Post by Pavane on Oct 8, 2011 0:41:49 GMT -5
Hilltop Vista
Ikuna - Male Juvenile Wolf
Ahiga - Male Juvenile Wolf
Tala - Female Juvenile Wolf
Wachiwa - Female Wolf
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The journey home has been a long one. Ikuna has seen many things, mountains and rivers and mighty forests. His paws have been getting very tired, especially with the bruises from being pinned down and nearly killed. The pup barely even notices when the terrain around him starts to become familiar - the same trees he used to play in, the dank of the swamp nearby and the particular scents of this forest. His world is shrunk down to the pawsteps of Chewy or Asku he follows in. So. Many. Pawsteps. So. Very. Tired. So tired, in fact, that when they reach home and the adult wolves stop... Ikuna just keeps walking up the hill on autopilot with a dazed look.
Things have been...quiet. Depressing. Worrisome. Ahiga's carefree days of youthful troublesome antics have come to screeching halt since the day his best bud was taken away. That day was a black day for the pack, which seems to have thrown quite a wrench in daily life. In face, Ahiga has no idea where members of the pack can be found from day to day. Many of them have gone on the Great Retrieval, leaving other faces in charge. It's left him feeling a bit of kilter, but with all the changes, one thing has been constant: Tala. And so he clings to that, making sure he follows Asku's instructions perfectly. Keep an eye on her. Keep her safe! The young wolf struts out of the den now, yawning and stretching, punctuating it all with a quick shake and sigh. Another day without Ikuna. Without Asku. Without...huh? He blinks, ears perking. There are wolves coming up the hill...big ones and...a smallish one? Or are his eyes deceiving him? "Tala..." he hisses over his shoulder, voice sounding urgent. "/Tala!/ Get out here 'n look!"
Leaving the other adults behind to patrol the borders, to clean up messes here and there, Wachiwa is probably the only shape left following Ikuna closely as they become discernable, the she-wolf walking slowly along after the pup, head down, and tongue lolling slightly in the chill air. Could Ahiga even recognise this she-wolf now, her winter coat growing in, her face marred by the marks of a bird's talons, with one eye still 'sealed' shut by dried blood? Would Tala know her laughing happy story-teller now with this weary expression on her face, and her weary, 'walking too long' limp? Who knows. But Chewy keeps walking, occasionally offering little wuffs of noise at Ikuna to keep his attention to the wold of the waking.
The littlest wolf is bigger than Ikuna used to be, certainly - but then, so are Ahiga and Tala. He's scrawnier, too; even his thick first-winter fluff can't hide the missed meals from when he was stuck in the hole. There's even a tiny bit of a limp, when he's tired like this... he _can_ move his foreleg properly, but it hurts. Just a little, but on a journey like this one, 'just a little' has built up day over day. The tired young wolf makes it almost halfway up the hill before he stops. There's something here, and he can't walk and think at the same time. This is different than all the other hills he's gone up and down along the way. This is... he gives his head a shake, wuffing softly as he fights through tiredness to try and remember.
Tala ear twitches slightly as she hears Ahiga but she doesn't look that eager to move. When everything going on the young wolf has kept to herself a lot, save for being with Ahiga. At the moment she is curls up, her head tucked down upon her forepaw as she dozes away it seems. She's spent many days without sleeping and seems to have just now started to dose. "Wut?" Is grumbled out towards Ahiga, with a tone that proves she doesn't want to play some game, or get up and see some new bug crawling about. Though her eyes do open slightly and she peers out towards her friend and then glances towards where he is looking. It takes her a few moments but she gets herself up and moves towards Ahiga still watching the pair of wolves coming towards them getting ever closer.
Oh man, what is he supposed to do? There are strangers lurking...coming. Tattered looking savage wolves that are intruding in their home! He's not sure which packwolf is in charge right now while others are away. Ahiga swallows, ears pressing back against his skull as he puts on a brave face. Strangers have already wrecked what was becoming a rather peaceful life...he'll be danged if he allows more of them to shatter what's left of it. "It's strangers. Don' wory. I'll make 'me go," he says to Tala, sounding a bit more sure of himself than he feels. He moves away from the den, stiff legged and head lowering in line with his shoulders. "You can't be here, y'heard?" he calls, brows furrowing. "Go away. /Leave!/" He frowns down at them, stopping just before the hill begins to slope down. But what his eyes don't recognize, his nose does. A scent in the breeze. A scent beyond the blood and the hurt and the stress of pain that radiates from them. The aroma of...friends. He blinks once, his hostile posture faltering a little.
