In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

Backdated to before the BWP, so around July 15th-ish or something!  I've been putting this off, but finally the RR/BDP meet & greet is up!  All are welcome, but let @Saena reply first.

Like any good boyfriend, Reek was a-fluster with nerves as he and Saena arrived at the Plateau's border.  Meeting her adopted father months earlier had been nothing short of a disaster— but this time, knowing what he was walking in to, Reek was determined to make a better impression on the rest of her family. For once, he resigned himself to make a good impression; to put the crass comments away and be... professional.  Reek shuddered at the thought.

Ew.

Another gurgle of nerves wretched and wrenched in Reek's stomach, causing him to shoot his lover an uneasy glance.  Although they had come to talk business, to bring news and hopefully entangle their pack's affairs, it felt so much different than their short trip to Nova Peak— The stakes felt so much higher. What if they didn't like him? What if he wasn't good enough for their little girl? Shaking the critical thoughts from his head, Reek turned to face Saena and said, "You should probably be the one to do the calling." She knew them, whereas a call from a stranger may not be as accepted.

Reek needn't look at her for Saena to sense his unrest; it was like an electric charge dancing across his coat. She smiled and nudged him reassuringly as they drew up on the edge of Blacktail Deer Plateau, and quietly murmured, "don't worry so much." There was a real possibility that her family would look down on Reek for his appearance and make assumptions based on that, like all were wont to do, but at the end of the day, they loved her and they would support any man she chose as her own. Saena was certain of that.

Reek suggested she should be the one to call and though she didn't say it, Saena agreed. The message would come across stronger if it was from a family member they knew. She tilted back her head and howled loudly, hoping to draw @Lasher or @Dante forth. Blue Willow and others were of course welcome, as her howl was nonspecific but sure to be recognized, but she did inwardly think that the news wouldn't be something the proficient healer would want to hear. Maybe it would be gentler coming from the alpha or the druid than from her niece.

luke had departed them not long before to seek the pale girl upon the mountain, and lasher had waited tensely for news of them both. as he had not traveled far from the plateau, the beta did not know the true extent of the damage wrought by the tornado. his patrols were performed routinely, and he lingered long at times upon the borders, waiting for something he did not completely comprehend.

the firm but dulcet tones of the pale girl suddenly rose above the trees, and the man started, eyes widening somewhat. however, he recovered swiftly and trotted to approach. his gaze warmed as he caught sight of saena, but the beam faded somewhat from his lips as his eyes fell upon her companion -- a male compatriot.

"saena," lasher murmured, moving forward to nudge her cheek gently. "it is good to see you well." he was quiet then, his eyes moving toward her companion with silent appraisal.

Ahh keeping this short because I have no clue where this falls in his timeline XD so much has happened in a short time

Edit: I think for BDP then this happens very shortly after our pack meeting... a few days after, in fact

Dante luckily was not far from where Saena called, and, surprised to hear her voice, came swiftly.  He arrived soon after Lasher and greeted her warmly, though her unknown companion earned a searching look.  Why were they here?  A social call, or was something wrong? It seemed nowadays the latter was predominant, but he hoped it wasn't so.

"Saena, it's good to see you." He didn't bother asking why she was there, knowing that she would get to that sooner than later.  So he merely echoed Lasher's sentiment unknowingly, for it was true of him as well.

Despite how much Reek appreciated Saena's consolations, they unfortunately did little to abate the nervous energy that had taken hold.  She called out for those of the Plateau and Reek knew there was no turning back at this point.  It was time to finally meet the family.  

It wasn't long before the two were intercepted by Dante and Lasher who had greeted them friendly enough. However, as amicable as they may have been, Reek still felt like a fish out of water. It was as if he could feel the stares (particularly from Lasher) bearing into his skull. Back and forth, he shifted uncomfortably before settling his gaze back to his lover with an expression that begged, say something.

Yep, timeline-wise this is before the storm, probably around when you mentioned Starr!

It wasn't long before both Lasher and Dante showed up. The chocolate druid received her attention first as she stepped forward to give him a fond nudge to his jaw. The silver alpha male was next, earning a bump of Saena's snout against the side of his own. Both of them were like family. Dante hadn't started out that way and even prior to her leaving, she might've classified him differently, but she saw their interactions now through rose-tinted glasses for the most part. They were amicable now. Lasher had always held a dear place save for the brief period of time where Saena believed he had gone as well, but it had long sense left her memory.

