A way home [open]

[Deleted]

Exhausted paw steps crunched through dried grasses along the gentle slopes of the receding mountains. Greyed muzzle hung low, tail dangling lifelessly, a whisp of a wolf continued to trek onwards. Above, a single gull wheeled over him, surveying and scouting the land ahead. He had been gone so long: almost a year now, and without any means to communicate with his packmates.

Huxleyi paused for a moment, eyes searching the low lying forests for some point of familiarity. Nothing, he was still too far into the high hills. Shyia lay somewhere in the distance and he would find it again; hopefully a warm welcome would be awaiting him. Hux would not blame his pack if they chose to meet him with hostility, though he hadn't abandoned them, it surely could be seen as such. But if he had, why would he return, and why now? A sigh rippled up his throat, hoarse and dry, ending in a gruff cough.

A sound to his left startled him slightly, and he turned abruptly to see the beady black eyes of his avian companion gazing at him.

"Is there a problem Hux?" The small bird had been his only social companion for the last year and the two had developed an odd bond, the wolf owing the bird so much.

"No, I just needed a moment to try and get my bearings. Nothing seems familiar to me." Golden eyes were soft, and seemed worn, like the rest of him. Isna nodded, head bobbing before she took flight again, resuming her aerial sweeps.

Resuming his trek, Huxleyi ambled along trying to maintain a steady pace, and to ignore the ache in his belly. Hunting had not been easy on his own, and the deep mountains held little food other than the occasional vole, or severely lost rabbit. He was thin to say the least, and if it weren't for his thickening fur you'd likely be able to trace his ribcage. The poor scrawny wolf had had to live off the generosity of his kittiwake companion - she had been able to catch fish off the mountainside cliffs. What would usually feed one small bird had to feed an extra large wolf stomach, attached to an injured wolf. He had been on an information gathering mission, one which was supposed to only take him a week or so, but instead he had fallen down a dangerously tall scree slope and injured himself in more ways than one. Bruised ribs and hips, a twisted ankle, and a sore neck, HJuxleyi was left limping painfully through the tiny crevasses and valleys on the opposite side of the large peaks that bordered Shyia.

As winter set in he had to hunker down, there was no way he could travel in the snow and the storms, and Isna knew nothing of medicine like the shaman, Aludra. For all of winter they moved slowly, heading towards the ocean that Isna knew was there, and once they had found a safe place to call a den, the two remained there until the mountains had thawed considerably in mid summer.


All the rest of their time up until now had been spent travelling, heading towards the forests and beaches of Huxleyi's home.

It took another day before a sudden wash of familiarity startled the groggy wolf into conciousness. He could smell them! He could smell the borderline, and he could smell the wolves of Airila. His pace quickened, garnering a gravelly kaw from above him, and despite the aches of his muscles and the protests of his empty stomach he bounded along the rocky slopes, howling frantically, sounding a mix of relief, desperation and joy.

He stopped his manic skipping and froze, ears as high and forward as they could possibly be, straining for a reply, tail perfectly straight and stiff. He was panting heavily, gaunt flanks rising roughyl, his sudden burst of energy not mixing well with his malnourishment. They would come, they had to. And they would be happy, wouldn't they?

[Deleted]

"What a dull day..."

The statement had repeatedly slipped from the maw of the femme, the tone lingering somewhere between mildly annoyed and incredibly bored, though the latter was far more likely. There were few instances where the female was ever truly angry towards anything. her demeanor rarely strayed from cheerfulness or near-cheerfulness; she could be serious from time to time, usually when she needed to be, but anger was something that often escaped her as far as emotions went. Spirit did not sweat the smaller things in life, other than over Toiro and Aludra's pups, but, oh, how big they had gotten already. She adored each of them, felt as though they'd forced the love in her heart for almost everything to expand.

Almost everything.

Many months prior trouble had come the way of Airila, and it was all she could do to prevent herself from worrying her packmates, hold her tongue about the problem. She did not want to involve them in her past; they had always deserved better. Her father had finally managed to find her, with reinforcements. An unpleasant tidal waves of terrible memories came crashing down on her all at once the moment she caught wind of it, then panic set in, and a strange calm not long after. She had reached her resolution within hours, and had set forward with the plan of luring her old pack away, keeping her family (Airila had always been destined to be her true family, she felt) safe from the monstrosity. She had traveled so long and so far that she for a while believed she would never escape it alive. Yet...she had, and she had returned with her head held high. New pack members had joined since, but she didn't care. She loved each of them already.

"...I could always return to my den for the night..." It seemed so uninteresting, though, and she was not truly in the mood to return to her den and sleep the night away. She would much rather have an interesting spar or a chat with someone; anything to take her mind off the boredom.

The Tundra femme snuffled quietly around the roots of a small tree she had passed a ways back, pawing through the loose stones until she found the seemingly well-sized rabbit she had buried before she had continued on her routine border checks. Nothing had been out of the ordinary anywhere, so she continued her way on the slope, teeth gripping at the neck of the rabbit tightly, keeping it in place. Her ears flicked back and forth on occasion, listening for anything of interest that might entertain her.

Then she heard it.

Every muscle in her body froze for an instant. In that instant, immediate disbelief clouded her train of thought. It can't be him... Spirit had believed him to be dead. His mission had taken so long, but how dare she doubt his ability to live. He had not been beta for nothing, just as she was not Lead Warrior for nothing. Fighters, survivors. That's what the pack seemed to thrive on; fighting and surviving. That was him, though. She recognized his tone. One beta had disappeared on her before. Kastiel. She remembered him, missed him, but had moved on. He was gone. He wasn't coming back. But Huxleyi had.

