Quote from Kaqurei on September 7, 2023, 2:32 pm

Well. That was. Expected.

And not.

But still, mostly expected.

Logan may have kept marching on but Levi stopped dead when she dropped Jackie. Jackie was up again in a second. It was moments like this when Levi would very much like to awkwardly sidestep off stage. If life was a stage. Oh, that it were a stage that could be sidestepped off of when you forgot your lines and weren't clever enough to improvise.

As it was, his muscles tensed and he took a step back, looking between Jackie (who didn't seem to acknowledge he existed) and Logan (who seemed to be pretending Jackie didn't). He supposed he could awkwardly shuffle after Logan. Then Logan could go on pretending Jackie didn't exist for a little while longer, though the latter would surely follow. Or he could stay put. Maybe Logan would swing back around and tell him to follow her. Or keep going and leave him behind. Various scenarios played out in a few seconds in his mind--none of them seemed to have very good outcomes, but he had to pick one.

"Hey, Jackie, are yeh hungry?" he found himself saying instead. He gestured up at Logan with his head. "We're goin' fishing."

Quote from Adriana on September 7, 2023, 3:10 pm

Logan had paused, looking over her shoulder at Jackie. Then Levi spoke and she looked back at him, momentarily surprised. It was quickly recovered as she came to stand in front of him facing Jackie, crossing her arms.

What was there to say? What had not already been said and in some way, that had been contorted or else disregarded?

Jackie had at every turn seemed to seek offense, and Logan at every turn had her trust betrayed and reacted in kind. It was a vicious cycle of trust broken and wounds left in either or both body and soul. Words exchanged between the two had not served either well, and just when it seemed a foundation had begun to form, some event immediately followed that would quickly demolish it.

The two women had caused each other to feel unheard and invalidated, to seek escape-to turn from the Calagathorm in search of their freedom. And it seemed neither could precisely discern the cause for this. Did it stem from their very first meeting, the first roots planted in rotten soil? And yet Levi was at no odds with Logan for the actions committed that night.

At length, Logan exhaled and shook her head slowly, her expression no longer carrying the same anger it had a moment ago.

"No," she said, firmly, "I will not speak my mind to you; I will not listen again and be betrayed. You want my trust, ah? You want that I give my hand as a sister?" she asked, jutting her head towards the cabins, "Go, speak your truth to the alpha--why you run and what it is you do not say to us--hide nothing from him, and if he speaks to me that it is worthy, I will forgive you."

Quote from Mae on September 7, 2023, 10:03 pm

******

Sabrina turned to leave and Kratos lowered his chin and leveled his eyes on her.

"You do not believe that." He said, simply. For of all the reasons in the world that Sabrina would dedicate herself to a band of misfits and loners half way across the planet from home, there was not one reason better than this; hope. Hope that healing can happen. Hope that lives that are ruined may start again. Hope that loved ones who are lost can be found. Yes, of all the reasons that Sabrina was here, hope that a broken mind can be mended was perhaps foremost. Kratos knew this. He would not, just then, let her forget it.

The Alpha narrowed his eyes softly and raised his chin.
"There will come a day, Sabrina, when you will want these people to stand beside you." He said. "You will want them to do it not simply because they are loyal to me, but because they love you. When that day comes, I have no doubt you will have done your best to secure their friendship."

"No doubt." Kratos said. Then he likewise turned to leave, and left the words hanging in the air like a prophesy beneath the trees.

****

Meanwhile, in the clearing, Ulric listened to Dakota.

Ulric was rather good at listening. When listening brings questions, and each question can lead further into a person's mind and history, then one knows they are good at listening. Ulric found his mind increasingly full of questions. He wondered, how did Dakota's father die? And where was his mother? Why was Dakota given more information about werewolves than Samantha? What were these intense werewolf stories about, and why would Dakota's father tell him?

However, Ulric did not know how to go about asking these questions with two intruders nearby, each with an acute sense of hearing. It didn't seem like the time or place to unfold mysteries, especially on such a sensitive subject. The Svalnaglas in the pit were on the territory for some reason, and if that reason was information gathering about the Calagathorm pack, well. They would have to be disappointed.

Ulric gently put his hand on Dakota's shoulder, letting him know that his concerns were important, and he and his sister moreso. Nonetheless, Ulric did not divulge the questions on his mind.

"Tell Samantha that she can stay in the cabins tonight, if she wants to, but that no one will hurt her if she comes out." Ulric said reassuringly. "We'll watch out for her."

"Besides. The cabin is Bianca's territory." Ulric muttered this last part, so as not to be overheard by the pack's den mother. Yet, he cast a careful glance in her direction anyway.

Bianca was moving back toward the cabins, and Ulric couldn't help smiling at her over his shoulder. She had conjured a whirlwind at the dens lately, which seemed to have a lot to do with Samantha and Dakota coming to live there. Every day she seemed to have some new arrangement.

