Larksong Grotto bag of bones

set for tomorrow. @Reek @Jhala; plz let @Terich-mir post first <3

the trek had been arduous, the days melding with one another. vuk chewed sticks when terich could find no food for their little family and kept seff close. while she had not wanted to know where he had laid the other three pups to rest, the girl shed tears into the dust of the ridge upon their departure all the same.

a slow journey -- she rested often and slept as much from the weight of her own sadness as the physical deterioration of her whip-thin form. she had a mother's worry now, that her milk would dry up before her son even had a chance at life, but as the mountains stood behind them at midday, she scented the borders of a pack.

here was a chance to live, and gathering her strength, vuk called for the leaders, notes of desperation entwined into her voice. she collapsed soon after, weak, and curled herself around seff at terich's feet, waiting for them to be greeted -- or chased away.

Worry clouded his thoughts now; worry for Vuk, for Seff, and lastly, for himself. He worried he wouldn't be able to provide for them, to capture enough food to help Vuk produce milk for the babe. At least he was able to find sticks for her, sticks from the berry plants his grandmother taught him about, sticks that would at least keep the gnawing hunger at bay. All this would be fixed when they found a pack. Terich was determined to find a pack for them, and if that meant fishing and rooting out smaller prey to feed to Vuk and abstain from himself, then so be it.

Finally they scented a pack nearby, and they crawled as close as they dared before Vuk howled for the leaders. Then she curled around Seff at his feet to wait, and despite the exhaustion that tugged at his bones, Terich-mir would not leave them unattended. He waited patiently for those that might come, his withered form bowed in respect, ears flat against his skull. Whoever found them would discover a pair of bone-thin vagrants, with a tiny spark of life between them. Terich licked Vuk's head and nuzzled Seff softly, hoping someone would come soon.

Makes happy pterodactyl screeches

Resources were at an all-time low. Reek's last proper meal had been from the cache, long before the swarm -- now, he took to eating the locusts that littered the ground to survive. He could hardly provided for himself, let alone his pack. The never-ending grip of worry refused to relent in its tight grasp. It was a frustrating thing, this punishment levied against him by the Gods themselves, who's existence Reek had once denied. His misery and the irony of the situation must have tickled them absolutely pink, he felt. Perhaps if he had gone through with drowning himself in the lake, ending his pitiful life as he had intended to, the cosmic assholes in the sky would have been satisfied and left the world untouched from their wrath. 

For some reason, beyond even Reek's understanding or comprehension, he carried on with a will to survive. Each breath; a loud and defiant fuck you to the universe itself. With all the strength he had, Reek would persevere. He was no stranger to starvation... it had just been so long. He would adapt -- by now, even the taste of the fallen locusts was becoming more bearable. The crunch they made between his teeth no longer brought a sickening feeling to his stomach.

He scrounged up all the bugs he could from the dust: a meager meal, but it was something. He had to bury the rest -- hiding his stash of locusts away from the rest of the pack in a private cache -- after his lunch was inturrepted by a howl from the border. With his lunch hidden away, Reek set his bony legs to moving as he traveled in the direction of the howl.

Without the energy to approach with any modicum of aggression, Reek walked toward the two wolves on his borders with his tail barely raised in dominance. In this time of famine, it was best to conserve all the energy he could. His eyes first fell on Terich-mir -- an able bodied fellow, however, he did show the signs of hunger. Reek's eyes trailed downward to the wolf resting at his feet— a woman who's eyes told the story of sadness and loss. Though he had never seen the woman before in his life, Reek felt a kindred bond with the woman below. Her child remained hidden from view.

He lifted a brow, inviting one of the wolves before him to speak.

seff roused and gave a thin squeal; vuk moved him to her teat. she blinked rapidly at the growing tears of fear for his life, and through them she watched a lanky, dark wolf approach her little family. he said nothing, but his gaze was not unkind as he studied first terich, then herself. 

vuk knew she seemed haggard, unkempt -- the jut of her hips was clear, as were her ribs. she glanced up to her mate and then back at the man with desperation now closing upon her features. was he going to turn them away? her lips worked but no sound came; what little voice the girl had was locked away, stifled by the stress and loss of the last several weeks.

the dam broke and her tears fell at last, and as her bony shoulders shook brokenly, vuk lifted her foreleg to reveal seff's nursing form. her eyes turned back to the man and she watched him pleadingly, having said all that she was able without the help of words.

