Gone Tomorrow

It had not been Corinna's plan to send both @Ice and @Merlin, but as she watched their forms disappear into the woods, the leader knew it was the best option. They could keep each other safe and provide one another company on the lonely trek, at least she hoped. Either that, or Ice's previous rage at Merlin would make an appearance and he would rip the pack's lowest a new one. Looking after them, long after they had disappeared from sight, Corinna shifted anxiously from side to side. The last time Ice had departed on a missing wolf party, it had not ended well. But @Cali was an adult, and Rissa...shaking her head from side to side, Cori cleared the thoughts from her head before they could settle. She didn't want to think about that. Not today.

Turning around, the leader wandered away from the borders and back towards the main area of the Oak Tree Bend's pack territory. Dark thoughts occupied her mind, and she meandered slowly, her route determined by habit. Cali had been growing increasingly distant for some time now, but Corinna had never expected the white furred Swiftpaw sister to actually leave. No notice had been given, as far as the green-eyed leader knew. Coming to a stop beside one of the numerous trees that covered the pack's domain, her shoulders rose as she sighed. Her gray brows were furrowed with worry: for the missing pack wolf who she had believed to be so loyal and for the two wolves that had left to track her down.

Serach and Sceral would wonder what had happened - why their father and their babysitter had left, but she would deal with them later. Right now, her primary concern with Cali's sister, Jessie. Tilting her head back, she called out to Jessie, asking the smaller female to meet her here so Corinna could give her the news of what had happened.

Gone Tomorrow

Settling down on her haunches to wait for Jessie to arrive, the leader silently brooded, her mind a jumble of thoughts. How to break the news to the rest of the pack and how to handle their inevitable reactions. Sceral and Serach would be devastated, and Fenru would no doubt feel similarly upset that his role model was gone. Not gone forever, but not where he should be. The fact that Jessie had lost family, though, was concerning. Despite the Swiftpaw sisters long-term residency in the pack, Cori did not know either one of them particularly well. Her own concerns were more focused on his children - always had been. So it was a possibility that upon hearing that Cali had gone, Jessie would also want to leave to track her sister down. But if that was going to be the case, Corinna wanted to hear it herself, rather than wake up the next morning to yet another missing Oak Tree Bend pack member.

The sound of approach, presumably Jessie's, roused the leader from her despairing thoughts. Shaking her head from side to side to clear her mind, she shakily rose from her haunches back to her feet. Moments later, Jessie appeared among the trees. The tip of Cori's tail wagged above her back as Jessie approached, and as Jessie came to a stop in front of her, Cori accepted her submission with a friendly nudge to the cheek. Jessie was quick to speak up, formal and to the point. Shaking her head, the leader remained quiet for a moment, just looking, her tongue rolling over her teeth as she tried to find the right words to say. "No," she said after a moment of silence, "I don't need anything from you. I just...I wanted to talk to you about Cali." Surely it wouldn't be a secret that her pale-furred sister had departed from them, would it?

"She seems to have gone. Do you know what happened, why she would have left?" Maybe, just maybe, the older Swiftpaw had taken the time to tell her younger sister where she was going, and if so, Ice and Merlin could come home.

Gone Tomorrow

Corinna watched Jessie's face closely, trying to see the telltale expression that the pack's second was lying. But Jessie's face betrayed no such thing, and when she spoke, the Oak Tree Bend leader knew that she was telling the truth. With a sigh of her own, the gray female settled down onto her haunches. Her brows were furrowed in thought and anxiety, wondering what it was that could have taken Cali so far from the pack and why she would not have told anyone. Surely if she had intended to be gone, she would have at least told her sister. The Swiftpaw sisters were not as close as Corinna had expected, at least from what she had observed, but Jessie's answer was still surprising. "Very well, I had hoped there might be a chance..." She answered, her voice trailing off as Jessie spoke up once more.

Jessie's green eyes met her own, similar enough in appearance that they could have been mistaken for family. Her own widened in shock, and she shifted her front paws in front of her, awkwardly shrugging her shoulders. Jessie's formality had taken the leader aback, and she wasn't entirely sure how to handle it. It only showed just how distance the two were, despite having lived in such close proximity for over a year. "I know," she answered, forcing herself to look Jessie in the eye to indicate her sincerity, despite how awkward she felt. "I never questioned it, Jessie. I know you love your sister, of course, but I also know you love us," Lifting off her hind legs, she lurched forward to stand. Awkwardly, and rather tentatively, she reached out and nuzzled one of Jessie's ears. Not in a loving gesture, but a friendly one, if nothing else. "Ice and Merlin have gone to look for Cali. I'm sure they'll find her and make sure she comes home safely."

