Broken Antler Fen goldshow

teya was quite upset with @Reyes. he had gotten drunk, challenged the leader of akashingo, and been thrown out. that alone was enough, but then he had come back and been sorely beaten.
in silence she had helped him back to brecheliant, though on the borders the little raven stopped and looked gravely at her bruised companion. "what we tell eljay, reyes?"

Hymnal had already been close to the borders when she heard Teya's voice. The girl had always liked the woman, and so she had bounded towards the sound.

Tey— she skidded to a stop in front of the pair, her word hanging in the air and her eyes wide in surprise and concern. What happened? she asked, looking to Reyes. He looked pretty bad. You need papa, she said. @Eljay would know what to do.

Before anyone could stop her, the dark girl lifted her head and called out to her father. He'll be here soon, she promised to them both.

Waking up in the dirt with little memory of how one got there, well, it wasn't the best way to wake up. Unfortunately for Reyes, he knew what had happened; he had sobered up during the brawl thanks to the sheer terror of it, and he was left with a sore body but also a wounded sense of pride.

Teya's commentary didn't help. Her question was met with a grunt and a narrow-eyed look, mostly because Reyes' head was throbbing. The entire journey back to Brecheliant had been tense.

Before he could say anything, one of the pack brats arrived with far too much energy spilling out of them, and Reyes bristled. He didn't say anything.

teya smiled gratefully as hymnal appeared and sang for her father. "sit down," she said to reyes, rather clutched in the mode of raven at the moment. she glowered at him until he complied, then took a deep breath and turned back to the girl.
"thank you." she sat next to reyes. "hymnal, will you go to kingfisher woodland? bring water?" she wanted her man, as pharaoh had called him — she wanted him steady and hydrated enough to explain himself.
teya was furious. she used the anger to mask her deep guilt.

She watched the pair with open suspicion and curiosity. They were being kind of weird, but she didn't understand enough of the adult world to understand why, although she was naive enough to think she did. 

Reyes said nothing, just looked grumpy and sick. But Teya spoke sweetly to her, and it made Hymnal smile at her. She wanted the blackthorn to go to kingfisher woodland and get them some water. Luckily, she knew where it was; Hymnal did quite a bit of exploring. 

Okay, Miss Teya, she answered with a nod. I will be right back, I promise.

She turned and sprinted away towards the woodlands then, her excitement making her bounce as she ran.

While Hymnal was out to retrieve the requested items, Eljay arrived on scene. He wasn't very informed, and had forgotten about the invitation to the wedding of some other pack because he was too busy handling things back home. A social gathering like that wasn't really his thing to begin with.

When he arrived he therefore didn't remember where Reyes and Teya had been. What happened? he asked immediately, eyes wide with alarm as he looked between the two of them and then moved in closer to take a closer look at Reyes' wounds.

With a look and a huff directed to Teya at her command, Reyes followed the order and sank to the dirt.

He waited there with a petulant glimmer in his eyes. The ache of his beating went beyond the physical. He wasn't looking forward to the explanation — which would come soon, given that Eljay had arrived.

What happened? The auspex asked, and moved in close to Reyes, who bristled and braced himself. It took everything not to snap at Eljay as the man came close enough to inspect the wounds, given that Reyes hated contact.

There had been lows in Reyes' life but this one was a new rock bottom, in a way. He struggled against his own nature while being inspected and shot Teya a vaguely pleading look to hurry up and answer for him. If he had to answer he'd probably do it with teeth.

hymnal was gone. eljay was close. and reyes was bristling; teya could smell the anxiety and tangle of his muscles. she moved closer, trying to curb exasperation from her body and comfort the red wolf.
"we drank. at wedding. special fruits."
sayf's face flashed before her mind.
"reyes get very drunk. challenge leader, who is pharaoh ramesses." teya paused to exhale. "reyes is thrown out. he comes back. he insults queen!"
now she truly was angry, and pulled away from them both, though she kept her gaze upon reyes, one filled with an affectionate frustration. "so ramesses has many wolf beat him."
and where had she been all this time? 
"i was allowed to explore mesa. i spoke to queen as ambassador to brecheliant."
teya inhaled. she glanced now almost tearfully to eljay.

Once Hymnal reached the water, she realized she had no clue how to collect it and bring it back. She looked around and studied the things she could reach. Sticks would be no help and neither would any of the rocks that were strewn around. She walked to the edge of the water and peered down into it. She knew from experience that it was too cold to get in—that was not something she wanted to repeat. But along the edge of the river, ice had started to form. She licked some that was close to her and her eyes widened. This would be perfect. 

Carefully, she pushed down on the ice with her paw and when it was loose enough she picked it up between her teeth and turned to sprint back to Teya and Reyes.

When she arrived, the ice block had gotten smaller as it melted in her mouth. It was now the size of a small rock, but she decided it would still work. She dropped in front of Teya and trotted over to her dad. Papa! she said, her tail wagging in circles behind her. I knew you could help. Then she took a seat and looked at Teya. That is water if you lick it, she explained as if no one there had ever seen ice before.

As Reyes bristled, Eljay recoiled instinctively. He knew that he shouldn't, as Auspex. Knew he should stick up for himself. But Reyes seemed to be hurt, and he was a part of Brecheliant — a part of this family — and Eljay couldn't blame him. He was wounded, and that's why he responded that way. It looked like Reyes was pretty beat up, though as far as Eljay could see there weren't any deep, life-threatening wounds.

Can I look at your wounds, Reyes? asked the Auspex, not wanting to approach again if Reyes remained so tense. Then, he looked to Teya, who explained a story to him. It had many elements that Eljay knew little about: he vaguely recalled the wedding invitation that he didn't go to himself. He didn't really understand the concept of fruits to get drunk off, so that part was vague to Eljay.

