Barrow Fields tessellate
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#1
All Welcome 
There were few things that Komodo thought more about than his eventual return to Undersea. He would return — he had promised — and it was what Reigi wanted, anyways. If anything, Komodo was a man of his word… and his ladies. He always gave them what they desired, even if [as Seelie wanted] that desire was time away from him.

He thought about the little sheepdog and the little babies she surely mothered. Had it been that long? Time was sometimes a fuzzy concept for him, a vagrant who did not often stop to measure hours and days and weeks and months, but here it astounded him. Komodo thought about what the pups looked like and what they sounded like; what their names were and which wonders of the living world that Coelacanth was teaching them. Did she speak to them, using her voice — and if she did, what did she say? He could only imagine the types of silent conversation that passed between mother and child, and how vivid those children must be.

But then, Komodo would look at the raven to his side, and he found that it was easy to muse upon such subjects with happiness rather than jealousy. He did not fall victim to such blatant displays of avarice often — and it was a relief when he realized that true contentment lay in the hands of the other voiceless women and her strange, wild type of affection. She kept him guessing in a way that he could rely on. Even when she waxed and waned, the earthstalker never found it in himself to look away from the spectacle. Perhaps he had truly misjudged he and Seelie's impassioned avocations after all. 

So that’s how he found himself at the end of his journey, so close to home. Was this still home, now that things had changed so drastically? The roughhewn man lifted his nose to the winds, attempting to scry the salinity of Undersea’s milieu from many miles away. He could not sense the island as he once was able, but he trusted that the islands, and the familial love that Seelie proffered so freely, was still there; just beyond the mists.
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Ghost
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#2
what are timelines anyway

Still no luck. Damn Mou! By now, Maegi had began to grow angry with her friend, both for leaving and for doing so without word. He could have at least told someone, if not her (though she had to admit, she would be offended if it wasn't her)! But he was gone, and in no condition to go. He was barely healed, and he couldn't say more than five words. He had no memories, no connections.

But Maegi was nothing if not stubborn, and so she forged on, not leaving any stone unturned in her search. Maybe he hadn't wanted someone to look for him, but this wasn't about what he wanted. He was part of their family on the island, whether he liked it or not; Maegi liked to think someone would put in the same effort for her, if she disappeared suddenly.

Speaking of absences, however. . . She knew the burly figure in the distance was familiar, but it wasn't until she drew closer and took in his earthy scent and rugged looks that she recognized him specifically. Komodo! Maegi had not seen him since his departure with Venninne and her daughter, and joy sprang up in her heart to find him now--not only for his sake, but that she might soon see the mute mother, as well. Maegi had missed her terribly.

She ambled toward him with her hobbling gait, mouth cracked wide in a grin. "Komodo!" Maegi called out, eyes brimming with a rarely-seen sparkle. She stopped just short of barrelling into him, not familiar enough with the man that she would embrace him now. Her gaze darted around, looking for his companions. "How was the trip? Where are Venninne and Yakone?"
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#3
If there was a wolf upon the island that Komodo had not had the chance to get to know better, but had wished he had, it was Maegi. She piqued his curiosity upon his initial return to Undersea, many moons ago — she was different than many women upon the island in a way that was difficult to pinpoint. Perhaps, if he had been able to turn his attentions away from Seelie and Serein and Sirimiri for a moment, he might have been able to exchange more than pleasantries with the girl, and then he might feel like he actually knows her. If anything, her appearance heralds the idea that they are close to home.

Home? What’s that? Did he really just think that phrase, in his own brain, with his own thoughts? 

“‘Ay,” he called out, picking up his gait in order to meet her in her approach. He could not help but let a sincere grin pour forth as thoughts of the island, and the wolves that inhabited it, and how the gods had blessed such a place, came rushing back to his mind — as if they had left for even a moment. “Thuh trip was good, but we’re fine-a-lee back naw. Venninne — ” it was so weird to call her that “is ‘round heer sumwhere.” Yakone was not, but that was not quite his news to tell — so he didn’t.

