Firefly Glen little lady of mine

terance's first thread outside of moonspear and with new thread titles to match :o

terance was hurting. it wasn't a deep down pain he easily concealed, but it wasn't so surface level either. it was a pain he'd never encountered before. it seemed to engulf him, shrouding his whole body and taking hold of what little dignity he had. despite the feeling in his chest that he was trusting-- the gut feeling that this was the right choice-- terance was miserable, and a downright wreck. by the time he reached the glen he was in pieces, trudging forward with tears streaming down his face. 

he spotted @Wraen a distance off, a slight boost in morale. he still had her, his sister. it was subtle and not nearly enough to ease the ache he felt throbbing in his chest. he moved towards her and took in a shaky breath, going to embrace her. he needed it so badly right now, more than anything else. and, with any luck, @Rannoch and @Liffey were nearby, and they could all discuss their plans (after perhaps a bit of therapy and come-to-jesus).

While Terance had been doing all the hard work meeting the right people and telling about his intentions, Wraen had made a quick trip to Bramblepoint, where her secret hideout was located. Though she had no idea, how long they were going to travel and where, she thought that some extra food would not hurt. And it would be stupid to leave the storaged meat without an intention to return.

Therefore, by the time Terance appeared in the Glen, Wraen entered the scene from the other direction, holding a piece of beaver's backbone, fur and foreleg in her mouth. She sensed her brother's extreme sadness from the distance and, when he came close for comfort, she let him lean into her. She forgot however to put her treasure down, therefore she stood there in the clearing, her chin resting on her brother's shoulder and the backbone she had in her jaws, was draped accross his nape as sort of a very odd hug.

The first twenty-or-so minutes of Rannoch and @Liffey's reunion had consisted of two coinciding examinations. After a thorough investigation, Rannoch had fortunately found his wife had not been injured. Although his initial prognosis had been promising, Rannoch knew that it was too early to determine whether how she had been affected mentally; Rannoch would keep a close eye on her in the coming days. 

When the married couple disengaged from the initial excitement of their reunion, they were able to focus on what they had to do next: locate Terance. They slipped off into the somewhat familiar territory with Liffey taking the lead; it had been long since Rannoch had left Moonspear. 

In time, they eventually arrived near the reunion that was taking place between Wraen and Terance. As they paused at a comfortable distance, as to allow the two siblings their space, Rannoch couldn't help but feel his jaw slack in astonishment— Wraen was here. He was pleasantly surprised to see her, as he had assumed that she would have stayed at Moonspear. 

Despite the unfortunate circumstances that had brought the four wolves to this point, a small flicker of hope ignited within Rannoch. These wonderful, beautiful individuals had put everything on the line to follow him, and he would do everything in his power to ensure that they had made the right choice. 

With newfound confidence radiating through his being, Rannoch took a step towards Wraen and Terance and chuffed to grab their attention. "Guys, I've never been happier to see you," he greeted softly, his turquoise eyes wide with heartfelt passion as he pressed another step closer. 

Big Brother was no longer over them, and Rannoch was free again to be the wolf he had once been many moons ago— to be the leader that he always been predestined to be.

gonna post without @Liffey... but feel free to jump in!

if the hug was awkward for wraen, terance couldn't tell. in fact, he didn't care. he just needed nearness to someone, and this was perfect. and then he heard a voice, and for once, it was the last voice he cared to hear-- it wasn't even a little bit comforting.

he jerked back from wraen, his eyes glassy and wet, his brow furrowed. "rannoch," he said firmly, in a voice that betrayed how pitiful he looked, "what the fuck is wrong with you? why would you ever say that to hydra?" his words were accusing, voice angry, his muscles were tense but his body might've been shaking with all the emotions he was feeling.

"you... you... why did you say that to her?"

From relieved and heartbroken to very, very angry at the same man that Terance had pledged loyatly to just few hours earlier. Wraen still holding the beaver's bones in her mouth, took an awkward step back and eyed both guys curiously. Whatever had transpired between Rannoch and Hydra and Terance had not been pleasant and she hoped that whatever the grey eminence had told would not cause the newly found group to split. Because if they did - Wraen would have a very good reason to be pissed at Terance. Being loyal to her brother was one thing. Him regretting a big decision that had also made her to uproot all over again just hours after making it? Well... 

She sat down and eyed the both fellows seriously. If they messed everything up now, Wraen would simply get up and leave both of them.

@Bernard, feel free to hop in, too!

Terance's contention was like a slap in the face; he was outraged, that much was obvious. Rannoch's anger had long subsided, and thankfully that allowed him to approach his friend's passion with a clear mind. 

"Terance," replied Rannoch sternly, his ears cupping forward and his posture straightening as he took a step towards his friend. "I had no other choice. I wasn't going to tell her, but she kept insisting that I told her why Liffey did feel safe in Moonspear. Like, dude, I did everything I could. But, in the end, she threatened to disregard our friendship altogether if I didn't tell her. It didn't matter when I told her, though. I'm sure you know that." Even though the pain from that interaction had dulled, the recollection of their falling out still hurt him. 

