Rudy’s time away from the pack hadn’t worked out as he’d wished but even if he hadn’t found a cure they had found a way to keep mom calmer and that was something, wasn’t it?  The boy wanted to see her and at a point when others weren’t watching.  To be able to just have some son and mom time.  Hopefully, she would be herself.  Rudy didn’t even know for sure what he wanted to say only that he wanted to be around her before time ran out.  

The boy walked down the steps to where mom’s cell was.  She had looked bad before but when they’d gone to see her she had still been mom, sort of.  Sort of.  Rudy’s mind thought back to the version of mom he knew.  The one who saved him from the elk herd, the one who had let him help hunt down a bear.  All those early hunt lessons and her praise when it was given being so meaningful.

The air felt heavier at the last step before entering the room.  “Hi mom,” the boy spoke with some hesitation.  

Rudyard Carpathius

It was one of her better days. The woman was coherent, though she wasn't exactly focused. The sedative had been given and so the heavy steel door was open, but she didn't want to go out into the main room. The grey woman stayed in her cell, curled up on the fur covered pallet, a polar bear skin atop her and pulled up to the backs of her ears. She hadn't bothered to tell anyone to put wood on the fire. The temperature outside in the world was rising, so with the furs, it wasn't terribly cold. It may have been for someone that didn't have a pile of furs, but for the ashen woman, the room was fine. Dark ears perked as paws came down the stairs. Another one too come and see her before she died? It seemed like a steady funeral procession these days. The woman's lone golden eye stared out of the cell as the mottled boy came into the room. He stepped forward hesitantly and called out. Mom. That's who she was. "Rudyard," was her response. She didn't like the children seeing her like this, but she understood that it was something that they needed. "Resin"

Why was it so cold down here?  Rudy just needed to flick a glance at where a fire should burn offered an answer.  Later he’d see about fixing it but there were other priorities at the moment.  Rudy offered his mom that confident smug smile of his though as he took in her body it faulted, concern and sadness touching his face.  Rudy had sworn to himself he’d be strong.  Mom wouldn’t want to see them upset and if the only thing he could do now was offer her a bit of cheer he’d damn well do it.  So there was an internal struggle for a moment, different expressions flickering over his face but in the end, a smile pulled back up.  It hurt, but it could be hidden till later.  Mom wouldn’t be around at some point in the later and he could be sad then.  

“It sure is cold in here.” The chipper-sounding boy offered as he came in closer. “Did you hear?  Art’s baron now, and I’m a knight!” The words came out proudly, “Isn’t it funny? He always said he wanted to be a knight and I always labeled the baron spot mine, well, sort of.”  Rudy had said he’d be leading the pack but leader-in-training was the right direction.  “It was always planned to be both of us anyway and he needs to get use to the idea anyway.  Besides, there’s more important work I have to do until its time.  We don’t have a lot of hunters so I’m going to start training some others how to hunt so they can help out.”  Not that he'd asked what he should be doing, Rudy already had decided for himself.  He wasn’t aiming to brag, he was aiming to fill the constant silence she dealt with most of the day, trying to let her know she could count on Art and him to do their job. “After all,” the boy added a bit quieter, “I had the best teacher, so I’m the best for passing it along, right?”  

Rudyard Carpathius

Resin released a low rumble at the boy's words. Knights and barons and hunters. Teachers. She had been one of those. Dark ears swiveled about as if catching unheard sounds. Maybe he couldn't hear them, but she could. One particularly loud sound pulled her head around and the thin woman looked off into the darkness, her golden eye trying to find the source. In the end, she saw nothing. "Good," she said slowly, her tongue thick in her mouth. "Work hard." What other advice could she give? It was difficult to keep a hold of a single train of thought for long. These were her better days now. Confusion and the unknown. The woman's blinks were slow and sometimes it seemed that her eye only opened half mast. Sleep would find her soon. Something caught the corner of her eye and Resin turned back around to face the boy. Her brows furrowed slightly and she fought for his name in the recesses of her mind. "You... should go," she told him, her lyrics sounding as though she was inebriated. If she was losing herself this quickly, then she wasn't safe to be around. She knew that much, at least. "Resin"

Rudy watched Resin and how much harder it seemed to be for her to process his words. Art had said she hadn’t even recognized him so Rudy so he had found her in better condition but it was so clearly horrible.  How could their strong mother ever come to this?  Age.  Sickness.  The logic was obvious but the reality his eyes saw in front of him was far harder to grasp.  “Mom.” There was a statement to follow up the word.  A naming of how he saw her, a way of clinging to what he was going to be losing.

Rudy started to step towards her with the notion of going to cling to her dark coat when she told him to leave.  The boy could see how she seemed confused and searching for something not there but it didn’t stop his desire to go to her.  Would this be his last time to visit?  Would there be another time?  It was hard but manageable when he had told Art they should leave her be when they had first found her in the cell but now?  

Indecision had Rudy locked in place for a moment, a paw in the air as emotions and logic argued within.  He could go to her as he had planned, he could stand there and try to talk still, or do what she had told him and leave.  It was probably only a matter of seconds but it felt like a lifetime before Rudy came up with a compromise to himself.  The boy darted forward to shove his head into Resin’s for a moment to feel her touch and mumble, “I love you.”  It would just be a moment, all he wanted was one more moment to remember before he’d turn to leave unless she stopped him.  It was a cruel tease for the young wolf but Rudy would regret giving up the chance if not taken.

Rudyard Carpathius