Horizon

(Gunna be vague about her talk with Benny for a while tbut Finni wouldn’t have put this off anymore and she needs to talk to Eyja about soooo much more <3 )

She was going. Finni was going to leave the Glen—not forever, of course! But she needed to take Theodore’s advice, take a step back and let the pressures of the Brotherhood fade from her shoulders for just the days it would take her to get to the mountains and back. No big deal! Heck, when she looked out over the range, she could just see the mountain, so, like…. Eyja could pretty much watch her the entire time. Yeah. From really, really, really far, with her super obvious Brotherhood Leader telekinetic powers.

Eyja would totally buy that….. ?

Finni also wanted her Mum to know that she wasn’t running away, that she didn’t blame Eyja for the things she’d gone through and still had to deal with. That she would be back in a few days time, that she was going on a super important mission to check up on their allies. She wouldn’t dare tell her mother how she was really feeling about The Situation, of course, but Mum just needed to know she was, undoubtedly, loved beyond measure.

The pale yearling boofed around the rabbit in her jaws as she tracked her mothers scent, hoping the Leader would hear and come to talk with her.

A woof? Eyja’s ears perked. It sounded like Finni, and she wondered if the girl was looking for Eyja or for someone else. To be honest, she doubted her daughter was looking for her, but she would check it out, anyway.

Turning and moving in the direction of the odd sounding bark, she soon noticed her daughter up ahead, clearly carrying something. Food, perhaps. Yeah, that’s what it was. A rabbit.

’’Finni, hey darling.’’ It felt odd to call her that now, after she had run away from Eyja, but Eyja wanted to show Finni that she was her daughter no matter what, and that she loved her.

Finni’s heart hammered in her chest as her Mum called out to her, and the yearling turned to face the Leader with a shy smile around the prey she held.

She closed the distance with ease, dropping the rabbit at her mothers paws before taking a step back and settling into a sit.

“Hi, Mum. I, uh… I wanted to talk to you.”

Finni took a deep breath and spilled what was on her mind before she chickened out and said something stupid. Unfortunately, this would only be the start—there were a LOT of things Finni needed to get in the air and talk to her Mum about.

“I… I shouldn’t have run away from you, when you were talkin’ with me and Nanna. I’m sorry. I don’t blame you, not for anythin’. It was just… A lot. I just needed some space to think it out for a while.”

Finni turned to face her, a rabbit in her mouth. Soon enough, it was dropped in front of Eyja’s paws. Eyja wanted to snuggle into Finni, so glad to see her on a more personal level, but Finni had already pulled back into a sit before Eyja even had the chance to move closer. Eyja sat down awkwardly, as well.

Finni wanted to talk though, and Eyja had her ears perked, listening to her daughter as she apologized. ’’I- I understand, dear.’’ she told her daughter. ’’It’s okay. And know that I don’t blame you for anything, either. I love you both very much.’’

Things still seemed a little tense between them, but Finni knew it would fade eventually. There had been a spat or two in her lifetime so far, and they always got over it—the yearling knew her mother would always be there for her, despite their father.

Finni rumbled happily, stretching forward to press her muzzle to her Mums, if the pale woman let her. That was probably the most stressful part of this talk, right?

“I love you too, Mum. You and Nanna are the only family I need.”

Of course, there were still other things they needed to talk about. The next order of business….

“I also wanted to let you know Nat’s sendin’ me on a trip—just goin’ to check on the Covenant and comin’ right back. I’ll have Benvolio with me, and he’s been to the pack before, so there’s nothin’ to worry about.”

No getting lost, no being alone. Finni would be there and back with Benny as soon as they could be, no problem! And since she’d already apologized, Mum wouldn’t think she was running away from anything…. Right?

Of course Eyja would let her. She accepted it readily, and pressed her muzzle back against Finni’s with the same strength. It calmed her a little, made her feel more at ease. At least things weren’t bad between them. Eyja wouldn’t know what to do if there was. She had never worried so much about what a family member would think of her. It had been so much easier with Castor, Bree and Asha. She had been a distant mother, then, strict. Back when she still had to learn what it was like to be a mother, when she needed to learn to love, since she had never learned that in the first place.

Back then she had wished she could love more. But today, she wished she wouldn’t always love this much. It was often painful.

’’Yeah… you two, too.’’ Eyja said. Korsteel, Castor and Bree had decided to leave this life behind, and Asha was most likely dead. Eyja only had her two precious little babies left. Who were already growing up big and strong.
The pains of motherhood.

Finni was going on a trip, though? Eyja was… fine with that. However-
’’You’re going with that… male?’’ Benvolio was the new male, the one who acted innocent. But Eyja still wasn’t too certain about him. She did not like to think about her daughter going on a trip alone, with a male. But then again she had gone through a lot of shit. Her fear wasn’t anything random.

