Two Rivers Isle ricochet

The Isle was a ghost town.

Despite the summer greenery, as Matteo padded solemnly through the territory it seemed all but devoid of life. Even the bird noise which he had once listened fondly too had become muted and reserved. Tasting the air, he scented only the occasional rabbit and the stale stench of the gang. 

Reaching the den site, he settled stiffly on his haunches. Was he ready to do this? The urge to flee, to get as far away from this place as possible, whispered in his ear like a devil on his shoulder. But he couldn't. Despite everything, his heart ached deeply with love for her.

The raven boy tipped his muzzle to the sky and called for @Iseul.

she would have never suspected to hear his voice, not after all of this.

iseul is afraid, and surely matteo would see this in her light step approach towards him. she does not come to search for his gaze as she would have normally, nor to even come close. and her standoffish behavior comes to no fault of his own but rather her own guilt in this situation.

the isle teems with life and yet holds the dead scent of its leaders. iseul's name shall be nothing but history here. but today is not about her, and the story has never been meant to be told from her perspective. surely it is no surprise that the children have grown into their adolescence and they will search for more. but whether iseul is allowed to be apart of this, well, that remained to be seen.

"matteo," she says softly to him, not daring to use the name she had once called him before during his youth, "iseul was worried." her eyes would come to gently glaze over the den, and for a moment iseul sucks in a breath as a weak smile crawls over her face. "iseul remembers day matteo and ines born, right there." what a glorious day that held so much promise, and yet had to come crashing down from her own misdeeds. "seems long ago."

she does not say more, for her reminiscing does nothing but perhaps keep this boy chained to her when he wishes to move on.

In a moment she emerged and like a rushing river everything came flooding back.

Memories of a gentle face peering down at him, of the taste of berries, the aroma of fish dried crisp in the sun. And when mama and papa had left, she had been there, steadfast as a rock in the centre of a stream while all the world flowed against her. For the first time in his life, the boy thinks of how hard it must've been for her. 

Despite everything, she had remained a constant presence. Matteo felt his breath catch in his throat as her voice bridged the distance of what felt like a canyon between them. She seemed so far away now. 

A million words come to surface and yet he speaks none, jaws heavy and tongue too big for his mouth. 

She speaks of their birth, of Ines now long gone to who knows where. In truth, he remembers little but blurred figures and Iseul - she was there again, haunting his every thought. And finally, the anger comes bubbling back.

When he finally speaks his voice is cracked as if unused for many days. "You shoulda followed me," quietly, "if you were worried, you shoulda been there. An' now they're all gone." He felt so very small. "Ines was right to hate you."

Guilt sparks in his chest, too late to take back what had already been said.

it might as well had been a dagger to her heart.

ines hated her, and certainly matteo is following in her same footsteps. but perhaps iseul always knew this for certain within her conscious. there is nothing but a hurt expression on her face and a small step back. she is not their mother, perhaps not even fit to be called a guardian of any sorts. so did she even deserve to feel hurt by what the boy said of her? "iseul thinks matteo does too." 

she could say a million things to him, many of them hurtful as he has done so. but there is dishonor in a lack of control, and iseul would not allow herself to cave in and attack a mere child who is a victim in the entire situation. and what would it matter to make what he would interpret as excuses? a child sees as a child, thinks as a child, behaves as a child. and while iseul was beaten for not holding her tongue once before, she would not be one to distill punishment.

"I stayed so matteo know he not left behind in isle." she let him go because he would no go far in her mind, and she stayed so that he would have someone to come back home to, whenever the time came. through all of these seemingly mindless acts, iseul has thought more than anyone. she could have vanished with colt into the next part over, but what would that have said to the children, to boone, to anyone who still tried to stand by her? "i would never leave matteo or ines behind." she would rather be left a thousand times before she turned her back on him.

A bullet to the heart and he had been the one firing the gun.

Throat tight, he opened his mouth to say something - anything - that would make this right. Please don't go. Please don't let me go this time. There was nothing he could do but stand crestfallen as she pulled even further away.

And all at once he felt the bullet's ricochet.

Perhaps she was right to believe he hated her. Did he? "I don'-" he stumbled, was that true? Never before had he been forced to look inside himself for answers rather than jumping to immediate conclusions. Certainly he had resented her for more than just letting their family fall apart. But was she truly to blame for that, or did the fault partly lie on his shoulders? "I don' hate you, Iseul. Ines is not like me." Despite their shared blood, they had taken opposite sides once. For a child, such complex feelings as this were hard to articulate and so he settled for something he knew was true. "You're family too, y'know?" Perhaps the only one he had left in the Isle.

