In the presence of Mahler and their young daughters, Nyx had been reluctant to share the truth behind her family's relocation in any great detail. She'd never spoken ill of Wylla in front of him, though he was well aware of how uncomfortable his fellow Eisen made her feel. Things had been easy when Ciri and Elke were infants, when the others of their pack dudn't bother them and they needed no one but their parents.
She'd been a fool to hope that such simplicity would continue.
That night, when the sun had set and her babies retired to well-earned rest after their long journey, the lioness sought the company of @Dirge. It really was wonderful to see him again, to see that he'd found his place in the world, and warmed that he could be so willing to share it with her.
"He has other cubs by his co-Alpha," she told her brother of Mahler when the opportunity presented itself, "who was leader of the pack I ran with on the coast a few years ago. Her name is Wylla." To say it left a sour taste on her tongue, and her brow creased as she looked down in guilty consideration of Ciri's stress. "She was never fond of me back then, and I was not perfect." Nyx breezed past that story, one with an outcome that her littermate knew well enough already. "We managed to avoid each other for all this time in Sagtannet, but... Ciri and Elke are growing up. I don't think that she'd have hurt them, Dirge, but I doubt she would ever accept them."
She'd been a fool to hope that such simplicity would continue.
That night, when the sun had set and her babies retired to well-earned rest after their long journey, the lioness sought the company of @Dirge. It really was wonderful to see him again, to see that he'd found his place in the world, and warmed that he could be so willing to share it with her.
"He has other cubs by his co-Alpha," she told her brother of Mahler when the opportunity presented itself, "who was leader of the pack I ran with on the coast a few years ago. Her name is Wylla." To say it left a sour taste on her tongue, and her brow creased as she looked down in guilty consideration of Ciri's stress. "She was never fond of me back then, and I was not perfect." Nyx breezed past that story, one with an outcome that her littermate knew well enough already. "We managed to avoid each other for all this time in Sagtannet, but... Ciri and Elke are growing up. I don't think that she'd have hurt them, Dirge, but I doubt she would ever accept them."
October 03, 2020, 04:12 AM
They strolled with no particular direction, well away from prying eyes and ears. And when she spoke, he listened with no judgments to cross his thoughts, perhaps finding it a bit too easy to shelve all his worries in favor to listen to what had become of her in the time that they had been parted. It was a story that he had not expected—he was truthfully surprised that she had been willing to be a mother again after the first time, but there was a certain ease in the way she spoke of her daughters that put his wonders to rest.
“You were right to leave,” he said when her story had lapsed. A selfish statement, but nonetheless true. He would not have turned her away, not then and certainly not before; his bond with his siblings was perhaps one of the only unbreakable things he carried with him. A bug whizzed past his ear, and he flicked it reflexively. He did not blame her for uprooting and seeking him out, in fact it appeased him that she had managed to find him at all when he had not quite been forthcoming as to where he was, or what his world entailed.
Now with her and Keres both there, he felt many of the secrets he had kept to himself were torn asunder and laid out for the world to see… and yet Hydra did not judge him or begrudge him of the things he had held privately. It had been the opposite—their ties, however distantly related or close they were, did not matter to her. If anything, he thought her pleased by it, and his thought crossed him and passed on to the woods around them.
“You’ll be much happier here, as will they in time. Moonspear won’t let anything happen to them,” he went on after that brief lull. “We may have our own issues to handle as they come, but the children here have never wanted for anything. They’re well looked after, always fed too. Hydra and I have worked hard to keep things safe, though I admit she is more proactive than I. I’m glad you sought us out than worry for an inevitably.”
He did not know what to think of Mahler now, but it was a tattered affair to consider. Even he was prone to temptation when the time came, as were all men in a sense to him, but he had not crossed Hydra in that way. Nor had she opted to share him, or he her. It was a strange thing, ill-suited for his sister to endure.
