Old connections, rekindled
#1
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<3

Long legs worked in long strides, causing air to comfortably sift through the male's pelt. Feathers and beaded braids fluttered behind his head as he continued onward, Tayui's den as his goal. The two of them were friends, but with her having children and him rising to Chief, it was not as if time for a friendly chat was in plenty. More often than not, Dawali saw her on occasions where he was either informing the pack, sending a message, or at the ceremonies, and it saddened him that his duties should make him unable to maintain the friendships he had within the big family that was AniWaya. After Ember stepped down, the workload had not shrunk, but Dawali hoped that just this one day, he could be able to ignore his duties and simply do what he pleased. It wasn't as if AniWaya were in any kind of crisis anyways, and word would come to him soon enough if anything happened. So, he wore a little smile as he finally felt Tayui's scent in his nostrils, and called out when her den was in sight. Hopefully, his timing was not terrible, but if so, there were other faces he should seek, as well. "Tayui? Are you home?"


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#2
310. Could we backdate this to Jul 1? ;_;

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In the days that passed, Tayui had not known what to do. She sat around her den listlessly, waiting for Claudius to ask, and wondering about his silence. She would shoot him the occasional glare only for him to turn away and bury his nose in a book again. He knew something – perhaps he had overheard the conversation, or had been there the day she died. Whatever the reason, he had not inquired about Noir but had not indicated he understood the situation. This upset Tayui greatly, for each time he tried to tell him, he would find some reason to distract her. Maybe he was doing it for her sake, or maybe he did not want to hear it out loud.

So when she did tell him earlier that day, it had been a huge relief; but her relief quickly turned to something much darker. He had not spoken to her since, and like she had done with her sister, she distanced herself. She now sat outside her cave, fiddling with a stone Claudius had found a year ago. He had been so excited to see it and show everyone, but now, she could only feel the jagged edges and see the imperfections.

She was so absorbed in her examination of the quartz that she dropped it upon hearing Dawali’s voice. She scrambled to relocate the translucent stone, fumbling in the dirt while she attempted to formulate a reply. When she located the rock, she clasped it firmly in her left hand and turned to greet the Kalona.

“Dawali,” she replied, trying to let her voice carry to the other luperci. “Hello,” she added, unsure of what else she could say. She hesitated, scrambling to find a more meaningful response, but drew a blank. There was nothing she could say that would make this better, so she didn’t bother.


Table by Mel![/html]
#3
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We most certainly can! :3

Dawali saw the rock as it fell to the ground, but the very same eyes could read the female, and they knew it was not merely surprise that had caused her to drop it. She was not usually like this, so reserved and quiet; it made him think of Auréle, except for how she would not speak with such a frail voice. While her sister was sometimes cold to him, Tayui was not, not even now, in her quietness. Russet ears reacted automatically and one put itself backwards, displaying his feelings quite easily. He was both puzzled and slightly worried from her atypical behavior, and he glanced after her son, as if he could have given him any indications. But he was out of sight, probably inside, and would offer no clues. He stopped at a comfortable distance from her, not wanting to intrude on anyone at all, and tried to soften the depth of his voice when he spoke, as if she had created a situation in which one must be careful not to make a big noise. Something might just break. "Is there something wrong, Tayui?"


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#4
Great! Smile
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Her reaction to his question was immediate: shaking hands, avoidance of eye contact and a rushing onset of guilt. She glanced toward the hand holding the rock, and then back at Dawali, who had stopped a short distance from Tayui. She wanted to respond quickly and confidently, but there was nothing she wanted to be confident about – Noir was dead, Attila had disappeared again, Océane was still missing, Claudius was unresponsive, and she was not speaking with Aurèle.


She didn’t want to be the bringer of bad news again. Every time she said it, it just hurt more, especially now that she knew who murdered her. She had tried so hard to ensure their heritage was kept a secret, but somehow, Noir had been discovered. She was a horrible mother.


“Noir is dead,” Tayui replied, choosing her words slowly. She kept her eyes on Dawali, watching for his reaction, and then added: “Haku killed her.”

