Phoenix Maplewood Knife in the Ocean

Meeting thread! @Regipre @Sart @Saena

Fixed the prefix. — Kat

The way back took much longer.  The motion was stop and go as the pups were constantly hungry and needed to be hunted for periodically.  But, Reek didn't mind the delay in time or the hunting.  Hell, he reveled in it.  It gave him something to do. While they traveled northward, Reek made sure to fill the pups in on the history of the Maplewood, and in turn, Redtail Rise. The good times... and the bad. But, despite being sure the information was lost on ones so young, he felt they still needed to be prepared. If they actually listened, on the other hand, that was another story.  

Above all, Reek was unsure of how Saena would react.  What was supposed to be a simple day trip had morphed into something else entirely; three long nights on the road and away from the Maplewood.  She must have worried because of the lack of contact. Nevertheless, the timeframe barely even passed through Reek's mind, his primary worry was for the two pups that waddled at his flank.  How would he even begin to explain that sort of thing?  Hey babe, can I keep 'em?

Finally, they reached the fringes of the territory and Reek bid the pups to stop and rest, or play, or whatever pups did while he howled for his mate to greet them.

Most coyote pups did play—and Sart certainly would, unless she was too tired—but all Regipre did was step to the side and take a seat, remaining silent and watchful. Her ears quivered when Reek's voice rose into the air, summoning his mate. Little Reggie licked her lips and turned her head this way and that way, studying her surroundings. She had never seen a forest before and the looming trees made her a little apprehensive at first. But then she realized how much easier it would be to hide someplace like the woods.

She missed her mother and Papref, though the whelp quickly pushed thoughts of them to the back of her mind. It was quite likely she would never see them again. That was just as well for the single mother; now she only had one mouth to feed (besides her own) and her two little girls were in the best hands possible. Because, so far, Reek had proved to be quite the doting caretaker. Only time would tell if Saena would treat them the same way.

They'd walked forever. When Sart had initially gotten over her fear of the black wolf, at first she bounded along merrily and sniffed this, that, and the other thing. They crossed a lot of terrain she was unfamiliar with. All the new experiences filled her tiny little brain and once she realized things were okay she was a heck of a lot better about them.

Until, on the final few miles, Sart found herself exhausted. She dragged herself along, willing her tiny body to keep up. "Are we there yet!?" she whined here and there on repeat. If they were getting closer, it wasn't close enough.

Fortunately, after an eternity, the wolf stopped and howled. Everyone halted. Sart made one last step forward before her legs gave out from underneath her and she dramatically flopped to the ground and lay there as though death (a new word she was slowly starting to understand) had taken her. "Are we there yet?" she asked one final time, hoping they wouldn't have to travel much further. "My footsies are hurted."

By the time Reek finally returned to the imperial maplewood, Saena had worn a track into the dirt around the borders. When her husband informed her he would be gone for a day or two, she'd thought nothing of it, but when two days passed with no sign of him, she began to worry. When the third came to a close, she was fretful. That third night passed with more nightmares than usual and the stress played on her mind. Ghosts became increasingly prominent as the days wore on and so Saena patrolled and patrolled and patrolled, both to see her husband should he return and to keep her mind off her ethereal companions.

When his voice rose on the air on the fourth day, Saena's heart nearly gave out. Relief flooded her system, followed quickly by outrage. How dare he scare her like that! She turned immediately and headed off in the general direction of his voice, scowling and trying to decide what choice words she would say to him if he was safe and sound.

It took her almost twenty minutes to reach him, but the second she spotted him alive and well, the alpha female bared her teeth and exasperatedly hissed, "what the fuck, dude!" She almost gave him a piece of her mind right then and there, but a flash of sandy brown coupled with motion made her snap her jaws shut. Her eyes fixed on the prone young coyote (Sart). Her blood boiled immediately.

There were no words necessary when it came to such vermin. Saena immediately struck, aiming to land a fatal blow to the young coyote's exposed spine. That Reek might intercept never crossed her mind; in fact, she mistakenly thought he was unaware of his little shadows, as he surely couldn't be dumb enough to bring competing canines to her doorstep.