Gone Tomorrow

Corinna watched the younger wolf closely, trying to gauge her reaction to the news. But Jessie seemed genuinely shocked, just as much as Ice and Merlin had been when Cali's absence had been discovered. Despite the fact that they were sisters, it seemed that Jessie truly did have no prior knowledge of her sister's plans. With a sigh, Corinna settled into her seat further, wriggling from side to side until she was comfortable. Her anger would have been great if Jessie had known and not told anyone, but at least then it meant that Ice and Merlin would be able to come home. She smiled sadly at the subordinate, and shrugged her shoulders. "I hope so too, Jessie, I hope so too. With the two of them, and hopefully Cali as well."

The leader followed Jessie's gaze, back towards the general direction of the den site where she had left her sons. They had barely had a chance to meet their father, which could maybe work out in their favor. Without a strong bond between them, maybe, just maybe, they would not be as pained when she broke the news to them later that day. Despite her hopes, though, she could already see the scowls and frowns on at Sceral and Serach's faces. Who was she kidding? It seemed like once again the pack matriarch would be on her own, at least for the time being.

Already in a bitter mood, Cori's scowl grew more pronounced when Jessie ventured upon a topic that was far from cheerful. How was she doing with Marsh? The leader had to bite back a rude retort that it was none of Jessie's businesses, but she kept her mouth closed and didn't answer. She had to give Jessie the benefit of the doubt and assume that the question was coming from a place of concern, but that didn't mean Cori wanted to talk about it. The news of Marsh's death had been a breaking point for Ice, and though Corinna had loved and cared for the copper furred guardian, she knew that it was Ice's heart that had been truly broken when Triell had told them the news. "I miss Marsh very much," she finally answered, doing her best to keep her tone level. "He was the truest and most loyal friend I have ever had, and I've no doubt that when he died, he did so with all of us in mind." Turning her head, she stared away from Jessie, off into the distance. Once upon a time, there would have been a comfort knowing that a friendly pair of eyes were keeping watch from the woods. But once again, Corinna felt well and truly alone, and knew that the number of friendly souls around her was steadily dwindling, no matter how hard she tried to keep them together.

"Do you know what happened to Hotei, Jessie? Ice ran him off, I know, but is he still in Relic Lore?" The two had been close, though Corinna was ignorant of the details of the relationship. She herself had never really gotten to know the Tainn, but with the pack's numbers gradually dwindling through choice and circumstance, she was willing to reach out to any connections that they might have. When winter came, it would be dangerous to have those woods empty of friendly, loyal faces.

Gone Tomorrow

Her second was smart enough to realize that she had crossed into potentially dangerous territory, her body language reflecting the rising tension at the mention of the deceased and beloved Marsh. But her own questioning was what really got a reaction from Jessie. The pack's matriarch was not all-knowing by any means, but she was not ignorant either. Despite her own distractions and worries, she did her best to at least be aware of what her pack mates were doing and if they were getting along. Hotei had always lived on the outskirts of the pack, and so Jessie's friendship with him had not gone entirely unnoticed. The subordinate's sharp inhale was indication to Cori that she had not been wrong in her guess that the two had been friends, but the worried glance - perhaps there was more to the story than she had surmised.

Ears perked, Cori watched Jessie as she spoke, inwardly cringing as the other addressed her. Opening her mouth to interrupt the girl and correct her, she promptly shut it when Jessie admitted that her feelings for Hotei extended beyond friendship. Her eyes grew wide and her head tilted slightly to the side and merely looked at Jessie, trying to reason through it. "Willow Ridge..." she finally repeated, her brain drawing up pictures of a regal she-wolf with a no-nonsense attitude. She had been there when they had gathered to seek out Rissa's murderers. So that was where Hotei had run off too when he had been chased away by Ice for disobedience. "That's quite a distance," Corinna finally mused aloud. "I don't doubt your loyalty, Jessie, but you know you cannot truly have a relationship with someone who is not here," the leader's voice lost some of its sternness, and she offered Jessie a sad smile and leaned over to nudge the girl's ear, an almost motherly gesture. "We all need to be strong and prepared, especially without Ice, Merlin, and Cali here. If your heart is in Willow Ridge, it seems we've lost you as well." Leaning back, she merely looked on sadly. She knew far too well the battle that Jessie was facing - her own love had left her behind far too many times for her to not know.