Hearthwood River make me a believer

While the loss of the matriarch still weighed heavy in the river wolves’ hearts, they were beginning to move forward. The ghost doubted that they would ever fully recover, for the Baranski had been there since the founding of Hearthwood (and even before that) and was a pillar in their history. The new recruits would hear stories about her, their chins dropping in awe and their pupils swollen, but they would never know her. Not the way they should. Pieces of her remained. Her children—Inna, Risaela and Mathéo—and her grandchild. They would preserver; move forward and make a life for themselves. Make Kisla proud. The Stark still missed her terribly, for he often tried to seek her out, his paws stepping toward her den before realizing she was no longer there.

He sighed, his shoulders sagging as he maneuvered through the trees and prepared himself for a patrol.

The cry stopped him in his tracks, his tail soaring high as his chartreuse pools widened and frantically sought out the direction it had originated from. His heart ached and he stumbled at first, disbelief causing his paws to stumble and scramble across the forest floor. Collecting himself, he plunged into the the forest without a second thought, desperation fuelling his deer-like legs as they cut through the trees.

“K-Kuh-Kalta,” he gasped as he staggered forward, his pear-coloured gaze sweeping her pelt, concern swelling inside his chest. He tried not to wince despite the injuries that littered her tawny fur. His lips fell into a tight frown as he approached her, cautiously, his nose reaching forward to press against her cheek. To make sure she was real. “Are you alright?” It was a silly question but he did not know what else to say.

It was baby steps that Inna felt she needed to take as much as she still had no desire to leave her den or go hunting or do patrols. She knew for her daughter's sake she had to do something, she didn't want Oksana to end up as she had the previous year. A short walk here, a trip to the river there and now she was laying outside her den in a beam of sunlight. She could feel the warmth soaking into her dark pelt and in some ways it was comforting. That thought though that haunted her was always in the back of her mind. The world kept going without her mother and without her.

The Baranski knew she had chosen for life to go in without her, she didn't blame them. Her mind constantly whirled trying to sort through everything she was feeling but at least she hadn't ended up at the rivers edge again. She was angry with herself for wanting to give up in all if it and make things stop. She felt badly for Oksana that she hadn't been a better mother in the past weeks, the Raven had no idea what her daughter had been doing in all that time.

A sigh left her as she lay outstretched with her eyes closed, she could make a promise to be a better mother but as with her mother she could not see the future. It was a promise she was afraid she would break to her daughter.

The forest had been quiet save for the bird song until a call rang through it. At first the Raven couldn't believe she was hearing it causing her to bolt upright, could her sister really have returned? Inna didn't waste anytime. It was the most energy she'd felt in weeks as she raced to the border. When she arrived and saw Lekalta there she paused almost afraid to believe her sister had survived the cougar. What if it wasn't her but just her imagination. Then her orange gaze landed on the form of Lachesis and she remained at the tree line.

She had found her way back to Hearthwood. Back home. He knew she would return, for he had refused to believe that the large feline had caught up to her. One Baranski had already been slain by the beast and the pale leader did not want to believe that it had taken another life from the river wolves. Despite her battered appearance the green-eyed Baranski had returned, but the peridots did not hold the same glimmer of life they had once possessed. No—they were now dull and empty. He felt her haunted look all the way down to his toes, a shiver dancing down his spine as he drew away from her, his own chartreuse gaze fixated on the younger wolf.

“Yes,” he answered quickly, his head tipped to the side, frown still pressed to his dark lips. “They’re all okay. They’ve been worried about you.” He paused, tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth. They were okay as they could be, especially the young ones. They were adjusting; adapting. They all were. “We’ve all been worried about you.” It was true. Losing her mother had been a great loss to the river wolves, along with her own absence. His front paws shifted awkwardly, his tail hanging low. “I looked for you,” he admitted, his brows pinched together as he averted his gaze, looking everywhere but her, oblivious to the presence of the raven at the tree line. “I was so worried.”

It seemed that neither Lekalta nor Lachesis had noticed her presence on the edge of the trees. It gave her time to take in the sight of her sister the wounds she'd suffered in order to protect the pack from the cougar. Inna felt badly for her sister, she should have gone with her, helped her to defend the pack. All she had done was collapse at her mother's side, she hadn't even been able to bury Kisla. Her ears perked when Lachesis admitted that he had looked for Lekalta and that had only made her feel worse.

Instead of looking for her sister who actually did care about her and Hearthwood she had been off chasing the sister who didn't seem to care at all. She had heard her sister ask about her but Inna felt rather awkward in the moment and wondered if she belonged there at all. Lekalta needed to know she cared and that she had missed her sister. Slowly with her posture low she approached the pair, “I missed you Kalta,” she said quietly bringing her gaze to meet her sisters briefly. She stopped just behind Lachesis feeling very unsure of what she should do.

His gaze fell as he took a step away from the broken Baranski, his ears tucked neatly against his pale skull as his chartreuse gaze swept over her battered body. He was not surprised to hear Inna from behind him, her hollow voice filling the air between them. He could not tell if she meant them, nor did he care—not now, anyway. Lekalta was safe and found her way back to Hearthwood. That was all that mattered. The sisters could deal with their own issues without his presence.

He also needed to tend to Lekalta’s wounds immediately, before they worsened and turned to infection.

Home. His ears twitched at the word, his lips curling into a small smile as he nodded frantically. “Yes, of course,” he hummed in response, his nose touching her cheek once more. “You can rest in my infirmary so I can tend to your wounds.” And keep an eye on her, for he feared she would disappear once more. The pack was frayed—they were learning to cope with the absence of the matriarch; adapting. He had wanted to move, to start over fresh away from the steady stream of tragedy that plagued them, but in this moment Lachesis was glad they had remained. Otherwise he wasn’t sure if Lekalta would have found them.

There was so much she wanted to say to her sister and tell her, pull her into and embrace that would let her know how much she missed her and needed her. Things were just so messed up that Inna wasn't sure if she should run to her sister or if she would get reprimanded for it. After what had happened at wild rye Inna didn't want to step anymore out of line and she was doing her best to give Lachesis what he wanted from her. She could see the state Lekalta was in and her injuries worried the Raven, she hoped her sister hadn't returned too late. She had always held hope that her litter mate was alive and didn't want to believe she was dead. Now she stood in front of her and Inna finally felt like she had a piece of her shattered family back.

An uncontrolled gasp came from the Raven as her sister spoke of coming home and she looked to Lachesis. Inna hoped he would say that Lekalta could, that he wouldn't take her sister from her. She didn't think he would but he seemed so different now Inna just didn't know anymore. She didn't know a lot of things and then finally he spoke saying that she could and a tear ran down her cheek. “May I sit with you for awhile, keep you company?” She asked looking between the two wolves. She didn't even care if they talked or all Lekalta did was sleep she just needed to be near her sister then after everything that had happened.