Reek and Saena's first fight as a couple <3

Obviously the pups were sacked, but who could blame them after such a long trip. They just couldn't handle the level of travel Reek was accustomed to— and that was even accounting for his heavily altered pace. He turned back to Sart, watching as she comically flopped to the ground with a proud grin. "We're home," sighed Reek in contentment. "You two like it?" Of course they did, it was perfect. Exactly what he had promised.

Or so he thought.

There was little time for a reply before Reek's mate rolled onto the scene. He expected an earfull, but he still greeted her with a smile and amicable tail wag. He was madly in love with her after all. Her expression showed no such happiness, which was something that Reek quickly noticed. "I promise, there's an eplan—" ation, but before he could finish his sentence, his wife went straight for the kill, directing all her aggression toward Sart. A child.

Without thinking, Reek flung himself between Saena and the pup. They collided with a loud smack and Reek was sent tumbling back in an awkward tangle of limbs. Her teeth connected with his side instead of her target, cutting deep into his flank. Blood poured from his open wound as Reek lay stunned under his mate. Eyes wide with horrer, Reek managed to wheeze a weak, "Surprise."

Saena didn't leave them waiting or wondering for long. When she glided onto the scene, Reggie immediately sensed her agitation. She hunched to make herself appear smaller, then went rigid when the she-wolf lunged at her sister. She was torn between leaping to Sart's defense and standing down like an obedient whelp. Reek saved her from having to make a decision by blocking his mate's assault to spare Sart.

While the pair of wolves was presumably distracted, Regipre slunk over to her sister, giving her a single hard nudge and then slinking toward some of the nearby trees. They could simultaneously take cover and make themselves scarce while Reek and Saena sorted out matters. It was pretty clear to Reggie that they weren't welcome, so if things did go south, the two coyote sisters could simply disappear.

She had no idea what would happen after that, though, so Reggie hunkered down near the roots of a maple tree and watched the altercation, unaware that she was holding her breath.

She was about to roll over and place her footsies in the air when the wolf the black wolf had called for arrived on the scene. She didn't have a chance to flip over. She was being rushed. Sart mustered up the lingering strength within her and tried to backpedal as best she could as she realized her life was suddenly on the line. Reek intercepted. Sart yipped as she barked at the new wolf as if that would somehow get Saena to back down.

It dawned on her suddenly that the more appropriate behavior was to bow. She sank to the ground, rump in the air for a half second, before she Regipre nudged her. Oh. Was there something better that could be done? Her sister slipped behind a tree and Sart did the same, wedging herself as underneath her sibling as possible so two little stacked coyote heads peered back at the wolves.

Saena felt a brief flash of satisfaction as she connected with something, but her senses returned to her in time to keep her from crushing whatever part of Reek's body she'd briefly grabbed hold of. Instead, she used her momentum to push him, sending him sprawling and stumbling backward herself. The shock of it kept her still long enough for the pair of coyote pups to hide themselves.

With a shake of her head, the alpha female growled and lifted her stance higher. "What the hell's this?" she demanded, fixing a seething glare on her mate. Reek might've done the right thing by the coyote pups but he'd done the wrong thing by his wife by bringing them here, if that's truly what happened. Saena's stance on coyotes mirrored that of many wolves: they were competitors. Thieves. Mongrels that were easier dealt with through force than diplomacy. A coyote was wily and would do whatever was necessary to get a meal out of a wolf, or so her prejudiced view went. Even young ones were a blight.

So she found it hard to believe that Reek, a wolf who was typically more selfish than not, would be willing to give their resources to a pair of thieving little brats that would only grow up to compete with and steal from his eventual offspring. For that reason she doubted that was why he brought them here, and hoped she was right... but if not that, then why had he defended them?

Reggie tolerated Sart's proximity for several moments, in part because she was happy her sister hadn't been killed but also because she was quite distracted. Eventually, however, she frowned and pushed her sibling away, so there were at least a few inches of space between them. She liked her sister, truly, but what Regipre didn't like was being touched or having others in her personal space.

Her attention shifted back to the pair of wolves. She was almost certain this wasn't going be the paradise Reek had promised. "Let's go," the elder sister said to Sart, locking gazes with the other pup a moment. Her blue eyes then returned to the wolves, fixated upon them even as she began backing further away.

