Life was a fucking mess wasn't it. Recluse had to admit she was on edge, the last time in her life that unusual things like this had happened she'd had a crystal growing out of her fucking skull, partially blinding her, and then had to give birth through all of that. So yeah she wasn't exactly feeling calm or collected right now. Her family was pretty scattered right now as well, partially by design, but it didn't help her worries much as her concerns for her children were high. Her second litter, the middlest of her children currently, had been born under the long night and some of them bore it visibly and that made her worried in its own way. Were they marked by the damnable firefly creature? Were they in more danger just by that metric alone? Recluse could not know, and somewhere she knew that was an illogical worry, her children were in no more danger than anyone else but when all the world around you defied logic it was hard for that voice to be loud enough to be heard. So no, Recluse did not like it. She'd been keeping her distance, doing everything in her power to keep herself from the strange little creatures running around calling themselves familiars and she'd made sure any of her youngest, the ones she had the power still to herd around, were not unsupervised if they wished to go and explore or visit these strangely climated lands. Recluse had no intention of participating, one extremely long night of torment had been enough for her... But that had changed when she'd heard the rumors on the wind of... Being able to bring ghosts into this world. Ghosts had happened during the long night too and Recluse had had no one then she'd cared to see and frankly had been too busy spewing up glowing fluids and being pregnant to really care much... But Kali had passed this year, right in her arms, right in her arms... The truth was it wasn't that there weren't wolves she could have hoped to see during the long night... Her uncle who'd left behind two children, one who she could only hope was still alive and well, and... Jigsaw who'd died so young, she'd had such high hopes for the boy, maybe if she could not get Kali's spirit to come through she'd try to get her uncle or Nephew... It was a guilty thought, she had not forgotten them, never forgotten them, but her children were still her priority... That ache had never healed, even after all she'd been through, even as her concerns for her family were at an all-time high she'd failed to push down the ever-present grief of that loss... Her daughter. So Recluse went against her better judgment, shoved down the voice in her head telling her this was an unnecessary risk she could not afford, and Recluse set out for someplace that felt... Right. She wasn't actually sure she'd know what that meant, the air felt oppressive everywhere now but the willows had been a place with the magical autumn and it seemed one of the less popular areas, though familiars milled around they seemed to understand she did not wish to be interrupted. All of which was preferred by the woman, she did not know what she was doing but if she was successful she did not want to be disturbed by others, she wanted to get to have a moment with her daughter, probably the last she'd ever have, in peace. She did not know what she was doing however, that had not been a lie. The woman found a cozy spot, the moon hung high in the sky and Recluse ruffled herself up against the chill wind that seemed to blow through her. She had heard some claim to see their dead loved ones in their dreams but that seemed very different from summoning them here. The woman sighed, and closed her eyes, doing her best to focus on the heaviness in the air, focus on the feeling of her grief, focus on her mental image of her daughter. She did not know if it would work if she was even doing anything. Recluse sat like that for a while, feeling nothing but the oppressive air and her own desperate grief. Then, then, she felt something. She could not have described what it really was, just something. And desperately she chased that feeling in her mind, searching for it and snatching it up like a loose thread. And she tugged, trying to unravel whatever the feeling what, it was something she'd never experienced before and she felt her chest tighten as if it was getting harder to breathe, her joints ached though she was still seated comfortably, and her ears rung but still she pulled on that thread, desperate to hold onto what she could only assume was the only trail she had to finding her daughter and bringing her here. She could only hope. speech think action

