Sun Mote Copse Not Just A Friendly Visit

Alyssum's scent was faded in the Court, stale - where the hell had she gone? He knew he'd thought her slow or maybe damaged, but he felt like he was chasing down a lost pup! Some part of him was upset with @Eden for not watching over her sister, but that soon faded - it was Alyssum who had wandered off. It was that anger that led him to track her - even more upset that he was forced to leave not just @Aspen's side - but also his own territory. With his pups newly into this world, he was loathe the leave his borders at all, but onward he stalked after a howl to @Shalon telling her she was in charge. A stone of realization hit him when he was led to the borders of their neighbors, and he dearly hoped the trail would turn.... But it never did. The king was forced to stop a few feet before the borders, his head shaking already.

He had to be sure, though - he called out to the only wolf he really knew resided here, @Eshamun. 

Tagging the Court members for visibility. Any Malkaria member welcome!

Eden tracked closely behind her alpha, internally destroyed with worry and anger. She should've been watching her better; it was her fault that Alyssum had wandered off, at least to Eden. She watched Alder intently as he shook his head. What was wrong? What could've happened to her? Sure, it was likely that Ally was hurt as her scent was well over the border line, but if it was just an injury then where was she? Eden paced quickly behind Alder before opening her mouth to speak, "What's wrong? I-I didn't mean to let her wander, I thought... what's happening? Tell me something, please." Her voice quickly faded into a choked whisper as a lone tear slid down her cheek.

Though the call came for Eshamun, Ragna struck forth from within the heart of the Copse to answer it. It had come from the borders, and thus Ragna felt compelled by duty to go and assess the caller. Should Eshamun arrive, then Ragna would stay or go based on the wishes of the ekar-aji.

And so she came upon the wolves, a pair of strangers between whom the tension was palpable. Ragna did not speak at first, merely observed. In doing so she caught their scents and found them to be the same as that of the most intruder. The scent churned up the memory, and with it the associated guilt and pride.

The girl is dead, said the shield maiden, her tone draped with all of the solemnity such an encounter required.

Eden followed him - he knew this from the moment he left the borders, but he was both too angry and too focused to call her forward. She pulled to a stop beside him, and a sharp breath left his lungs as he looked to her.

                   "If she tresspassed, I hope you understand that whatever happened was her own fault."

His words were a little colder than he'd meant for them to be, but the King did not apologize. If this girl caused problems between the Court and a pack he'd tried to be friendly with, there would be problems. 

They didn't wait long, though it was not the leader who came to him - an ivory female approached, silent at first, taking them in - and Alder nodded his head in both greeting and respect, taking a step away from the border and waving his tail to Eden to do the same. They were only here for infortmation - and to his relief, he didn't even have to ask. 

The answer he got, however, was like a smack to the face - she was dead. Eye closing for a brief moment, Alder took a deep breath, shooting a glance to the girl beside him telling her to keep her jaws shut before again letting his one good eye rest on Ragna. He spoke but one word - he had a right to know, as her alpha, and her sister beside him did too, but he was not angry. If the girl had been stupid enough to cross....

                                  "Why?"

It hit her, hard. The woman approached she and Alder and with no hesitation, she told them Ally's fate. Eden remained composed, but took a step back on shaky legs. Her head was hung to hide her pitiful expression, and she kept herself at one solid pose. Alder had been cold with his warning, but Eden couldn't deny that crossing borders was a death wish, especially for a wolf like Alyssum.
Still, she blamed herself for her sister's ignorance. Eden was fully aware of her sister's feeble mind; she should've watched her better. At the same time, she couldn't be too hard on herself. She didn't have time to worry about her sister when she had her own children to care for, born or unborn. Still, Ally was all she had had left, and now it seemed she had  nothing.

She looked to them and saw her words fall heavy as a hammer fall. In the male, there was resignation. In the female, despair. They did not react with rage, nor with violence, and if they had, Ragna would have been just as quick to dispatch them. Arunik'ra's game with Sullivan had shortened Ragna's patience for those who crossed into their lands or disrespected their boundaries.

