Drooping Willows tell me what have i done

Her mission was failing. Each search, or made-up clue left Celandine with a dead end. No one seemed to know what had taken place upon the heights, nor had anyone seen a silvery-female with an alabaster male. It made little sense that an entire pack could move through the Lore unnoticed. Hell, she couldn't even move across the terrain alone without running into someone. This was supposed to be an easy task. Return home, speak with Erebos, and be re-accepted into the pack as their rightful heir. Unfortunately, her uncle must have been some kind of idiot, because they had decided to move locations. Prey seemed pretty abundant upon the heights, and their placement gave them quite the advantage to anyone pursuing them, so why exactly had they gone?

Her temper was getting the best of her again, though this time she felt she had a reason. If they would have just remained in one spot a little longer, then she wouldn't be searching the ends of the Earth for them. The thought brought with it a strange realization. One she hadn't even wanted to think about, but it was high time she made some sort of decision. The yearling couldn't search for Silent Moon for the rest of her life. If they didn't want to be found, then maybe she didn't want to find them. So what then, was she going to do?

Lost in her thoughts, she almost missed the scent of pack borders hanging heavily in the air. It was a musky aroma, but familiar nonetheless. The ridge wolves. It brought back so many fond memories, but she chose to lock them away. Instead, she turned about face, heading North. The wolves here probably could not help her either.

Since the secret but not really secret meeting of the shadows next to the underground lake Greer had been spending more time lurking around the borders of the ridge. He had grown increasingly worried about the state of the pack especially since discovering that Morganna was the bear the next generation of Archer’s. What worried him more was his older brother — Morg’s littermate — who seemed to pluck another pale bitch from the herd to call his. His tongue clucked against the roof of his mouth at the thought, his nose wrinkling in annoyance at the thought. It appeared that his sister was not the only female replenishing the packs numbers this spring.

And Morganna would not be pleased.

It was her pack; it would never belong to the green-eyed floozy that had stolen the attention of the other, older Archer brother. Prepare to be disappointed, brother, he thought bitterly to himself as he meandered through the trees, his canines pinching his lower lip as he grew more irritated with every step.

The more he walked the more frustrated the shadow became and the more he wanted to abandon the trees. It had been too long since he had seen his redhead friend and he missed their talks — her missed her. As much as the yearling wanted to leave the willows behind and forge a new home in the Bend he was reluctant to leave just yet. There was far too much going on for him to leave his family; not when there was trouble brewing.

As he drew closer to the edge of the borders a scent pulled him away from his thoughts: a trespasser. The scent, although foreign, was strangely familiar, but the shadow could not put a name to it. The permanent scowl etched across his lips only deepened as he changed his direction. The fur between his shoulders raised instinctively as quickened his pace, his mind racing as he struggled to put a face to the scent that had captured his attention. It was not until he saw the pale girl that recognition finally settled in, but he could not remember if a name had been exchanged between the two. The shadow purposely did not store names into his memory as he did not care to engage in repeat interactions. She had been a member of the plateau alongside the redhead before the pack crumbled, but the green-eyed girl did not smell of the bend like Kyna and Sahalie. No — the former moon princess smelt of the wild; it appeared she no longer had any pack affiliations. How peculiar.

Without warning the girl turned away, abandoning the imaginary line that separated the ridge territory from the rest of Relic Lore. His brows furrowed. Greer gave an initial woof to alert her of his presence followed by a second one to ask where she was headed.

The deep thrum of a voice shook the silence, forcing the pale woman to halt. It's rhythm was almost.. familiar? Not so much that she could have mistaken it for a former, but still it gave her reason to pause. The gears in her mind began working again, spinning as the blurred memories slowly seeped in. Amber eyes turned to gaze upon the man, his dark form as recognizable in the daylight as it had been in the dim rays of the cave. His name was lost on her tongue, however. "E something, B perhaps?" It wouldn't do to blurt something out in the hopes that it would be correct, so the yearling decided to play it safe.