Spirit had not paused to realize that her paws had kicked off the ground once more, her walk swiftly shifting into a jog. His scent hit her when she reached the peak of the slope, her eyes landing on his form when she peeked over the edge, and for a moment her heart broke, listening to those almost pained cries. She froze again, the rabbit having having fallen to her paws. She couldn't believe her eyes, her nose, her ears. He was there. He came back. "Hux..." She forced herself to blink several times before she finally managed to convince herself she was there. If he wasn't, she was about to go tumbling.

"Huxleyi!"

The happiness hit her like a bomb, and she growled happily, which turned into an excited set of yips and barks as she hurled herself down the slope full speed, not stumbling once on the trip down. She didn't pause. She didn't stop to think for one moment how malnourished he looked. All she could see was her friend, her beta, and he was home; he wasn't dead. Her barks were small, high pitched, incredibly excited. Her breath left her lungs quickly as she didn't hesitate to jump at him, barreling into his side. Ecstatic, her tail wagged from side to side nonstop, her barks and yips and whines of sheer joy evident. All she could do was that, pressing her face into his fur happily, making sure it was real. She always hated losing a pack member.

But it didn't happen this time.

"You're home! You're home!"

"Talking."
Thinking.

words: 818 | tagged: @huxleyi | notes: have a post

[Deleted]

Huxleyi was shamed to admit he smelt the rabbit first. The power of his empty stomach was stronger than any other sense in his body. However, he couldn't ignore the wolf carrying the rabbit: It was Spirit, and she was barreling towards him at top speed. Huxleyi's heart swelled and he could feel tears welling in his eyes as his breath caught in his throat. Tail waving so hard his body began to shake, he braced himself and let Spirit collide with him. Malnourished muscles protested at this sudden movement, but it was nothing compared to the joy he felt as the black female nuzzled herself into him.

He was home, and someone was happy about it. That's all he could ask for. Huxleyi pressed his face into her in return, burying himself in the presence of his friend, broken whines slipping from his mouth. While he hadn't been alone during his many months stranded in the mountains, he had missed the company of other wolves. True, Isna made for interesting conversation, but there was something different about the bond between packmembers that made being away that much harder. Composing himself, Huxleyi pulled his body upright, though he could not still his tail from manic wagging.

"Oh Spirit, it's so good to see you." It was evident he was struggling to keep down tears, his weakened body bordering on an emotional wreck. "I never thought I'd find my way home! I thought I would die without anyone ever knowing!" He choked on himself then swallowed hard, shaking his head. It didn't matter, he was home now, and at least one pack member was happy to see him.

Isna had alighted on a twisted old shrub nearby and was watching the reunion warmly, laughing squeakily as Huxleyi tumbled to the ground. It was evident that she too was happy to be back somewhere familiar, her feathers fluffing noticably as she settled in to watch the remainder of this coming home.

Huxleyi took a moment just to look at Spirit, he could barely believe she was actually standing right in front of him. He grinned and darted forwards to nuzzle her once more, pawing the ground as if giddy. "How are you? And everyone else? What's happened since I've been gone?" He rattled off his questions in quick succession, curiosity about Spirit and the others overwhelming his need for food, rest and likely medical attention. Had Aludra had her and Toiro's pups? Were there new members? Was the pack still sustaining itself? He worried that his absence had put pressure on the pack - he had had a role to fill, as well as a mission to complete which he had barely done. He looked at Spirit expectantly, wanting her to fill him in immediately. All else could wait, he wanted to know how everyone was and to see them, to know that they were alright.

Notes: Not my best
Muse: Meh.
Words: 490
Tags: @spirit

[Toiro]

It seemed that once again, Airila had fallen into its low point of the year, with several of the members who had joined over the summer months now gone, leaving not a trace behind, nor even having the grace to say goodbye. The grey alpha was disappointed to note that Huxleyi seemed to be among the few who were missing – it was very unlike his beta to do such a thing, and although it had been nearly a year now since Huxleyi had left to scout out the other territories of Anikira, part of him still hoped that the male would turn up suddenly in the dens as if he had been there the whole time. That was very unlikely though, and deep in his heart Toiro feared that his beta would be lost to him forever.

The large grey wolf stretched in his den, resolving to go and take a hunt to get a mind off such morbid topics. Their hunters, Dimitri and Tala, had been doing a good job of bringing in prey for the pack, but it could never hurt to have a little more. Maybe a rabbit or something small would make for a nice snack for the pups…

As Toiro was heading into the mountains to see if he could find something there, a series of several urgent-sounding howls reached the alpha’s ears. With a shocked jolt, he realised that the owner of the howl was someone he knew well – Huxleyi. Once his initial surprise subsided, Toiro started off at a light run in the direction the howls had come from, eager to confirm with his eyes what his ears had told him.

As the grey alpha finally came into view of his long-lost friend, he saw that Spirit had already beaten him to it. Trust her to do so; she was always vigilant around the borders, and he was grateful to have her, even though in this case the ‘trespasser’ was a welcome packmate.

“Huxleyi!” Toiro cried out. “Huxleyi, we’ve all missed you so much!” He too rushed down the slope to join the reunion, though stopped just before barreling into the two wolves like Spirit had done, because he feared that his massive weight would bowl them over. Instead, a joyful smile came to his face and he waved his tail high in the air to show his enthusiasm at Huxleyi’s return. For the bird Isna, too, of course; Toiro was sure she must have been a help in whatever difficulty had kept Huxleyi away from his pack for so long. Companionship was vital for wolves; it was their lifeblood. And with the return of this much-valued member of the pack, Airila would grow stronger yet again. Warmth swelled in Toiro’s heart as he looked at Spirit and Huxleyi, two members of a pack – no, a family – which he held so much pride in.




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