Firefly Glen another riff for the good times

Part of her wanted to simply head to the caldera without looking too closely at the wreckage. She frankly wasn't sure she could handle it, not after everything else. But after hearing the news from Sialuk, she not only needed to see for herself, she must know the fates of the wolves involved, even if it meant walking right into the middle of ground zero to identify their remains.

Her heart hammered against her ribs as she stood on the edge of the ruins between Moonspear and Firefly Glen. There was a ringing in her one good ear right before she started feeling lightheaded. She ground her teeth together and tried to keep her wits about her. Then as soon as she felt like she could without passing out, Meerkat sent up a tremulous howl for @Bronco and the rest.

In the uncertainty following the landslide, Bronco had made it as clear as possible, to those who managed to find their way to the safe haven at the Northern borders of the Glen, that they ought stay put until they were certain that the mountain no longer posed a threat, calling out to try and draw their packmates back together. There were still several who had not shown up, but in the meantime he wanted to dissuade his packmates from going off in search. There was still a chance, he believed, that the mountain was unstable, and might create another landslide or avalanche. And while part of him wanted to go off and search for any survivors, and check in with the Moonspearians to see how they had fared...Part of him knew his responsibility was owed to those he'd managed to gather and keep safe, far from the mountain's reach. 

So when he heard Meerkat's voice, he sighed heavily in relief. He excused himself- yet again advising his companions that they stay in the area, and that he would go find Meerkat and bring her back with him. He loped off then, finally getting an excuse to stretch his muscles after staying cooped up in the one location, under such stress. Her call had come from the area much closer to Moonspear than what he'd been willing to go- but it meant she was alive. At least this way, he might get a closer look at the damage, and perhaps do a subtle rescue mission himself if they managed to find someone else wandering around the area. 

The closer he got, the more he felt his heart sink. The peak of Moonspear still drove like an iron weapon into the sky- but part of the landscape facing the Glen had changed, and was speckled with boulders and loosened snow. He wondered if he went far enough along the mountainside if he might find the star that had hit the mountain- but given the fact that it burned no longer, he assumed it didn't exist anymore. He caught sight of Meerkat, who looked exhausted and downtrodden- but at least she was alive. "Meerk," He called out, panting as he drew closer.

When no answering howl came, Meerkat felt her gorge beginning to rise. She realized she would not rest until she found her brother, dead or alive, even if it meant digging through rubble looking for his remains. The thought made her feel so wobbly, she couldn't bear to stand any longer and sank into a hard sit. Her head drooped between her shoulder blades as her breaths came fast and shallow. She didn't know if she would survive if Bronco hadn't.

But then she heard his voice say her nickname: "Meerk." Her head snapped in his direction and utter relief flooded her. She jumped to her feet only to weave drunkenly toward her brother. Fortunately, he closed the distance in time so that when she fell forward into him, his body caught her. She let out a sobbing noise as she deliberately pressed harder into him, her forelegs coming up to cling loosely around his neck and shoulders. She hung onto him for dear life, squeezing, letting out a little wail of gr(el)ief.

Slowly, he slid to the ground when Meerkat wrapped her paws about his neck so that if he stumbled or lost balance, there was less risk that he'd topple her over. She was distraught and upset and while he couldn't help but wonder what it was she'd seen or learned, he gave her time to cling to him. As always, he would pull her close to reassure her that he was there- and it wasn't without a ragged sigh of relief that he felt some of his worry slip away, confirming now that Meerkat had survived the landslide. Given how many terrible things had happened lately, it hadn't been altogether impossible for him to assume that he might lose yet another friend or family member to another tragic accident. 

"It's alright, Meerk," He said finally. He didn't pull back, in case she wanted to stay near to him- he could talk into the fur just behind her ear. "We're alright." He couldn't say the same for everyone- but at least for the moment, he could rest assured that at least one of his closest friends had survived the latest catastrophe that nature had thrown their way.

She tightened her grip when he murmured that they were all right. They had both lost so much recently, it was almost unbearable. But they hadn't lost each other. Meerkat was so heady with relief, it momentarily numbed her pain. Bronco was alive, they were together, and they could overcome anything.