"It's been a long time." Although it felt longer - Decades longer. Celandine hadn't even traversed the cave system below the mountain since before the fallout. Things were simpler then. Back when Evy had proved to be her greatest enemy, and Takis' goofy smile was cause for an eye-roll. Her siblings. The thoughts were too much, she couldn't deal with them. Not yet. Not when she was still so close to falling apart. She had only just deemed herself strong enough to return, and gods be damned if she didn't plan on staying this time.

"I was just leaving." She said with a nod towards the direction she had been walking, but she had to go through the motions as well. Celandine had stopped expecting any real answers, but she had grown accustomed to this type of interaction. "Perhaps you could help me?" Just another dead end. "I'm looking for my uncle. It would seem that he has moved the pack while I was away. You wouldn't happen to know where he might have taken them, do you?" She hated to admit that no one told her. It had been such a shock to find that they had gone, and left their rightful heir to search for them

To his surprise, the girl had stopped. There was something different about her; something had changed since their first encounter. His eyes darkened, brows narrowed, as he studied the stranger before him. Her familiar voice broke the silence but it was still different. A frown creased his dark lips as he pressed his tongue to the back of his teeth, his own voice hesitating on the tip of his tongue.

“Uncle?” He asked, unsure of who the girl was speaking of. The Silent Moon wolves had dispersed and clearly the dove before him had not been present for the move. It would account for the faded pack scent that clung to her fur; she had been roaming the lands of Relic Lore while her pack was turmoil. His nose wrinkled at the thought. While he wanted to pursue a different pack in the future, he was reluctant to leave now due to the current drama within the pack. He needed to know that the potential threat was eliminated — permanently — and that things went back to normal. Until then, he would remain at his family’s side and defend their legacy.

“Split up,” he responded with another frown, his mercury gaze fixated on the golden eyed dove. The shadow knew some of them had gone to the Bend — which was where he was planning to go — but he as unsure of where the rest of them had gone.

"Erebos, He's my uncle, and should be the one leading them." Celandine gave the information willingly. His fate mattered little to her. If this boy decided to run back home and tell them about Silent Moon Plateau's new king, and someone was to pick him off, well it would be one less thorn in her side. The fae had to force the smile from gracing her dark lips.

When his voice came again, she was almost too preoccupied with her thoughts of Ridge wolves tearing the man apart, that she missed it. “Split up,” His words took their time sinking in, from her heart—which seemed to have found it's way into her stomach—to the gears slowly turning in her head. "They split up?" She knew that she'd heard him right, but pleaded with the Gods that he had been mistaken. What he said just didn't make any sense. It was impossible. She'd couldn't have been gone long enough for the pack to fall apart. Even an idiot like her uncle, should have been able to keep the sorry band they called subordinates together. Something must have happened to kick-start it. Maybe her father changed his mind, and decided to take back his crown. "Do you know why, or where anyone went?" Pictures flashed through her mind as she went down the list. "Maeve, Takis, My father; Phineas?" Anyone?

She knew it was impolite to ask so many questions at once, but hell, she needed answers, and hadn't the self control to keep herself from blurting.

This time the pale female was a little more open and was not as sassy as she had been during their first encounter. Something had changed the former moon princess — she had hardened both physically and mentally. It wasn’t a bad change, but it was different; different enough for the quiet shadow to notice.

He shook his head at the name to show he did not know who the wolf was. The name sounded familiar, but he had not encountered a wolf with that name in his explorations. He did not know if the girl’s uncle had followed Kyna and her mother to the Bend, or if they had gone a different route. He knew nothing of the relations of the Silent Moon wolves, aside from what Kyna shared with him. She repeated his words, disbelief heavy in her voice as he nodded to confirm that what he said was true. A pregnant pause formed between the two wolves as she allowed the news to sink in; the shadow remained quiet, not wanting to disturb her thoughts.