The gist of it was, though, that Reyes had insulted both the male and female leader of the pack the wedding took place at. Then he had been hurt as a form of punishment. Eljay frowned thoughtfully. He hadn't ever been in a situation like this before as leader. After a moment he asked Teya, Are we, um, okay? With this pack? He didn't want to gloss over Reyes' hurt, but he honestly didn't really know what he could do about that. It sounded like he had done wrong and had been punished for it. However, Eljay wanted to inspect the wounds still; it could be that Reyes was hurt badly, in which case Eljay felt obligated to stick up for him. No matter the insult, no wolf deserved to be debilitated or scarred. Again, Eljay turned to look at Reyes and asked: Where does it hurt most? Are there any deep wounds? Can you, um, do everything alright? Walk? He just wanted to check up that nothing was wrong really badly (and if there was, so he could check up on that as the first thing).

Hymnal arrived then, with a piece of ice between her teeth. He smiled at her when she called out to him, and handed Teya a piece of ice. Clever, Eljay said with a soft smile to Hymnal and he nosed her cheek, before turning his attention back to Reyes, awaiting the answers to his questions.

Given the rising tension within Reyes, Eljay was wise enough not to press the matter. Teya explained, and as she did Reyes felt the deep burn of embarrassment; it was not a new flavor of shame for him, though it had been some time since he last felt so debased.

Teya also mentioned that she spoke with the queen; this surprised Reyes and his focus shifted from the auspex to the raven, but he didn't say anything. That was where she'd been all night?

When Eljay began to ask his questions, Reyes huffed, his ears pinning back. I walked here fine enough, he answered, then sighed; ignoring the child for the time being and watching the dirt instead, Reyes grumbled, I deserved it. I don't remember all that I said, but, it isn't my first time with those fruits.

With enough of them in me, I lose track of my tongue and my mind a bit. I remember... Trying to toast the king, or whatever. After that things are a little hazy, until the morning. When Teya had found him in the dirt outside - classy.

Reyes grimaced as he stood up, but refused any help. It was clear he wanted to get moving again and wasn't going to linger much longer being the center of attention - or medical help. But, like Eljay described, his wounds were mostly superficial bruises and the like.

reyes' words softened much of her 'i could just kill you' attitude. teya bit her lip and nodded at eljay. "we all right." she took a deep breath. "he — not welcome. but i — i will go there again. alone. and apologize."
she did not think that the pharaoh would come for the little fen pack. 
all the same, the raven did not want her auspex to worry. she had brought reyes to akashingo. she would handle its fallout.
too late; a smile for hymnal, a praising wave of her tail.
"let eljay give you medicine for pain," she warned reyes. "you will feel more pain as day goes on."

Hymnal sat quietly next to papa as the adults talked about some party, and a fight, and injuries. But all she was interested in was watching how her dad handled the wounded Reyes. She was becoming very interested in his work as a healer, and she was excited to be able to see him working.

It was hard for her to stay quiet so long, but she managed for now. Her wide and curious gaze moved between each pack member as they continued their conversation.

Eljay first focused on how Reyes was. He seemed to be feeling okay enough — so much so that it seemed he didn't want any help from Eljay and Hymnal. Eljay hesitated on what to do; he wanted to at least look at Reyes' wounds, help keep them clean, but if Reyes did not want his help, well... Teya meanwhile explained that they were fine, and that she'd go back to make sure of it, too. Alright, thanks. If you need any help, or need me to come, uh, just let me know. He smiled briefly as he made the offer, wanting to make sure that she knew that it stood true: even though he hated leaving the pack lands, Eljay still wanted to make sure their relations to other packs were good.

Back on Reyes, Teya tried to convince him to let Eljay help him; or at least give him something against the pain. Eljay waited patiently, hoping that Reyes'd be convinced, but knowing that he was a stubborn individual.

Stubbornness was part of the issue with Reyes, but it grew beyond that as Teya began to issue orders to him, trying to get him to see the doctor (who was right there) and accept help (which he didn't want); to the point that Reyes backed off completely, bristling as he moved away from the adults and their little helper.

I'm going to bed, he declared as he put some distance between them, moving in an arc around Teya. He did not want anything to do with anyone right now. The bruises aside, Reyes was hungover and feeling pitiful, which made him less inclined to hang around.

He stalked off before anyone could stop him (granted it was at a lesser speed than usual).

last for me! <3

reyes left. teya looked back with an expression of hurt toward eljay, trying to wipe it away as she glanced at hymnal. "thank you," she told the girl and her father. she sighed and cleared her throat. "when he wakes he — will be better. will think."
was she making excuses for him?
she gave the pair a quick, tight smile before she drew a breath. "hymnal, you want fishing lesson?" as much as she wanted to go away, she wouldn't. she was one of brecheliant's leaders and she needed to remain — present.

The grumpy, injured man walked away, stating he was going to bed, and Hymnal only watched him briefly before Teya stole her attention.

Oh yes, please, she answered, standing up and wagging her tail so hard it went in circles. I would love a lesson. She was always looking to learn new things. Unless Eljay stopped her, she would trot happily at Teya's side after delivering a kiss to Papa's cheek.

Teya didn't look like she was in any mood to teach, but she offered a lesson nonetheless. Hymnal happily accepted. Eljay smiled appreciatively at Teya and said, Well, I'll leave you two to it, then. Thanks for the help, Hymnal. Eljay smiled at his daughter and nuzzled the top of her head. Then he turned away and started heading out, leaving Teya and Hymnal to their fishing.