“You were right to leave,” he said when her story had lapsed. A selfish statement, but nonetheless true. He would not have turned her away, not then and certainly not before; his bond with his siblings was perhaps one of the only unbreakable things he carried with him. A bug whizzed past his ear, and he flicked it reflexively. He did not blame her for uprooting and seeking him out, in fact it appeased him that she had managed to find him at all when he had not quite been forthcoming as to where he was, or what his world entailed.
Now with her and Keres both there, he felt many of the secrets he had kept to himself were torn asunder and laid out for the world to see… and yet Hydra did not judge him or begrudge him of the things he had held privately. It had been the opposite—their ties, however distantly related or close they were, did not matter to her. If anything, he thought her pleased by it, and his thought crossed him and passed on to the woods around them.
“You’ll be much happier here, as will they in time. Moonspear won’t let anything happen to them,” he went on after that brief lull. “We may have our own issues to handle as they come, but the children here have never wanted for anything. They’re well looked after, always fed too. Hydra and I have worked hard to keep things safe, though I admit she is more proactive than I. I’m glad you sought us out than worry for an inevitably.”
He did not know what to think of Mahler now, but it was a tattered affair to consider. Even he was prone to temptation when the time came, as were all men in a sense to him, but he had not crossed Hydra in that way. Nor had she opted to share him, or he her. It was a strange thing, ill-suited for his sister to endure.
Nyx released a soft breath, one she hadn't realised she held onto as she awaited her brother's response. It communicated her relief; the lioness hadn't expected Dirge to judge her decision, nor the emotion that flooded her to hear that it had been the right one. For days she fretted over the uncertainty of it all, the guilt she felt for placing so much distance between Mahler and their daughters. She bit back the threat of tears and the swelling of her throat, a raven-tipped lobe canted in the Alpha's direction as he continued.
"Mahler would never have allowed anyone to harm them, or so he claimed," she shrugged a peppered shoulder, frowning deeply with the acknowledgement of how quickly her trust in him had begun to wane. With a snort of laughter, she added, "but I think Wylla might have him by the balls."
She recalled the opportunity he gave her before the season brought them together, a chance to sever the agreement they'd made after Wylla made an appearance at Diaspora that Winter. Nyx had thought at the time he'd offered it for her benefit, but wondered now if it had been for his. Without any ties to her, Mahler would've been free to focus himself solely on Wylla and their pups by her. It definitely made sense, and she felt ridiculous to have missed the signs back then.
"He actually hinted at an arranged mateship between the children of Sagtannet and those of Moonspear," she shared, not impressed by that particular plan as she gave a frustrated lash of her tail. Nyx had not voiced her disapproval at the idea of insisting either Ciri or Elke be wed to a son of their allies, choosing instead to remain impartial in the gargoyle's presence. Her daughters and Dirge's sons were immediate cousins, so: "fat chance of that ever happening though, right?"
Mahler would probably need to marry off Wylla's offspring if he wished to bind the packs in such a manner, Nyx thought smugly in the safety of her own mind.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that discussion!
"Mahler would never have allowed anyone to harm them, or so he claimed," she shrugged a peppered shoulder, frowning deeply with the acknowledgement of how quickly her trust in him had begun to wane. With a snort of laughter, she added, "but I think Wylla might have him by the balls."
She recalled the opportunity he gave her before the season brought them together, a chance to sever the agreement they'd made after Wylla made an appearance at Diaspora that Winter. Nyx had thought at the time he'd offered it for her benefit, but wondered now if it had been for his. Without any ties to her, Mahler would've been free to focus himself solely on Wylla and their pups by her. It definitely made sense, and she felt ridiculous to have missed the signs back then.
"He actually hinted at an arranged mateship between the children of Sagtannet and those of Moonspear," she shared, not impressed by that particular plan as she gave a frustrated lash of her tail. Nyx had not voiced her disapproval at the idea of insisting either Ciri or Elke be wed to a son of their allies, choosing instead to remain impartial in the gargoyle's presence. Her daughters and Dirge's sons were immediate cousins, so: "fat chance of that ever happening though, right?"
Mahler would probably need to marry off Wylla's offspring if he wished to bind the packs in such a manner, Nyx thought smugly in the safety of her own mind.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that discussion!
