Golden Glade H&M

hoping for @Reek but anyone is welcome to join!

the glade-- now that it is no longer hidden by snow-- lived up to it's name. though the winter weather has dimmed the grass, it still held a shimmer of a yellow-gold, and was quite relaxing to watch. it reminded her of the grotto, though she assumed it was merely because of all of the open spaces. though the grotto didn't have the happiest place in her heart, it was a big part of her life, so it was nice to see it in the territory they lived in now. it was where she met reek, and where she slowly fell in love with him. it was where she conceived tapat and astik and wesleigh, and where they were born. it was where wesleigh was buried, and tapat's most solid memories took place. it was once her home, and even though it became toxic place, she would miss it still.

her amber gaze scanned the territory, her tail arced above her rump, wagging slowly. she eventually sat, admiring the territory quietly and thoughtfully.

You've got a Reek :P

Home, Reek had found, was anywhere that his mate and children were. Larksong had been just that -- and that had always been its draw. The veil of the faith that had twisted Reek's heart only concealed the truth beneath a thick and foreign layer of false piety. Now that he looked at the world without the lens of the faith obscuring everything Reek saw, he could finally see life for what it was. It was a far greater comfort than the faith could provide. Without the faith leading him astray, Reek's priorities were finally aligned. His family came first.

As things settled in the Glade and the snow melted away, Reek tried to make as much time with his family that he could. He found Jhala lounging, appearing to be lost in thought. Reek took to her side and laid beside her. "It's cool seeing it all in color, isn't it?" he asked, looking out to admire the rich golden grass that had once been covered by a layer of snow.

THIS HAS BEEN A DRIVE-BY HIJACKING LOL.

He had spoken to Silas but hadn't taken any decisive actions just yet (mostly because that thread's still in progress and Kat has no idea how it'll turn out). Tambourine just sort of puttered through his days, spending his time living on the fringes, mostly alone when he wasn't with his companion. He had actually created a little dugout in the furthest southern corner of the woods, in the shadow of the adjacent mountain. It faced the sprawling cedar forest opposite of the territory. Tambourine felt at peace when he spent time there, as much as he could these days, anyway.

Today, he was sprawled in the dirt, chin on his paws, listening to the birds chirp in the surrounding treetops. He had never experienced the start of spring before, yet he recognized it on a purely instinctual level. When a flock of geese passed overhead, honking noisily, Tambourine lifted his head and rolled his pale eyes up to watch the "V" glide past and then disappear. His eyes dropped, only to be caught by a rustling bush nearby.

Tambourine's face contorted in confusion when the shrub growled at him. A moment later, a wave of dread washed over him. He froze, eyes widening to the size of saucers when an enormous bear lumbered out of the undergrowth, sticks and leaves clinging to its thick brown pelt. It looked at him with small, savage eyes, then abruptly reared onto its hind legs. The young wolf felt his bowels loosen at the sight of the slavering grizzly, freshly woken from its long nap at Hibernation Point and looking for its first meal in months.

Although he really felt no loyalty to the glade or its wolves—excepting Silas, of course—Tambourine immediately knew he must draw this hulking beast away from the pack. Swallowing his initial panic, he watched as the snarling ursine tottered closer, swiping its fearsome front paws in a fashion that was somehow both lazy and ominous. He remained rooted to the spot, heart beating fast, until it came within perhaps two yards. He quivered a moment, then abruptly darted to the bear's left.

This time, the bear roared outright, tumbling forward to all fours again. It hit the ground running. Tambourine dashed to his right, then broke into a gallop. He wondered if he should slow down to make sure he didn't lose the bear, lest it turn back toward the glade. But he needn't have worried. Despite its beastly bulk, it gave the silver wolf a run for his money. In fact, he swore he felt its hot breath on the tip of his tail at one point. Tambourine's heart nearly exploded.

Panting and eyes rolling in fear, he lured the grizzly toward Tuktu Weir, the two of them eventually disappearing into the distance. Back at his dugout, the birds—previously frightened into silence—picked up their song and the peaceful stillness resumed.

the scent of the bear must have been down-wind, leaving jhala ignorant to both it and tambourine's leaving. she kept her gaze forward, even as reek settled beside her, but her dark tail tip-tapped against the grassy earth below them. "yeah," she responded with a small smile, "reminds me of the grotto... but like, ya know, in the fall." the grotto had been more green, and though she missed the green she didn't mind the gold. after a few moments, the mother lowered herself to her stomach and leaned over to nose her mate. "you think we're gonna be good here?" she asked him, her nose lingering in the hollow of his cheek. it held itself there for a moment before retreating, so she could better see his face. a smile traced her lips, more mischievous than it was a moment before. "no more surprise religions taking over our home?"

