Post by Pavane on Jul 10, 2012 16:34:20 GMT -5
---Skahla and Ikuna, at the Waterfall Pool---
It should be no surprise that Skahla's little talk with Ahiga and Tala did not go well. In fact, Ahiga's little parting shot is still grating at the alpha. What is there to be done for it, though? It is too late for him to change the way he failed to create much of a relationship with his sister and Ahiga. Perhaps he should have simply let Ikuna go there, try to settle the differences... but then, perhaps he has also done what he first thought to do. If those two young wolves are angry with him over it, just maybe they won't have enough anger left for Ikuna. It is his brother the alpha now seeks, and less haphazardly than he sought Ahiga and Tala. If nothing else... he has to let Ikuna know he no longer has a problem with him searching for his friends.
Talking doesn't seem to have been going well lately. Not for anyone. At least it's still better than fighting? Probably. Ikuna has not been a happy wolf, this past night; nor a talkative one. No, he's just been replaying the conversations over again in his head. Trying to figure out where they went wrong, and restlessly patrolling a tight circle in between checking in on Wachiwa, the pups, the adolescents... checking, but only briefly. He hasn't wished to infect them with his sour mood. Some few moments ago, he'd flopped himself gracelessly just on the other side of a boulder that shields him from view of the waterfall cave, staring out at the grasslands as if he'll find Ahiga and Tala if he only stares hard enough. It hasn't worked ye- wait. There's someone moving. Ikuna rises to his feet.
Skahla can tell that he is close to his brother. Most of the scents in the area are still fresh since yesterday's rain washed away so many of the old ones. It is not until Ikuna stands, though, that Skahla picks him out, and in the seconds after that, the alpha hesitates. For all he knows, he is on no better terms with Ikuna than with Ahiga and Tala, and the idea hurts just as much. What good is there, though, in putting this off... and besides, the thought of Ikuna when he was facing the angrier young adults was almost enough to make him smile. He's sure he can focus on those feelings now. Can't he? Try as he might, though, when he begins walking again, there's no trace of a smile about his muzzle.
There's a moment of hope in Ikuna's expression; a perk of his ears, a lift of his tail. Is that shape Ahiga, come back to talk again? No. It isn't. Ikuna's tail lowers again, and he sighs. After a moment, he starts walking to meet Skahla, and while his disappointment is clear, it's that emotion which seems to most color his mood. Disappointment. Frustration, even. Not anger. He nods his head, acknowledging his alpha, but doesn't say anything.
Skahla is not at all surprised that Ikuna doesn't seem happy to see him. At least the younger male doesn't seem resentful, at least not obviously so. For once, though, perhaps falling right back into old habits he had been trying so hard to do away with, Skahla makes absolutely no attempt to physically greet his brother. Words will have to suffice, with Skahla in a mood of his own. "Ikuna. I take it everyone is well?" Of course they are. It was not any sort of challenging assignment he gave to his younger brother. Wachiwa and her pups are safe where they are. Still, it seems right to ask.
For his part, Ikuna makes no attempt at physical affection, nor seems disappointed at the lack. That's his own mood at work. Aren't they just a pair? Perhaps there's some clue here as to why Skahla has gotten along with Ikuna best of all his younger siblings. The question makes him frown for a moment. "Those here," he answers. His gaze flicks away a moment, to those unobliging grasslands. "Wachiwa. Her pups. Your pups." His own name fails to appear in that list, as of course do another pair of names.
At least Ikuna is not alone in being once of the ones who could be described as both Other Than Well and Those Here. Skahla does not bring this up, though. Truthfully, it scarcely occurs to him. He does not, however, make his brother wait through any further courtesies, if that is what his first question promted, before beginning to discuss what... really needs to be discussed. "Then go. Go and talk to your friends. But before you do, Ikuna... it's about time that you realised something. If you didn't know it already." With a sigh, Skahla sits. None of this has been easy for him. He should consider it as a weight off his shoulders. It can hardly be that, though, if he is only putting that weight on his younger brother's shoulders to get it off his own. "I think... that it is time for you to find yourself a fellow alpha. Trust me when I say that it's not something you'll want to do alone." Or perhaps at all, but in this Skahla was at least truthful in what he told Ahiga. What Ikuna wants can hardly be taken into consideration. Not in this instance.