A wolf approached them, one that was dark of figure and yet not unkind. Terich watched this wolf approach with his head cast down, really watching his paws come forward. He stole a glance upward, toward his face, to register to whom he spoke, before he looked away again. After a terse moment, Terich saw that Vuk stirred to reveal Seff suckling at her teat. He sighed, knowing now that he'd have to play this card to get them in. As Vuk's tears began, Terich licked her cheek softly, nudged Seff's tiny head, and turned his attention toward the dark wolf.

We know this is unorthodox, and that we may be denied our request. He didn't feel the need to point out the obvious. The lands were dying, or dead already, and two more mouths to feed would not be easy. But my wife and I seek shelter. Our pack was destroyed from within when our alphas abandoned us. That was at least close to the truth. Terich's blue eyes filled with tears of frustration and anger and exhaustion, something that truly needed no acting. But the rest, the story of their plight, had been fabricated. He'd stick close enough to the truth to be believable, but what really happened at the ridge, neither wolf knew. My mate was pregnant when we left. She lost three of our children on the way. His gaze turned from Reek's paws to the tiny bundle within Vuk's embrace, and let a soft grin light his features.

We may not offer much, but I can fish. He turned back to the alpha, his shoulders hunching lower. My grandmother taught me a little healing, and my skills at fishing have kept them alive. He paused for a breath, then said finally. We offer little other than our loyalty, given freely in exchange for shelter. I will die for my family, and I will die for you if you welcome us in yours. Promises were hard for Terich, but this much was true; if Reek allowed them entrance, Terich would be sure to abide by his laws and fish the streams dry in order to repay him.

The woman was the first to move -- lifting her foreleg to reveal wriggling and writhing pup beneath before breaking down with tears of desperation. Her disconsolate sobs pulled heavy on Reek's broken heart. She was a damaged soul, just like him. He could clearly see the loss lingering behind her tearful eyes. In that moment, Reek shared in her sadness and felt a connection to strange woman without uttering a single word. It was a rare display of empathy, especially in Reek's case, but strangely, his eyes became wet with tears of his own. Though he did not let them fall, Reek could feel the painful sting of emotion in his breast.

Reek's gaze moved down toward the pup -- a languid and sad smile playing across his features. Its eyes were still sealed shut with youthful blindness. He was hardly a newborn. Reek immediately thought of the children -- his own children -- that he was doomed to never meet. He had wanted nothing more than to be a father, but the title had been stripped away on the breadth of numerous mistakes and missteps. Seeing the little bundle sheltered beneath Vuk's legs brought all of that emotion back.

As the woman's guardian and mate began to speak, Reek turned his attention upward. Their intention on the border was easily predictable. Most wolves who turned up so close were looking for a home... but now, during the famine that had recently descended, Reek was hard-pressed to let anyone into his ranks. It wasn't necessarily that he was being picky, his rationale was more along the lines of not being able to support a large pack. Had the child not been there and Vuk and Terich had expected to join the grotto on their merits alone, they would have probably been turned away.

The child, however, made matters different. "He's beautiful," Reek muttered, wistfully wishing that it was own son before him. "A life like that should be cherished. I promise, I'll do what I can to give him the shelter and food he needs." He directed his speech directly to Terich in the hopes it would somehow be some sort of reassurance. "Food is tight... here and everywhere else," he continued. His gaze shot downward. "I don't know if I can support you both, but I can try— for the child." Two new wolves to be accounted for would be a definite drain on resources, but Reek couldn't in good conscious separate a father from his son just as he had been separated from his unborn litter.

terich began to speak; vuk did not move beneath his kiss but closed her eyes and leant into it somewhat, stilling her sobs as he pieced together the tale she would carry with her into this pack, if it granted them entry. and yet she wanted to rise up, she wanted to scream that this was not how it had happened! taggarik had turned on her, capriccio as well -- she had fled to protect her unborn children, and when she had wanted to come home, the alpha pair had uprooted the pack.

and yet she was quiet, her turqoise eyes opening to alight on the man as he responded to her mate. there was a heaviness to him, a sadness that played along his features and dulled the light of his eyes, but she had seen the murk lift when he looked at seff. there was a story here, she knew, but vuk was too exhausted to draw it out. in time -- in time, perhaps.

he was granting them a place here. relief washed over the patchwork girl and she gave a thump of her tail against the ground, thanking him with desperation leaching from her gaze. it would be difficult, of course, but within a pack, there would be others to help them fell large game if it ever returned, and to share in what kills they could make now.