Questions spewed from the pale princess’ maw, her pale eyes fixated on the shadow as he tried to remember what Kyna had told them during their last meeting. “Kyna and Ky-mom go Oak Tree Bend. Greer not sure of others.” He paused, his ears falling back as he studied the green eyed girl. “Ky-dad die… so Moon wolves left.” He felt uncomfortable sharing what his redhead friend had told him and that the pale princess had to hear it from him and not a former packmate. But he could not leave her in the dark; she deserved to know. “Greer sorry,” hel added in a low voice, his mercury gaze pulling away from his companion once more and focusing on his dark paws.

The mention of @Kyna—her illegitimate half-sister—and that murderous wench made her stomach roll. She couldn't care less where they ended up, but.. Oak Tree Bend? She had to stop the smile from spreading across her maw. She had family there. Well, Borlla had family there. Maybe she could make their lives a little more unbearable from afar. The schemes were endless enough to make her giddy. Aesire's murder wouldn't go unpunished, if not for herself, than for @Maeve. Oh details, details.

"Ky-dad die." She felt the familiar snap in her soul—the very one she had just worked so hard to put back together. Phineas was gone? No. No it wasn't possible. The boy was lying. A dirty, dirty liar. He wanted to break her again. He was Aponi's friend. He was.. he.. He was still standing there, offering his condolences. Celandine had to get it together; Pull herself up from whatever rut she was about to fall in. "He's dead?" Silent Moon was gone, her father was gone, and she was no longer a princess. If not Silent Moon's heir, then who was she? The youth had spent her entire life striving for one goal. One, and now it was gone. Like dust in the air, or snow in spring. She was nothing.

"I.. Thank you." It was real, and raw, and she didn't know what else to say. Somehow she had found what she was looking for, and now the yearling wished she hadn't.

Her expression changed as he delivered the news about Kyna’s father. At first the shadow thought she was going to argue with him and he watched silently as her features contorted in disbelief. He hated delivering information that was not his to tell, but if the girl was looking for the former Plateau wolves he did not want her searching for a dead wolf.

Nodding softly in response to her question he observed her through narrowed brows. Something had changed in the pale princess and for the first time in his life Greer actually wanted to help someone who was not family. He took a hesitant step forward, his mercury gaze softening as the words left her tongue. Consoling someone was not something he was good at — in fact, he had no idea how to console or comfort or anything. Even when his sister had passed away Greer had dealt with his sorrow on his own. He had avoided his family and allowed the shadows to consume him, as it was where he felt most at home.

He had been able to comfort Kyna when she had told him the news of her father and her former pack, surely he could offer the same kind of support to the pale princess before him? In true Greer form, the yearling kept his lips pinned shut as he hesitantly pressed his nose to the girl’s cheek. She was not like the redhead he had grown to know and care about; he did not know how she would react.

Celandine found herself unable to move as his dark mass pushed forward to nuzzle her cheek, the warmth of it standing in stark contrast to the numbness cocooning the rest of her body. No one had ever felt the need to console her before, so why now? Why a stranger? This man knew nothing of her, and yet he wanted to take a little piece of her burden away; to shoulder it the only way he knew how. She couldn't help but wonder what would happen if the roles were reversed. If it was even possible for her to feel for another. Would she have pressed forward to wrap herself around the dark man if he stood before her shattered, and broken? Probably not. The fae had never concerned herself with the feelings of others. She lived for herself, she always had. So why did a strange sort of guilt pour over her skin like acid, eating away at the very fiber of her being?

Later, when she remembered the way that her eyes closed, leaving her body devoid of any, and all color, or the way that she moved closer to press her maw into the thick fur of his neck, she'd dismiss it as shock. A single, solitary moment in which she forgot herself. A mistake. It was simple really. She was cold, and numb, and he was warm, and there, and.. and, she was not weak. She did not care that her entire world had just been ripped from her once more.