Oh, yes, Skahla knows what Ikuna wants. The young wolf perks as he's given that permission to depart, his weight shifting to take the first step. But- there's a but. He stays in that off-balance, weight-shifted position for a moment, until the rest of his brother's words push his mental balance out from under him. He settles back, sitting down abruptly and looking away from Skahla, up to the sky above as he works through what's been said. It's going to take a moment. So much for rushing off. The first thing he says is quiet, perhaps too soft to be heard, and he says it to the sky more than his brother. "This isn't how I'd thought." Oh, he'd had a vague sort of suspicion, from their earlier conversation - that maybe, someday. Like Ahiga'd said, so long ago when they were careless adols. Someday, Skahla would come... and of course the awkward roundaboutedness of it was to be expected, but all the rest? The very first time Ikuna'd entertained this idea... well, it was more than half a joke, but even in that joke, Ahiga was right there, by his side, being his beta; his staunch supporter. The one who was going to help him through all this, instead of the very first problem he has to deal with. In all the frustration and disappointment of this moment, that single memory breaking is what makes him stare to the sky as his heart does the same. But that doesn't matter. What Ikuna wants can hardly be taken into consideration. There are more important things. The young wolf takes a deep breath, and lowers his gaze to his ... brother. "That may be difficult." His finding a fellow alpha? His being an alpha? Yes and yes. "I will try."
Finally something of a smile comes to Skahla's muzzle. It's weak, and almost certainly wistful, but it is a smile all the same. "You may take it as my further failings as an alpha. I'd wanted... so many things... But wanting them is not nearly enough, Ikuna. The only thing I want now... the only thing I hope... is that you've been smart enough to learn from some of my mistakes. And maybe that you know that I am hardly going to use this as some opportunity to just run off again and be alone. I did that quite enough when you, Tala, and Ahiga were younger." It probably wouldn't be a surprise to anyone, and least of all Skahla, if that happened. If he has simply finally come to accept that he has no place as alpha of this pack, and so he has dumped it onto his brother so that he can do what he has done all their lives and run away to indulge fanciful notions with no clue of how to carry them out. It is not what the... former alpha... intends, though. His presence may not be welcome, for a time. At least not by some few members of the pack. But he still intends to be here. He needs to be.
"I've learned a lot from you," Ikuna says, his words slow as his mind still whirls. "I hope you do stay." Just an excuse? No, Ikuna doesn't think that, but Skahla has never been the most social of wolves, not for as long as Ikuna has known him. His continued presence, even with the best of intentions, seems far from a certainty. Yet, Ikuna's hope seems genuine. "There's more I can learn." There's the faintest of echoes of Skahla's smile, gone almost before it was there. "Is there anything else? I need to find Ahiga."
This might be as close to happiness as Skahla gets for a long time. With the loss of Shawnee... but no. He was unhappy even before he lost her. At time, he had almost convinced himself that he was unhappy because of her, as unfair a thing as it is to think, especially now that she's gone and he knows how wrong he was. This chance, however, to get to watch his brother avoid making the same mistakes he did, and instead make completely different, and hopefully decidedly less serious, ones? Yeah. It's good enough for him. And so, even though his brother's smile is short-lived, Skahla's stays. "You do. Go. I'll... keep an eye on things here." For as long as he's able. Until Ikuna gets back? Well, that much depends on just exactly how scarce Tala and Ahiga have made themselves. "But if you can... try to keep our sister here, Ikuna." If it takes overturning Skahla's most recent decisions? The once-alpha won't like it, not in the slightest. But Ikuna can connect with Ahiga and Tala in a way Skahla cannot. At least, hopefully. His final statement, his final request, given, Skahla stands and starts to make his way from Ikuna, more to encourage the younger male to go than because he wants so badly to be away from his brother.
Ikuna nods to Skahla's agreement, and to his brother's intent to stick around. As for the request? It comes with a little shock, to hear things are so bad as all that. To hear her departure as... a possibility. With that possibility raised, though, he understands what must be the reasons all too well. "There are still many questions about Brutal and Grim. They are guests," and he inclines his head ever so slightly at that part, "-but Tala and Ahiga are our pack." He rises to his feet as Skahla starts moving, and takes a step to intercept his brother, trying now to bump his nose to Skahla's cheek. After that, he departs, murmuring to himself as he does. "So is Althaea." And yet, she seems to have found the company of Brutal preferable to that of Ute. What is to be made of that, Ikuna... isn't sure. He moves off to face one problem, even as others present themselves to his mind.
The way that Ikuna moves toward him clearly surprises Skahla, given that there are important matter to attend to. it is in this way, as in so many others, that Skahla and Ikuna differ. And almost certainly, Ikuna's way will be better, for what started as an achy feeling of settling for the least painful of all options begins to fade and leave in its wake an almost-contentment, for no more than a simply physical gesture. Before he can respond, though, Ikuna is moving off, and Skahla does not call after him. Rather, he forces himself to raise his head to look beyond that boulder. He should go there. He knows that. In the end, though, all he does is lie down. News will be spread soon enough, and as Ikuna has a plentitude of problems to ponder... so does Skahla.