At length, Meerkat loosened her hold and slipped backward. She didn't go far, just inched back to look him in the face. "I'm so," she began, only for her voice to quaver and ultimately fail. Another noise escaped her as she tucked her face against his neck again, breathing in his scent and reveling.

Once more, she withdrew slightly to say, "I don't understand what happened. I ran into Sialuk and she mentioned lightning and thunder." But how could that be? And how could a storm do that to Moonspear?

"It's...Overwhelming," Bronco supplied, with a nod. He figured that that might be the word that his sister was looking for. He wanted her to know that he too felt that way- and that it was alright for them to feel as though they had been through too much. They both knew from experience that life could be dangerous and that the wilderness could be hostile- but he felt fairly certain that what they'd gone through over the past month and a half had been excessive. It had to be unusual- there was no way that this was the norm that wolves usually lived through. He wanted someone to reassure him of that, as much as he wanted to be able to tell Meerkat the same thing, and be honest enough about it but all things considered...He couldn't be too sure. It felt impossible to believe that life could go back to something like normal again, without them having to constantly worry about things falling apart again and again. 

"There was a...Bright light, and it came across the sky," Bronco said. "It looked kind of like lightning, but...Kind of like a star, but stars don't fall," He said. He shrugged, feeling her chin nestled against his shoulderblade. "It hit the mountain, I think, and caused a landslide. I've been gathering our survivors near the northern borders. We should get back to them, I told them I wouldn't be long," He said, pulling back. He wanted to get Meerkat as far away from the foothills as possible, as well. He knew they ought search for the others that hadn't shown up yet- but at the same time, he wanted to give the mountain a few more days, to see if it had finished crumbling before he went anywhere near it. "Sialuk-" He blurted, when he realized that that meant that at least some of the Moonspearians had survived. "Just Sialuk? Or is there a gathering of Moonspearians too?" He asked. They were sister packs, after all- and he was keen to see that they both recovered, especially if there was a possibility that they might recover together.

As Bronco did his best to explain the phenomenon, Meerkat found herself thinking of her dad. Maybe he would know more about what happened, not that it would make much difference. But thinking about Phox made her bruised heart twinge. She wanted to go home, to the comfort of her family, and maybe find some peace. Considering everything which had been destroyed, perhaps she should've never convinced Bronco to leave with her in the first place.

Tears gathered in her eyes when her brother urged her to join the rest of the survivors at the borders. Although she was glad to hear there were others, she sort of wanted to beg him to go back to the caldera with her instead. Meerkat hiccuped, which spurred a short coughing fit, and suppressed the urge for the moment.

Focusing on his question, Meerkat replied, "And her mother. She said they hadn't found anyone else. They're at the spine, not far from here. I told her I'd call with news." As if on cue, she broke into another series of coughs. After she recovered, she added, "Who else is with you? We should get everyone together and... do you think we could go to the caldera?" She supposed it depended on how many were left, a decidedly morbid thought.

Just to leave the opportunity for others to pop into the other thread I have going, I'll keep him a titch ambiguous :3

Meerkat didn't seem reluctant, nor did she shake her head or express any open discontent with simply picking up and following him back toward the north- but the fact that she didn't simply get ready to go right then spoke volumes. He knew his sister well enough to know that normally, she would go along with his suggestions without questioning them- and when she didn't, it meant that there was a reason. 

She spoke about Kukutux and he was relieved for a moment to hear that at least the gentle medic had survived...but he was not optimistic when he was told that they were the only two to have reunited. It made him think of the small group he'd collected toward the North- knowing that they were still missing several others. He was reassured then, that at least he was doing the right thing, considering that Kukutux was practicing the same method of finding a safe, nearby place, and calling her surviving packmates to her so that they could regroup. He wondered if he should take his small band down to the Spine to combine the two groups together for safety. 