She had no idea where they would go or what they would do. Perhaps they could locate their mother somehow. Reggie was just convinced that if they stayed here, Saena would eventually kill them both... and possibly Reek too, by the look and sound of it.

Saena finally relented in her assult long enough for her to fire an acidic question at Reek's prone and bloodied form.  Before answering, he looked back to see the coyote pups had scattered out of sight into the Maplewood, and while they were safest away from Saena for the time being, Reek hoped they would stick close for the time being. Two pups wandering around alone in an unfamiliar territory was a surefire death-sentance. Reek had promised them sanctuary— and for once, he felt the need to hold true to his word.

"They're children," he shot right back, albeit from a much lower position than his hyper-dominant wife.  "I promised— I promised I'd protect them." So far, he'd made good on that promise... well, much to the extent of his bleeding flank.  "They were alone," he lied, but it was more-or-less a half truth.  They still had their mother, but once winter rolled around the pups were as good as dead. Unfortunately, there was no utility in dead pups.  "I had to do something," he continued on. "I couldn't just let them die; they're just kids."

Wincing with pain, Reek rose to his feet. He shot his mate a stone faced glare before his voice dipped into a stern whisper. "They're an investment." Reek had plans for these two... even if they weren't yet concrete.

The comfort of having her sister so close did not last for long. Sart was shoved away, something she shot Regipre a miffed look for before she followed her sister's gaze towards the scene of wolves beyond. Sart looked upon them intently, her focus as piercing as an arrow. Something important was happening there, she just wasn't entirely certain as to what.

Her sister's words caught her ears. Sart instantly turned to catch her gaze before she peeled herself way from the scene. Reek was still a stranger here. Her sister was smart and Sart inherently trusted her judgement a heck of a lot more than anyone else present. She took a few steps backwards, mirroring her sister as they prepared to make a clean get-away.

"They're coyotes," Saena snapped in response, seeming intent on shutting down Reek's good intentions. If they had been wolf children, she might've been a little more welcoming, though Saena's true colours were shining now. She was selfish on the inside and, with fall approaching and tensions naturally rising, the dominant bitch probably wouldn't have had that either. While she would not breed in fall, her hormones were already beginning to act on her. Her behaviour was uncharacteristic for how she was a month ago, but soon enough Saena would be intolerant of any threat to her future brood, even if her heat was months away.

"They're thieves," she insisted, glaring at the spot where the two pups had been moments earlier. They seemed to be gone now. Good, she thought. "You want me to willingly give food from our family to them? They'll grow up to skulk around and steal food like all their kind." A coyote was a coyote, after all. Even intense brainwashing couldn't turn a coyote into a wolf.

Reek insisted that they were an investment. Normally she would've liked to hear his insidious plan, but all she did now was bare her teeth. Maybe they would amount to something if she left them be, but whatever plans he had for them, he could undertake them by himself. She wasn't interested. Still, she backed down with a snarled, "fine," if only because he promised they would be useful, and then she snorted. "But they're not taking any food from our pack. They get scraps if there's any left. If not, you can hunt for them yourself." She sure as shit wasn't going to be nourishing natural enemies. "And if I catch them stealing or tricking anyone even once, they're dead."

That was a promise. Any slight indication that Regipre and Sart were anything but perfectly trained little monkeys would send the alpha female flying off the handle, not only because they were coyotes but because her temper was thinning as summer ended. There was no guarantee that when winter was underway she would tolerate them around, but presently she was still just tolerant enough to leave Reek to it. And that's exactly what she did: she turned and left him there to take care of his pests by himself.

The wolves' voices faded behind them as Regipre led Sart deeper into the forest. She smelled Reek's and Saena's kind all around them and it made her tawny fur prickle. They should probably get as far away as possible. Yet when the slightly older of the two spotted a tree with a fissure between its roots, she made a quiet hissing sound to draw Sart's attention and led the way over to it.