Wachiwa, as they've come closer, has started to recognize their home by scent, even if her eyes are weary and her body is tired. Ahiga's words.. crack a long missing smile on her face.. and she stops long enough to raise her head, before she speaks: "Ikuna. Guess what... We're home." She announces, smiling a little, before shaking her pelt, sending whisps of fur on the fly, and then picking up a faster pace to briefly nudge at the boy-pup's shoulders, before heading for the den, tail wagging. "Ahiga!" She calls, "Ahiga, don't you know your Wachiwa? Surely it hasn't been that long, has it?" She chuckles, panting out, before trotting, and then simply collapsing in a heap on the ground between Ahiga and Ikuna, glad to have finally found a place to rest, and even more welcome still to give Ikuna a place to lay if he wants, and Ahiga a chance to come the rest of the way, and inspect.
This is... this is... The scents worn into the ground tickle Ikuna's nose. It's a measure of how tired he is that recognition is still eluding him when Wachiwa speaks. Home? They're... they're finally home? He starts to lift his head - and hears angry words, but... no, he _knows_ that voice. Just like he knows those scents, and this place, and... his tail starts to lift, perking up just like his ears do. "'higa?" he asks, incredulous, and then he somewhere finds energy he didn't think he had anymore, to actually run up the hill at a stumbling pace, limping and hurting his leg but not caring in the slightest.
Tala watches the pair move closer and closer, even when Ahiga speaks she knows there not strangers the scents tell everything to her. "There not strangers.." She offers with a soft tone to Ahiga as she paces a few moments before turning and quickly runs towards Chewy and Ikunga. Her gaze rests on her brother, and his limping, a half whine escapes her and once closer enough she attempt to tackle him and hug him as tightly as she possible can. "Ikuna!"
Well of course he knows his Wachiwa!! ... And uh...that's not Wachiwa. Or is it? Ahiga squints his eyes and sniffs the air greedily, hoping to trust his nose instead of his eyes. It /is/ her scent, and that other scent is even more familiar. His once flattened ears lift up and stand straight just as Tala zooms past him, and like the tail of the other youngster, his begins to wag, going from slow to fast in the matter of milliseconds. "Wachiwa? I.../IKUNA?!/" Ok so his squeal sounded just a little girlish. He is in that awkward inbetween stage of life, after all. He bounds after the girl pup to double that tackle on the poor, whethered, once missing third pupketeer.
There's a soft, weathered chuckle that escapes the oldest of the 'pups' present; Chewy never had been adult a day in her life now has she.. Until it came down to it so recently. With the den close, she isn't worried about the three pups -- near adolescents now she reminds herself, thinking about it with a sigh -- as they reunite. "Careful on him there Ahiga, Ikuna's real tired. We all are, but Asku and the others had to make sure the borders were safe now that we're back," she half warns, half amusedly states, tail thumping, as she takes a deep breath. The smell of home, so familiar, swells in her breast and she feels comforted even after the arduous journey. "I'm very proud of you, Ikuna," Chewy adds softly, watching them, whether she's heard or not, "Very proud.. And so are they.."
Ikuna barks happily as he sees his sister charging toward him, with Ahiga not far behind! Tala tumbles against him first, with Ahiga only moments later, and he cuddles against them eagerly, nuzzling and pressing close. He's definitely scrawnier than he should be, not nearly enough muscle over those bones. It's them, it's really them, and he can see them and smell them and feel the warmth of their bodies, and he's here and with them again and - "'m sorry, I'm sorry I was gone, I didn't mean to, I -" and he trails off into a happy whine as he snuggles. The frantic energy is leaving him now, and his body is reminding him just how tired he is. That he could run at all is a matter of just how much he missed them. Now... he's back.
Tala snuggles and clings to her dear brother, soft whine escaping her all the while and then a half oof is heard once Ahiga joins the mix. She wiggles about to try not to pin her brother to the ground. "It's not your fault!"
Oh yes, he'll be very careful with his currently fragile buddy...once he gets all of his excitement out! Right now, Ahiga is wriggling and nipping and snugging and slurping any and every part of his pal he can get. "/Dude/, what're /you/ sorry for?" he asks before dipping in for a good gooey drooly gnaw to his ear. "I'm sorry! I should've been there to bite that stupid arse bird that got ya. If I was there, ya never would've got snagged!" He pants and steps back, a bit out of breath from the pouncing welcome and the fast stream of words that just left his mouth. Bright eyes turn to Wachiwa now, tail still wagging. "Asku's back too? Is he..." he pauses, apparently just now getting a good look at her battered face. "...Did that bird do that to ya too?"