“How’re yew ‘n the uthers?” he burled quickly, in a brusque manner. His questions had intentions. “How’re th’pups?” He did not mean Fern, Reed, Droman or Mur.
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#4
The comforting rumble of his drawl rolled over her, caressed her ears; she hadn't realized how nice a familiar voice sounded out here. A familiar voice she wanted to hear, that was--her experiences with Vaati and Iliksis had rattled her greatly. She continued to look around for the woman and her child as he spoke, but his question brought her to attention once more, and she smiled, thinking of all the pups.

"They're good," Maegi answered, tackling the last sentiment, knowing it was probably on the forefront of his mind. "They're all fine. Coelacanth's a good mother." The words stuck, dry, on her tongue; resentment for Potema was never far from her thoughts. "We're all doing fine. Except. . ."

The worry over Mou returned once more, blacking out the joy given to her by Komodo's appearance. "We took in a wolf that Coelacanth knew, named Mou. He washed up on the beach one day, almost dead. We made him better, again, but now he's gone and I'm trying to find him." She gazed pleadingly up at the man, hoping that he had some answers.

"He has only one eye, and fur like mine--except there's orange and gray in it. Have you seen him, Komodo?"
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#5
Coelacanth was fine — and not only that, but she was a good mother. Komodo loosed a genuine grin. Would he have expected her to be any different? No, of course not. But, late at night, there had been moments that he wondered and worried; would something go wrong, and the last interaction they had been that, whatever that thing happened between them was? It was a thought that had often made him sick, but now he could release such pressure and guilt. Hopefully Seelie felt the same way, but for this, only time would tell.

With that small glimmer of hope, Komodo’s desire to return to the isle increased almost triple-fold.

But then the topic of conversation turned much too quickly for the earthstalker’s preference, from the topic of someone he cared much about to a wolf he did not even know. The listened to the young girl’s plea, stalwart and nodding, and appreciated the sensitivity with which she approached the situation. My, he had really been gone a long time, hadn’t he? Now that he could give her a once-over, he realized that Maegi kind of looked older; Seelie had gone through an entire pregnancy; he and his raven were in the midst of a heated romance; this man Mou had become a part of the family and the absconded. So many things were different, yet so many things were the same.

He shook his thickset maw from to and fro, signaling his dismaying response to what sounded like a desperate query. “Naw, haven’t seen ‘um.” From what was essentially an outsider’s perspective, Komodo was rather pleased to know that a convalescent had gone when he was capable of leaving. Healing was a full-time job, and the seawolves were not in a place to be handing out freebies. Even when on a job, Komodo rarely overstayed whatever welcome was offered to him. 

— but that answer likely wouldn’t go over well with a girl of such middling youth, so he elected for a different appeal. “Maybe he’s gat baggage tha’ he did-n’t wanna put awn us,” he burled, believing that to be likely. “Y’thank this Mou is uh’ capable man? Thank he’s safe n’ well?” He waited a beat for a response, but continued. “If so, y’shouldn’t ti-yur yerself out tryinna fine’ a man who duzn’t wanna be foun’.” It was that easy, wasn’t it? Putting others in your past; those who deserved to be there? 
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Ghost
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#6
Her face fell dramatically as Komodo shook his head, dismay blooming in her stomach, like she'd eaten bad fish. Another dead end. She was beginning to run out of hope--Mou wasn't exactly the most inconspicuous of wolves, and if no one she'd talked to had seen him. . . She tried not to dwell on worst-case scenarios, her ears canting forward to catch the rest of Komodo's speech.

"No!" Maegi argued, her jaw firming. It was her turn to shake her head, and emphatically, at that. "He didn't remember anything from his past life; he couldn't talk! He had just started to move around by himself when he left. He's gonna get hurt out here, Komodo." She was suddenly furious, both at Mou for departing without word--and at herself, for failing to find him. For making a complete and utter mess of this search.

He didn't have baggage. . .he couldn't! He had remembered nothing, told her nothing. Why go to all the trouble of hiding your past from your new family when you didn't have a past to begin with? The island was so removed from the rest of the wilds that the chances of ghosts popping up at inopportune times. . .

