The air was cool, the skies grey with promised rain. Partway up, her feet had remembered the way and Bella would have been helpless to stop them, so they had brought her back here. It smelled stale, empty, dead, though her eyes saw only verdant mountain life, saw the familiar shapes and lines and paths and every turn brought more recognition. But her nose told her it was dead. The disconnect made her head buzz.

Any moment she expected to see Ash appear from around that rock, to hear Athena call to her from behind, or to spot Adonis lurking by that crevasse or Ava strolling towards the cache or Datura to -

The den was empty, cold, unused, forgotten. She could smell several species inside, the space used as shelter by almost anything other than wolves these days. Gone, abandoned, dead. She wandered from landmark to landmark, tracing the oft-used paths between them, nose pressed to the ground now and then for any signs of life. It had not been unexpected. Ash had told her of the desertion, and she had warned her heart not to be disappointed, but it could not help itself. When she thought of what could have been, of what she left behind, the ache was real. Was it selfish to regret so much, to wish to be able to turn back time, when her impact on the present was very real and very much loved in its own right? When she looked behind her and saw her pale son trailing along beside her, the disconnect buzzed louder, for this wasn't his place and he wasn't meant to be mingling with these old memories, he was a totally different part of her life. How could she yearn for two realities at once? But here they were, together, and as the wind picked up and the young, brittle grass swayed, she felt a hint of home blow into her soul.

"Are you ready?" she asked softly, taking careful note of how he steeled himself before nodding. Trust them. Taking her place outside the small birthing den where she had been born, and encouraging Duckweed to sit next to her, Bella tipped her head upwards and let loose a long, soft song for her children, those she loved more than anything else in this world, her priority above all else. They would breath life into this forgotten place, their presence an explosion of colour on a sad, lonely landscape. Come back to me.

It was cold, still, quiet, but inside her head was buzzing with all that she had lost. It still tore at her that she regretted this fate, but as her mind wandered to the reality that was a reunion with her children, the nostalgia faded to be replaced with a gentle warmth. It is impossible to change what was. She had no power to breathe life into these dark holes, not truly, not yet, and she would have to think long and hard before venturing down that path. For so long, to simply stand upon her mountain once more had been her purest goal, to share it with her loved ones, but she supposed that the Mountain of Dire, Lost Lake and Poison Path were all one in her mind. To come back and find two of the three still present and vibrant, but the third little more than a ghost... it unsettled her. It felt incomplete.

They came. The sight of her Foxglove, her pale fur and distinct mask, her unique trot, the way that the breeze brought her gentle scent back to her mother's nose - almost instantly her melancholy dissolved, for while she had placed her total trust in the three to make their own way, to see her here, truly, was relieving. "My love," she breathed, standing to receive her daughter, stepping briskly forward to welcome her as though she hadn't heard the blunt greeting. She swept a kiss onto her child's nose quickly, knowing that it would have been avoided otherwise, and looked up to see her other distinctly-marked offspring answer her call. Swiftly she approached him to embrace him, pressing her cheek against his neck, inhaling him and his presence. It was all okay; all was right with the world. Bella would have expected nothing less than to see her Snake and Fox within moments of each other.

Of course she also knew that her affectionate greetings were not wanted, but no matter how much of Wolesh they carried, she had kissed him too all the same. Turning about, to face all three at once, her eyes moved from one to the next until she was satisfied, and relaxed with a long breath and a smile, and finally addressed Fox's valid concern.

"I found the borders too, but we're not trespassing." If anything, they are. "We're okay here for now." Ears forward, she looked between Fox and Snake, still finding their presence, here, in the middle of her childhood, pleasantly absurd. Her pleasure at the reunion was evident on her face, though they were missing a member yet. "Did Crow find you? Where have you been staying?"

When her warm greeting was met with total cool, Bella knew not to take it too personally. She had learned that a long time ago, and though it pained her that she was not the parent they wished for, it was something that she accepted. It didn't mean they were any less worthy of her protection, effort and love, just because of who they were. Wolesh took half the credit in their making, and so she couldn't blame them for being like him. It was who they were. They were allowed.