"It's great to see you guys!" she rumbled affectionately as she stepped back in line with Reek. Never one to really beat around the bushes, the pale Redtail gestured to him and told them, "this is Reek, my fellow alpha. He's sorta like my boyfriend." As she didn't really expect them to say anything bad about her chosen male, Saena went on in a more serious tone, "we have some news to share. It's not good."

boyfriend? sorta? lasher did not care for these words. while he was very much opposite the traditionalist, the lackadaisical nature of saena's relationship to this man set his senses on edge -- were they lovers? close companions? he was reminded of his relationship with blue willow -- while he had been a touch more formal, their liaison had scandalized several. he was ashamed to find that he had been judging the bond between saena and this fellow in much the same manner; one glance into reek's face showed plainly the depth of his feeling for the pale girl. they needed no outward title.

"welcome, reek. i am lasher, beta male here. my mate is blue willow, aunt to saena." which perhaps made him her uncle, but the pondering of that was swept away by the worry which suddenly assailed him.

casting a glance at dante, taltos brought his ears forward to cup her words, waiting expectantly.

He recieved her gesture warmly, noting the nature of the stranger's presence there without comment but with a look that turned more searching on second glance. He trusted Saena's judgement in that department and therefore the brief stare was more curious than expectant. It was good to see Saena traveling with another at any rate.

The promise of bad news set his nerves on edge, though, as he was unsure how much more bad news he could stomach. This reminded him of his own intentions to visit her, for they had news of their own - unbeknownst to him, identical to her own revelation. "Thank you for making the trip. What news?" They could catch up once this was told, for it seemed important, the way she spoke of it.

Finally, Saena broke the tension by introducing Reek as her 'boyfriend.' Reek could feel his heart skip with affection— even if it was only "sorta." With introductions squared away, Reek's nervous posturing ceased as he found his confidence once more; especially after Lasher's warm and friendly welcome. "Thank you," said Reek. "It's great to finally meet you— Saena told me all about you guys on the way."

But after introductions and the meet and greet was over, it was time to get down to business. The news they came to bring was dark and heavy. Not something to bring up in a light hearted gathering, so Reek fell silent and waited for his 'sorta girlfriend' to fill in the details.

She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but easy acceptance of her relationship wasn't really it. After all, Reek wasn't Prince Charming by any means. He was skinny, his fur was wispy and a little rough. His muzzle was greying with either age or stress. He was definitely older than her, probably by a lot, although Saena had never asked and didn't really care. After all, age was a number to her, and she'd been treated unfairly for her own enough times to never, ever care about age at all. She thought back to a time or two where wolves from the plateau fancied themselves superior to her simply because of age, and knew that even if Reek was seven or eight, she wouldn't care.

Both Dante and Lasher seemed eager for the news. She let her ears fall, cast her gaze sideways to the ground, and muttered, "Junior's dead." Her gaze flashed back up to Dante first—the man had been good friends with Junior, if Saena remembered correctly, even though he was indirectly the reason she had left the plateau in the first place. Then she panned to Lasher, who was surely stricken was well. The man shared familial bonds. "She went to the caldera to try to kill one of our half-siblings and they killed her for it. I had no idea." What a fucking idiot she was, is what Saena wanted to say, but she was sure that all present, especially Reek, shared that thought without her voicing it aloud.

her words were blunt, and though lasher was not shocked by them, his eyes softened with renewed pain. "it is known to us, saena," the beta murmured. "peregrine himself told me what himself and the redhawk wolves had done. it was only a matter of finding a runner to visit your pack...i am sorry you were not told by us."

the earthen wolf felt immediately guilty, that he had failed the pale girl. he would not place it upon his ageing body that he had not come, but the storm had lashed the lands roundabout and he did not know how far its wrath had reached.

he was silent then.

Dante merely stood by as Saena delivered her news, and found himself not too surprised she had worked it out before they could inform her. He allowed Lasher to explain that they already held this knowledge, choosing to remain silent while he waited for her response to such. That had, after all, been their own news to reveal.

In this, he completely forgot and neglected to notice that he had been remiss in introducing himself formally to Saena's mate. It was no mark of disapproval on his part but instead a result of distraction. He thought little of age difference and physical disparity when it came to love for he would ever think of that as a personal choice, one that involved no one's approval save those involved.

