Hushed Willows Hush little baby don't you cry..
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@Ibis probably forward dated after Lily and him get back from Lost Creek Hollow. Set at Mirrorscale Creek?

Khali had settled back in after their long but satisfying journey. Lily had some leadership things to attend to so the sandy male sought out after one of the pups. His past made him have a soft spot for little ones, if he couldn't have a good life at  that age the least he could do would be to try to give others one. Khali had caught scent of one of the pups and decided to follow it. It lead him to the creek that ran through the territory. 

The rushing water made his ears flicker a few times, he stopped in his tracks as he got to the shore. He couldn't see the girl but he let out a soft chuff anyway and hoped that she would come to him. Meanwhile he lowered his head to the water watching his reflection in the water. The man he saw wasn't the man he thought he would have become a year ago. A smile popped up brightly on his before a small minnow touched the top of the water making his picture distorted. His tongue lolled out of his mouth just to pick up some water, cool and refreshing.
“Swahili” is in blue, he tries not to speak it so no one will know his past.
italics are A flash back or in his head depending on the wording of the post you’ll know.
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The child had taken to avoiding everyone, which wasn't that much of a deviation from her usual behavior. Ever since leaving the Sunspire the little damsel had stopped singing, stopped playing, and for a time stopped talking altogether - she was getting better, marginally, in this new space. But it was the skull of the lost boy that kept her interest the most. She'd gone from this sweet little cherubim to something a touch darker without realizing it; and by ostracizing herself from the other children, that only made her more dependent on the imaginary world she was crafting. 

Today Ibis had wandered off among the willows to the area where she'd stashed her 'friend'. She was just about to start digging through the soil and the moss, to where she'd hidden him, when a faint scent drifted through the trees and caught her attention. It wasn't one she knew well — not at first anyways. She didn't know it was Khali, because she could only smell the scent of the Hollow where he'd visited, and by proxy it was the scent of her father, as he'd assumed control of the pack.

That scent brought a wave of fresh emotion to her; she didn't know if she could trust the wind, or the whispering of the willows, but the prospect that her daddy had returned to her — come all the way to this new place, maybe to stay forever and maybe to make mommy happy and maybe they could be a family again — she stopped her digging and bee-lined through the trees, face painted with a big smile and all the hope in the world.

She ran directly in to Khali, squooshing against his legs while he was preoccupied with the water.
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While taking his second gulp of water something had almost taken him out and by almost I mean he nearly head dived into the cold water that ran infront of them both. He caught himself right before his head hit the water, eyes wide with fear he would have busted it. The sandy man's head jerked to the side to see what exactly had hit him like a dart and was quite surprised to see the girl he sniffed out not too long ago. Not mad but relieved he let a small smile come across his lips, "Hello there, Ibis" he knew the girl but only by name. 

Slowly he leaned down and nudged her in hopes to help her up. Though he wasn't sure why she had ran into him like that he didn't much care as he hoped she would stay and talk with him. "Are you okay?" his voice raspy but still sort of soft. Worry had set in that she had gotten hurt or something. Khali would keep up his effort to get her up until he knew she was on her feet.
“Swahili” is in blue, he tries not to speak it so no one will know his past.
italics are A flash back or in his head depending on the wording of the post you’ll know.
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Ibis didn't have the best luck with other people. She certainly hadn't done her due diligence and made friends with anyone outside of her immediate family, and because of her withdrawal she didn't recognize or connect with any of the adults, and likely wouldn't until she herself was much older. She'd smooshed in to the golden-pelted stranger and felt the uncomfortable clunk of her head against a back leg, but that didn't hinder her efforts to get close to this potential father figure (who she was convincing herself was absolutely Terance, because why else would he smell like that—) but then the voice came. A greeting - but not daddy's voice.

Her gradual removal of herself from a wolfish hug around his hind legs happened next, and as she pulled away from him she opened her eyes, drew them up the length of his very tall legs, and angled herself slightly so that she could look at him eye-to-eye while he turned to address her. She expected to see @Terance, with his mighty silhouette and warm, dark fur. She expected his eyes to be looking back at her filled with love and goodness, but no, this wasn't her father. This was someone she didn't know at all and she lost it.