A soft mm, and Wachiwa remarks, "Yes, yes the bird did this, but don't worry, Ahiga.. I stopped the bird, he will never come after another soul again." She doesn't like to admit it.. but in the end.. "It had to be done," she says, with a grimace, "but I want you to remember, all of you, that you should never kill another without good reason. What the bird was going to do.. what they were all going to do," she says, eye levelling on Ikuna with a frown, "was against the laws of the Great Spirits themselves. They are all gone now; Ikuna has returned home, the other pup to his own home, and a cougar is going to take the cub to where the other cougars live. And so once again, everything is in balance." She smiles kindly then. "Don't worry.. Asku and Skahla are fine, if a bit tired as well.. and I will heal, though I'll never see out of this eye again."
Ikuna doesn't even know what he's sorry for. He just is! He doesn't try to explain, though - just pants and whines happily and snuggles in against his sister and his friend as he gets mauled with affections. When Chewy explains what's happened to the others, Ikuna frowns at the memories, though he doesn't say anything. Everyone's gone home, yeah. But... well, he thinks he has the very best homecoming. Which is nice, but also kind of makes him feel bad. Poor Kachina. Poor Chewy, who got all clawed up.
Tala lets her head press against her brothers, ears perking while she looks to Wachiwa, looking worried for her just as much as for Ikuna. Her tail sways a few times though she really isn't that sure what to say. Its been a rather long time to get to this moment after all, and for a while there she wasn't at all sure if she would ever even see Ikuna again.
Kill? Ah, Ahiga is a sharp one indeed, and it doesn't take long for him to put the pieces together. Someone killed that dumb bird...and by the looks of her face, he can guess who that someone is. But the distress of her lost eye is written all over his face, and his jaw drops a little in shock. "...Never? Wow uh...um.." what does one say to that? He lowers his head and whines a little. A sound of sorrowful mourning of the lost eye. "There was...more'n just a bird? What were they gonna do? Ikuna, where were you this whole time?"
Mmming at the pups, Wachiwa says, "Let Ikuna rest a little here against me, and I can tell you what I know of the story, my young friends," with a chuckle, though it's not without it's grimness. "And Ikuna can fill us in on the rest. I am especially curious to find out how the bird got ahold of him in the first place," she says, with a frown, remembering the confusion that had come around then because of circumstances..
Ikuna leans against Tala, his tail wagging slowly. He tilts his head a little at Ahiga's question, and at Chewy's start of answering. "Up on the mountain, in a big hole," he answers. "They were gonna kill me." He says it matter-of-factly, neither trying to shock nor fishing for sympathy. He's looked death in the face, in the form of a wolverine's claws. That's just part of his life, now. He perks his ear at his name, then nods a little. "There was a female wolf. She knew my name, an'... she said Tala was hurt, an' I had to come quick." He pauses, and nuzzles his sister. "'m sorry I didn't wait for a bigwolf. But I went with her, an' there was the bird there. They said something about some deal, an' then the bird grabbed me."
Tala watches Wachiwa a few moments before looking back to her brother, doesn't seem like she is moving away from him at the moment. She thought about this moment a lot of times, and a lot of different ways for that matter. A soft breath escapes her and her eyes close while she listens to the the tale that is being told, still her mind is already starting to drift. Almost as if the excitment was a bit much for her, still she clings to listening to the tale that is told.
This is different than the tales he's heard in the past. This time, it's /real/. Though the stories of Alpha and Omega and ghost wolves may all be true in a way, Ahiga has never felt any personal ties to them. Not really. But Ikuna's is different. Ikuna is like a brother, and the fact that this badness really has happened to him has him feeling in a way that all the others have not. He's quiet, expression a little grim. A female wolf tricked him? He furrows his brows in confusion. "Somebody...here? But, but nobody'd do that to Ikuna. Not nobody in our pack," he says, glancing around for confirmation. Because really, if you can't trush your own pack...who can you trust?
