Phoenix Maplewood many men can't see the open road

It was strange to think that Tavi had become so dedicated to this whole pack thing, considering how accidental it was; she had no real sway in the group, no power, no responsibility. Everything was just how she liked it, except that somehow along the way, she had become invested. Really, truly invested in the health and safety of the pack. Granted she knew almost nobody in the group, still. It wasn't like a deep familial connection like her previous home, but it was... Something. 

And Ukko was at the center of that. 

He was the one that got her in, and he was the only reason she stuck around. But now, he seemed to be absent. Tavi ventured along the nearest patrol route between where Saena had made her announcement, and their shared den. As she came upon the den, she expected to find the dark boy lounging in the shade, or maybe having a light nap - he might've been patrolling all night or something. There was no trace of him, though. The den was a gaping hole, empty even after her brief cursory examination, and Tavi felt her heart sink.

Ukko, she thought as a frown creased her features, where are you?

The day of reckoning approaced at a slow, trudging pace and the pack readied itself to fight a war. The raiding party had been assembled with care, and it was only a matter of time before they chased this foul, fledgling pack that had taken up residence to the west into oblivion and onwards. As the day drew closer, a peculiar sinking feeling had settled in the pit of Reek's gut. It wasn't fear, as Reek was sure the Maplewood would return victorious, but a nervous apprehensive feeling had taken root. A quaver. A spark.

He was unable to sit still. He fidgited about the territory, bouncing from one place to the next with a nearly manic energy. From the borders, to the caches, to the clearing, to the stream; Reek walked with little purpose other than satisfying his desire for moment.  

He passed the den that Ukko had previously occupied. His scent had already begun to fade. Tavi's however, remained strong as ever. In fact, she stood not far away, inspecting the den that she had shared with her compatriot (or as Reek would have called him; boyfriend-not-boyfriend). There was as sadness to her expression and Reek struggled to empathise, but he mirrored her sadness in the best he could. "He's gone Tav," spoke the alpha as he approached. "I'm so sorry." His apology, sincere as it was, was not for being the one responible for Ukko's absence, but one levied in Ukko's place, for the pain he had caused her himself.

She was contemplating where to look next when a figure popped up in her periphery. It was a familiar wolfish silhouette, so for a moment Tavi's heart relaxed. Soon though, the dark alpha materialized, and Tavi let out a disappointed little sigh. His words came next, voicing something she hadn't the willpower to entertain: Ukko had abandoned the pack. He must have left when she was asleep, or something. But why would he do that? Knowing that the Maplewood was going to set out on a raid, and everything. It was utterly selfish.

Tavi looked at Reek for a moment as if to contemplate his words, judge their validity. In the end her head dropped. "I don't get it," she muttered, talking more to her feet than to the male present. "He seemed unhappy, but.. I didn't think he'd leave. Especially with everything going on. He's the Beta." She caught herself there, teeth clenching, swallowing a small lump in her throat. "Was the Beta." Abandonment wasn't something she was accustomed to.

Hope you don't mind having Esaro join in :P

With the raid soon approaching, Esaro finally made the decision to go find Ukko and ask if he could teach him a few fighting tricks. Even if he was against fighting, going out into the battle field in attempt to stop fights started to feel a little too crazy. He did have to expect to not be able to stop it which meant he would need to be able to defend himself. He wasn't too sure how he could get Ukko to agree since last time he surely disappointed the Beta.

While he was passing by searching he came across Reek and another member he had yet to introduce himself to. He happen to hear that the Beta was gone. He approached quickly in surprise. "What? Ukko is gone?" In many ways this was bad news. It led to many questions but the worst was the fact that now it was impossible to ask Ukko to teach him about fighting.

Learning that Ukko was unhappy made him feel like he was responsible. Esaro refused to spar with him then Ukko seemed to have felt a little betrayed by that. Was he that last straw that made Ukko leave? That wasn't for sure but Esaro started to blame himself. "I hope it wasn't my fault. He was the one that brought me here but it feels like he was disappointed about that since I think he believed that lied to get in." He said, trying to explain a possible reason that Ukko was upset. Esaro lowered his head, He believed it would be fair to blame him even if it was likely not his fault.

