Stone Circle I have nothing left to prove, 'cause I have nothing left to lose
patron saint
are we all lost like you?
253 Posts
Ooc — Jaclyn
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#1
All Welcome 
Backdated to the 18th or so :)

He travelled to Easthollow a broken man, yet he forbade his pain from surfacing. No one could know, and his measures were preventative; the raven sought to compose himself long before his eyes even graced the Stone Circle, so that when he finally crossed into the familiar, his inner wounds lay bound up in the pawsteps behind him, and he carried himself as proper and as put together as ever into the uncertainty that awaited him here, now that he returned with the heavy news of Keen.

Merrit still hadn't fully processed the reality of coming home without her - that she wasn't coming home at all, and when he made the effort to rally his mother and Arlette, those who would care the most, his breath sizzled out in a weary sigh. Later. For now, he took to roaming higher, toward the Stone Circle, in the quiet hour the night had to offer.

An ethereal glow flooded the horizon, pink and purple twilight against the overcast sky. They cast the stones in brilliant light, and Merrit wandered among them. These rocks, they did not mean much to him, they never had, yet tonight he found himself wanting their company. They did not ask him questions he didn't wish to answer, and they allowed him to ask his own.

He stopped before the stone he knew to be his father's, and he supposed this stone was Keen's as well. Cracked and broken, there were no bodies here, nothing to show for the ones this stone remembered except for the small trail of rocks which led away from the Circle into the vast unknown, a beacon to lead their lost ones home. Yet he knew these stones would hardly bring his family back, and with thoughts of his father and now of Keen so heavy on his mind, he eased to his haunches and simply let the questions fill him.
with quiet words I'll lead you in
Mother Overlord
2,653 Posts
Ooc — Mar
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#2
Valette was often at the stones. It was at the heart of the territory and it gave a nice overview of the fields below. The matriarch was very prey driven and she always let her watchful eyes travel over the landscape. Often she became part of the stone circle as she watched. It was then that she saw a composed Merrit cross the borders in the distance. She watched as he entered. The mother was not sure if there was something going on with the boy. He was as stoic as his father.

She moved away from the circle before the sun began to set. She had other tasks to do and would seek out Merrit later. The female started with what she liked the least, border patrol. She trotted over the border and marked where marks were needed as the sun began to set. She reached the path of tiny stones that reached the border from the stone circle. She always stopped. She looked out over the lands outside of Easthollow. She wondered if Stark was out there or not. When her eyes turned to the bread crumb trail of stones.

When she looked at the stones she saw Merrit there. Her eyes glanced up at the hill the stones stood and the young male sitting there. She was surprised to find him at the stones, perhaps they did help him. Valette didn't show her surprise. With Merrit being at the stones, and her not liking doing the patrols, she quickly abandoned her task. The mother followed the trail up to the stones. She thought that Merrit was reminiscing his father not Keen. Without saying something she sat down next to him. He was already so much taller than her. She looked at the broken stone with a sad expression.
patron saint
are we all lost like you?
253 Posts
Ooc — Jaclyn
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#3
He sat in quiet solitude. For how long, he didn't care to count - but the sun fell into the horizon, and the lands sank to shadow, and sometime within the night, his mother drew near, following that trail of stones as though the path had been made for her.

Merrit passed her a tired glance, and his eyes lingered on her swollen belly before he dropped his gaze back to the broken pillar. She carried Greyback's children now, and in that moment, Merrit was very aware these were the unborn lives which had driven his sister away. And he was very aware that he should feel angry, embittered, enraged, but instead his heart fell to something numb and undecided, as though he had the option to choose. These were his mother's children, too; they were his brothers, and sisters - and like Keen, he had a choice to make.

Mother said nothing; she just sat, and joined him there, but he did not find this uncomfortable, and against his better wisdom, he did not drive her away; he wanted her there - he needed her there.

Finally, he spoke.

"I found Keen," he said quietly, and shifted his weight, but did not take his eyes from the stone, "I found her at the festival, at Elysium, and I told her about you and Greyback. She's - " and on this his level voice hitched, and even though he cleared his throat, he still strained to finish, "Keen's not coming back."
with quiet words I'll lead you in
Mother Overlord
2,653 Posts
Ooc — Mar
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Master Ranger
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#4
Valette sat next to him for a while without talking. When Merrit spoke, it was something she didn't expect. Valette whipped her head to the side at his words. Keen? Valette had been worried about her daughter but she had not expected that she would be found and not return to Easthollow. Merrit was still looking at the stone. Perhaps it was not Stark he was sad about. "Not coming back," she repeated in a whisper, sounding sad.

"I--," she started. Merrit sounded just as affected as she was. She wished to just pull his body against her in comfort but he had grown far too big for that. Valette wondered if she and Greyback were the cause of it. She looked down at her feet. "Perhaps it is good for her. Maybe it will make her less afraid of things but... I can't say that I won't miss her," Valette admitted. She let out a long sigh. "But she is safe. That is most important. At least... I assume she is?"