Art by Akage-Kitsu

The slow drift of time wrapped around the creature. It's dark tendrils weaved their way through every fragment of the Wolf's former existence. Only about four seasons had passed since Hannibal slipped into his eternal rest. The nature of his death was natural and peaceful for the old Wolf. But, that did not relieve him from the guilt that festered in his heart. He always imagined the after life to be a peaceful place, and it mostly was. Except for him. A beast trapped in his own mind for eternity. The constant battle going on inside of his head would never truly allow him to rest in peace. But, after some time he considered it a mere punishment for his living crimes. The crimes he inflicted upon his own blood. Leaving so often when things got tough. When his children and loved ones needed him the most. As the beast floated along within the depths of Somnium he felt something strange. It was the first thing he had truly felt in quite some time. Something was tugging at him. A metaphorical paw reached into his resting place and pulled him into the world of the living. It was a summon he could not resist. There was a deep lever of sorrow and grief behind the call. It was familiar and ever before he knew what was going on his own heart swelled with sorrow. It was a palpable emotion that only ushered him through the realms of the living and the dead. Pale lashes fluttered as Boreas came into view. It was horribly dark and there was a large tree hanging over him. But, it was all so very familiar. The smells and the sensation of the dirt below his paws. There was something distinctly off about it all. He knew immediately he was not truly in the realm of the living, but some sort of barrier had been broken. He was there... But, he was not alive. After only a few moments of gathering himself his eyes fell upon what had to be the source of the summons. Recluse. His dear daughter sat some distance away and he knew that was where the thick emotions were coming from. The grief still clung to him like hot tar. - Hannibal stared in silence for a long moment. Had she truly beckoned him? Why would Recluse of all his children be the one to do so? Had something happened? Anxiety swelled up deep within his chest but the old beast moved her way with little hesitation. "Recluse?" His voice was soft but shaky with nerves. Were the Gods playing some horrible trick on him? Hannibal stood a respectful distance away with his head hung low. speech

Recluse pulled and pulled and finally it felt like something moved, and the desperation grew. With her eyes closed, her posture stiff she desperately pulled and pulled in her mind, this feeling growing stronger and stronger as whatever was at the other end grew closer. She prayed it was her daughter. She reached the end of the thread, feeling whatever it was she was grasping mentally slip away from her grasp and Recluse sat still for a moment, holding her breath. At first, she could sense nothing, no scents, no sounds. Then a voice, and her whole heart dropped. The woman slowly opened cherry gaze, though it was narrowed as she swung it towards a very familiar figure. A flurry of emotions flowed through her, a terrible terrible sadness, the well of grief she'd been holding in her chest opened up into a wide chasm, there was a disappointment and a fear... What if Kali didn't want to see her? What if her daughter blamed her for her death? Then she defaulted to what she always did, cover all the pain, all the scary emotions with anger. Old reliable anger, it was what she'd used to mask herself when it wasn't safe to be open, and it hadn't been for much of her life, in no small thanks to the man standing before her. The woman rose to her paws, letting that anger flow so he would not see her desperate pain, her lips pulling back and a growl rumbling in her throat. "Go back." She said, her voice was low and dangerous, no explosive rage, just low simmering anger. "Go back and send your brother, send Jigsaw." Give her someone she missed, someone she actually missed. Not this man, not this man who'd destroyed her, had left her to rot as a child, had gone off to fuck someone else while she nearly died from his abandonment, who'd returned only to make her a bastard and fail to understand all she wanted, all she'd ever wanted was an apology for what he'd done to her. When last they'd seen each other she'd still been a child desperate for the approval of the man whose lack of love had nearly killed her, she'd wanted nothing more than to hear she was good enough. Now she was more than that, she'd been a queen but she didn't define herself by that. No, she was a mother. A devoted caregiver, who's children had filled that desperate hole of approval, their love had filled her up. Had let her see herself as worthy for the first time in her life, had let her be vulnerable enough to find love, to find her husband, to know someone could love her for more than blood. But her rage cracked. She'd learned to be vulnerable, it was healthier maybe but in this moment it was a flaw... "Go back, find my Kali... Send her to me, please, I just wanted to see her again. My baby, I just wanted to see my baby..." She broke, her voice rising from a low threat to desperate begging. "I only want my daughter..." Fuck, she crumpled upon herself, unable to stop the emotion flowing from her face, her words and her tears. She just wanted to hold her baby one more time... speech think action

Art by Akage-Kitsu

Festering rage leaked from the pale form before him. Tendrils of her anger came forth and wound themselves up his legs, gluing him to that spot. The male stood watching his dear daughter realize that it was him. As she rose to her paws Hannibal could not help but to want to take a step back but he was unable to move. He watched as those pale lips curled upward to expose teeth. Poisonous words were slowly released with a deep rumble. Hannibal took the insult and offered no reaction as he was just horribly confused. He was called upon, from his eternal rest, to the realm of the living by his daughter who didn't want him there. The man had no idea how to even react to such a situation. Before he could speak Hannibal watch his daughter crumble. Anger seemed to slide away as sorrow took it's place. Tears rushed from pale eyes as she spoke those horrible words. .."My baby, I just wanted to see my baby..." So she had intended on calling on her daughter and got him instead. There was a twist of pain in his core as his head hung. Pink and blue eyes stung as he looked at the earth below. Hannibal was searching for words, rapidly, his mind was racing. Hannibal took a step forward after a long moment and raised his head to look at the broken babe before him. "I-I.. am sorry." There was a crack in his voice that allowed raw emotion to pour through those deep tones. "I had no choice... I did not know who or what was calling on me." A pause as his mind spun. "I don't even know how I got here, Recluse." Thick with sorrow the male shook his head, "Maybe you can try again. Send me back and try again..." There wasn't much else he could offer. Hannibal was faced with an impossible situation and his mind raced to find any solution. Maybe if she went and did the same thing he'd go back to his rest and she'd find her daughter. It felt horrible to know that even in death he could inflict such pain on his dear daughter. Hannibal truly did love her even if she felt otherwise and seeing her like this was gut wrenching. speech