And every day, Ulric was reminded that not everyone likes change. As the pack's mediator, Ulric was employed to keep the peace through the upheaval, but it was not easy. Timothy was the most opposed to change out of anyone, and though he would not challenge Bianca if Kratos was anywhere nearby, he was still confrontational and aggressive. Needless to say, Kratos minded the dens well, and Ulric doubly so. But if Timothy was not trying to be trouble, he was trying to slip away - and that was trouble in of itself. Ulric had had his hands full since Bianca first began, nonetheless, the new arrangements were not unwelcome to him.

****

Down in the pit, the wild-haired woman and her allies seemed to be getting along well enough. Content to wait out the evening in the confines of the pit, the three of them offered no objections to their treatments. In fact, they seemed to be rather gracious captives.

John finished skinning his rabbits and lifted them with a smile. "There we are!" He said. "Would you like the bones, Tiffany?"

The wild-haired woman declined his offer, saying simply that she had had enough to last her a lifetime.

John helped himself, of course, much to the dismay of those who looked on. He had no real talent in eating raw rabbit, but he likewise had no objections to it - despite his earlier claim. He chewed the meat rather thoroughly, and stuck his finger all the way to the back of his mouth to pick his teeth.

"Do you suppose there is any water in these drains, then?" He wondered, not quite without his finger in his mouth.

Quote from Indy on September 8, 2023, 3:44 am

Jackie starred at Logan as she spoke. Her expression betrayed little besides a hardness, a guard that had fallen over her.  She had not place what betrayal Logan felt. Was it to their misadventure in Middlecrest? But indeed, much time had passed since then, and Logan had not spoken of it in months. It seemed to her some complexity which eluded her, something which Logan refused to say, and this brought with its own kind of pain.

She exhaled harshly, looking at Logan up and down.

"And what makes you think I haven't told him?" on her face was a snarl, though a stillness was in her eyes that was eerie, "No. I will not beg you to accept me. I will disappoint your concept of worthiness, even if you knew every detail about me. Best we spare ourselves the pain".

She turned and began to walk the other way. What she had wanted to know had been said, and now there seemed no further purpose in her presence.

Quote from Skyelre on September 8, 2023, 5:29 am

A crease of a smile tugged at Dakota's lips by Ulric's last words. " Thank you, I'll let Samantha know," He said, then turned to return to the cabins.

Quote from Adriana on September 8, 2023, 8:04 am

“Do what you know, to turn away.”

Logan uncrossed her arms and stared bitterly at Jackie’s back, making no move to leave just then.

Quote from Indy on September 8, 2023, 8:56 am

She ought to have said nothing. She had vowed to. To not speak another word to Logan for the rest of their lives if she needed to - to hold to this vigil of silence, rather than face what she perceived was the woman's judgement. It would bring more pain, she felt, than to let herself be at the mercy of the woman's judgements about her.

Yet her words had a way of crawling beneath her skin. Did she know how effortlessly she could do so even with her language barrier?  She debated, sometimes, what had been intentional and what had not been. Yet in this moment, it was only a reaction on her part. She spun on her heals, copper hair flying, her eyes bright and livid.

"Do you think I want to, Logan? Do you think I live to belong nowhere?" her expression was all teeth save the moisture at her eyes, "Family is pain. You can't outrun them, no matter how far you go... at least now I know this is a family because of how badly it hurts".

Quote from Adriana on September 8, 2023, 9:46 am

***

Bianca went back inside and had returned to the kitchen.

Besides the rooms being shifted, the kitchens had seen the most drastic change. Counters that were once mostly bare, now displayed an array of glass jars with various contents - noodles, oats, flour, sugar, salt, starch and so on.

She made sure the cupboards were cleaned regularly, and anything contained in cardboard or plastic was replaced with a glass jar to avoid mice and weevils if they were to go away again.

While they had been at the cabins these last few weeks, there was fresh bread nearly every day and a tin kept full of shortbread cookies (not sewing supplies, like Grandma always had-what a mean trick!). She also took advantage of the apples in the orchard and had several jars of apple butter prepared.

Not many people were allowed in the kitchens outside of meal times; Bianca had them locked down like a warden. Sami was allowed to help.

Bianca took note of everyone's preferences - during the summer, they had lived off of meat and whatever berries and scarce vegetation grew in the forest. Kratos had been opposed to lighting a fire throughout the summer, since it would attract unwanted attention - so they had to settle for raw meat. And as much as it seemed customary for werewolves to consume raw meat, a good, grilled steak still made Bianca's mouth water. She was sure to take note of who seemed to enjoy what, playing with different seasonings and combinations and jotting down their cues in a journal.

Bianca continued tending the food-she unwrapped the elk steaks and after seasoning them, brought them to the grill. Back inside in a moment, she was working on the garlic herb rice, or slicing bread, or filling water thermos'...

Quote from Kaqurei on September 8, 2023, 10:00 am

***

Levi swallowed hard. His heart was pounding out of his chest and the roar of thoughts in his head was at fever pitch.

"Hey, you guys," he cut in, though he felt dizzy to do so. "Uhm, cannae show you something? Both of you?"