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Table by Ehno
Word Count: 1,066
Melee hadn’t known how to feel about the mateship between Gideon and Naryu. Of course she – along with most of the pack – had known about today’s combined event. It was to be a mixture of the harvest festival and a celebration of the official handfasting between the Stormbringer and his lover. Yet for her, it was more than just that. Gideon was her adoptive father, so that would make Naryu – officially – her adoptive stepmother. The girl felt… odd about that. Because of her birth circumstances, the girl had never had a mother, never wanted a mother, and hoped fiercely that Naryu didn’t expect to be that to her. The word was even foreign as she rolled it around on her tongue: mother. The female who had birthed her was an unknown entity who had abandoned her and her brother in some way that Gideon had taken them in, that was all she knew. He never spoke on why that had happened, but whatever the case it had left the name “mother” marred and distasteful to her. The entrance of Naryu into their lives had changed the dynamic of their little family, and Melee wasn’t sure that she was going to like it. Already, things had changed, and this made her apprehensive.
These turbulent feelings were the reason that she hadn’t rushed to be one of the first to arrive at the ceremony. She had sulked around her apartment some, pondered going for a walk in nature – nature tended to calm her – and wishing for rain. This wish was not one meant to ruin the ceremony or rain out the lovebirds’ joining, but rain was what calmed her the most. The sunshine delighted her in its own way, yet it could never bring her the inner peace that rain did. So a day that was undoubtedly quite pleasing to everyone that was going to the festival was displeasing to her. It meant that she was still feeling unsettled and mobile. This would make the ceremony worse, as she didn’t want to sit still at all, much less for a ceremony such as this. The young Soul moved apprehensively through her apartment, pacing back and forth. She wished that she had a valid excuse to not attend the pack’s gathering or at least to miss the ceremony. The festival and feasting she was looking forward to, at least somewhat. First she had to get through the wedding, after all.
At least they would be in nature, though, that would be something. Maybe it would soothe her to at least be able to see the natural scenery around her. That and thoughts of the festival would get her through. She could spend the festival with Range, ignoring the blissfully beaming couple while she stuffed her face. Perhaps she could even get out of there early and go exploring for a few hours before night fell completely. As of late, she had begun to gather herbs that were of use to the pack. Maybe she could find something new tonight. She had no aspirations to be the pack healer, but she did want to learn about herbs and gardening for her own purposes. Growing some additional plants in her apartment wouldn't be a bad idea; then if the stockpile that their healer (when they got one) had was low, she could help replenish it. Alternatively, if she needed herbs herself, she could just use it from her own stock instead of the pack's. Thinking about going on a nature hike afterward helped her to still her feet, at least for the moment. She took a deep breath, and left her home.
Despite her pacing and discomfort, Melee had carefully planned when she wanted to leave so that it would be timed just right... or so she hoped. The girl didn’t want to hurt her father – or even Naryu’s – feelings, and she knew that her attendance was mandatory at this pack event. On the way, she didn’t dawdle. Though she had hesitated and pondered and sat around her apartment deciding a time to leave and not be too late, the girl didn’t like to walk slowly when she had somewhere to be. Her arrival at the ceremony site was, in fact, rather opportune. There were enough wolves already present that she wasn’t going to stick or have to wait too long for the ceremony to begin. At the same time, it wasn’t as if everyone had been gathered for a long time. Wolves were still settling in, quiet conversations were happening as they all awaited the ceremony and festival. Hopefully her appearance would go mostly – if not completely – unnoted by those gathered.
Of the wolves that she did recognize, the ones that she cared to see most were Range and Saul. She didn’t look for Gideon and Naryu, because she knew they were probably preparing. Besides, she didn’t want her father to catch any of her ill ease before this big event. The turbulent rolling of her stomach was something for her alone to worry about. Now was a time for celebration in the pack and she was not so selfish as to want to damage that. If she did accidentally catch Naryu or Gideon’s gaze as she looked around, the girl would smile and wag her tail at them to indicate good intent, then turn her gaze away. Purposefully, though, her gaze turned first to Saul, who she gave a grin and a happy bob of her head in greeting. Since he was in charge of the ceremony, she didn’t want to mess up his clothes with her more customary rough hug. Later, at the festival, there would be time for hugging. Her brother, on the other hand… she walked up to Range and nipped at his ear.
Melee’s eyes were mischievous and her grin still present before she spoke by way of greeting to her sibling. “Ready to have a mom?” she asked in a good natured tone, though perhaps her sibling would notice the tightness around her smile and the discomfort that edged her gaze. No matter his answer, the girl would find a seat nearby after he responded, and wait patiently for the ceremony to start. She hoped to ignore the anxious knots that burrowed deep down in the pit of her stomach. Her tail twitched occasionally, impatient for everything to start so that it could end.