All In All It's Just Another Brick In the Wall

Mortar is laid and stone by stone, the wall grows while the two red wolves reveal more and more about themselves. Since Keahi arrived in these lands she didn’t see any reason to share much personal information with others but now, working with Ruga and playing their ‘game’… it is refreshing to be so honest and bold about things. After she finishes talking, a comfortable silence falls between them and the russet male finishes digging the other trench. He then leaps out, giving his coat a small shake before joining her. She smiles warmly to the taller male as he takes up the task of laying the stones while she continues to spread mortar.

With both of them working together, the speed at which the wall is being built increases. Soon, Ruga’s voice once again fills the air and she listens intently to every word he says. He speaks of his parent, a soft chuckle escaping as he slides another stone into place and Keahi watches him out of the side of her eye. She continues to work, prepping the area for the next stone and the next will listening to what he has to say. Understanding slowly takes hold in the young woman’s mind and sadness fills her heart for the tall Ruga. While she cannot fathom what it must feel like to think you are only in this world because your Master of Arms.

He continues on, pondering aloud about what might have happened to them, using a couple choice words before glancing to her. Ruga grins and asking for her to pardon his language to which, Keahi replies with a genuine laugh. Blue eyes meet his sea-foam green gaze, the corners of her eyes crinkling with joy as she asks, “Pardon you for what? Don’t all wolves around here use words like that? Or… are they forbidden?” Dark eyebrows lift in curiosity, as she fleeting wonders if she might have missed a sign posted about it when she landed. With a smirk her focus returns to her work, prepping the area for the next stone to be laid as she asks, “Doesn’t everyone cuss? I mean… it is very… freeing. Sometimes you just need to shout ‘fuck’.”

Eyes dance with mirth as the final stone of the row is laid and Keahi moves back to the pile once again dragging the next set into place as she ponders what should tell him. She is silent for a long time, feeling a growing, yet welcome, ache in her muscles from the work that are doing while she tries to think of something to tell him. Her mind turns from subject to subject, trying to avoid the one thing she absolutely does not want to share. As her red paws settle the last stone in the row, Ruga’s bigger paw gently bumps against her’s as he moves to pull it toward him and Keahi’s gaze suddenly snaps up to his.

Emotions laze blue eyes brightly behind them, hurt, dread, longing, loneliness. The boil and churn as Keahi blurts out, “I got all of my crew killed and I can never return home because of it.” A lump settles in her throat, cutting off anything else she might say. The red woman allows her eyes to slide away from Ruga and she silently, she moves to gather up the bucket of mortar while working to regain control over her erratic emotions. By the time Keahi returns to where the tall wolf waits, the emotions that had seethed behind her deep blue gaze have calmed, the raging tempest is now no more than rolling waves.

Taking a deep breath, the tropical wolf slaps some mortar down and explains, “Back home, when we reached two years of age, we are allowed to start piloting our own boats in search of new lands to gather supplies from.” It is easy to fall into a rhythm while building the wall; mortar, stone, mortar, stone… so Keahi relaxes her body while replaying the events that led her here. Softly, she continues, “I was given six others to help with the ocean crossing. Six wolves… six families who will never see their loved ones again.” Shame fills her chest and chokes off the words that would have followed next. She has to clear her throat before continuing, “It was a freak accident, a storm we had been watching shifted course and… and it was too much for our small boat. Somehow… I lived, found my way to the lands down in the South.”

Another, short pause falls while a sad sigh escapes before Keahi finishes, “I knew I had to honor their memory and continue to live. It is… what I was raised to do. Life is for the living after all. And that is why I am here… to live.” Eyes dart to Ruga as she offers a smile. However, the one that pulls at her lips is smaller, dimmer then the ones she had offered Ruga before and it quickly falls away. With her deep, dark secret revealed, Keahi lapses into silence as they continue to work.


"Keahi Mogotsi"