Why? Asked the man, a question that was easy enough to answer yet so very difficult to say. She crossed into our territory and disrespected our borders, Ragna said, steel-cold and sharp as a sword. Then she softened, for she could see that this came as a blow to the woman, and Ragna was not without compassion. She did not suffer. Of that, at least, the Shieldmaiden was certain.

Eden did indeed stay silent - he could feel her heartbreak as if it were his own - and Alder's focus stayed on Ragna. In some part of him, anger did boil - if he'd seen it, surely they had known she might not have been all there? They were not a merciful group, of that he was sure, now - but he did not lash out. It was not his home, his borders, and thus he had no right telling them they were wrong. To do so would only anger their neighbors.

His inquiry was answered easily - her first words were hard, even mean, but before the King could so much as comment on this, her gaze was on Eden and letting her know there was no suffering. Letting the harshness slide, Alder sighed heavily, looking at his paws for a long moment. With only a sorrowful glance to Eden, he again questioned the Malkaria woman.

                    "Is there anything to.... Take back?"

To take something back would mean a funeral - but it would also mean having her sister look upon what remained. Some part of Alder very much hoped there was nothing - for Eden's sake.

No, Eden blurted out from her choked throat. She was quiet immediately after, for she knew it wasn't her place to speak. If there was anything left, she didn't want it. She couldn't see Ally like that - lifeless, dull. No. If anything of her sister remained, then she only wished it would remain where it lay. She caught Alder's glance and quickly looked down, for she didn't want to portray more disrespect than she figured she already had.

If the man was upset by her tone or her actions, he did not show it but for a general solemnity, which seemed only appropriate at a time such as this. The woman was more openly devastated, and when her companion asked if there were any remains, she choked out a rattled no.

Ragna felt no regret, for she had done only what was right. No, she felt no regret, but there was guilt. She saw the grief that she had subjected this woman to and her heart stirred in sympathy. She has spoken, said Ragna. She had deferred to the woman, though even she did not know if it was because she grew used to her matriarchy or if it was because the woman was most visibly upset. In truth, it would do the grieving woman no good to see the body, which Ragna had left to carrion in neutral lands.

She had nothing else to say. As the girl's killer, she felt it would be wrong to offer sympathy. And she could not apologize, for what good would that do? So she waited. Perhaps they would ask more, or perhaps they would simply leave.

Alder hadn't been expected Eden to speak up, but he was not angry that she did, even before the word actually sunk in - she didn't want to see her sister. Turning his surprised face to her for a moment, he nodded to her. She was free to make that decision on her own, as the sister, and even as a King he found no reason to contest this. The spotted man stepped closer to Eden, nudging his muzzle into her shoulder in support but also letting her know it was time to go - he nudged her again with his own shoulder, guiding her back the way they came. He didn't much care who The Malkaria shieldmaiden had spoken to, or that she didn't apologize, but she had willingly given them what they needed, and respect was due. The Fire Court ruler gave her a solemn nod as he passed, staying silent but all the while wondering what they'd done with the body - did they eat it? Bury it? Leave it to rot? 

He would lead his Gentry back home in silence - this was not her fault, but Alder knew she would bear it as such.

Nausea was quick to set, both from the news she'd just been given as well as outside forces, thus Alder's nudge was all she needed to move away from the border. Neither of them questioned her wishes, which she appreciated, but it didn't make her feel much better. This was a wound like every other she'd endured, but in the same sense, there would be pain dealt before it was healed.

There was nothing left for Ragna to say. Wordlessly, she nodded to each, as much of a farewell as they would get. Then she left them, walking softly, as though even the sound of her footfalls might cause them to hone in on her guilt. She did not go far, only out of sight, within earshot of the pair. She would wait until they had left and then some before carrying on with her day.