Ears lay back as Wachiwa considers this, and she says, firmly, "Ikuna, as soon as you have a chance, I want you to tell your older brother about this -- Skahla, not Asku. I want you to describe the big wolf, too. We may have trouble on our paws because of this; though now I'm sure you've learned that next time, you should get one of us bigwolves." Wachiwa says, softly, before she sighs, and considers. "Well, as you know, we set out for the Cerulean lands, since the pup, Anoki, had been lost near there. We found a trail far up into the mountains, and when we arrived it was in a valley. There was a bobcat, a wolverine, and an Eagle there; the large bird. The Wolverine was going to kill Ikuna, and the eagle attacked me to try and stop me from saving him. Skahla, and the Cerulean leader, Tariro, attacked the wolverine. After I killed the bird, I went to save the cougar cub, and wound up protecting her and Ikuna from the bobcat.. who ran up a tree. The Spirits were so angry though, they struck the tree down and it killed both the wolverine and the bobcat." Wachiwa considers these words, then explains: "They were going to kill Ikuna and the cougar cub as a 'sacrifice', to an evil spirit, who apparently promised them great power."
"I dunno who she was," admits Ikuna. That's really the part he's sorry about, for going with a stranger. That's why all this happened! He just... she knew his name, and his sister's, and so... so he got tricked. His ears droop a little, remembering it. "It was up near the crabapple. Where we had our trap." The pup gives a slightly apologetic look to Tala and Ahiga as he betrays a Puppy Secret. This is important, though. He nods to Wachiwa when she talks about telling Skahla. "I will." He's not scared of GrumpySkah even a little bit, anymore. Not now that he's seen what real Bad Guys look like. He nods to most of her story, but frowns a little at the end. "I didn' see the bobcat's body, though..." he says softly. Maybe is just got squished. Still, he can't help worrying, just a bit.
Tala catches bits and pieces of the conversation. "If.. she knew our names then she had to speak with someone in the pack.. Or someone that knows the pack at least.." She offers up about the strange she-wolf, which doesn't make much sense to her within the least. "Its alright.." This said with a soft tone to Ikuna as he comments about the 'trap' near the crabapply tree, the hole she stayed most of the time while her brother was gone. Her eyes open slightly and she peers over at Chewy at the part about the tree, a ear twitching to her brother. "If.. she ain't dead will she come after Ikuna again?" She questions with a worried tone.. Though as she waits for the answer given her eyes slip closed, and while she waits for the answer she starts to fall asleep, cuddled and pressed close to Ikuna now about to let him get to far for the next while it would seem.
The trap? ... Oh! The trap! Ahiga had forgotten all about their grand plan until this moment. It seems so trivial now, and he doesn't bat an eye as its revealed. He feels the slightest twinge of relief as it's let known that the wolf was not a pack wolf after all. But then, who could she have been? And then there are names he'd forgotten about. That other pup and his sister. He hardly realized that they were gone, along with that other non pack male who taggeda around them. "There was a ...cougar too?" He glances from Wachiwa to Ikuna, as if for confirmation. And then all the bad guys are pictured. A vicious bobcat. A crazed eagle. A rabid wolverine. .. Poor Ikuna! Tala's wonders break his thoughts, and he shakes his head firmly. "No way. That dumb cat is dead'n gone, and if it /ain't/, there's no way it's gonna come here. I'd rip its neck myself." Grr!
"You would get an adult first, though, right, Ahiga?" Wachiwa smirks softly, leaning over to try and lick his face, "You're brave, you all are, but you've a few months yet before you're old enough to be able to take down a bobcat alone." She chuckles softly, then smiles. "What matters, though, is that they were stopped. They cannot harm Ikuna, or you, or Tala, or anyone anymore." Wachiwa chuckles, and then lays her head on her paws in thought, considering. "No one you know, Ikuna? Hm. Well. I still want you to tell Skahla."
"It doesn't matter if she comes," says Ikuna to his sister, and then nods to Ahiga's threat. Exactly. He's not gonna be tricked away from his pack, and his pack together - all of them! - can stop any of those bad things. He nods again at Ahiga's questioning look about the cougar. "Her name's Kachina." He's sort of sorry his friends here didn't get to meet her. She was nice. Kinda sad, but... nice. At least she found other cougars to be with. He looks up at Chewy, and nods to her again. "Uh-huh. Someone musta seen the bad wolf before. She had white fur, sorta yellow on top." Rather distinctive!
"Puh. If it's half burnt, I bet I could take'm..." murmurs Ahiga, though he does begin to grin and ducks his head as his face is licked by the one-eyed female. Aw. one eyed or not, she's still the same Wachiwa! The description of this mysterious lying wolf has him stumped though, and he shakes his head. "I've never seen a wolf like that here before.." Dang it. How could he have been so unobservant? Never again! He nudges his pal. "But if she ever shows her ugly face 'round here again, now we all know what she looks like, and she isn't gonna get away with what she did."