The poor girl hastily shoved away from his legs and scrambled until she was halfway standing, but even then she was too mortified by this discovery — that swift dashing of her dwindling hope — that she couldn't even get her legs to function. She got about a wolf-length backwards before collapsing again, mouth open in a silent wail, until finally her voice kicked in to gear and all she could do was sob.
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Khali had felt the little hug around his hind leg and felt a little awkward, he knew now that she had mistaken him for someone. He had frankly forgotten that Lost Hollow was where they had met Terance and Terance was... well... Ibis's father. The mans face softened slightly and his heart hit the ground. Nothing compared to thinking that someone who loved you came to see you and it wasn't them. He compared it to not seeing @Lily for a while and then running into a dark wolf who reminded him of her and well... that twisted his stomach into so many knots. For a minute he felt sick. 

That was hard for him to imagine so he couldn't begin to believe what the pup was feeling in that moment. As the eye to eye contact was made hope was seen in the little ones eyes, hope for a father who had come back for his babies. Sadly, it was only Khali, who wished he could offer more to her. Before he could even speak to her and offer any sort of comfort she muffled out a cry and then came the sobbing. It felt as though his heart had shattered into pieces, what a first impression he had made. 

The sandy man took a second to gather himself and look at the situation that he felt he had no right to. "It's okay little one" he whispered softly as he took a seat next to her. Confused at how to go about comforting her he had laid one paw on one side of her and the other on the other side. "I know I'm not who you were expecting..." he began, not a great start Khali what are you doing, he thought as he looked for other choice words. "and it's my fault for coming to see you with his scent still on my pelt. I'm truly sorry." it was a heart felt apology but he knew what damage had been done and wouldn't hold a grudge if she was rude.
“Swahili” is in blue, he tries not to speak it so no one will know his past.
italics are A flash back or in his head depending on the wording of the post you’ll know.
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It took some time before she was done with the melodrama of it all; her body reacted by making her scrunch away from him and wail piteously, the sound filling the air and catching on the willow trees. Perhaps the reason nobody else heard her suffering was because of those tendrils draping the area - they were like noise-cancelling whips. That said, Ibis remained quite loud with her misery and flatly ignorant of what Khali was saying until she gulped air a few times, and the sobbing ebbed to something more manageable. His voice was low and filled with a masculine timber, and in those moments where she hiccuped for oxygen she could hear him - he was apologizing, and looked as awful as she felt.

This wasn't her father and that hurt her very badly, but he was using logic and reasoning on a person that was still going through the depressing throes of abandonment and immaturity; she didn't want to hear his explanation and snubbed his efforts by plastering her ears back, glaring at him for a moment before turning her nose up and pushing away from him - physically as well as mentally, Ibis was repairing the wall of her hope, cementing it with the feeling of betrayal that she felt so acutely.

Ibis wasn't stupid, or at least she thought of herself as a pretty smart little girl despite the evidence to the contrary, and found this discovery of dad-but-not-dad to be extremely distasteful. He did it on purpose, she decided. Somehow - maybe with some kind of evil, no-good magic. Or maybe he was in cahoots with Terance and they were working together to undermine her love for her father --- no, that makes no sense you silly thing. Either way, she doesn't trust the golden man and doesn't want anything to do with him. Her cheeks were wet from her tears, growing cold as the willows whispered comforts to her; and without a word Ibis spun on her heel and took off, leaving the horrible man to his horrible tricks.

Moments later, with the willow tendrils still trembling from her sudden exit, there came a loud splash and a shriek.
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It was already too late for the sandy man to try and console the little one, but he had to try. If someone had seen her crying right now it would be a messed up story. How could he tell anyone, 'I don't even know why she was crying she just ran into me, and then she cried and wouldn't talk to me.' like anyone would believe it. Panic settled in his brain as she wasn't hearing his apology, or wasn't wanting to hear it. News flash Khali, you're the worst when it comes to talking to any pup., the voice rang inside his head. He nodded stupidly at himself in agreement. 

He wanted to try but he wasn't sure how to go about even letting her know he was sorry about her father. "I wish he was here for you" he said before she ran off. It took him a second but then he realized SHE RAN OFF? The man stood there in amazement at what even just happened to him. It was only a minute or less after she ran off when he heard a splash that had kicked him in gear. Khali ran toward the splash he had heard but when he tracked it down she had been no where to be found.

