Blacktail Deer Plateau Some infinitely gentle, infinitely suffering thing

*is impatient* who wants fleas B)

The thought of Mirabelle so close by was like an itch he couldn't scratch. On top of the itches he could, and is, scratching. Étoille had awoken rather restless for once - perhaps because of these literal and metaphorical itchings - and decided to take a quick trip.

The Rauna does not intend to stay for long - merely to establish Mirabelle's health, ensure their connection stay. His trip is slowed only slightly by the near-constant need to scratch, though being a creature of great self control, he does not let it deter him too much. Perhaps on his return he will pay Portia a visit, if the irritation has not abided by then.

This is a personal trip, not business; nonetheless he represents Drageda and so the  stately titan remains a respectful distance from Morningside's borders, letting loose a call for his ... friend, oblivious to the fact of her departure.

Grayday was on the borders that day, checking on the comings and goings of his wolves. Moonstone had been gone for a while, and Mirabelle even longer than that. It was concerning, but there wasn't much Grayday could do about it - he had other worries on his mind, and stranger men calling on his borders.

He was cautious as he approached the strange male, only to relax a bit as he saw that it was Twill, that guy he'd met in the woods.

"What brings you back out here?" he asked curiously, tail wagging in friendly greeting. He'd thought that the search party had cleared out a few weeks before.

It is not Mirabelle who responds but Grayday, the alpha he met prior. Truthfully the titan's opinion of him remains .. poor is a strong word, but ambivalent, at most. However he seems friendly enough here and Étoille offers a friendly nod and a "bonjour," even as he can't resist peering past the smaller man to see if a white femme has materialized.

She has not. The Rauna gives his side a quick scratch. "Mirabelle told me she was staying here," he explains, then thinks to add, "we traveled together briefly, before I joined Drageda." He does not add 'and I am fond of her', though it's writ clearly in his expression.

"Oh," said Grayday, this being news to the male. Mirabelle hadn't mentioned Twill at all, but then again, she had little reason to. She couldn't have known that he and Grayday had met, and at the end of the day, he'd spent precious little time with the woman, anyway. "I'm sorry - she did stay with us for a while, but once she was healed, she went her own way."

Privately, Grayday thought that this had been rather rude of her, though it didn't bear mentioning to Twill. But it wasn't as if she was skipping out on a deal; they'd helped her without extracting a promise of repayment, and she was under no obligation to return the gesture. Still, he wished she would've told him before taking off.

"It's been a few weeks, at least," he added after pondering it a moment. Pema might've seen her more recently, being the girl's healer and minder within the borders, but Pema was not in the territory, either. At least I know where she is, Grayday thought to himself.

 The news Grayday delivers is... a disappointment that falls heavy in the titan's chest. Here is a man who has long lived by placing no judgement on the actions of others - who has merely let the chips fall where they lay. And yet, this one time, he is unhappy with the outcome.

 A few weeks, the Alpha elaborates. "That was when I saw her last as well," he murmurs. Had she not made it back after their rendezvous? It was a short trip - but she was injured. As he fumbles through these details his expression is unreadable. Absently, he itches. "She said she did not wish to be a bother," Étoille says, finally. He doubts she would have perished in the short distance back to Morningside - not without her body being discovered. No, it is more likely she took it upon herself to slip away. A .. regrettable choice, perhaps.

Feeling somewhat awkward now (and a little sad, truth be told), the Rauna shifts his weight from foot to foot. "Did you recover your wife?" he asks for the sake of conversation, remembering their last encounter. It seems many wolves go missing in the Teekons.

"It's more a bother to be worryin' about how she's doing that it was to feed her," Grayday groused, feeling a bit as though he was being accused of something. Had it been something he said? Was he the reason Mirabelle had disappeared? "Did she say why she felt that way?" he asked, expression clouded. Then he let out a tiny huff - if she hadn't wanted to be a burden, she would've stuck around to help out. "Never mind. I suppose that's between the two of you."

He was surprised at the male's next question. He remembered their meeting as being about who Twill was searching for, and only remembered that he'd asked about Khoe when he brought it up.

"No," he replied, not seeming too bothered by the fact. "What about you? Did you find your red woman?"

He does not pick up on Grayday's tone, nor would it occur to him to place the blame at Morningside's feet. After all, Mirabelle had made it quite clear they took good care of her. In spite of the alpha's nevermind, Étoille hums. "I agree. She is just that way," he says, simply.

The graytoned male answers negatively, but does not seem bothered by his wife's continued absence. He remembers the desperate look on the man's face last they met, and wonders briefly what caused the change of heart. He does not wonder too deeply, though. It is none of his business, even if he is curious. Were there not children involved? "I see," the Rauna says. "Oui," he answers with a warmer expression - not quite a smile but close as the titan usually gets. "She is recovering with her family now," he adds, though does not bother elaborating what that means. After all, the story is tedious, and Étoille knows little of the players. 

The beast glances over his shoulder. He has barely arrived, but.. if Mirabelle is gone, he has no particular excuse to linger. "Thank you for telling me about Mirabelle," he says, genuine, and ready to conclude their conversation. "I hope all else is well with your pack."

Grayday wagged his tail at this news. It was good to hear that not all stories were sad ones. It made him curious how the curse had affected other packs, however. His expression grew troubled.

"Forgive me if I'm prying, but... the red woman - was she a new mother?" he asked, wondering if her absence had been another instance of the curse. It seemed to have failed, if it was. "I ask because... well. Mothers have been dying and going missing left and right. Being murdered, even, for no reason at all. Not just in this pack, but in others as well."

He didn't want to come out and say it - curse - but he thought as much was implied by these words. Part of him hoped that Twill would deny it all, and that Grayday could go away doubting the curse another day, but more and more, he was wishing someone would look him in the eyes and confirm the evil that had been stalking them.

Grayday does not get the hint. He does, however, deliver a somewhat absurd theory that momentarily causes Étoille to pause. It is not that he disregards the idea of any superstition, but, a curse...? 

His doubts do not show in his face. "She is a mother," he hedges, "though her children are nearly grown." The Rauna does not know their ages exactly, but they are around choupinou's -- though, he realises guiltily, he does not really know her age either. 

While only a moment ago he'd been eager to leave, the titan cannot resist: "how many?" curious as to what could have lead the otherwise stable-seeming leader to come to such an absurd conclusion. Perhaps more than just his young wife has vanished. 

That didn't sound like the curse. Grayday thought of Althaia, who'd been killed in their borders. His own mate, Amber. Kieran's mother. Hawthorn's. Sorrel's. Even Adeline had be orphaned when they met, and now Khoe and Heartha were gone almost at the same time. All had been mothers to young children.

"Eight," he replied, not knowing that Sorrel and Kieran shared a lost mother. "Maybe nine," he added, remembering the young girl that'd turned up around the same time as Sorrel.

He didn't want to talk to Twill anymore. He felt strange and slightly sick, and the thought of someone seeing him like that made his stomach churn all the more.

"I hope you find each other again," he said to the male. "Give her our greetings, if you do."

He would rather have turned and headed back toward his children, but he felt he needed to stand and watch the other male depart. Polite as he was, Twill was still a stranger.

 Eight. He gives his side a contemplative itch. That is quite a few. Perhaps he can't blame the man for thinking of a curse. Speaking on the subject seems to have upset the male, though Étoille does not blame him for that, either. He lowers his paw, already feeling another itch begin, and dips his head. "Bien sûr," the titan murmurs, "au revoir."

 The Rauna does not linger. He lifts his head once more and turns, slightly disheartened as he heads back to Drageda.