Shallows Edge Down with the sickness

Askan wasn't exactly an expert on plants and the like, but he knew sickness when he saw it.

As if the snow wasn't enough, the foliage that surrounded the shallows was brittle and thin, as though it would crumble to dust if he even brushed past it. Whilst he wasn't particularly worried he imagined that this development would bother a couple of his subordinates, that they'd get all worried and try and stock the medical den till it was overflowing. Had wolves been herbivores he might have been a little more concerned about this, but as things stood his caches were stocked and plenty of deer still roamed his forest. Unless they started keeling over the Selwyn didn't consider this to be a real issue, though touch wood it would never come to that.

With a huff he strode on, pushing through the snow, his tail flicking idly as moved parallel to his border. He despised worrying about things that were out of his control, it felt so futile, like he was hopelessly swimming against the current of a fast flowing river. What good would it do to fuss and mope? He was a man of action and...squinting at trees was getting him nowhere.

a dream within a dream

Lae was cozied up on the ground like a leaf, limbs stretched out and belly exposed. She looked frail and broken in her position. Her blind eye was open, staring blankly into the sky while her brown eye stayed closed. It was not apparent if she was sleeping or not, her breathing heavy and stable. Her front paw twitched, possibly from a dream and she let out a little grunt.

The sound of Askan’s approach did little to stir her. She knew she blended into the snow. It was possible he didn’t see her at all, but her smell was a little harder to miss. The old girl had not cleaned herself in days. She assumed rolling in the snow would wet her fur enough to clean it, but she was wrong. A unique stench of wet dog, moldy meat and old age was intertwined to her hair follicles. “It’s a message,” she hissed.

Abruptly her brown eye opened and she jerked to her feet. A lot quicker than she usually moved, she weaved towards her leader, ears low to her skull. "Bad things," she added softly, her words forceful but humorously unspecific. What did she mean? It was likely she herself didn't even know. She swallowed down a small burp before it could escape her lips then flashed the large man a pleasant grin.

The young Argyris boy wandered at a far pace from the Edge's leader, concern clearly etched within body language. Eyes watched with curiosity laced with small amounts of fear, wanting more than anything to run away and find somewhere where the world would never be anything less than wonderful. Where things could be good all the time. Such fantasies, though. Quietly, he paced behind the dark man until his eyes sought the form of an approaching, lighter figure. A woman much older than he had seen that expressed that it was a message. Bad things echoing in his mind until he skittered forward and attempted to place himself at Askan's flank. M-message? As tall as he was with his lanky, overgrown legs he could not begin to comprehend that danger was lurking on his pack's doorstep.

Askan sighed, he knew the old woman was around here somewhere but he hadn't cared enough to check. Her words weren't encouraging nor had he expected them to be as she didn't seem the sort to be overly optimistic. Casting Lae a withering look Askan shook his head, she was jumping to conclusions. Nothing bad would come of this, to say otherwise would be to fear monger.

"Pffft, yeah right." Askan sneered, just in time to see Lance enter the scene.

He was a bit of a strange boy, nervous and timid but Askan didn't mind nor had he really taken great offence to his lonesome behaviour. Askan imagined that he was having a hard time settling in, that this place was so different from his home he now felt out of place, like the proverbial black sheep. Reyes had tried to help him settle but...Well, Reyes wasn't doing much of anything these days, now was he? Askan wasn't bitter, no he fucking wasn't.

"Don't worry about it kid." Askan said, striding forward so he could bump him with his shoulder. It was the best he could do to provide some comfort. " It's practically winter so the plants were going to die anyway."

He then looked to Lae again and a wry smile appeared on his lips. "Comfortable are you?" He then glanced over at Lance as though to say 'look at what I have to deal with.'

It was easier to deal with the burden of leadership when he had moments like this sprinkled inbetween. It wasn't all work work work, there was more to life than just keeping this pack up and running. Askan just found it a little hard to remember that these days, especially with all the shit he had to deal with day in day out. Some days it felt like there was no end to it, that leading this damn pack would be the death of him. Siiigh.

a dream within a dream

“Very comfortable,” she sighed quietly, stretching out her front paws. She was feeling great lately. Her health was vastly improving from the day Askan found her. She circled the ground twice, nose to the floor, before settling back down. She tucked her nose under her tail, muffling her words. “You should try to nap too,” she added, her singular brown eye dancing. Her leader had seemed tense lately. It was hard to ignore the stiffness of his body and crassness of his tone. Lae did not mind. She was too aloof to take it to heart. She did care for her leader and his wellbeing though and it showed in the softness of her gaze. She wanted the best for Askan- and a nap was just that.

She wiggled her tail over, an inviting gesture to persuade him to curl up. Then, almost as a second thought moved her gaze to the growing pup. A shrill laugh escaped her. She hadn’t met the child before. It was an exciting surprise, such a young visitor. She lifted her head up and took a few sniffs of the air. “Hello,” she cooed. “You can rest too if you’d like.”

While Reyes was gone, Askan had been his go-to when possible. If only because they were the strongest because they were the leaders and they reminded him of mom and pop. They took care of everyone and he recognized that they would take care of him. So it was easy to gravitate to the strongest individual, regardless of how personable they might be. Lance could be quiet or he could be a chatterbox, depending on the company. So with the clever shoulder bump he felt settled, comfortable and eased slightly. It was disappointing that the plants would have to die but he didn't make any mention of it, simply looking over to the white woman who expressed that he could partake in resting, too, if that was what he wanted. Automatically the boy looked to Askan, only willing to rest or nap if that was what he dark male was wanting to do.

Askan had no problem with it, he wasn't going to throw a tantrum and dunk them both in the Shallows for their insolence. He was a hardass for sure, but a slave driver? Nah, not really. The line between being a lazy shit and taking a moment to rest was really thick, he wasn't about to confuse the two. Askan rolled his eyes, as if he needed her permission, but plopped himself down beside her nonetheless. He left a space between them, just wide enough for a fox to slip through. He wasn't gonna cuddle with her anytime soon but this was his olive branch, sort of.

The Edge Lord's face flitted to the tawny boy. In certain lights he almost looked ginger, like his sister almost. The taste of nostalgia was bitter on his tongue and he was quick to swallow it down as his ears flicked back a little, a subtle note of his discomfort. He extended his legs in front of him as his tail curled around his sides, it was in moments like this did his blue blood rear it's head. So neat and proper, old habits died hard he supposed.

"I wasn't doing anything important anyway." He mumbled, like he needed to explain himself. "Kid, sit." It wasn't an order as such, more of a firm suggestion. And then. "Old ladies have stories, spill it Lae."

There, wasn't this nice?