Ikuna - Male Juvenile Wolf
Ahiga - Male Juvenile Wolf
Tala - Female Juvenile Wolf
Wachiwa - Female Wolf
---
The journey home has been a long one. Ikuna has seen many things, mountains and rivers and mighty forests. His paws have been getting very tired, especially with the bruises from being pinned down and nearly killed. The pup barely even notices when the terrain around him starts to become familiar - the same trees he used to play in, the dank of the swamp nearby and the particular scents of this forest. His world is shrunk down to the pawsteps of Chewy or Asku he follows in. So. Many. Pawsteps. So. Very. Tired. So tired, in fact, that when they reach home and the adult wolves stop... Ikuna just keeps walking up the hill on autopilot with a dazed look.
Things have been...quiet. Depressing. Worrisome. Ahiga's carefree days of youthful troublesome antics have come to screeching halt since the day his best bud was taken away. That day was a black day for the pack, which seems to have thrown quite a wrench in daily life. In face, Ahiga has no idea where members of the pack can be found from day to day. Many of them have gone on the Great Retrieval, leaving other faces in charge. It's left him feeling a bit of kilter, but with all the changes, one thing has been constant: Tala. And so he clings to that, making sure he follows Asku's instructions perfectly. Keep an eye on her. Keep her safe! The young wolf struts out of the den now, yawning and stretching, punctuating it all with a quick shake and sigh. Another day without Ikuna. Without Asku. Without...huh? He blinks, ears perking. There are wolves coming up the hill...big ones and...a smallish one? Or are his eyes deceiving him? "Tala..." he hisses over his shoulder, voice sounding urgent. "/Tala!/ Get out here 'n look!"
Leaving the other adults behind to patrol the borders, to clean up messes here and there, Wachiwa is probably the only shape left following Ikuna closely as they become discernable, the she-wolf walking slowly along after the pup, head down, and tongue lolling slightly in the chill air. Could Ahiga even recognise this she-wolf now, her winter coat growing in, her face marred by the marks of a bird's talons, with one eye still 'sealed' shut by dried blood? Would Tala know her laughing happy story-teller now with this weary expression on her face, and her weary, 'walking too long' limp? Who knows. But Chewy keeps walking, occasionally offering little wuffs of noise at Ikuna to keep his attention to the wold of the waking.
The littlest wolf is bigger than Ikuna used to be, certainly - but then, so are Ahiga and Tala. He's scrawnier, too; even his thick first-winter fluff can't hide the missed meals from when he was stuck in the hole. There's even a tiny bit of a limp, when he's tired like this... he _can_ move his foreleg properly, but it hurts. Just a little, but on a journey like this one, 'just a little' has built up day over day. The tired young wolf makes it almost halfway up the hill before he stops. There's something here, and he can't walk and think at the same time. This is different than all the other hills he's gone up and down along the way. This is... he gives his head a shake, wuffing softly as he fights through tiredness to try and remember.
Tala ear twitches slightly as she hears Ahiga but she doesn't look that eager to move. When everything going on the young wolf has kept to herself a lot, save for being with Ahiga. At the moment she is curls up, her head tucked down upon her forepaw as she dozes away it seems. She's spent many days without sleeping and seems to have just now started to dose. "Wut?" Is grumbled out towards Ahiga, with a tone that proves she doesn't want to play some game, or get up and see some new bug crawling about. Though her eyes do open slightly and she peers out towards her friend and then glances towards where he is looking. It takes her a few moments but she gets herself up and moves towards Ahiga still watching the pair of wolves coming towards them getting ever closer.
Oh man, what is he supposed to do? There are strangers lurking...coming. Tattered looking savage wolves that are intruding in their home! He's not sure which packwolf is in charge right now while others are away. Ahiga swallows, ears pressing back against his skull as he puts on a brave face. Strangers have already wrecked what was becoming a rather peaceful life...he'll be danged if he allows more of them to shatter what's left of it. "It's strangers. Don' wory. I'll make 'me go," he says to Tala, sounding a bit more sure of himself than he feels. He moves away from the den, stiff legged and head lowering in line with his shoulders. "You can't be here, y'heard?" he calls, brows furrowing. "Go away. /Leave!/" He frowns down at them, stopping just before the hill begins to slope down. But what his eyes don't recognize, his nose does. A scent in the breeze. A scent beyond the blood and the hurt and the stress of pain that radiates from them. The aroma of...friends. He blinks once, his hostile posture faltering a little.