Her disappointment at Foxglove's revelation that they had not come here with @Ahkna was evident on her face. Briefly but longingly she glanced out to the west, wondering where her daughter could be, and what had caused her delay. With the slow pace set by Duckweed, she had expected all three of the others to sail on ahead, and had not been surprised to find Fox and Snake here already. Of the four, though, she knew that Crowfoot was most capable on her own, but that was almost why she wanted her last daughter with them so badly. Though Crow contained as much of her father as Fox and Snake, she had tempered it into her own nature, and was a beast less cold than the other two. Bella even thought that Crow had taken on the aspects of Wolesh that Bella had admired (if feared) the most - his resilience, his cunning, his drive. She was a valuable balancing presence in the family, and Bella wondered if she alone would be able to maintain a fragile peace between the siblings.

Bella's attention drew quickly back to Foxglove as the girl continued, her manner perfectly casual, hiding the feelings that Bella knew lurked beneath. They had certainly not been idle. Upon learning that Snakeroot had made a poor impression on their neighbours, Bella glanced at him, seeing the apathy there. She could believe it. If Fox had intended to ingratiate herself to the pack, then bringing her brother had probably been a bad idea. Still, the fact that the pack didn't like her son plucked at a sensitive chord inside Bella, who frowned. Caught up in being here, in the old memories, she had not yet  given much thought as to what was next for the family, but with how uncomfortably close this unknown pack was to her old home, and their attitude toward her child, Bella did not find that she thought on them favourably. To live by the lake was a dream, but she would not sacrifice her children's happiness and her own dignity to do so.

The names meant nothing. They were as empty of life as the dens which she had called them to. Foxglove concluded her summary with an opinion, one that Bella had already guessed, and which she was strangely unashamed to agree with. It was rare that she judge anyone poorly for so trivial a crime, and let alone those that she had not met, but Fallen Tree Cove and their lot were simply unlucky to exist in such close conjunction with her own deep disappointment. Poison Path, dead. What were they supposed to do now?

"Sounds like that was mutual," she said, a little sharply, glancing at Snake once more before addressing Fox again. "So we won't be looking to join them, I assume you burned that bridge. Did you find any other packs on the mountain? Anyone you did like?"

Though her manner was approaching whatever Bella's version of 'stern' was, she drew closer to Fox, almost without consciously thinking about it, and reached forward to clean at a grubby patch of fur by her cheek. It was dustier up here than on the forest floor, but really now.

Her attention snapped back to Snake as he spoke, trying to deny his blame in it. While she believed him, she also believed Fox's account, and knew that her son had a manner which was abrasive to many. It was rare that Bella wished for Wolesh back, but at least her mate had kept a good handle on his children, had earned their respect as well as their love. She couldn't help the feeling that she was trying to tame a ticking bomb.

Foxglove spoke up in similar defense, and Bella did not argue, hoping that they were right; while she did not truly wish to join that pack, she did not want to make unnecessary enemies. Such was not her way, but Wolesh had been extremely adept at it, and it had been his end. It worried her that her children might take on that aspect of him. Did they not realise what had caused their father's death, how he had brought it on himself? Could they not fight their own nature to go down that same path?

When her daughter turned her head to sullenly accept Bella's ministrations upon the other side, the mother found her cheek to be perfectly well-kept; hardly wondering at the darker thoughts behind their familial interaction, Bella simply planted a kiss on that side instead.

There was another pack to the south, another change from the landscape she knew. That was a possibility, if only because it let her stay on the mountain without living so tantalisingly close to her old home, but yet... Nodding her understanding of Fox's report, and pulling away to give her daughter back her personal space, Bella glanced between the two siblings and held back her sigh. "Of course," she said, though the question hadn't really been directed at her and they hardly needed their consent. "We'll meet you tonight to the south of the lake, further from this pack. We should be safer there. We can discuss our next move then."

Wanting to embrace them both again, she resisted. She could not hold back the tide they were, or change the blood in their veins. She could only make peace with it. "Remember to keep the Calor name something to be proud of," she reminded them, "and keep safe. I'm glad you made it okay. I love you."