Bramble Falls He took the best of your heart and left the rest in pieces

Backdated to 3/29, for @Vanadis <3

Archer

He'd been here at the beginning of the month and found nothing, and perhaps he should travel again to Andy's gravesite, the place of his daughter's birth, but this had been the most recent meeting place he'd brought her to, and he hoped she might find her way to the pools. He kept coming back to check here, and each time his heart broke a little more. A piece of him despaired that he would never see her again, this creeping horror in the back of his mind, crawling up his nape. He forced himself not to believe it, to keep moving, to keep looking. She had to be okay.

She had to be.

She probably just found somewhere safe to hunker down for the winter, like Aquene said. Had to.

Archer was not doing well. He was barely eating, could only force himself to hunt when his legs trembled, would eat carrion when he found it but the carcasses were picked over this time of year. He could return home, rest and recouperate there, but he couldn't bring himself to do that either; taking a break felt too much like giving up, like betraying his daughter.

He didn't have a choice today, however, and he dropped heavily beneath a tree to rest his chin on his paws and drift in and out of sleep.

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

She strayed quite far from the Backwater, trying to get reacquainted with the surrounding areas and give herself time to just be. Things with Viorel were still slow, awkward. They were trying, but they weren't there yet. She was hopeful that eventually muscle memory would kick in, that feeling would take precedence over thinking, but she would do nothing to force it.

Vana walked pretty far, much farther than she wanted to. She might have even kept walking had it not been for a gust of wind sending a few stray particles her way. The woman stopped dead as Archer's scent swirled around her. It took a second or two to find out where it was coming from, but once she did she was off, racing through trees and old brush in search of her child. "Archer? Archer!" she called, her ears perked for an answer.

Archer

Archer felt he was doomed to never have a restful sleep again, each night spent in fits of nightmares and restlessness. He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually rested for more than a few hours before giving up and moving on. He knew this wasn't the best way to search; it was illogical, running amok and hoping to run into his daughter - or someone who'd seen her. Somehow the only wolves he'd managed to run into were family, and they hadn't seen her yet either.

But at least it meant they were still looking. And his last encounter with his da had been... needed. Surprising. And very needed. It didn't help him sleep any better though.

He was drifting somewhere between waking and sleep when he heard her voice calling for him, and his first thought was that he must have died. Nothing else would make sense. Someone would have told him if his ma had come home. The only explanation was that he'd died and she had come to greet him.

Only, when he lifted his head to look he was struck dumb. No, he couldn't be dead, because in no afterlife would his ma look like that. Still he couldn't help scramble to his feet and trip his way toward her, all but falling into her when they met. "Ma?" he said weakly.

[size=x-small]Archer is very haggard and thin; it is obvious he is not doing well.

Vanadis wasted no time wrapping herself around her son as he nearly fell into her. "Archer?" She hadn't gotten a very good look at him, but she could feel that he was too thin. Worry etched its way into her features, her ruined ears fell lightly to her skull. She took a step back, letting her peachy gaze wash over him, taking note of the slightly haggard appearance. Viorel had given her the gist of what happened, but she was no prepared for this.

"Are you okay?" Vana knew she had no right to ask, no way to help if he wasn't. She held no power here, but the question left her tongue anyway.