Wachiwa, as they've come closer, has started to recognize their home by scent, even if her eyes are weary and her body is tired. Ahiga's words.. crack a long missing smile on her face.. and she stops long enough to raise her head, before she speaks: "Ikuna. Guess what... We're home." She announces, smiling a little, before shaking her pelt, sending whisps of fur on the fly, and then picking up a faster pace to briefly nudge at the boy-pup's shoulders, before heading for the den, tail wagging. "Ahiga!" She calls, "Ahiga, don't you know your Wachiwa? Surely it hasn't been that long, has it?" She chuckles, panting out, before trotting, and then simply collapsing in a heap on the ground between Ahiga and Ikuna, glad to have finally found a place to rest, and even more welcome still to give Ikuna a place to lay if he wants, and Ahiga a chance to come the rest of the way, and inspect.
This is... this is... The scents worn into the ground tickle Ikuna's nose. It's a measure of how tired he is that recognition is still eluding him when Wachiwa speaks. Home? They're... they're finally home? He starts to lift his head - and hears angry words, but... no, he _knows_ that voice. Just like he knows those scents, and this place, and... his tail starts to lift, perking up just like his ears do. "'higa?" he asks, incredulous, and then he somewhere finds energy he didn't think he had anymore, to actually run up the hill at a stumbling pace, limping and hurting his leg but not caring in the slightest.
Tala watches the pair move closer and closer, even when Ahiga speaks she knows there not strangers the scents tell everything to her. "There not strangers.." She offers with a soft tone to Ahiga as she paces a few moments before turning and quickly runs towards Chewy and Ikunga. Her gaze rests on her brother, and his limping, a half whine escapes her and once closer enough she attempt to tackle him and hug him as tightly as she possible can. "Ikuna!"
Well of course he knows his Wachiwa!! ... And uh...that's not Wachiwa. Or is it? Ahiga squints his eyes and sniffs the air greedily, hoping to trust his nose instead of his eyes. It /is/ her scent, and that other scent is even more familiar. His once flattened ears lift up and stand straight just as Tala zooms past him, and like the tail of the other youngster, his begins to wag, going from slow to fast in the matter of milliseconds. "Wachiwa? I.../IKUNA?!/" Ok so his squeal sounded just a little girlish. He is in that awkward inbetween stage of life, after all. He bounds after the girl pup to double that tackle on the poor, whethered, once missing third pupketeer.
There's a soft, weathered chuckle that escapes the oldest of the 'pups' present; Chewy never had been adult a day in her life now has she.. Until it came down to it so recently. With the den close, she isn't worried about the three pups -- near adolescents now she reminds herself, thinking about it with a sigh -- as they reunite. "Careful on him there Ahiga, Ikuna's real tired. We all are, but Asku and the others had to make sure the borders were safe now that we're back," she half warns, half amusedly states, tail thumping, as she takes a deep breath. The smell of home, so familiar, swells in her breast and she feels comforted even after the arduous journey. "I'm very proud of you, Ikuna," Chewy adds softly, watching them, whether she's heard or not, "Very proud.. And so are they.."
Ikuna barks happily as he sees his sister charging toward him, with Ahiga not far behind! Tala tumbles against him first, with Ahiga only moments later, and he cuddles against them eagerly, nuzzling and pressing close. He's definitely scrawnier than he should be, not nearly enough muscle over those bones. It's them, it's really them, and he can see them and smell them and feel the warmth of their bodies, and he's here and with them again and - "'m sorry, I'm sorry I was gone, I didn't mean to, I -" and he trails off into a happy whine as he snuggles. The frantic energy is leaving him now, and his body is reminding him just how tired he is. That he could run at all is a matter of just how much he missed them. Now... he's back.
Tala snuggles and clings to her dear brother, soft whine escaping her all the while and then a half oof is heard once Ahiga joins the mix. She wiggles about to try not to pin her brother to the ground. "It's not your fault!"
Oh yes, he'll be very careful with his currently fragile buddy...once he gets all of his excitement out! Right now, Ahiga is wriggling and nipping and snugging and slurping any and every part of his pal he can get. "/Dude/, what're /you/ sorry for?" he asks before dipping in for a good gooey drooly gnaw to his ear. "I'm sorry! I should've been there to bite that stupid arse bird that got ya. If I was there, ya never would've got snagged!" He pants and steps back, a bit out of breath from the pouncing welcome and the fast stream of words that just left his mouth. Bright eyes turn to Wachiwa now, tail still wagging. "Asku's back too? Is he..." he pauses, apparently just now getting a good look at her battered face. "...Did that bird do that to ya too?"
