Her sleek form rested upon the mossy ground of the forest – her eyes lingering upon the few red and orange leaves that stood out form the rest of the green. The frost was beginning to encase the world at night and the days were becoming colder. Soon, the trees would be brilliant in hue fully – and then bare only a few weeks after. Winter was coming, and she felt a flutter of nerves at the thought. This would be their first winter in Hearthwood River – and her past two winters had been in the safety of Cut Rock River.


She ached for their old home from time to time – especially how the pack had seemed far tighter knit then. Lachesis, Bastet, Naia, Jynx.. all of their wolves had worked in a well unit – but now, something seemed unkept.


And she loathed it.


Stanidng up, the honeyed woman gave a quick shake of her pelt, her eyes lingering toward the direction she believed her loving mate to had gone. She ached for him – for the closeness they had once shared, and she realized that it was her that had seemingly pulled away from everyone. A soft sigh released past her lips, and loping forward, the matriarch made to seek one of her pack mates out.

Dirt smudged upon the Scout’s nose, and Kisla eyed it with a trace of humor. She nodded to the newly stored cache, her tail giving a casual swing through the air. “Thank you,” she murmured, offering a nod to clarify that her gratitude was meant for the stocking of the caches. The winds were becoming colder – summer had passed them by, and soon they would once more come face to face with winter. She wanted the pack to be prepared.

 
Naia was seemingly distant from the woman – likely because of how she herself had pulled away from the others. Yet there was a warmth to her voice – one that reassured the Leader and stirred a sad smile to her lips. As her ears swept back to her skull, she gave a small nod. “Yes,” she offered, though lingered upon how to answer the tawny woman’s question as to how she was. She felt as if she were held in a downward spiral – but how did one state such a thing? As if skirting around the question, she gave a gentle shake of her muzzle. “I don’t know, Naia,” she offered, unsure of how to broach the topic. “I feel as if our pack is at a disconnect.” Naia, above all others, had been her confidant. But how much had changed between them that this was no longer the case?

Kisla might as well have been discussing the disconnect between the two women as well -- Naia had certainly drifted from her, though the golden female was oblivious to the fact it was from her own closed off nature. Still, she longed to mend the bridge between them, and as Naia spoke, the honeyed she-wolf gave a light nod. "Things might change for the best if Maksim rises once more," she commented quietly, wondering how Naia felt about it all. Hearthwood River had meant to be a change for them all.. a fresh start. It had only fueled them apart, thus far. "I miss Cut Rock River at times," she noted, her gaze seeking Naia's to see how she felt of it. 'But the pack had never felt like mine -- Just Maksim's" She paused then, and gave a brief shake of her muzzle. "In truth, it still does."


The conversation would drift to a report, and Kisla listened, intrigued that once more Naia brought news of this other pack. "Do you think we should seek a relationship with them?" Their alliance to Round Stone Crest had only thus far proved to be a joke -- the pack ahd sued them when it was beneficial to them and had not offered anything in return.. except for demands of her subordinates. She wasn't willing to place them in a similar situation.

“A pack that is family,” was the simplest and most honest answer she could give the Aegina woman. Maksim lay in sickness – the pack lay divided, not only because their king had fallen but because the wolves of Hearthwood River did not trust one another fully. She could not place Kjors in the accepted graces of other s—not after the misconduct he had given some of them.. primarily Naia, and yet she was also surprised at how many glares the man was met with – as if distrust was the first reaction any of the River wolves held to a newer wolf accepted to their fold.


It was disheartening – but the best she could do to maintain their pack and home was to continue to integrate the members with one another. Her bright eyes carefully studied Naia – her own words stilling now that she had offered such a quick answer. “Has the packs values and honor changed so much from what it had once been at Cut Rock River?” She had not been with them since the day of their creation – Maksim had found her, injured and alone.. unable to travel to her family and birth pack. Perhaps Naia could piece together the missing pieces of the puzzle for her.

Naia had an intricate way to speak the details, and Kisla studied the woman as she did so now, revealing not only an aspect she had not considered, but imploring an amount of pride to be instilled upon the Baranski's heart. She had challenged Astra that day for the claim to Maksim above all else -- and once she had made her stake upon him, he had courted her willfully. It was then she had resigned the name of Tainn and had taken Baranski -- it was then that Cut Rock River had begun to morph.


Rook's betrayal had forced them to flee, but once where she had felt the sting of pride pull at her, Naia had placed the belief of love above all else. She tipped her muzzle down now, humbled by how eye-opening the Scout's words were, and could feel the emotion well within her throat in that very moment. They had always been a family -- they had simply evolved. "Thank you, Naia," she whispered, feeling the tears within her voice only seconds before they clouded her vision. She looked away sharply then -- trying to clear them from her eyes. "I had always wondered if my joining Cut Rock River had been an intrusion at times. You are all so close to Maksim and respect him in a way I haven't seen since I was younger and lived at Swift River. That was how her pack looked to her as well."