Like Tavi, Reek was also slightly befuddled by Ukko's hushed departure. Tensions may have ran high, but Reek had offered a perfectly good (albiet difficult) way to redeem himself in the alpha's eyes. This opportunity, however, was completly squandered with Ukko's decision to leave. He had been the beta. He had been a contributing member of the pack. But now, there was only one title Reek would ascribe to such a deserter.

"He's a coward," he spoke, unable to hide the bitter intonation hiding behind his words. To abandon the pack in their time of need without saying goodbye was the lowest of the low, an insult of which Reek would never forgive. "If he wasn't happy, he should have told me," he continued after a beat. It would have been of little use, as it had always been Reek's intention to break his beta in retaliation after his outburst, but Ukko had never come forward and aired his grievances to the Alpha. There was nothing that could have been done.

Their party of two soon became three as Esaro approached. Opinion soiled after the pack meeting, Reek regarded him with nothing more than a grumbled, "Mhm," to answer his question. He would have sent him on his way, but following his question came a string of words that gave Reek's hackles rise. He lied.. "Explain," he barked shortly.

Tavi isn't leaving yet, just being a butt.

While the girl's fur spiked a bit when she heard the comment, Tavi couldn't disagree. It pained her to think that Ukko had left her here. It was a fresh feeling, this betrayal. Not even Reek's commentary could distract her from that, even if it would've agitated her otherwise. It was strange to think that she was loyal to Ukko in these moments; he had left, and she needed to come to terms with that, as difficult as it may be. But before she could respond, there was more company - the wolf she had worked beside at the pack hunt, the one which voiced opposition to Saena's intended raid on their competitors. Clearly Reek wasn't amused by this boy's arrival... Although, he said something that piqued a bit of interest from the two of them.

Reek latched upon it first. Tavi, on the other hand, was a bit flummoxed. She thought that somehow Esaro knew her secret -- that she had joined the pack completely by accident -- and the expression on her face morphed from a subdued sorrow to a brief flash of anxiety, her tail lashing at her hocks as it batted once at her feet. But that made no sense. Ukko hadn't been close with anyone else in the pack - least of all someone so new to the group. She cut in with a flat, "No, it wasn't your fault. You're nobody."

And with that, she promptly ended her participation in the conversation, turning as if to depart from their company and mourn her loss in private. This wolf was some newblood fool, and Tavi wasn't in the mood to be kind to fresh meat.

Esaro was asked to explain. He needed to few moments to figure out where to start. It would be a long story to explain it all properly but it was likely that all Reek wanted was the interesting information. He was going to need to keep in brief but before starting he was a little confused on Tavi's words. He wasn't sure how to react to that or even what she meant by nobody. He only wasted a moment before turning back towards Reek to start explaining.

"Well, Before Ukko found me as I was fleeing my old pack I was living an enjoyable life. but during my time there I've never been taught anything useful. I only discovered how useless I was after my pack turn against each other." He paused for moment wondering if he wasn't rushing all the information but continued shortly after the pause. "Anyway I promised Ukko that I would do what I can for the pack in order to assure him I wasn't going to just take advantage of him. I guess the lie came from a misunderstanding. I said to him that I could fight, as in, I would not run away if fighting was necessary. He might have thought I was skilled in fighting. After he tried to spar with me he came up with the conclusion that I deceived him.." That was the brief version of his story, some info was left out but it felt like the essential was said.

He figured maybe he should also explain why he was looking around. "Since I don't really have any skills anywhere I was hoping Ukko could teach me a few ways to defend myself.." He said hoping that it would explain enough for Reek.

What really started to catch his attention was the way Tavi was acting. Maybe she had a special connection with Ukko.