A soft mm, and Wachiwa remarks, "Yes, yes the bird did this, but don't worry, Ahiga.. I stopped the bird, he will never come after another soul again." She doesn't like to admit it.. but in the end.. "It had to be done," she says, with a grimace, "but I want you to remember, all of you, that you should never kill another without good reason. What the bird was going to do.. what they were all going to do," she says, eye levelling on Ikuna with a frown, "was against the laws of the Great Spirits themselves. They are all gone now; Ikuna has returned home, the other pup to his own home, and a cougar is going to take the cub to where the other cougars live. And so once again, everything is in balance." She smiles kindly then. "Don't worry.. Asku and Skahla are fine, if a bit tired as well.. and I will heal, though I'll never see out of this eye again."
Ikuna doesn't even know what he's sorry for. He just is! He doesn't try to explain, though - just pants and whines happily and snuggles in against his sister and his friend as he gets mauled with affections. When Chewy explains what's happened to the others, Ikuna frowns at the memories, though he doesn't say anything. Everyone's gone home, yeah. But... well, he thinks he has the very best homecoming. Which is nice, but also kind of makes him feel bad. Poor Kachina. Poor Chewy, who got all clawed up.
Tala lets her head press against her brothers, ears perking while she looks to Wachiwa, looking worried for her just as much as for Ikuna. Her tail sways a few times though she really isn't that sure what to say. Its been a rather long time to get to this moment after all, and for a while there she wasn't at all sure if she would ever even see Ikuna again.
Kill? Ah, Ahiga is a sharp one indeed, and it doesn't take long for him to put the pieces together. Someone killed that dumb bird...and by the looks of her face, he can guess who that someone is. But the distress of her lost eye is written all over his face, and his jaw drops a little in shock. "...Never? Wow uh...um.." what does one say to that? He lowers his head and whines a little. A sound of sorrowful mourning of the lost eye. "There was...more'n just a bird? What were they gonna do? Ikuna, where were you this whole time?"
Mmming at the pups, Wachiwa says, "Let Ikuna rest a little here against me, and I can tell you what I know of the story, my young friends," with a chuckle, though it's not without it's grimness. "And Ikuna can fill us in on the rest. I am especially curious to find out how the bird got ahold of him in the first place," she says, with a frown, remembering the confusion that had come around then because of circumstances..
Ikuna leans against Tala, his tail wagging slowly. He tilts his head a little at Ahiga's question, and at Chewy's start of answering. "Up on the mountain, in a big hole," he answers. "They were gonna kill me." He says it matter-of-factly, neither trying to shock nor fishing for sympathy. He's looked death in the face, in the form of a wolverine's claws. That's just part of his life, now. He perks his ear at his name, then nods a little. "There was a female wolf. She knew my name, an'... she said Tala was hurt, an' I had to come quick." He pauses, and nuzzles his sister. "'m sorry I didn't wait for a bigwolf. But I went with her, an' there was the bird there. They said something about some deal, an' then the bird grabbed me."
Tala watches Wachiwa a few moments before looking back to her brother, doesn't seem like she is moving away from him at the moment. She thought about this moment a lot of times, and a lot of different ways for that matter. A soft breath escapes her and her eyes close while she listens to the the tale that is being told, still her mind is already starting to drift. Almost as if the excitment was a bit much for her, still she clings to listening to the tale that is told.
This is different than the tales he's heard in the past. This time, it's /real/. Though the stories of Alpha and Omega and ghost wolves may all be true in a way, Ahiga has never felt any personal ties to them. Not really. But Ikuna's is different. Ikuna is like a brother, and the fact that this badness really has happened to him has him feeling in a way that all the others have not. He's quiet, expression a little grim. A female wolf tricked him? He furrows his brows in confusion. "Somebody...here? But, but nobody'd do that to Ikuna. Not nobody in our pack," he says, glancing around for confirmation. Because really, if you can't trush your own pack...who can you trust?