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#5
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It was hard for me to word his reaction and to make it fit, too >< Sorry if this is uber-cliche'd Tongue

All of her little awkward movements made sense when she explained why, and he quickly mirrored her, shoulders rising and he felt tense. The information that came second did not lessen the impact, and he took a few steps towards his friend, not knowing quite what to do, and sat down abruptly, resting his forehead on the palms of his hands. How naïve he was! What a poor Chief! He'd thought she had run away again, trusting her; he knew that he should have gone looking. That feeling that had struck him when he first learned of Brennt's attack on her and her sister, it came back now with full force. It sang to him how it was his fault. Haku, he was her father. Dawali had intended to seek him out, but rumors had advised him not to, and he had not wanted to misplace Tayui's trust in him. The red wolf knew now that he should have done so anyway, should have assessed him. Should have mapped the risks of his tribe's members, including Noir's. He'd been lulled into security by how the war had not touched them, how nobody seemed to threaten them, or even notice them much. With a sigh, the male pulled his palms across his face, and they became wet as his eyes touched them. He realized now that all his fingers shook, but he didn't know if it was with rage or sorrow. He was certainly strongly affected by both feelings. "When?"


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#6
Don't worry about it! I've had the same problem throughout this plot arc for Tayui as well.
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She was silent as Dawali considered her response; it was certainly unexpected for the younger chief, as she doubted he had expected such a reply. Whatever he had been expecting, this was perhaps the worst news a mother could deliver: the death of a loved one, the death of a daughter, and the implications it had. Especially the implications: the murderous ‘father’ who had been unaware of his own daughter’s existence until it was too late. She had kept this a secret from everyone but Dawali, and now, somehow, Noir was dead. Whether it was because of this or in spite of it, Tayui would never know.

She looked away, letting her gaze settle on a grove of pine trees. She couldn’t look at him anymore. She could not see his distress or his concern, and especially not the sympathy in his eyes. She flicked her ears forward when he spoke, but did not look away.

Quietly, she responded: “about a month ago. Aurèle told me.” She added the second part as a last-minute thought, but quickly regretted it. That would only raise more questions as to why she had not spoken to her sister in a month when Tayui needed her the most.

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#7
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It was hard for me to word his reaction and to make it fit, too >< Sorry if this is uber-cliche'd Tongue

Even if he itched to pace and throw his arms about in rage, he remained where he sat and studied the ground in front of him. They were both alone in their grief, now, no matter how close they sat or how many things they had shared. Both looked away, and Dawali nested the top of his head in his palms and let himself hang there with his elbows on his knees, pulling on the skin of his face as if opening his eyes further could somehow help. It didn't, and he asked more questions without thinking. Without considering that Tayui might not want to answer them. "She knew? How? Why didn't she tell you sooner?" And even before Tayui replied, the Chief began plotting what he would ask the cream female's sister, and how he would track down and get Haku for what he'd done. The laws of his lifestyle ordered him to deal justice once before, but this was more serious. Brennt had been a ticking bomb that he had refused to let explode, but Haku had right out murdered one of his members. And Noir, why Noir? It was a selfish and horrible thought, but he could not help but think it. Why couldn't it have been someone else? There were many in this world that deserved death, and Noir would never have been one of them.


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#8
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“Oh, no,” she replied immediately, not wanting there to be any confusion. “She told me immediately. I've just been... slow to inform you,” she finished awkwardly. She knew this reflected badly on her, especially given the prominence Dawali had and continued to have in all of her children's lives. For whatever the reason, Noir's death had made her feel too disconnected from her family and the tribe to remain there for much long. After all, the first creature she had tried to tell was Kaena; the day after Aurèle told her, she'd ventured forth to Inferni, but instead came across a rather peculiar-looking coyote. After that, she had wandered into the forest in Ethereal Eclipse and found comfort in Alaine's words, and then later encountered Haku. She supposed she had been too shaken from that encounter to seek out Dawali immediately. But whatever the reason, she had certainly failed as her duty as a member of the tribe.


Tayui watched as Dawali paced in agitation, but offered no words of wisdom. There was nothing she could do to ease his worries -- or, there was not much. She did not want to tell him she was meeting with Kaena now to improve her abilities. She did not want him to know that she now sought blood and wanted to become a monster, if only to bring another monster to justice. She wanted to protect Dawali from whatever horrible thing she was becoming, not only because she cared for him, but also because in some ways, she pitied him.

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