’’I- o-okay. But… be careful. You can never trust a male fully…’’ she said. And Finni knew what she meant. Eyja had learned the hard way.

Well, everything had seemed all fine and dandy. Truthfully, Benny wasn’t the problem Finni had anticipated. She figured the whole leaving the Glen for more than a day or two was going to be worse.

But the way her mother said “that male” made Finni’s skin crawl, and she pulled back just a little to look at her mother with wide green eyes, pleading for her to not think like that. It was bad enough that Natasha spoke so generally like that about a gender, the yearling didn’t want her Mum to as well—or at least not Benny. Benny was perfect! Benny was good, and he was going to stay here with them forever—he would do great things for the Brotherhood.

“Mum, Benvolio isn’t bad like that, he’s good. He’s really sweet, and he brings me gifts all the time, and he helps me whenever he can. He helped me fight that fox, he protected me Mum. I really like him, and he would never, never hurt me. He’s going to be an amazing Brother.”

Finni told her what all good Benny did, but Eyja could only feel sorrow, fear. A whine escaped her throat and her ears pressed back. ’’Korsteel used to do that for me, too. And look where he’s now. He’s not even here…’’ she mumbled, feeling sick to her stomach.

That handsome sweet male had turned into a monster. The moment he had left, instead of helping her work on herself- he had sealed her fate. She could not even trust a mate to do good, anymore.

’’I need to see it, first. I haven’t even personally seen him yet…’’ she said softly, shaking her head. ’’I don’t know anything about him.’’

’’He can go with you, but be careful at all times. Okay?’’

Mum whined, and said that Korsteel had been like that, once. The words, unfortunately, had the opposite effect of what Eyja would have hoped. Curiosity fueled, Finni could only wonder why Benvolio was acting towards her like Eyja’s mate used to behave. Like he…. liked her. Growing up around mostly women, Finni hadn’t ever seen any couples interact to be able to compare. But she knew that Benny, no matter how he felt about her, wouldn’t end up being like Korsteel.

I need to see it, first.  I haven’t even personally seen him yet…I don’t know anything about him. He can go with you, but be careful at all times. Okay?

Finni wanted to tell her that she’d seen him plenty of times: She’d allowed him to enter the borders as a guest, in the first place. He’d helped with Valaeria’s pups. He might not have talked to Eyja one-on-one yet, but Finni fullheartedly believed that was because he was so busy taking care of the Brotherhood.

“Of course I’ll be careful, Mum, but I’m not worried. He’ll prove how good he is to everyone else, I know it! We’ve just gotta give him the chance. He won’t be like Korsteel—he’ll be better.”

Not just Mum, but Natasha too—both of them were harshly judgmental of males (Eyja, at least, had a solid reason) and Benny didn’t deserve it.

Finni said she would be careful, and that’s all Eyja could ask for, even though she still really did not agree with Benvolio coming along with her. She better watch her back. Give the male a chance- Eyja wanted to do that, but she had time and time again been proven wrong. Even if males showed kindness, they would still leave.

Korsteel, who had been her mate, Sterling, who she had entrusted her story with. Maybe he was out there spilling the horribleness of it to other wolves, and having a laugh about it. Kairo, who joined for a brief moment only to come upon her when she was in heat, and after that just vanish into thin air.

All males were the same. Eyja had to yet to find a male who had stayed.
Even Ragnar had gone. Ragnar, who had tried so hard to keep Eyja his slave. Just gone.

No one could be better than Korsteel. No single male could be. Korsteel had been the closest to being a real gentleman, and he hadn’t make it last.

’’Okay.’’ was all Eyja said, feeling really uncertain about the situation. About the future.

Okay.

Eyja didn’t believe her. Finni couldn’t fully blame her, of course, but the yearling had hoped that her word was enough to at least get Benny a chance. Would her Mum really bother trying to get to know him, or would she just be afraid of the sweet guy the rest of their lives and keep her distance? What could Finni even try to do to help?

One day, Benny would prove them all wrong. Natasha, Eyja, and whoever else had failed to believe in the kindness of his heart. But Finni wouldn’t—she would be loyal to Benny as long as he was there for her, and she would help the rest of them see he was worth trusting. 

Hurt, Finni’s voice squeaked out, expecting to be dismissed, but at least she tried to simply change the subject instead of running away again. Patrolling the borders was a good excuse to walk away from this conversation and onto lighter topics. Topics that didn’t involve Benvolio acting like a mate and Mum not trusting her daughters dearest friend.

“Want to go patrol the borders with me?”

(If Eyja agrees were probably good to fade?)