Spieden stood ankle deep in the shallows, fishing. At least, that's what she had been doing until a poorly timed lunge had sent the fish darting into the depths, far out of reach. She knew she wouldn't catch anything today, but still paced along the shore, or crossed through the shallows, searching through the glittering water and occasionally making a half-hearted snap.

The water was cool, soothing to her skin in this hot weather, and the air was fresh from the recent rains. It was a welcomed respite from the draining tedium of motherhood. No suffocating den or wriggling cubs latched on like painful little leaches trying to bleed her dry. No need to push out affection that was so thin and hollow even babes could see right through. Sahalie and Drift were growing quickly, and didn't hungrily cry for her as often as they had in weeks prior. Spieden was catching onto the routine, knowing she would have well until noon before they would need her again.

Spieden did not expect to hear someone calling her name. No one ever came out looking for her. "Darrah?" She called back. Her uneven ears folded, grey freckled brow furrowing in a troubled expression that had frequently taken residence on her face as of late. Had something gone wrong? What else was there even left to go wrong? It would be just her luck for Triell to disappear or the cubs to starve to death or something equally horrid. And the worst part was, at this point, none of that would have surprised her now.

Spieden waded out of the water, ambling up the bank and shaking the water from her pelt. "What's wrong?" She asked, looking through the trees for Triell's son.

Spieden's troubled stare held as the boy stammered that nothing was wrong. It was hard for her to believe, and all that left was for her to wonder why in the world he had come looking for her then. Her paws shifted hesitantly underneath her, keeping her place as Darrah moved closer. She wasn't really the chatty type and so she didn't think Darrah had come looking for her just to talk about the weather.

Spieden's breath hitched and held when the young wolf mentioned he had come to talk about his siblings. Oh no. Spieden inwardly cringed, she thought she had been doing an... acceptable job given what she'd had to work with but was all too aware in the places she fell short as a caretaker. Her mind was swirling that she almost missed the next words out of his mouth, completely taken off guard. Her mouth dropped open, the crease of her brow remaining, but with confusion now instead of worry. Was he being sarcastic? He sure sounded earnest, and as far as she could tell, the smile on his inky muzzle was just as sincere.

"Oh... Uhm.. No problem." She mumbled while idly scuffing the ground with a forepaw, still looking puzzled and struggling to do something with the thanks.

"No, ahh... He didn't. We don't really, uh, talk or anything... You probably see him more than I do."  Spieden answered awkwardly. Taking care of his children hadn't really changed things between them, and if anything she avoided him now, ducking out whenever he came to check in. She did not want to see his disappointment at whatever mark she was leaving on the Drift and Sahalie.

Spieden shifted with slight discomfort. It didn't really bother her, no. She was used to doing things without being asked nor thanked. That she wasn't ordered and took things on of her own volition was just enough of a reward for her. Whether or not anyone appreciated anything she did wasn't something she really lingered on.

However, what did bother her was that Triell was apparently just as distant with his own blood. He was attentive enough with his cubs, and she had assumed he was similarly close with his older children. There was nothing Spieden wouldn't give to see her family again, nothing she wouldn't do just to know if any of them were still alive. She could not begin to imagine what Triell's own demons were, but still could not empathize with his actions.

"No, not really, I mean... I don't really care, I'm not doing it for him." She replied with a shrug of her broad shoulders. Sahalie and Drift were the sole reason she went to the lengths she did. She couldn't let them die and that was that. Triell's opinion on the matter was of little consequence.

"He's... A bit odd. I can see why, losing his mate twice and all, but... I don't know." She said with a huff, paws shuffling beneath her to pace a few steps one way, then back the other. "He doesn't have to like me, that's fine. But I would have thought he would still be close with his own family... Does that bother you? That you guys never talk, I mean." She asked, curiously pressing. She didn't understand this family, and while she'd lived here a year and was even raising Tainn children, she felt like she never would. "Has he always been like that?"

The boy started glancing around like he was looking for an escape route. Spieden inwardly winced, she didn't mean to put the kid on the spot like that. As an authority figure in the pack she really didn't want to make a habit of inadvertently squeezing answers out of everyone. Spieden backed up slightly, letting her eyes wander from his form so that he might not find her so intimidating. She almost told him to nevermind, but somewhat surprisingly he continued speaking, managing to stammer out a stilted answer.

Spieden would have thought that Triell wasn't always so reclusive, that so many hardships would have changed him. But from what Darrah was saying it seemed like Triell had always been like that, at least for as long Darrah had been alive. Which wasn't all too surprising to Spieden and wasn't really anything she couldn't have figured out on her own, but hearing it from his children gave her just the tiniest peek over the rosebush into the Tainn garden.

"I see... I'm sorry about that," She said sympathetically. To her Darrah sure didn't seem like he "didn't really care", but she had already pushed things enough and didn't need to keep digging. "Well, thanks, for the... thanks." She said with a small smile.

A splash sounded out from the water behind her, Spieden's ears folding against her skull and her shoulders flinching as she looked back over her shoulder. She glanced towards the water, seeing something silvery shimmy through the center of the creek; that must have been the one that had gotten away. Her grizzled head swung back towards Darrah, "Well, I better get back to it... Those fish aren't going to catch themselves. You're... welcome to join me, if you want." She offered.