She had called him here, it had been her. Recluse knew, logically, that was the truth. But it still felt easier to shunt the blame off on him, it was always easiest to blame him. And if she was being fair, he really only deserved it most of the time, but probably not all of the time. But she did not care. Recluse was deep in her grief and it was easier to just assume he was hurting her again. He suggested sending him back, trying to get Kali instead and Recluse tried. She closed her eyes and searched, searched for any feeling, the same one she'd found when she'd called him here, or something new, something that would get him out of here, get him to go back. Recluse wasn't really sure how long she tried, it couldn't have been more than half an hour but it felt like a whole life time before she finally opened her eyes, still wet and her cherry gaze slid towards him, a look of resignation on her face. She did not know how she'd even really gotten him here, it had been a fluke... A fluke that hadn't given her what she wanted. Recluse looked at her father, looked at him and felt her grief bubbling up. She had let herself feel hope, that had been the problem, she'd let herself hope which had opened her up to experience failure, feel pain, and it was rolling in on her slowly. She shook her head, she could do nothing and she was already resigned to the idea that neither could he, he was dead, he had less power than she did, and she did not have the power she needed to bring Kali here. She started sobbing again, it was quiet at first, a few gasps and her shoulders hunching to protect her. This was the first time she'd really failed to hold back her grief and it was taking every opportunity to finally run free, she'd been suppressing herself for her children, for her pack, and she'd not let herself just grieve. Now she had no choice, she'd let it out and there was no stopping the flood. "I never even got to say goodbye." She sobbed, feeling herself fold in on herself, falling to the ground. "She-she was fine, we were just talking, she was fine, and then she was just dead! Right in front of me, she died right in my arms." She would never forget the feeling of Kali's body growing cold in her grasp. "I didn't even get to tell her I loved her." That one hurt so much. The thought that Kali might have died not knowing just how much Recluse loved her kept her up at night. "No parent should have to bury their child." This was said softly, she'd curled in on herself, pressing her skull to the ground and she spoke it without caring if her father even heard it, she just needed to say it. Needed to finally get everything she'd been suppressing out. speech think action

Art by Akage-Kitsu

Hannibal sat down as his daughter got to work. He awaited his departure from the living realm with anticipation. Back to the endless rest, likely forever. But, after some time they both seemed to realize that nothing was going to happen. There was no pull towards some unknown force or fading feeling. Nothing. Of course he was not looking forward to leaving his daughter and going back to literal death. But he knew Recluse seeing her dear babe was much more important then anything he had to say. It really did pain him to watch her accept the defeat. He could see it settle in and dig deep as horrible sobs came forth. As she collapsed to the floor Hannibal stood up. Her words were encased in a thick layer of raw emotion. Hannibal's heart stung as he watched her and he chose to slowly stepped closer. He was honestly horrified of making her even more upset but a Father, even a really shitty one, could not watch his daughter sob and not try to comfort her. The ghostly man moved to sit next to Recluse and nuzzle his head in her scruff, craning downward to reach. The feeling of her fur brushing against his muzzle was faint but enough to make him sigh gently. To comfort his daughter for potentially the last time was a luxury he thought he'd never have again. "Kali knows you love her Recluse." He stopped nuzzling and merely rested his head on her shoulders, pressing down gently to provide a small hug. It may not feeling like much since he was a ghost, but he was trying. "She was so incredibly lucky to have such a caring mother." Hannibal was accurate in that, perhaps even more then he knew. But, this he did know... "Kali is in a better place now. Perhaps she is not with you, you cannot control that, but she is is void of pain and worry." Coming from someone who has experienced the afterlife he was actually speaking the truth. Hannibal sat up and raised his right paw to gently rest on own. "I love you, daughter. You will heal... It will just take time." speech