She poked her head inside, hovering a moment until her eyes adjusted to the dimness. The tree's base was hollow, the ceiling perhaps three feet high. The two of them could easily fit inside the little entry and tuck themselves inside with a little bit of room to spare. "Get in here," Reggie instructed her sister, moving out of the way to make room. She faced the narrow doorway. She figured no wolf could pass through it, so they would be safe here, at least for now.

"Reek lied," Reggie said after a few moments of silence. She sought Sart's eyes in the tree's gloomy interior. "Said nothing would hurt us." He had called his home a sanctuary. "He lied," she repeated. Her voice was mostly toneless, though there was a solemn note to it. She had trusted and deferred to this wolf and he had led them right into what felt like a trap.

Saena had attempted to kill Sart right off the bat. Her threatening words drifted in the whelp's head. They would never be safe here, not like Reek had said. What was more worrisome, in a way, was that Reggie realized that implicitly trusting him had been a mistake. Reek was not as benevolent as he had seemed at first. And no matter what happened in the end, her reverential take on wolves was forever blighted for it.

Sart followed her sister. The way she saw it, she'd seek the comfort of family over a stranger any day. Still, when Regipre found a tree hollow, she was quick to tuck herself within the hole. "Okay..." She sat down inside of it and looked to Reggie. Much of what had just happened was still over her head. She was rattled by what had occurred, no doubt. If there'd ever been an instance when she'd encountered the gravity of what death meant, that scenario had been the closest she'd ever come in her short lived life.

Her sister spoke. Sart's ears flattened upon her head as she turned her gaze towards her paws. She was right. The wolf had promised them sanctuberry and that nothing would hurt them. "But I isn't hurted," she whispered back softly. Truthfully, Reek had followed through in that regard. Could she have been? Yes, but he'd intercepted the teeth of the other wolf. Technically she was still unscathed save for the fear that curled within her.

Then again, her mind was a little lost. Death was bad. But winter was also bad too. This wolf said he'd help them with winter, whatever that was. Cold. No food. More death. These were all things she couldn't make good decisions about. She just knew they were all bad. She also knew her sister was smarter than she was. "Pssst," she said suddenly, though there was no reason for it in the confines of their hollow. "What about winter?" Certainly her sister had thoughts on that.

I'm not sure whose turn it is but I wanted to throw in a post and maybe get this wrapped!

Although she now felt like the maple forest was a treacherous place, she at least felt safe tucked here in the tree with her sister. Regipre didn't normally like sharing her personal space much, though sometimes it was comforting to just curl up beside her mother, brother and sister. That idle thought made her start. She would probably never see Tomahawk or Papref again. Even if she wanted to find her way back to them, she would surely never make it. She didn't know the way, among other things.

Her lips pressed together when Sart reassured her she wasn't actually hurt. Reggie's blue eyes flashed. The Alpha female's intentions had been clear. If they stayed here, they would never be able to let down their guard. They would have to stay vigilant at all times, lest Reek's mate slay them in cold blood. And surely she wasn't the only wolf here who might feel that way toward them...

But was that much different than living anywhere else? Before Reggie could ponder that, Sart pointed out, "What about winter?" The slightly older of the two felt cold dread pooling in her belly. She was between a rock and a hard place and it seemed she would have to choose the lesser of two evils. In the end, she would have to go with the evil she knew (the wolf) versus the one she didn't (winter).

Reggie sighed, tucking her forelegs under her chest and curling into a ball there inside the tree. "We stay," she said at long last, her voice reluctant and weary as she stared balefully out at the perilous Phoenix Maplewood.

Also not sure who's turn it is, but I would love to see this thread wrapped up. -pets it- It's so old. RIP thread.

Her eyes turned towards her sister. Reggie would know what to do. She always knew what to do. Sart mostly just did what she was told to do because it didn't involve thinking or anything else that was over complicated. Like trying to figure out what to do now. All she knew was she was here now. She didn't know how to get back. Her feet hurt. She was starting to get sleepy and hungry. Basic things. Now things. Not long term things.

Her brow furrow as she was thinking, but not thinking about her present situation. Eventually Reggie piped up with a decision. "We stay." "Okay," she whispered back, glad that was all decided for her. Now it was just a matter of the wolfies involved. Sart popped her head back out of their hide-y hole to get a better idea as to where they were at.