The news was heavy, but the awkward silence that ensued after their information had been rendered redundant by the plateau wolves was far heavier than Reek could have expected.  A somber silence lingered far longer than it should have.  How long did they know? The news coming from the Plateau would have been palatable in comparison to the way Junior's misdeeds came spewing out of that Redhawk, Sebastion's, mouth.

"How, uh— How long have you known?" Reek asked, electing to break the silence by shooting his question toward Lasher, who had so far been the only one to confirm any information.

I think this thread occurs before the storm, Eb, since Reek and Saena came from RR, not PHX! I'll be sort of vague about it. If it's easier for everyone to set it afterward, we can do that, but it messes up our timelines pretty badly if we do.

"Oh," said Saena, doing a poor job of hiding her disappointment. She and Reek had made this journey at their earliest convenience, as soon as the threat of Sebastian had been dealt with and the borders adequately secured. That the members of the plateau pack already knew about Junior's plight left her sorely disappointed in her own lack of information. Not only had she been last to know, but she'd heard it from the mouth of an enemy when her own family already knew the truth.

She remained silent for a while, unable to think of anything non-negative to say, while Reek addressed Lasher. His words told her that he was thinking much the same as her. She bit her lower lip, then glanced over to Dante, who had said nothing. "Dante," she addressed him quietly, then she turned her face to Lasher, doing her best to hide her disappointment but probably failing, "Lasher. If I ever see my father or his mate again... I'm going to do everything in my power to kill them. I don't expect you to align yourselves with me if that happens, but whether she deserved it or not, they murdered my sister. Pura and Tytonidae are gone, and you guys are great but she was real family, and she was all I had left of that. I won't let them get away with breaking my family even more if they show their faces to me."

edited!

reek spoke, and saena's disappointment lanced deeply; guilt flooded his gaze as he parted his lips to answer. "not long," he murmured sadly. "there was a fire here around the time that ... we learned of what had happened. several of our members disappeared. this of course is not an excuse; merely an explanation."

he did not have the heart to tell her that osprey, their beloved aunt, had been one of those lost after the blaze -- he would leave that to dante. at her next words, the beta gave a firm nod, anger flaring in his eyes. "you have my support in this. they deserve the same fate that they wrought."

he hoped wearily that saena would not hate them for what had transpired; she already lived so far indeed, and he could not bear the idea of her ire aimed again at the plateau.

He did not appreciate the accusation he heard (and assumed) behind Reek's question, and his displeasure was written clearly in his expression as he turned eyes to Saena's lover.  He had no right to insinuate they would willfully keep such a thing from them, nor any knowledge of the events that had led to their delay.  

Dante felt no guilt in not having made the journey in time, despite Saena's hurt look.  The time following the fire had held far too much chaos, and once they had regrouped, they had been forced to look to their own.  He would stand by Saena and hers against any outside threat, but when it came to a choice between hers and his own... Well, she had made her choice to depart them.  Priorities could not lay the other way.  As a leader, he felt she should understand.

He broke in when Lasher finished, noting his omission and wishing to rectify it.  The other news that needed shared. "There is more.  Saena... the wolves we lost the night of the fire, who went missing.  One of them was Osprey."  His expression was held carefully neutral as he delivered the fate of her aunt.  Not known to be dead, but lost just the same, for neither she nor Shar Kali had been seen or heard from since.

Lasher's explanation, while far from satisfactory for her scorched feelings, was appropriate enough. If there had been reason to delay in telling her the news, a fire was as good a one as any. It didn't sting any less, if only because she felt she should be more important than to be left out of the loop—she'd been born here, raised here, and would have lived and died here if not for the lawless way she felt things were being handled, or not being handled. That she felt entitled to some measure of importance wasn't surprising, though Saena had always felt herself deserving of a little recognition and acknowledgement.

Lasher revealed that he felt similarly about Peregrine and Fox, and Saena nodded. If there was one wolf she felt she could count on, it was her druidic adopted uncle. He'd proven himself more than family on more occasions than she could count. She would stand by him if ever he went against Peregrine and Fox. It wasn't entirely selfless; she would see her father lose everything if she had even half the chance.