So when Meerkat asked about the wolves he'd gathered together, he informed her. "That's...That's all, for right now," He finished. "I've been waiting, to see if the mountain has settled...I thought it was best to just...Try and reunite everyone where it was safest, rather than getting any closer than this, just in case there's another avalanche or landslide." He said, eyeing the mountain warily. He wasn't even very comfortable being this close. He remembered what it had felt like when Fennec's den had collapsed in on him; he could only imagine how horrible it must have been, if any wolves had been trapped under Moonspear's tumbling cliffs. He didn't like the idea of Kukutux and Sialuk being all on their own, either. 

Meerkat's cough- for the moment- went relatively unnoticed. There had been dust in the air in the wake of the landslide, so he passed it off as a side effect of that. 

So when Meerkat spoke about going to the Caldera, it sounded to him less like she was proposing an idea, and more as though she was asking permission for them to go there. It hinted at a bias- and a will. "You want to go to the Caldera?" He asked. It wasn't what she had said- but he felt she'd implied it. "That's not a bad idea; the Caldera would be safe. I just...I don't know what to do with the Glen. And I'm not sure it's my decision, or my decision to make alone." He wasn't sure what Antares would think about it, if he had survived. And he didn't want to step on Hydra's toes either, by rounding up what he could find of both the Glen and the Moonspearians and relocating them to the Caldera without permission from his superiors. They might want to keep the packs right they were- and relocating a handful of their packmates wasn't a good way to keep their borders reinforced. He was quiet for a moment. "Maybe it is my decision." He said, softly. Without Antares or Hydra to step in and put forth their ideas, perhaps it was the time and place for him to step in and make an executive decision- in the interest of keeping what was left of the two packs alive and safe.

He asked her, point blank, if she wanted to go to the caldera. "Yes," she admitted quietly. There was a "but," though before she could mention it, Bronco said something that gave her pause. Meerkat's downcast eyes raised to meet his. There were so many implications in those five words, all of them bittersweet, and she didn't have the strength to unpack them all right now.

"We should decide together," Meerkat spoke after a moment, gently brushing her snout against his. "I mean, the whole pack—both packs—what's left of them..." she added haltingly before sucking in a breath breath. "But I also mean, you and me. I only want to go to the caldera if you come with me." She let it out. "I go where you go."

He didn't like hearing the words what's left of them. It implied that there would be some lost to the landslide- and even though that was a distinct possibility, he didn't want to dwell on it. But Meerkat was right, some decisions needed the whole group to agree, though he suspected that they would have to split up in order to cover the bases that needed to be covered. 

From what he could tell, Meerkat's preference was to go to the Caldera- but that she would only go to the Caldera if he went as well. He felt his heart twist a bit; Meerkat was the second wolf to ask him to return to the Caldera. If it was simply a matter of doing what he wanted to do, without worrying about anyone else, then his answer would have been simple. But the problem was that he still felt an obligation to the Glen, and to Moonspear- and especially to Antares, who was now lost. There was a legacy that the Ostregas had, that he felt a duty to carry on if none of them were able to do so themselves. He wouldn't want that legacy to be lost, because of a bear attack and a landslide. 

So he was torn then, between potentially disappointing Antares by going back to the Caldera and leaving the Glen and Moonspear to sort their problems out themselves, or that he might have to disappoint Meerkat by saying that he couldn't commit to the Caldera because of his sense of duty...Because in all honesty, he felt obliged to cater to Meerkat's desires as well. Fennec's wishes were also thrown into the mix, as were his own. 

"I...Can't make that promise right now." He said. "I want to go to the Caldera- but I can't just leave the Glen without...Fixing things, first," He said. "Or at least, trying to fix things." There was a small chance that they wouldn't find the wolves he wanted to find- and that the few survivors he'd found might be all that was left of both packs- but until they searched, they wouldn't know. And he wasn't going to give up on the rest of both packs before he even began.

He spoke hesitantly and she could tell that he did it with a heavy heart. But Meerkat only met his words with a sad smile. She wouldn't expect anything less from him and she would be—well, not happy to back him up in his endeavor, but she would absolutely stand beside her brother. She had a feeling the worst wasn't yet behind them, though at least they would be facing it all together.

Touching her nose to the corner of his eye, Meerkat simply repeated, "I go where you go."