Like Jhala, Reek remained ignorant of both the bear that stalked downwind and Tambourine's unfortunate departure. For all he knew, everything was sunshine and roses. Especially here -- especially now as he spoke to his beloved mate about the future of their family and the home that they had built for themselves. "Maybe," said Reek. In many ways the Glade resembled the grotto, but Reek saw far more differences. "It's a bit flatter, I guess -- and I'm gonna miss the lake." Unfortunatly, Reek couldn't bring the crown jewel of the grotto with them.

"But it's home." He smiled and leaned into his wife, laying his head against her shoulder. "I think everything will be just fine. No more cults. No more danger." Reek was, unfortunatly, quite wrong about the last bit -- but, he didn't know that just yet.

she did miss the lake, and the glade had much more coverage. the grotto always lacked trees, whereas there was no shortage of maples here. "yeah, i do miss the lake," she agreed with a tip of her head, "but it feels so much safer here, ya know? like-- i'm less worried about tapat being picked up by a hawk 'cause he wandered too far from the den by himself." phew, what a fear. the coverage helped, tapat and astik had made it five whole months without dying, and even though they were probably too big to be carried off now... well, it still helped.

suddenly, she paused. "wow... the boys are old. they're like, off on their own around the territory," she muttered, eyes narrowing forward.

Despite the imagery of his small son being carried off by a hawk, Reek smiled and stifled a morbid chuckle. Come to think of it, the boys had gotten so big. They had grown up in the blink of an eye. Reek couldn't help but agree with his mate. He shifted and began to groom the underside of Jhala's neck. "They grow up fast, don't they? I mean -- Astik is gonna be huge," Reek mused. Obviously, the eldest boy had inherited that gene from his mother. Kid was gonna be a total lady killer... or Reek at least thought so.

"I think they turned out alright," he thought aloud. "They uh -- they don't hate me." They didn't have an angry streak like Laurel (not that Reek didn't love his daughter dearly). Though, he figured her mercurial temperment was inhereted from her mother. In truth, she took after her father in that right more than Reek thought. "Think we should make more?"

jhala snorted in return. truthfully, she couldn't see how anyone hated reek. granted, she didn't immediately fall in love with him-- from the get go it was just loyalty that fueled their relationship. but he had never been anything but fair and kind to everyone she'd seen him interact with. maybe everyone was just dumb.

"they know better," she teased playfully, as if she had threatened her babies into loving their father or something dumb like that-- the thought made her laugh. like a 'love your daddy or i'm gonna set laurel on you!' type of threat... she didn't vocalize the mental image.

despite the more playful thought in her mind, his next comment took her by surprise. should they make more? it'd taken over two years but nova rose had finally thoroughly explained the whole baby making process to her. by now jhala was an expert on the topic of 'sex' and 'procreation'. that being said, she was pretty sure she wasn't in heat, and couldn't remember how that worked... would she go into heat again? could they even have more children? she backtracked. "do'ya wanna make more?" she asked him with a small smile. the process was painful and frustrating but, damn did she love her babies.

Reek thought for a moment and wondered if the Glade could support another litter. Of course, the boys were still pretty young, and Jhala wouldn't go into heat for a good, long time, but it was probably smart to plan these sort of things instead of rushing into it all willy-nilly like he had with his past three (mostly disastrous) litters. But now, unlike the height of his folly, Reek was in a loving, stable relationship -- he and Jhala could provide the type of family that he couldn't give to Laurel. Maybe that's why the boys turned out okay, thought Reek.

"Maybe," he offered thoughtfully, but then a playfull glint returend to his eye. He stopped preening and looked to his mate. "I mean -- no matter what we do, we can always practice." Reek shrugged and gave Jhala the ol' wink wink, nudge nudge.

jhala's face warmed up, giving a flustered snort of a laugh and then a low, playful growl in an attempt to save herself. "practice makes perfect," she joked in returned, nosing the corners of his mouth. she started wondering a bit more seriously now if they could have more kids. she had no doubts that astik would help raise them, and tapat would certainly love all over them... but would the glade support them? they were such a small pack... jhala wasn't so sure. it sure sounded like a great idea though, jhala couldn't get enough of her little geese, and maybe a handful more wouldn't be such a terrible idea.