But then she thought of Moonshadow, appearing so out of the blue. She had managed to track Maegi here--why couldn't someone do the same for Mou? Komodo's argument began to make sense, and somehow, it made her feel even worse.
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#7
Oh? Maegi’s rebuttal of this truth came hard and fast, and Komodo almost hadn’t expected such a thing from this girl. Then she started poking holes in his logic, which he would admit wasn’t exactly the most sound to begin with, but his story had served a purpose: to give Maegi whatever she needed to get over this dude and reprioritize her activities. Was there nothing on the island that needed her tending to? Searching for lost wolves was not necessarily high on the earthstalker’s list of priorities, especially ones who had come and gone all within the few months that he and his raven had been traveling, but the man sucked in breath and bit his tongue — thus was the soft heart of women. 

“Y’need help?” he offered. If she did, he would gladly do it. It was in this way that he could best serve Coelacanth and the wolves of Undersea, for he was no longer Vedmak.
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He asked her the same question all the others had, and she sighed, shaking her head after a moment of thought. What could he do that she hadn't done? If he had not seen him in his travels--which had been extensive, to her knowledge--then it was unlikely he had anything else to offer her. Not to slight Komodo, but it seemed that Mou had just simply disappeared.

"It's okay," the girl replied, with a disheartened shrug of her shoulders. "Just--if he happens to be on the island, when you get back. . .can you tell him I'm looking for him--and that I'm really mad at him for leaving without telling me?" The second question came like a barb, a selfish addendum to the first. Maegi had tried so far to keep her emotions out of this search, but with things looking so hopeless, her level of reservedness had dipped far below what it normally was.
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Komodo furrowed his coffee-stained brow at the girl’s festering comments. The angakkuq wasn’t exactly certain what to make of these assertions, as they were his first touchpoint with the wolves of the island in months since his departure, and they weren’t exactly favorable. Such, Seelie was healthy with her family and that was all well and good, but what is all of this about expending their resources upon wolves whom held their island sanctuary in such little regard? Coelacanth might be partial to taking in the broken and the bruisesd, as was the shaman himself, but Komodo had long since decided to focus his efforts on the ones who decided to stay. The effort he but into his healing must not be outweighed by the reward. He was not the only vagrant in the world, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was the only one who ever planned on returning back where they once started and for that, they must be prepared. For many, it seemed that life was only a vague jumping off points for their next adventures — a young Komodo might have agreed, or wondered if they were actually wrong.

The man’s jawline grit and grew strong. The front of his body tightened, as he masked a command as a careful question. “Why dun yew jus’ cum back wit’ me?” the man said, his tone not unkind. “Sumtimes it’s betta to cut yer loses and save yer energy for the thangs yuh kin change. Y’aint much use to no one if yuh keel ova’ frum exhaustion.”
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She knew that look, and she knew she did not like it. Her jaw, in turn, clenched, and she shook her head, gaze going cold as the winter sea. "I'm going to keep looking," she said succinctly. "I'll see you back at the island."

Maegi moved to turn away, but she had too much regard for the man to leave without another word. She stopped and turned her head, looking over her shoulder at Komodo. "Safe travels, Komodo," she said, tone warming up a little. "Say hello to Venninne and Yakone for me."

With a flick of her skinny tail, she moved away, shoulders hunched slightly in determination. The doubt Komodo had created within her had only served to spur her on, and she would ride this burst of energy until it ran out. Then. . .only then. . .would she go home. But she owed it to Mou to try, at least.
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#11
Maegi did not take the bait, so Komodo conceded that there was nothing more he could do for the stubborn women. It would do neither any good to continue pursuing a truce in this situation; for his solution could not do for her what her solution could not do for him.Maegi seemed willing to submit to the stalemate, judging from her retreat, and Komodo felt confident in letting her go. The pale sylph was a woman on a mission — a girl driven by passion, clearly, and that was a force to be reckoned with. With a dismissive dip of the snout, the earthstalker acknowledged her move to continue looking for the mysterious one-eyed mou and turned to continue on his own path back to undersea. 
night clubs & night stalkers
fast women, fast talkers
loose lips, loose limbs
the lovely loveless