Reek's reaction to Esaro's rambling explanation was more or less the same as Tavi's clipped reply, because as soon as the subordinate opened his mouth, Reek willed it to return to it's resting position; shut.  "Well, stop being useless then," came Reek's snappy reply, unable to hold back his frustration any longer. With his beta gone, Reek had no time for incompetence within his ranks, especially with a raid lingering so soon on the horizon. It was up to Esaro himself to become a competent member of the pack. Normally, Reek would have offered a hand in helping, but now he hardly had the time to teach him how to fight or be a proper adult.

"But, it looks like you're shit out of luck." With Ukko no longer around to show Esaro the ropes, he would need to rely on his instincts. While Reek fought solely with his, he wasn't sure if Esaro was in touch enough with his feral side. Perhaps he had been too sheltered. Well, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire soon... and Esaro would learn the hard way. "Just don't get us killed," he quipped before turning away as Tavi had. A wordless dismissal.

Esaro went on to explain himself despite the disinterest of his company, and while Tavi was frustrated enough with the disappearance of her friend, she couldn't help but feel a certain kinship with this other wolf. He had technically lied to get in to the pack -- Reek seemed to realize this, or perhaps he saw Esaro just as Ukko had, as a useless addition to the pack. Tavi wondered how the leaders would react if they knew her story. The truth, which she had shared with Ukko, now seemed to matter less and less. At the very least, Tavi had not made any promises she couldn't keep.

When Reek decided to dismiss the boy, Tavi watched him for a second. She turned away after a few seconds, settling in to the soil just outside of the den mouth, and waited for the boy to leave. At the moment, Tavi wasn't exactly in an entertaining mood -- and she wasn't keen on swapping stories about her old room-mate. The situation seemed a bit tense, or maybe just awkward, while both Tavi and Reek waited for the boy to catch on to his dismissal.

Reek's response was a little shocking. Esaro's image of the Alpha quickly changed. During the first impressions he believed Reek to be some sort of hero that could do many things. He even wanted to be like him. But now with that image shattered He wasn't too sure of what to think of Reek. With Reek's reaction and Ukko's disappearance Esaro managed guess a possibility of why Ukko might have left. Was it possible that Reek was just taking advantage of his members? Did Ukko see that and decided it was best to leave without a word? 

What stung Esaro more was the fact that both wolves turned their backs on him. He found it very upsetting since he's been trying to prove he wasn't useless. Tavi's words started to make more sense. 'You're nobody' That meant she thought he was useless too right? It was very frustrating. He hasn't been here long enough to be as good as the others but he really believed to have improved a little since he's been here. It was thanks to Spring, Laika, Luna, and even Ukko that he was improving. The three females all believe in him which was what keeps him encourage enough to want to improve faster.

"I'm trying my best to not be useless." He said in a low tone, obviously upset. He felt too hurt to want to stay around with them so he turned and took off quickly in a quick walking pace. He had too many negative emotions to the point he needed to vent it out. He didn't know what to think of them. He couldn't figure out if he was angry or sad, either way he wanted to be alone and hope that he could at least recover a positive spirit over time before making another appearance.

Try harder was what Reek wanted to say, but he opted to hold his tongue instead. He had lashed out enough in his frustration and it seemed Esaro had already recieved the message. Taking his leave, the upset Esaro disappeared into the Maplewood. Reek snorted with displeasure before turning back to see that Tavi had settled back in front of her den.

Appearing as if she didn't want to bothered, Reek passed by only briefly. "Sorry 'bout all that," he said, stopping close to where she had settled. "It's just been a day." Reek resuemed his progression forward, and unless she saw fit to stop him, he would be on his way and she would be left in solitude.

Gonna fade! Ty for the thread! :)

With Esaro departed, it wasn't long before Reek chose to leave as well. There was no reason to linger when Tavi was in such a foul mood, and the alpha male seemed to sense this. He muttered something at her in passing, and she grunted, letting him know she heard his words, but other than that she didn't do much. Once he too had vanished from sight, Tavi rose. She regarded the open den with an expression of cold indifference -- and then began to fill it in.