An entire moon cycle had passed overhead since the dismal discovery of Anthem's body upon the rouge outcrops, yet the emptiness that plagued Vespertio refused to relinquish its iron clad grip upon him. Signs of such agony were made visible by the tawny brute. Border patrols happened less frequently, meals skipped entirely; sometimes days at a time, fur distressed and void of its usual lackluster sheen with lack of proper grooming and social interactions with his family and subordinates became ghostly if nonexistent at all. In truth his woeful behavior had come to damage not only his physical appearance, but what little bond he had with his trio of children. Neha suffering the worst of them all.

Today the princess of the cove would no longer stand idly by to such deplorable distancing, rather taking matters into her own paws to begin molding one of the most sacred bonds a wolf could be bestowed with; a bond with their parents. Snow crushed easily under the limber limbs of his daughter as she pursued in his tracks along the southern border, the agouti king having come to rest just outside the visual distance of his pale coated child when she paused her search for him. A rust tinged ear twitched mildly at the sound of crunching snow, but paid the noise no thought. Creamy haunches lowering to sit upon the frozen ground.

Molten gold irises lifted towards the veiled fiery king now mid height into the cloudy, brilliant painted morning sky, a blurred orb marking its ascent towards high noon. Brows furrowed momentarily in the wake of a moments thought, a swift shake of a mighty skull dismissing whatever idea had crossed his mind before a slowly deteriorating embodiment rose to all fours again. Turning back the way he came Vespertio gave pause upon spotting the pale form of his daughter, golden gaze narrowing slightly to ensure it was indeed her against the equally pale backdrop. "Neha?" A tired voice called out. The corner of his leathery lips tugging back into a faint smile, although the elated emotion fell short of reaching his goldenrod eyes. My how quickly his daughter had already began transforming into a near likened image of her mother.

Whatever elated reaction the tawny brute may have been expecting from the pale coated princess, Neha had another method in mind to use in greeting for her father. No swift bounds of energized limbs came gallivanting toward him with an exposed coral tongue. Not even the trace of a smile was visible on those inky lips, instead soft spoken words brushed along the inner confines of his russet audits that should have been shouted granted the emotion that fueled such questions. Instantaneously audits splayed back to rest upon the back of his skull, goldenrod irises surveying the face of his daughter for any indication as to what had roused such a confrontation. His own facial features contorting into a look of utter confusion.

Greeting the cold earth with the thick winter fur of his haunches, a creamy hued skull angled to the side in response to the sudden development in her physical appearance. A silvered tail lashed like a slowly uncurled whip at her rump, the muscles outlining her jaw visibly contracted with tension. All signs pointed toward anger, but the foggy ocean within Vespertio's mind could not for the life of him allow the poor wolf to piece together what he had done wrong to earn this conversation from Neha. "What do you mean, princess? I've been right here." Unbeknownst for the time being to the patriarch, simply being here would be proven to be insufficient for the growing woman standing rigid before him.

Slowly with each turn of the rust laced wheel the cogs clicked into place, revealing to the tawny male just what exactly his daughter had meant by her words. He was a ghost to her. Realization dawned for Vespertio like a whirlwind, golden hued optics blinking away the last traces of confusion that remained upon his previously stoic countenance. It was in the wake of this great realization that dread and guilt began to gradually seep into the pit of his stomach, gnawing at the already figuratively worn hole depression had leisurely concocted the past few months. "Neha.." He began, fumbling for the right words to say in that moment as her name faded off his ebony lips into a hushed whisper catching the hard swallow that followed her words. But, what could he say to make it alright? There was no lavish excuse superior enough to condone such a detrimental mistake. He had failed her thus far as a father.

A burdened sigh shook the downtrodden shoulders of the man as it left through flared nostrils. Molten gold irises absorbing the emotions playing across Neha's pale complexion before dropping remorsefully to the snowy ground at their paws. "I'm so sorry, Neha.." A pause as his gaze lifted back up to meet the warm chocolate shade of his daughter's. "I had no idea I created such a negative impact between us. I never meant to keep you in the dark.." Creamy limbs rose to all fours, easily closing the distance between the two wolves to drape the length of his muzzle over the young girl's shoulders, pulling her slender frame against the confines of his chest with a small chin tuck while allowing the coal black point of his nose to brush against a patch of pale fur. "Tell me how to fix my mistake." Eyes squinted shut firmly as the regret ate its way deeper into being, the raw emotion of his struggle evident on each word uttered. He couldn't fix what happened to Anthem, but this, this he could fix. He would fix, for the agouti man couldn't bare the thought of losing his baby girl too.