"LITTLE ONE!" He yelled out with no such luck. Heart pounding he knew it would be time to go back and tell Seabreeze and the rest of the pack. Like how do you tell them that you lost a pup and what had happened? He felt overwhelmed with what just happened. Hurriedly he ran back to the pack looking for @Seabreeze and the rest of the pack, he knew time was of the up most importance.
“Swahili” is in blue, he tries not to speak it so no one will know his past.
italics are A flash back or in his head depending on the wording of the post you’ll know.
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She isn't worried at first when she hears Khali's call; after all, hadn't they done a lot of leading together lately?  It's only when she remembers that Khali had been watching Ibis that her pace quickens, and the frantic note she might've imagined in Khali's call causes her to barrel without care towards her summons.

When she arrives, she expects to find Ibis hurt.  Maybe she's gotten another rose (but this isn't the moor), maybe she's tripped — but she doesn't see her at all.  What?  Wordlessly, she looks at Khali with flabbergasted expression, praying that this is some misunderstanding.
[Image: 70c0c50922211f79c19a9fbb2dbe797a.png]
 
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It was just too soon when he saw Seabreeze. His pupils dilated and no color was seen in his eyes at all. He wasn't sure how to go about telling her, hey I lost your daughter. The man shook his head just to get himself together for the moment he had to do that. His eyes roamed to the worried mother. 

"Seabreeze, I was drinking from the stream trying to find Ibis and she ran into me, literally straight into me. I thought everything was okay, kids being kids ya know. Then the little one started to cry uncontrollably and that's when I remembered that me and Lily had recently seen Terance. I'm not sure but I think she may have thought I was her dad. I tried to console her but she ran off and now.....now I can't find her. I heard a splash and went to look but she was no where to be found......" it all came out in one big word splash. He was so worried of what she would say to him, he had never thought about his scent before coming to talk to the little one though that should have been a consideration. "I'm so sorry..." he said as he dropped his head.
“Swahili” is in blue, he tries not to speak it so no one will know his past.
italics are A flash back or in his head depending on the wording of the post you’ll know.
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Um, woah. I only meant for her to fall in to the river.


The water was super, super cold! It was colder than anything she'd felt before, and it went all over the place. Her abrupt exit had led her to a section of the river she hadn't anticipated, a little run-off which was very shallow but still deep enough to be a bother; her limbs had plunged in first. It was shocking, thus the shriek. Ibis went to back up and lost her footing in her surprise, and then spilled awkwardly forwards - where the shallows deepened, leading her to plunge face-first in to the chilly, winter water. It felt so sharp against her cheeks, and more importantly, filled her mouth and went up her nose, and she shrieked again, but with her little head underwater she only gulped air and blew terrified bubbles. Her sporadic kicking and writhing didn't resemble proper swimming technique and was filled with panic. Her head bobbed to the surface a few times, and eventually she managed to keep her nose above the water level long enough to gasp for some air. She didn't see Khali or her mother Seabreeze on the bank -- but she could feel the river begin to pull at her, directing her further away.
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to be 100% honest i let this sit so long in my threadlog because i was embarrassed. : ^)  ama and i both thought this was where you were having ibis run off, so oops......

She could scarcely comprehend what Khali was telling her, but she had little time to respond before she heard her daughter's wail.  She turned tail as fast as she could and headed out towards the little stream that cut through the territory, terrified from what she'd believed just moments early and the reality before her.  She hoped Khali was following her as she bit back her own memories of near-drowning and tried to follow her daughter's breath-bubbles.
[Image: 70c0c50922211f79c19a9fbb2dbe797a.png]
 
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Khali followed behind Seabreeze in a panic. As they came upon the stream he took a soft and deep breath before gathering his thoughts again. He wasn't sure if he had to let Seabreeze save Ibis or if he could. The sandy man hesitated going to the edge of the stream as Seabreeze was in front of him. He knew not what to do at this point.
“Swahili” is in blue, he tries not to speak it so no one will know his past.
italics are A flash back or in his head depending on the wording of the post you’ll know.
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She was already scrambling, filled with a panic that rivaled the growing chill of the river water across her body, and was kicking with her hind limbs frantically, when the two adults burst on to the scene. Ibis had her front limbs planted precariously upon a stony ledge, and while she kicked her feet she tried to touch down somewhere that would let her leap free of the river's pull. She was too small, though. The section she'd fallen in might've been easily thwarted by any teenager or adult, but the girl had always been so very small, and her limbs could only reach so far. She was crying out in tiny bursts - like a chick calling for its mother - right when she lost her grip. Her chest touched upon the stone ledge, then her chin with a clack, and she felt herself being pulled backwards by the water.