Turtleback Lake What the Future Holds

Open to anyone! 
Mid afternoon, partly cloudy.
34*F, 12*C

Once again, Zia Celencio found herself yearning to get away. Not that she didn't love her home among the redwood trees. It was simply that for countless months now, nothing felt right. In fact, it felt all wrong. Koda had long since vanished, just like Inkheart and Camio before him. In her heart, Zia knew that none of them would ever be coming back. As if she would welcome them with open arms either. They were all traitors, liars whom had left their loved ones behind, leaving the mothers to raise their children on their own. And for that, she detested them.

Although her heart had long since been healed by her ex mates disappearance, it had since frozen over with an icy layer. There were other worries nagging at her restless mind now. Iopah, she had noticed, had not been herself. Lurking in the shadows more often that not, distant and even short tempered towards her subordinates. But she couldn't blame the woman for feeling as she did, now that she too, had experienced the loss of her mate. Yet, the silver woman was worried. Was her friend starting to lose her grip? Sure, it was well and good that Erian was there to lead beside her, but the rusty male hardly had gained Zia's respect. Broken Timber Pines felt haunted these days, and the added fact that there would be no pups this spring, only made it feel worse.

Bidding a swift goodbye to Arion the night before, Zia slipped silently past the borders, eager to put as much distance between herself and her broken home as possible. Perhaps exploring some uncharted territory would help. Maybe she would run into a new face, or even one belonging to an old acquaintance. Anything just to take her mind off the present. Her travels took her North, through patches of forest un-explored. Her reward, at the end by mid day, was a magnificent view. A great lake laid sprawled out in front of her, with several smaller land masses dotting the middle. Padding gingerly towards the bank, her paws sloshed in the still chilly water, only reaching her toes. Hopefully, her nose skimmed above the earth, to perhaps catch the scent of any recent passerbys. But finding nothing, the woman sighed, and seated herself. With her spirits feeling as dampened as the water at her feet, she solemnly gazed at her reflection, wondering where she had went wrong in her life.

The Pines' queen felt like a traitor herself.

She had promised Koda she would look for him (sworn it to his face), and in doing so had turned her back on her pack. The spring had come without her mate, a situation that made her both frantic and anti-social to an extreme. And now the spring was firmly here with nothing to show for it - Koda was still gone without a trace and she was barren. The son she had hoped to finally give him was nothing but a dream nightmare. She couldn't even bare to go back to them, surely they would know there would be no pups, but at the very least she could bring back news of Koda.

Iopah pushed through the undergrowth, ignoring the dampness and the pain it brought to her joints. It didn't matter, but in the queens' dazed state she couldn't tell quite what did matter anymore. She lifted her head, gazing blankly over an expanse of water before finally recognizing it. Gold eyes blinked and then narrowed, everywhere she went was a reminder of the past. Snorting the woman continued on, head lowering to sniff at the wet stones.

There were many wolf smells, but not the one she wanted. Still she lingered - not wanting to return and admit defeat. She stopped at the sight of ripples in the water and stared hard at the bend in the shore that kept the other wolf out of sight.