As she speaks again, he lets his ears droop dully. To know that she had waited for him all this time, that he had been the one to leave her was hard to comprehend. Unlike his parents, she had been the only one to stay. "Boone found me. Was gonna look for Colt but Boone found me. We went fishin'." The truth was, he had felt left behind, even if Iseul hadn't meant for that to happen. "He told me 'bout growin' up and stuff but he never had anyone to teach 'im all things like you did." He wasn't quite sure what he was saying, only that if he didn't say it now he wasn't sure he'd get another chance. "I-I don' wanna end up like him." 

and just when she thought she would be run off with her tail between her legs, a crack comes onto the boy's image and iseul sees the tender pieces that remain shattered underneath the anger and sadness. she listens, ears pushing forward at the mention that her suspicions remained false. there remained no hate in his heart, but perhaps only hurt, confusion, and inexperienced youth that she could not fault him for.

so iseul comes to walk forward towards matteo and attempt to sweep him closer to her as she had done so many times before when he was just a child. "i not leave matteo, not ever. as long as matteo want iseul." a promise to him, a promise that the isle would keep as a permanent secret. so long as she breathed, matteo would not have to walk alone. 

and if he so allowed, she would come to press her forehead against his. "iseul is sorry. for everything." a soft whisper and whine for only his ears. for the fall of his family, the isle, the fall of his peaceful childhood and the straining relationship with perhaps everyone and everything.

There is no resistance as she approached, no stiffness as her olive branch extended. Breath hitched as if the smallest sigh would send her turning tail off somewhere he would never see her again. And he is in her shoes now, seeing himself disappear not knowing if he would return. The tears spill freely and dampen the fur of Iseul's shoulder as he is swept finally into her embrace. For he had not realised it before, but without her he was a shell of himself. A vessel for anger, for sadness, for the fear of ending up alone. Her promise is met with with a silent nod - a vow of his own to be always by her side.

Sucking in a shaky breath, he lets his eyes flutter closed as the warmth of her forehead meets his own. Her apology hung heavy in the air but Matteo could tell she meant every word. In that moment where he was surrounded by familiar touch, the two of them grieved the loss of what could have been. "I'm sorry too," is all he can think to say. For making her worry, for being a bad son. For although he blamed her once, there is a glimmer of understanding that had not been present before.

"It's okay," his voice is as quiet as hers. "Thank you, for not goin' anywhere. I was angry an' a mess an' I blamed you for a while but-" If she would let him, he would bury his face in the soft furs of her chest until his words are muffled. "You mean everythin' to me. An' I don' ever wanna be somewhere you're not." 

she hears him and keeps him brushed closely next to her for what could have been an eternity if he wished for it to be.

iseul questioned many things of herself these days, but in this moment lived perhaps the only example of glimmering confidence. this boy did not hate her. and perhaps he thought of her more than he would ever let on. there would always be things to lament about, but at least for this moment, there would be a sense of peace.

and when they would part for just the moment to speak, iseul would search for the boy's gaze softly. "what does matteo want?" a gesture to the land around them, an ask for his opinion. "to stay? find boone? go somewhere else?" they all sounded like hard options, two of which gave up on the isle. but iseul was in no shape to run this place by herself, even with matteo growing older and more skilled as the days went on.

Her embrace was all he needed to rediscover some sense of stability after the tumultuous days that had passed. When they pulled away, for a heartbeat he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and pull her in again, but her words sparked something exciting in the heart of the young boy, something he had been both dreading and wanting to hear since the very beginning.

Meeting her gentle gaze with a hazy look of his own, Matteo pondered her suggestions with a thoughtful tilt of his head. She had handed the reigns to him with a sense of control that he felt far too inexperienced to handle. What did he want? 

To stay and carry on mama and papa's legacy when there was no one but Iseul to share it with felt like... a disservice. Sure, they could find others to join but such a momentous task felt too overwhelming. Boone was a lost cause in his eyes, Matteo was sure he never wanted to speak to the man again. After a moment of thought, the boy cracked a toothy smile though it didn't quite meet his eyes. "I've always wanted to see the ocean, if Iseul wants to come with?"