"vuk," she murmured suddenly, then nudged the downy head of her babe. "seff."

Terich-mir stood with bated breath as his story unfolded, and waited to hear what this wolf would say. He knew it pained Vuk to deceive others, but it was the easiest way to tell their tale without explaining each of their backstories, the way Vuk was taken with her heat and thought little more than of herself. Terich glanced at Vuk, and with a softening of his expression, tried to apologize for the lie. Whether she saw it remained to be seen.

After what seemed a lifetime, the dark figure granted them acceptance, but not for their own merits. For the child alone. Terich understood this; during uncertain times it was easier to say yes to defenseless children than to say no to two adults. Nevertheless, Terich smiled and nodded his head in thanks, turning at ear toward his mate who introduced herself and her child, Seff. Then after a moment he turned back to the wolf. Thank you, kind alpha. I'm Terich. The tension of his shoulders seemed to relax somewhat, but he did not move from his deferential stance. What may we call you? What is the name of our home? There hadn't been any sign posts, nor any wolves to talk to along the way. What are your laws, so that we may keep them?

Having both offered their names (and the name of their newborn child), Reek felt it time to introduce himself proper. After responding to their gesture's of gratitude with a nod, Reek gestured to himself, muttering, "Reek." The derogatory sting it once carried had long faded away -- after so much time, it was just another word: meaningless in its utterance as most names were. He turned his head to regard the grotto, who's name did (once) have meaning in a literal sense) behind him: once a beautiful stretch of rugged green, was now a rocky, dusty, wasteland. "This is the Larksong Grotto... its namesake however, has flown the coop after the swarm." The trees, having been stripped bare, no longer carried to the music of tittering songbirds. With that, Reek felt the grotto had lost something special.

"The only law here is to treat the wolves within this pack like your own family -- like flesh and blood -- and I promise, they will do the same," he replied. A proper pack, he felt, was held together by a sense of mutual respect. However, Reek found himself infringing on this right to respect more often than naught, thus resulting in Tavi's departure, taking their unborn litter with her. Nevertheless, it pushed Reek to change.  

"Come," he said. "You can both take shelter in my own personal cave." It was the safest place in the grotto for a newborn baby, and it was where he had intended for Tavi to welcome their own litter to the grotto. He turned his gaze back to Vuk and the child nursing at her teet. "You can nurse there in comfort." She would be undisturbed, as the rest of the pack wasn't allowed inside the grotto except during times of emergency. Patiently, Reek waited for them to gather their family so he could lead them home.

!!!!!

vuk was quiet as the men spoke above her, gaze traveling between them both. she was glad that she had revealed seff, as it seemed the pup had tipped the scales in their favour. she closed her eyes in relief as reek laid out the rules of the pack, and then kindly extended his own densite for herself and her family. 

gingerly vuk climbed to her feet, stumbling a little. seff, his warmth suddenly removed, shrieked, and the sound was a piercing reminder of his innate strength. he scrabbled madly against the bare ground, searching with blind bobbing head for his mother; vuk nuzzled seff and then lifted the pup into her jaws to carry him, as she had done for the past several days.

a wave of exhaustion threatened to sway her, but she found her remaining reserves and smiled above the downy body of the pup at reek, and then at terich, waiting to follow their new alpha into the beautifully named larksong grotto, where, she hoped, her son would thrive and she could heal.

yik sorry joining hella late

There were scents of strangers that weren't actually strangers at the borders today, and Jhala was irked to find that she did not fully recognize the scents. With perked ears and a lolled tongue-- it felt hot and gross under all her dark fur-- she trotted along the border towards the scents. Occasionally the girl found she could not hear anything-- something in her head mimicked the dreadful sound of the swarm. It wasn't constant, and only once or twice a day, but she had missed the entry howls and was relying purely on scent when she discovered the strangers.