The camaraderie faded as soon as Dante opened his mouth, though. The alpha revealed that one of the wolves who had gone missing was Saena's aunt, and the girl grew rigid at the news. It wasn't so much that it was Osprey. The two hadn't got alone well and in the end, theirs was a strained, strange relationship. Saena would miss her aunt if she truly was dead and gone, but that wasn't why she stiffened.

It was the fact that not only had they failed to inform her of Junior's death, they had failed to inform her of Osprey's disappearance. On two counts, the Plateau wolves had failed to inform Saena of her family members dying or disappearing.

And so the female said the only thing she could think to, the only thing that she could manage with her temper beginning to flare: "We need to get going." Maybe Dante and Lasher would interpret it as grief choking her words or maybe they would see beyond that and know Saena was pissed that they hadn't come to deliver news of not one, but potentially two deaths. Fire be damned. She was supposed to be their family too, and they didn't seem to be suffering a fire now. They didn't have an excuse, she felt, not with something that important, unless the woods were burning down around them right now... which they clearly were not.

It was an unfair judgment, but nevertheless, Saena gestured for Reek and turned from them with the intent of walking away, clearly distraught.

Unfortunately for Reek, meeting Saena's family at the Plateau had gone far worse than he had initially expected. He half-expected himself to make some sort of stupid gaff, thus turning the tone awkward and sour. The burden, this time, fell not on Reek's back, but the family itself— and for a moment Reek found himself relieved that for once it was not his fault. Despite his initial relief, the weight of the situation once again caused Reek to tense. The silence that followed Dante's explanation was turgid and awkward. Thick, as if it could have been cut by a hot knife.

He had not known Osprey, nor could he relate (yet) to the destruction the Plateau had faced, but what he did feel was the utmost sympathy for his sort-of girlfriend. She turned to leave irritably and Reek took his cue to follow suit. "Nice, uh— nice meeting you guys," he stammered awkwardly before falling in behind Saena to make their way back home to the Rise.

last post for me!

as dante spoke, lasher felt his muscles contract with the tension of dread. it was mirrored in saena's reaction; she had accepted the news of their knowledge regarding junior, but the change in her expression at the mention of osprey sickened him with guilt. he watched the play of emotions across her face -- his breath hitched in his throat, and his plume hung limply at his heels.

she turned away with a terse word, and though the ageing druid wished fiercely that he could say some word to soothe her heart, there was none. they had failed her, and miserably. with a wan nod to reek, the beta watched the pair depart, and then glanced to dante with misery touching his features.

"i will go patrol," he informed the leader softly, before slipping away into the trees with self-beration beginning in his mind.

last for me :)

Dante read Saena's ire correctly but his own expression remained neutral, no ounce of guilt making itself known.  She had chosen to leave them behind, a wise choice but one that removed her from his own realm of priority.  He owed her nothing but what he desired to give, and anything he might do above and beyond ignoring her existence was more than he would do for any other non-packmate.  She was family, yes, but only to a point.

"Travel safely," he said to their retreating backs, choosing to ignore the tension.  Hopefully it would fade in time as her (as he saw it) naive entitlement faded. A wordless nod was all he gave Lasher in confirmation, sensing the beta at least was displeased with how that had gone.

For his own part, he turned towards the heart of the territory for a hunt.  He would allow Lasher the borders, though perhaps they would speak later on this.

She didn't even flick her ears back to catch Dante's parting words, a clear enough sign that she was more or less finished with him. Entitled or not, Saena deserved to know the fate of her family members. Dante may have been Osprey's friend and alpha, but Saena was her niece and therefore, in her opinion, far more important. Pack boundaries be damned. If that was Lasher's kid, Saena would've come immediately, though she now knew that her attentiveness and her concern was a luxury they no longer deserved.

Reek stammered out a parting word and Saena huffed inaudibly, but kept on going. Only when she was out of earshot of both Plateau wolves did she let her shoulders and pride sink and said acerbically, "that's the last time I come to inform them of anything. Too fucking lazy to come tell me about my sister and my aunt." Anything else she would say on the way home would be in the form of grouchy muttering as a storm cloud descended over her. Not only was she pissed off at Dante and Lasher, she was upset to know about Osprey. Her pain over Junior was less raw, but seemed to be ripped open by the loss of another family member, and so she sunk into silence.