It was autumn all right. The leaves were starting to brown, withering and shrivelling as the trees braced themselves for the oncoming cold. A cold which was swift approaching, and with it, rain. With a snort of contempt Yvly shook out her coat and turned back around to make her way back to the main den. It was just her luck it started raining at the end of her border patrol. Lately it seemed pack members were disappearing slowly, one by one, leaving more work for the rest of them to do. With winter right around the corner it could only seem to spell disaster, but Yvly had faith that she and the rest of Grizzly Hollow could pull through, including Veho and Oula's brood.

Ears swivelling in three-sixty degrees on a constant search for bears nearby searching for a place to hibernate, the tawny female pondered as she weaved through the trees. Oula's scent seemed to have been fading from the main den these past few days, and with the pups only four months old, that was never a good thing. A mother always stayed close by, and she had had not enough spare time to talk it over with another member about it. Surely something majorly important had come up that Oula needed to take care of. There was just no way she could have deserted them too. Yvly had trust in Oula that she was here to stay.

At the sound of her name Yvly paused, dark amber eyes focusing on the wolf that had spoken. "Veho," she greeted in return with a dip of her head. It had taken some time but now she was happy enough to show her respect for the older male by acting as a dutiful subordinate. Her acting out against authority had been childish acts, and now with more experience of the way the world worked she understood that, attempting to fix her past errors. Tawny ears flicked forward at his next words, brows furrowing slightly at his somewhat listless tone. It made her nervous, seeing Veho so... drawn drained. It was not the pups, she would have heard about it, so it must be something else.

"Of course." The tawny female moved closer so as to make it so they did not have to speak in raised voices. She did not want to wake up any of the sleeping wolves currently in the pack den, nor the pups if they were in there. Wanting to reach forward in an attempt to at least somewhat raise his low spirits but not knowing how, Yvly instead chose to speak out, hoping to let @Veho know he could talk to her and get whatever it was that was plaguing his mind off his chest. "What is it you need?"

At Veho's motion for her to come closer and get comfortable she padded just a little closer before sitting back on her haunches, mirroring the older male, tawny ears perking forwards so he knew he had her full attention. She had never seen him look this grave before, and if she said it did not worry her she would be lying. It may have been a subordinate thing to do, but she had depended and relied on @Veho as a leader and protector of the pack, and seeing him look so... grim, made her feel a bit uneasy. The tawny female dipped her head when he said she had no need to worry about him, though she knew if at any point he changed his mind she would happily comply with whatever order he gave her.

Yvly sucked in a breath, the air hissing softly between her jaws. She had noticed Oula's fading scent, but to hear her leader voice it out loud and with such finality made it that much more real. She really was gone, which meant the second would rise up to leader... and that was her. A brief moment of panic consumed her before she managed to focus on Veho's words. "Thank you," she responded quietly to his praise, even though she only thought of it as making up for lost sets of paws. She could be hardworking when it was needed. Do you know what happened to her? Oula, I mean?" The tawny female queried hesitantly. She did not want to pry, but at the same time wished to know the reasoning behind her absence, if Veho even knew. Yvly could not think of anything else worth asking at that moment other than how the pups were doing, but she could just as easily find that out for herself.

Yvly nodded at the older male's answer. She could understand the need for space after having wanted it herself many times in the past, but during all those times she could not bring herself to stray too far away from the hollow. It was her home now, and she could not imagine being anywhere else no matter how much she wished to have some time to herself. A wolf's duty was to its pack, and now that she had made some relations with those in the ranks it became just that much more difficult to leave. "I see," she responded quietly, tawny ears twitching at Rook's name. He had been gone for a while, too, and it made sense for Oula to search for him. Only time would tell if her venture was a success, if she or he ever returned, that is.

The tawny female glanced at Veho, her dark amber eyes staring thoughtfully at him. "How do you do it? You spend so much time caring for the others, for us, and yet you still appear to have the time to do things for yourself. How do you manage it all?" She often wondered how he always appeared so calm with everything that needed to be done. If she were in his place, which was quickly becoming a reality, she was sure she would become a frazzled mess. Leading was not a large part of who she was. In small doses, such as for a hunt, she could deal with it, but for extended periods of time she could not see herself faring too well. It was much easier to follow than to lead, but she supposed that was part of being a leader.

Dark amber eyes widened slightly in surprise at Veho's diffident grin and laugh, not expecting quite that sort of reaction from him. She suspected it was the first laugh she had had heard from in... forever. One point to her, then. Yvly sat back on her haunches as her now co-leader spoke, head canted a smidgen to the side as she listened. Over the duration of his, well, speech, her expression changed from interest to surprise to finally wonder. He had always seemed so calm that she never stopped to think that maybe he was struggling with all the duties he needed to do on top of looking after his brood. She slowly reached forward with her muzzle to gently nudge his cheek in an attempt to comfort the older male as his eyes fell to the floor. The tawny female was not sure about what to say in response to it all, but felt like she needed to just say something.

"I had no idea," she started off slowly, licking her lips uncertainly. This was not something she did very often, if at all, and did not wish to say something that would upset him. "You always seemed so... calm, and I guess I figured you were handling things pretty well on your own. Guess I was wrong then," a short laugh escaped her maw, but it had no jovial tone to it. "If it... If it makes any difference I'll try to do my best in taking care of my part of the job. Maybe that way you'll have a little more time to spend with your children." Her eyes rested on his face, open and earnest. She meant every word. There was so little time to be with them and watch them grow up before they left to venture on their own, and she wanted him to be there for them as much as he could, even if it meant sacrificing some of her own free time in the process every now and then. It would give her some heartsease at the very least.