As she grew closer, she'd found that Reek was already there. Had she not been so set on making him proud, she'd have turned around once she realized that. It was when she could actually see Reek when she realized who the strangers were. Her heart leapt, and she let out a loud bark. The young beta sped towards the trio, her tail wagging wildly. 

"Vuk!" she barked, "Terich! You guys are OK! I haven't seen you since--" she froze, her ears lowering and her tail wagging humbly at her ankles. She looked to Reek with a lowered head, a silent apology and request to continue her excited greeting. She hadn't actually noticed the pup, being far more focused on the two fellow ex-porcupines.

Terich nodded yet again at Reek's introduction and listened carefully to the rules they were to abide by: treat pack like family. He could do that. At the mention of them sharing Reek's densite, one ear flicked forward briefly before resuming its backward position. It worried him that they'd be around the alpha so soon, but there was nothing quite like pressure to make the act believable. Thank you, Reek. I vow to repay you with my loyalty. Whatever it is you need, I will do my best to see it done. Terich turned to watch as Vuk stood, nearly stumbling, and gathered Seff in her mouth. He stepped closer to her, to lend his shoulder if needed, and was ready to leave when someone new erupted onto the scene.

Jhala. He hadn't known where she went, but it seemed she was hale and hearty here. Terich allowed her a soft smile, and nodded his head toward her. Jhala, it is good to see you again. He hoped she wouldn't ask about the ridge or its other inhabitants. As far as he was concerned, they were all gone. Perhaps not all of them (clearly there were three present), but the others? Capri and Taggarik? They were gone. It will be nice to have a familiar face here. He turned toward Reek. We were part of the same pack at Porcupine Ridge. Jhala left before it fell apart, before we were mates. His blue eyes turned toward Jhala, wondering what she'd make of that. He glanced at Vuk and nudged her cheek softly before looking back at his new pack. If you don't mind, could we continue this once Vuk and Seff are settled? She is exhausted. He was, too, but that didn't matter as much to him as Vuk's comfort and well-being.

With haste, Vuk gathered her child and was ready to set off toward Reek's cave. All the while, Terich-mir offered both his loyalty and gratitude in response to Reek's generosity. The thought of adding more members to the pack --more mouths to feed -- made Reek uneasy, however, a thin smile crossed his lips in that he knew that finally he was doing the right thing. For so long, Reek had been bound by blunder after blunder. This was, after all, a nice change.

"Don't worry about it," he replied. Reek would worry enough for the both of them in time. He motioned toward the grotto with flick of his muzzle, however, before he had the chance to speak further, Jhala appeared on scene with a crisp bark announcing her presence. The familiarity between them was obvious right off the bat, but after Terich's explanation, the puzzle pieces all fit together.

A reunion of friends was a nice thing indeed, but it would have to wait. There was a child to be attended to. "You three can catch up later," he said. "Come. Let's get you three settled in and comfortable." With that, Reek set his course to lead the newest members of the grotto to their new home.

jhala.

she came toward them and vuk's gaze tightened before she turned it away. she knew that jhala had left the ridge, but who knew how much the former beta had heard? could she puncture their story? fear dried her throat but she nodded at reek and cast jhala a tired smile before following the alpha male in silence. terich hadn't seemed too perturbed by it -- maybe they would catch up later.

vuk had a brief but vivid daydream as she plodded after reek; terich and jhala, caressing one another. strangely, she felt a tingle of indignation at this, then irritation with the tired machinations of her exhausted mind. terich and she were mates, even if was only out of necessity.

Once Terich began to speak, Jhala noticed the babe. She didn't scold herself for not noticing it prior, but was confused how she'd missed it. It was kind of small, but once it'd become visable to her she could smell it clearly. Her ears flicked, and she lowered her head slightly to look at Reek. Cacth up later, he'd said, and she nodded her head quickly. 

When they turned to go, Jhala fell in step with Vuk, feeling closest to the patched girl. She eyed the baby curiously, wondering when she and Terich had found time among this mess to have a child. Part of her wondered if it was even Terich's, as she remembered that Capriccio had mentioned that Taggarik had chosen someone else. Was it Vuk? She couldn't remember. She asked no questions, even though now she had millions, and walked in silence with her Alpha and friends.