It should be no surprise that Skahla's little talk with Ahiga and Tala did not go well. In fact, Ahiga's little parting shot is still grating at the alpha. What is there to be done for it, though? It is too late for him to change the way he failed to create much of a relationship with his sister and Ahiga. Perhaps he should have simply let Ikuna go there, try to settle the differences... but then, perhaps he has also done what he first thought to do. If those two young wolves are angry with him over it, just maybe they won't have enough anger left for Ikuna. It is his brother the alpha now seeks, and less haphazardly than he sought Ahiga and Tala. If nothing else... he has to let Ikuna know he no longer has a problem with him searching for his friends.
Talking doesn't seem to have been going well lately. Not for anyone. At least it's still better than fighting? Probably. Ikuna has not been a happy wolf, this past night; nor a talkative one. No, he's just been replaying the conversations over again in his head. Trying to figure out where they went wrong, and restlessly patrolling a tight circle in between checking in on Wachiwa, the pups, the adolescents... checking, but only briefly. He hasn't wished to infect them with his sour mood. Some few moments ago, he'd flopped himself gracelessly just on the other side of a boulder that shields him from view of the waterfall cave, staring out at the grasslands as if he'll find Ahiga and Tala if he only stares hard enough. It hasn't worked ye- wait. There's someone moving. Ikuna rises to his feet.
Skahla can tell that he is close to his brother. Most of the scents in the area are still fresh since yesterday's rain washed away so many of the old ones. It is not until Ikuna stands, though, that Skahla picks him out, and in the seconds after that, the alpha hesitates. For all he knows, he is on no better terms with Ikuna than with Ahiga and Tala, and the idea hurts just as much. What good is there, though, in putting this off... and besides, the thought of Ikuna when he was facing the angrier young adults was almost enough to make him smile. He's sure he can focus on those feelings now. Can't he? Try as he might, though, when he begins walking again, there's no trace of a smile about his muzzle.
There's a moment of hope in Ikuna's expression; a perk of his ears, a lift of his tail. Is that shape Ahiga, come back to talk again? No. It isn't. Ikuna's tail lowers again, and he sighs. After a moment, he starts walking to meet Skahla, and while his disappointment is clear, it's that emotion which seems to most color his mood. Disappointment. Frustration, even. Not anger. He nods his head, acknowledging his alpha, but doesn't say anything.
Skahla is not at all surprised that Ikuna doesn't seem happy to see him. At least the younger male doesn't seem resentful, at least not obviously so. For once, though, perhaps falling right back into old habits he had been trying so hard to do away with, Skahla makes absolutely no attempt to physically greet his brother. Words will have to suffice, with Skahla in a mood of his own. "Ikuna. I take it everyone is well?" Of course they are. It was not any sort of challenging assignment he gave to his younger brother. Wachiwa and her pups are safe where they are. Still, it seems right to ask.
For his part, Ikuna makes no attempt at physical affection, nor seems disappointed at the lack. That's his own mood at work. Aren't they just a pair? Perhaps there's some clue here as to why Skahla has gotten along with Ikuna best of all his younger siblings. The question makes him frown for a moment. "Those here," he answers. His gaze flicks away a moment, to those unobliging grasslands. "Wachiwa. Her pups. Your pups." His own name fails to appear in that list, as of course do another pair of names.
At least Ikuna is not alone in being once of the ones who could be described as both Other Than Well and Those Here. Skahla does not bring this up, though. Truthfully, it scarcely occurs to him. He does not, however, make his brother wait through any further courtesies, if that is what his first question promted, before beginning to discuss what... really needs to be discussed. "Then go. Go and talk to your friends. But before you do, Ikuna... it's about time that you realised something. If you didn't know it already." With a sigh, Skahla sits. None of this has been easy for him. He should consider it as a weight off his shoulders. It can hardly be that, though, if he is only putting that weight on his younger brother's shoulders to get it off his own. "I think... that it is time for you to find yourself a fellow alpha. Trust me when I say that it's not something you'll want to do alone." Or perhaps at all, but in this Skahla was at least truthful in what he told Ahiga. What Ikuna wants can hardly be taken into consideration. Not in this instance.