October 03, 2020, 05:15 AM
Wylla probably did have him by the balls; he couldn’t help but share the chuckle. But he didn’t know much of Mahler either, only what Hydra had shared with him. Little snippets and bits of pieces of what she had ascertained of him through her own meetings, though he couldn’t quite remember if he had actually met the fellow outside of that day along the borders. They certainly hadn’t had a conversation he could recall, though he could have been mistaken. Plenty had happened—too much for him to keep track of.
Still, he hadn’t forgotten about the arrangement that Hydra had shared with him, that little talk about if it would have actually benefited them to arrange such a thing. It hadn’t sat right with Dirge, who was a bit more free spirited than his politically leaning wife. It felt no different than the arrangement that had brought Kukutux to them, though she had seemed to make herself content with her lot and place within their pack.
“More than likely,” he chimed in. “Hydra and I discussed it at one point, but nothing ever came of it. The distance now seems too great to consider if it did tickle our fancy… but personally I don’t think I could convince any of them to something arranged. Doesn’t sit right with me even if it would give us an ally,” though he considered Sagtannet an ally of sorts still. They had shared information with one another after all, and they had housed Nyx for quite a length. He could not begrudge them of that, though now he wondered if such a tie still mattered.
He shook his head.
“I don’t particularly care for the politics of things, truth be told. Our children are too headstrong and individual to be cowed into something like that. We can hold our territory, we can keep ourselves fed and safe. If we decide to branch out and take something else because we desire to and it can be done, we will.” He could jest about kings and queens and the like all he wanted, but Dirge was a knave at his core; the diadem he wore was considerably crooked and worn and had not belonged to him to begin with.
The original owner hadn’t needed it any more and Hydra didn’t need to wear two.
“If anything I would rather my sons or daughters take a neighboring territory for themselves than be carted off halfway across the world because that’s what keeps us from having a rivalry with another pack,” he went on. Hydra had no doubt heard this before and now he abused Nyx’s ears the same on a tangent. “We don’t even have to go looking for trouble for it to find us. It turns up along our borders every few weeks in the form of a brazen or crazed drifter that can’t take no for an answer.” It was a wonder why they didn’t have a pile of bones somewhere—wait, they probably did. He was certain of it.
Still, he hadn’t forgotten about the arrangement that Hydra had shared with him, that little talk about if it would have actually benefited them to arrange such a thing. It hadn’t sat right with Dirge, who was a bit more free spirited than his politically leaning wife. It felt no different than the arrangement that had brought Kukutux to them, though she had seemed to make herself content with her lot and place within their pack.
“More than likely,” he chimed in. “Hydra and I discussed it at one point, but nothing ever came of it. The distance now seems too great to consider if it did tickle our fancy… but personally I don’t think I could convince any of them to something arranged. Doesn’t sit right with me even if it would give us an ally,” though he considered Sagtannet an ally of sorts still. They had shared information with one another after all, and they had housed Nyx for quite a length. He could not begrudge them of that, though now he wondered if such a tie still mattered.
He shook his head.
“I don’t particularly care for the politics of things, truth be told. Our children are too headstrong and individual to be cowed into something like that. We can hold our territory, we can keep ourselves fed and safe. If we decide to branch out and take something else because we desire to and it can be done, we will.” He could jest about kings and queens and the like all he wanted, but Dirge was a knave at his core; the diadem he wore was considerably crooked and worn and had not belonged to him to begin with.
The original owner hadn’t needed it any more and Hydra didn’t need to wear two.
“If anything I would rather my sons or daughters take a neighboring territory for themselves than be carted off halfway across the world because that’s what keeps us from having a rivalry with another pack,” he went on. Hydra had no doubt heard this before and now he abused Nyx’s ears the same on a tangent. “We don’t even have to go looking for trouble for it to find us. It turns up along our borders every few weeks in the form of a brazen or crazed drifter that can’t take no for an answer.” It was a wonder why they didn’t have a pile of bones somewhere—wait, they probably did. He was certain of it.
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