She took her time heading home. Though she knew she had already been away too long, the meeting with Sylva and her pup had only given the Woodland queen more to think about. Trailing Heartleaf Creek from its start at the falls, she made her way slowly homeward, taking note of the first leaves starting to shift in the trees along the bank. The creek held its own host of memories, many bitter sweet, yet she relished them all the same. She’d come a long way since recovering Coal, half dead, here next to the water and taking him to Secret Woodlands. Since then she’d even stopped by a few other times, both with Miccah, and most recently fishing with Duckweed, again two memories of mixed emotions.

Refusing to speculate about her homecoming - she would have to confront her mate soon enough - she instead focussed on the boy; How long had it been now, since he left them? Bella’s death had been hard on all of them, but especially on her son, of course. When he set out to mend his heart, Aideen had desperately hoped that he would return, but part of her had known that he wouldn’t. She just hoped, wherever he’d ended up, he’d found a way to be happy despite his loss.

So deep in thought, she didn’t notice the stranger until she was only a few steps away, head jolting up when she suddenly caught sight of the bright senopia figure. “S-sorry,” she murmured, uncharacteristically demure, cheeks burning with embarrassment. A couple more steps and she would have rammed straight into him. Now she looked at him with a nervous smile, studying him subtly as she tried to regain her composure. He looked very familiar, with a medium, well muscled builds, covered in a deep tawny fur, marked by cream and black. She realized, he reminded her a lot of her youngest brother - and by extension his name sake nephew; I gotta get home..!

Breathing in deeply, she noted the faint scents of pack coming from him, as well as the last hint of a passed cold. She wondered if she smelled like pack at all anymore, it had been so long. She’d been surrounded by plenty of other wolves though, and the part of Secret Woodland scent that came from her own perfume would of course always remain; It was an odd, heavy realization, that she had become so completely one with her pack in this way, part of it would never leave her, no matter how far she strayed. To her own surprise, she smiled to herself; Heavy, but nice! Suddenly she couldn’t wait to get home.

Still, she didn’t want to be rude. So she turned her smile on the stranger, back to her usual, cheerful self; “Hello there! I don’t think we’ve met before, are you new around these parts?” It never hurt to friendly. Right?

Word Count: 488

Thoughts "Speech"