Ears lay back as Wachiwa considers this, and she says, firmly, "Ikuna, as soon as you have a chance, I want you to tell your older brother about this -- Skahla, not Asku. I want you to describe the big wolf, too. We may have trouble on our paws because of this; though now I'm sure you've learned that next time, you should get one of us bigwolves." Wachiwa says, softly, before she sighs, and considers. "Well, as you know, we set out for the Cerulean lands, since the pup, Anoki, had been lost near there. We found a trail far up into the mountains, and when we arrived it was in a valley. There was a bobcat, a wolverine, and an Eagle there; the large bird. The Wolverine was going to kill Ikuna, and the eagle attacked me to try and stop me from saving him. Skahla, and the Cerulean leader, Tariro, attacked the wolverine. After I killed the bird, I went to save the cougar cub, and wound up protecting her and Ikuna from the bobcat.. who ran up a tree. The Spirits were so angry though, they struck the tree down and it killed both the wolverine and the bobcat." Wachiwa considers these words, then explains: "They were going to kill Ikuna and the cougar cub as a 'sacrifice', to an evil spirit, who apparently promised them great power."
"I dunno who she was," admits Ikuna. That's really the part he's sorry about, for going with a stranger. That's why all this happened! He just... she knew his name, and his sister's, and so... so he got tricked. His ears droop a little, remembering it. "It was up near the crabapple. Where we had our trap." The pup gives a slightly apologetic look to Tala and Ahiga as he betrays a Puppy Secret. This is important, though. He nods to Wachiwa when she talks about telling Skahla. "I will." He's not scared of GrumpySkah even a little bit, anymore. Not now that he's seen what real Bad Guys look like. He nods to most of her story, but frowns a little at the end. "I didn' see the bobcat's body, though..." he says softly. Maybe is just got squished. Still, he can't help worrying, just a bit.
Tala catches bits and pieces of the conversation. "If.. she knew our names then she had to speak with someone in the pack.. Or someone that knows the pack at least.." She offers up about the strange she-wolf, which doesn't make much sense to her within the least. "Its alright.." This said with a soft tone to Ikuna as he comments about the 'trap' near the crabapply tree, the hole she stayed most of the time while her brother was gone. Her eyes open slightly and she peers over at Chewy at the part about the tree, a ear twitching to her brother. "If.. she ain't dead will she come after Ikuna again?" She questions with a worried tone.. Though as she waits for the answer given her eyes slip closed, and while she waits for the answer she starts to fall asleep, cuddled and pressed close to Ikuna now about to let him get to far for the next while it would seem.
The trap? ... Oh! The trap! Ahiga had forgotten all about their grand plan until this moment. It seems so trivial now, and he doesn't bat an eye as its revealed. He feels the slightest twinge of relief as it's let known that the wolf was not a pack wolf after all. But then, who could she have been? And then there are names he'd forgotten about. That other pup and his sister. He hardly realized that they were gone, along with that other non pack male who taggeda around them. "There was a ...cougar too?" He glances from Wachiwa to Ikuna, as if for confirmation. And then all the bad guys are pictured. A vicious bobcat. A crazed eagle. A rabid wolverine. .. Poor Ikuna! Tala's wonders break his thoughts, and he shakes his head firmly. "No way. That dumb cat is dead'n gone, and if it /ain't/, there's no way it's gonna come here. I'd rip its neck myself." Grr!
"You would get an adult first, though, right, Ahiga?" Wachiwa smirks softly, leaning over to try and lick his face, "You're brave, you all are, but you've a few months yet before you're old enough to be able to take down a bobcat alone." She chuckles softly, then smiles. "What matters, though, is that they were stopped. They cannot harm Ikuna, or you, or Tala, or anyone anymore." Wachiwa chuckles, and then lays her head on her paws in thought, considering. "No one you know, Ikuna? Hm. Well. I still want you to tell Skahla."
"It doesn't matter if she comes," says Ikuna to his sister, and then nods to Ahiga's threat. Exactly. He's not gonna be tricked away from his pack, and his pack together - all of them! - can stop any of those bad things. He nods again at Ahiga's questioning look about the cougar. "Her name's Kachina." He's sort of sorry his friends here didn't get to meet her. She was nice. Kinda sad, but... nice. At least she found other cougars to be with. He looks up at Chewy, and nods to her again. "Uh-huh. Someone musta seen the bad wolf before. She had white fur, sorta yellow on top." Rather distinctive!
"Puh. If it's half burnt, I bet I could take'm..." murmurs Ahiga, though he does begin to grin and ducks his head as his face is licked by the one-eyed female. Aw. one eyed or not, she's still the same Wachiwa! The description of this mysterious lying wolf has him stumped though, and he shakes his head. "I've never seen a wolf like that here before.." Dang it. How could he have been so unobservant? Never again! He nudges his pal. "But if she ever shows her ugly face 'round here again, now we all know what she looks like, and she isn't gonna get away with what she did."