Wheeling Gull Isle seigeda

bc of the delay with the mainland trip and ana's decision not to come back, this thread has a loosely noted place in the timeline! more current than anything! aw but she's looking for caracal and judah <3 @Nakano @John

with @Towhee's help, with as much rest as they needed, though heda chafed silently beneath those needs, she and the children once more stood on the cooling sands of the landbridge. the waves welcomed them with lapping voice; heda did not think she had ever been so happy to be anywhere.
"@Dinah, don't run off again," she ordered. "stay with @Ava Amara. @Malakai and @Simeon, don't let each other out of your sight. no more disappearing," heda said in a voice slightly steadier.
with that, she turned and called into the wind, "judah? judah, i'm back! judah?"
her wanderings took her to sandstone arch, to the top of the greenhills. to the lavender fields, to the palm forests, the tidepools. to the summits of rock and the fissures in the earth.
to the still-reeking corpse of a washed-up sea animal with giant teeth, like the one who had almost taken ava. heda sniffed at its skeleton, and finding the faint tinge of caracal upon it, followed with dread-chased steps to the lion's den.
"caracal?" her shaking voice spoke once before she entered the darkness, unsure of what she might find.

Caracal lost all sense of time in the darkness of the cave. But five days crawled slowly past and still he did not join his son in the afterlife. No, he lingered. He suffered. He starved. He wept. And through it all, he prayed to a God he knew had abandoned him.

He deserved all of it, though he could not fight the instincts which compelled him to drag himself to the water to slake his hideous thirst. That was how his wife would find him: sprawled face-down in the small creek, barely breathing, guilt eating him alive.

In most scenarios, Dinah Redhawk was a well-behaved girl, or so she liked to think. Rarely did she fight or disobey, cause arguments; but as she feels the gritty sands of home between her toes, a sinking, insidious churn began to claw at her gut. Something wasn't right. The seabirds are erratic, swarming; the isle itself mysteriously and eerily quiet.
Anger still clings viscerally to Dinah's bones. In her head, the soft rasp of love you from sister now gone; to Simeon does she give a worried glance, and along with her she ushers Ava, if she so wished. She was not going to be a sitting duck. Not ever again, not anymore, heart thudding fast and vicious.
She follows her Mama before there is even a chance for her to be stopped. Softly, quietly behind at first, before she, too, begins to join her in the throaty call of Judah's name. Ju! Juju? and the longer the silence roves, the more the horrible, horrible dread built. She feels as if she may vomit. Tired, angry, numb, numb, numb — where was he?
Near the lion's den was where the crumpled figure of father lays, and for a split second, Dinah did not recognize him. Her heart leaps right up to her throat; not in fear, but in an encapsulating, horrible guilt.
What had she done to him? What had he done to her?
Daddy! a choked cry flies from her mouth, something raw and violent and tragic, and all sense of self seems to evaporate as she frantically tries to scoop his muddied, frail figure into her arms.

John had been scouting the island, looking for the Island family. He hadn’t found them — but on this day, he heard a call arise: The call of a mother beckoning her son. He deciphered it as Heda’s, so he made his way towards her voice.

He was only led back to the Lion’s den when he actually found Heda and her three children. He was quite baffled, nothing added up, as he knew nothing of the recent happenings.

John stood a distance away from Heda as he called out to her, and he hoped that emotions between them had changed since “the attack.”

“Heda?” He called, a small smile drawing at the corner of his lips.

They had come all that way unto the mainland only to return right back around. By Towhee's words and by her own guilt, Heda had seen the error of her ways to leave her husband so sudden. What words were spilt, what had been whispered, the little trip certainly had not panned out the way in which it was originally planned. 

Malakai was silent a time, mostly, anyway, as he had been on the journey up. His awareness was placed upon Towhee and Heda, looking to them for guidance in his youth. The other children- mostly dismissed. Whatever youthful playfulness and doting affection he held, it was obvious it was reserved for one and one only - his twin, Judah. 

Mother calls for him now and Kai stays on the land bridge next to Simeon with an impatient reclutance. It doesnt take long for Dinah to quickly scamper off, as disobedient as ever. Soon enough, Judah would come running with a happiness at the sight of his family returned and Kai could repremand him for not having come along in the first place.

By the time they made it to the island, Towhee realized trying to make sense of this situation was a lost cause. She stood on the beach as Heda issued unheard orders to her remaining children. Her orange eyes bounced from one pup to the other, still in disbelief that @Anathema wasn’t among them. Her gaze cut back to Heda when the pale she-wolf began shouting, presumably calling her husband’s and son’s names as she took off across the island.

Towhee still didn’t move. She eyed the remains of the whale with an ominous feeling settling in her chest. She then began to walk, not bothering to call out but instead sweeping the island for any glimpse of them. By the time her feet carried hear near The Lion’s Den, she found herself crossing paths with Heda again and some smiling stranger.

She stared at the latter for a beat, then started when someone she thought was Caracal flashed past toward the cave. Towhee spun, realizing it was Dinah even as the young girl disappeared into the darkness behind her mother. Compelled by a decidedly uneasy intuition, she gave the unfamiliar man one last mistrustful look before ducking into the cave herself.

There was Caracal, disheveled and filthy, spread eagle on the cold floor and partly submerged in a stream running through the cave. Ignoring the strong smell of death, Towhee made a noise and rushed to her son’s side, bumping into Dinah as the girl went to clutch at her father. Towhee denied a similar impulse, instead grasping at her son’s stiff scruff and pulling him clear of the stream.

What, she gasped when she let go of him and crouched to check if he was breathing, the actual f—

He was breathing, very shallowly. Relief flooding her, Towhee’s eyes panned over Caracal, wondering at the filth and gore crusted into his fur. He looked like he was wasting away. This wasn’t the work of some fermented fruit. What had happened to him? Where was Judah? She had so many questions but as she rested her paw over the slow rise and fall of her unresponsive son’s flank, an incredulous Towhee could only marvel at just how far a situation could spin out of control.

i think this will be my last post here! <3

he was here, he was wasted and thin and filthy, but he was here; "oh, caracal," heda exclaimed in a tearful whimper, tumbling down to kneel beside him and gather him close; "oh, i'm here, i'm here, i'm so sorry," and on and on until she was almost incoherent.
she would rely heavily on the guidance of towhee, cleaning caracal, smoothing his fur. making him comfortable, and then combing the island for anything medicinal that could be used.
by god's grace, he would live.
by god's word, he would thrive.
and if caracal never forgave her again, it would be enough for heda that he was alive, that she might bear his sorrow and anger if only it were living!
she smoothed his paw between her own; "i'm here," once more, and for nights she did not sleep, and for days she kept vigil at his bedside.
if god will it, let him live.

When Kai's grandma began wondering off the sandbar and into the island, Kai decided to follow, muttering to himself as he did so. He followed her trail, keeping her just in his sights in the distance until she began off, taking a faster pace. Cursing under his breath again, Kai ran after her, which led him to the opening of the Lion's Den. A place his mother, where God speaks. A place for those who needed to find healing and be alone with God. A place where Bartholomew was tested. Kai remembered all his lessons learned, by both mother and father. One day, if he were blessed, he would learn from Bartholomew too. 

And then he sees his father as a crumpled up mess of sorrow and self loathing and runs down with the group. WTF HAPPEN!? He worried deeply for his father yet all the while his mind was screaming- where was Judah!?