Oh, yes, Skahla knows what Ikuna wants. The young wolf perks as he's given that permission to depart, his weight shifting to take the first step. But- there's a but. He stays in that off-balance, weight-shifted position for a moment, until the rest of his brother's words push his mental balance out from under him. He settles back, sitting down abruptly and looking away from Skahla, up to the sky above as he works through what's been said. It's going to take a moment. So much for rushing off. The first thing he says is quiet, perhaps too soft to be heard, and he says it to the sky more than his brother. "This isn't how I'd thought." Oh, he'd had a vague sort of suspicion, from their earlier conversation - that maybe, someday. Like Ahiga'd said, so long ago when they were careless adols. Someday, Skahla would come... and of course the awkward roundaboutedness of it was to be expected, but all the rest? The very first time Ikuna'd entertained this idea... well, it was more than half a joke, but even in that joke, Ahiga was right there, by his side, being his beta; his staunch supporter. The one who was going to help him through all this, instead of the very first problem he has to deal with. In all the frustration and disappointment of this moment, that single memory breaking is what makes him stare to the sky as his heart does the same. But that doesn't matter. What Ikuna wants can hardly be taken into consideration. There are more important things. The young wolf takes a deep breath, and lowers his gaze to his ... brother. "That may be difficult." His finding a fellow alpha? His being an alpha? Yes and yes. "I will try."
Finally something of a smile comes to Skahla's muzzle. It's weak, and almost certainly wistful, but it is a smile all the same. "You may take it as my further failings as an alpha. I'd wanted... so many things... But wanting them is not nearly enough, Ikuna. The only thing I want now... the only thing I hope... is that you've been smart enough to learn from some of my mistakes. And maybe that you know that I am hardly going to use this as some opportunity to just run off again and be alone. I did that quite enough when you, Tala, and Ahiga were younger." It probably wouldn't be a surprise to anyone, and least of all Skahla, if that happened. If he has simply finally come to accept that he has no place as alpha of this pack, and so he has dumped it onto his brother so that he can do what he has done all their lives and run away to indulge fanciful notions with no clue of how to carry them out. It is not what the... former alpha... intends, though. His presence may not be welcome, for a time. At least not by some few members of the pack. But he still intends to be here. He needs to be.
"I've learned a lot from you," Ikuna says, his words slow as his mind still whirls. "I hope you do stay." Just an excuse? No, Ikuna doesn't think that, but Skahla has never been the most social of wolves, not for as long as Ikuna has known him. His continued presence, even with the best of intentions, seems far from a certainty. Yet, Ikuna's hope seems genuine. "There's more I can learn." There's the faintest of echoes of Skahla's smile, gone almost before it was there. "Is there anything else? I need to find Ahiga."
This might be as close to happiness as Skahla gets for a long time. With the loss of Shawnee... but no. He was unhappy even before he lost her. At time, he had almost convinced himself that he was unhappy because of her, as unfair a thing as it is to think, especially now that she's gone and he knows how wrong he was. This chance, however, to get to watch his brother avoid making the same mistakes he did, and instead make completely different, and hopefully decidedly less serious, ones? Yeah. It's good enough for him. And so, even though his brother's smile is short-lived, Skahla's stays. "You do. Go. I'll... keep an eye on things here." For as long as he's able. Until Ikuna gets back? Well, that much depends on just exactly how scarce Tala and Ahiga have made themselves. "But if you can... try to keep our sister here, Ikuna." If it takes overturning Skahla's most recent decisions? The once-alpha won't like it, not in the slightest. But Ikuna can connect with Ahiga and Tala in a way Skahla cannot. At least, hopefully. His final statement, his final request, given, Skahla stands and starts to make his way from Ikuna, more to encourage the younger male to go than because he wants so badly to be away from his brother.
Ikuna nods to Skahla's agreement, and to his brother's intent to stick around. As for the request? It comes with a little shock, to hear things are so bad as all that. To hear her departure as... a possibility. With that possibility raised, though, he understands what must be the reasons all too well. "There are still many questions about Brutal and Grim. They are guests," and he inclines his head ever so slightly at that part, "-but Tala and Ahiga are our pack." He rises to his feet as Skahla starts moving, and takes a step to intercept his brother, trying now to bump his nose to Skahla's cheek. After that, he departs, murmuring to himself as he does. "So is Althaea." And yet, she seems to have found the company of Brutal preferable to that of Ute. What is to be made of that, Ikuna... isn't sure. He moves off to face one problem, even as others present themselves to his mind.
The way that Ikuna moves toward him clearly surprises Skahla, given that there are important matter to attend to. it is in this way, as in so many others, that Skahla and Ikuna differ. And almost certainly, Ikuna's way will be better, for what started as an achy feeling of settling for the least painful of all options begins to fade and leave in its wake an almost-contentment, for no more than a simply physical gesture. Before he can respond, though, Ikuna is moving off, and Skahla does not call after him. Rather, he forces himself to raise his head to look beyond that boulder. He should go there. He knows that. In the end, though, all he does is lie down. News will be spread soon enough, and as Ikuna has a plentitude of problems to ponder... so does Skahla.