we will go anywhere we wish. 

They could make their own rules. Their own life.

three days.
breath hitched in her throat. chickadee nodded, unsure what she would do or say. dwin had already prevailed upon her to stay until summer, and she had agreed.
but antigone, antigone with his burning eyes and his hood of blood, he had spoken to her on a level the blackthorn had not been ready to comprehend.
"okay."
her voice was small, thoughtful. when the boy left for home, she would too, meandering until she found the borders of brecheliant.

Okay, he echoed breathlessly to her. A small nod confirmed his intent. Sorcha, with her soft voice and her sweet spring eyes. 

Antigone did not feel ready to depart. He wanted to give her more reason to return to the heartwood. The young medic glanced to the forest, considering what they might do before parting from each other. 

Part of him wanted to confess. He wanted to tell her that he loved someone who loved a hideous monster. It would be too much, he decided. Sorcha did not need to be plagued by the idea of Reyson and his intended mate. She was a part of something new, something that would not be tarnished by Epoch’s failure. 

Are you hungry, Sorcha? I can get us something to eat. We could… Antigone paused, blinking. He had never looked so unsure of himself. Talk… 

What if she said no? What if she never returned to the woods?

the boy with his bright hurting eyes and his bloodstained face, well, he made her want to stay right here. but sorcha, chickadee, sorcha, shook her head.
"the faster i can get back, the faster i can — be back," she said with a flippant little laugh.
she nodded at him. "i won't keep you waiting."
her paws itched to be gone.

Alright, he conceded.

Sorcha was right, anyway. The faster they were to handle their family business, the faster they could return to the forest and set out on their own. Antigone did not know how far she would need to travel. He thought of the familiar borders of Epoch with a gnawing sense of anxiety.

I’ll see you here in three days.

The boy’s dark blue eyes traced the peach highlights of her coat before he aimed himself for the mountains and began the trek home.