Rannoch drew in a breath before he continued. "Please know I never meant it to go this way."

terance stood, teeth gritted. he respected rannoch all too much to interrupt him-- but he wanted to. he just, couldn't imagine... he just didn't understand. not fully, at least, because terance did know how hydra was. she was stubborn, much like him, and very set in her own ways and opinions-- though that wasn't to say she wasn't open minded. 

"she told me that... that the other day she and liffey were making amends, or... or something-- she was making an effort. did liffey tell you that? did you know that? and... rannoch, hydra ran into screech(i forgot what name terance knows him as) the other day. he cheated on his mate or, something ridiculous. he broke whatever... whatever agreement we made with him, was too close to moonspear territory, and hydra let him go-- didn't take action against him," he said, trying to remember details but so angry that he just couldn't put them together. he was quiet for a moment, letting rannoch make sense of that. "she did that for you... you and liffey." his ears fell. he suddenly-- very suddenly-- wasn't so much mad as he was sad. 

"she told me she didn't ever want to see me again," he said, much softer this time, a loud crack in his voice at the end of his sentence.

"Well, that is very generous of Hydra," Wraen said with a sarcastic smile. She probably should have known better and not get involved in the argument about their former leaders, but somehow the mention of the Redhawk guy stirred the the suppressed resentment about, how the Galaxy's ordeal had been handled. "Since she and her sisters were the ones to rip half of his face off and left him to bleed out. I met that f*cker just days after their attack on him. That's just the way, how to show justice. They even considered themselves merciful and they carried out the sentence of their own accord - they made the rest of us responsible for the horrid acts they carried out. God knows, what else they have done behind our backs," she went on. 

"And have you forgotten Gannet - breaking his foot, making an able-bodied wolf a cripple for life and then becoming his best buddies?" she asked. "If that is, how they treat people they suspect of treason, people they don't like, then I don't blame Liffey for not feeling safe. Hell, I don't know in what sort of world you have pranced around until now, but the rest of us have lived under the watchful eye of the Big brother or the Big Three - call them, what you like," she growled.

Rannoch struggled to come up with anything adequate to rebut Terance's anger. Although he had only just become aware of the things that Hydra had done for Liffey, Rannoch still found it difficult to see past the way in which Hydra and her sisters had conducted themselves in the past few months. 

Just as Rannoch opened his mouth in an attempt to voice his concerns in regards to the triplets, Wraen stepped up and took the reigns of the conversation. Rannoch's mouth shut, and he listened to the testimony with wide eyes. 

When Wraen had concluded her point, Rannoch cleared his throat and nodded— he couldn't have said it been then she had. "I, yeah, Wraen pretty much said everything that went into our decision to leave," he agreed. "We also felt that when we could have a family, we didn't feel safe raising them there," he added and stole a glance at his wife before continuing, "I'm really sorry that everything happened the way it did, dude, I know how much they meant to you... but, we can't dwell on what happened too long. We've all made this choice, and we have to accept it and continue on." 

Rannoch wanted nothing more than to pull Terance into a hug but, he resisted. Instead, he stood at his wife's side and waited to see how the dark-furred man would react to all that had been expressed.

wraen wasn't a part of this. she was, sure, but this anger was directed at rannoch, and truthfully, now terance was mad at her for intervening. everything she said... it was true-- maybe-- in a way. but terance was always too loyal to moonspear to care. gannet was not one of their own-- neither was titmouse, and though terance obviously felt a moral tug in the opposite direction, he trusted the cerberus to do what they felt was right, and he stood by their decisions. just like he would stand by wraen or rannoch or even liffey. did they not see that? did loyalty mean nothing to them?

terance stayed silent, avoiding wrean's accusing gaze(which just felt mean to terance, who didn't think he deserved such harsh words). suddenly, terance didn't feel like arguing anymore-- or being mad. he just felt like crying, or something, he was kind of tired of crying too. he was just tired. this was too much emotion for him all in one day. 

"you're right," came his reply, sad and empty. he meant it, but he was too overwhelmed to deal with a proper response just yet. "i'm not mad... just sad."

"okay," he said softly, stealing a glance wrean's way before looking at his friend, "we gotta start moving then." he started forward, hesitating but ultimately reaching out to nudge rannoch's shoulder. he was fine, he'd stop blaming rannoch for this tomorrow-- surely.

we can keep this going but with all that's happening timeline wise i figured we needed to wrap this up? and terance would never fight against wraen in a situation like this.

In the light of her anger Wraen would have very much enjoyed, if Terance had fought back and said something in defence of his former friend. Yet he did not, which made her feel bad about lashing out at him like that. He needed support, because - apparently - his ties to the Moonspear and Ostrega family ran deeper than for the rest of them. 

Wraen sighed: "Terance - you lost a family and dear friends today - and I understand your heart-break. My point is that they were... still are very dangerous people that did not let all of their colors to be seen. And arguing about, what was said and done and misunderstood in the past is pointless. It will lead us nowhere." With that said she followed the trio quietly for the rest of the journey.

"She's right," acknowledged Rannoch, as he turned to glance at Wraen, "Today a huge change was made, and it's understandable that you feel this way. But, we do need to look forward." Rannoch hoped that Terance, despite his pain, would find sincerity in their words. 

With an agreement between the wolves, Rannoch led them further away from Moonspear and started the next chapter of their story.