Hollowheart Keep Waddle like a Duck

@Sagacity

Sometimes I stop and tell myself

• NAIRA •

I'm getting far too old for this shit

Since her return from Bramble Falls she had been all sorts of tormented. She no longer wished to ponder the outcome of her daughters decision to leave the family that only wished to shelter her from the dangers of the world and the mother had done all in her power to reinforce that she would always be welcome here if she chose to return. A ripple of pain passed down her right flank and fang was bared in annoyance. She never remembered pregnancy being so uncomfortable before. Perhaps it was a sign that she was nearing the end of her days as a child bearing adult?

Although her flanks had barely begun to swell she moved about the territory slowly with a wide gaited waddle. She now no longer had to slow her steps to keep pace with her mate when they performed their rounds, her own discomfort slowing her considerably, until she was almost convinced that perhaps even @Mapplethorpe was slowing to keep pace with her.

But today it was not her mate she sought out but her ever loyal second. She could feel a storm brewing on the horizon and the tawny leader wasn’t entirely convinced it was of the weather kind. Although she herself was partially distracted with memories of Triell, once again questioning whether her daughters were his or Rhysis’s, she finally caught the silver females scent, hoping that perhaps Mercy had been passed off to @Chulyin or @Evann so that they could catch up in peace. She had been remiss in her duties and knew the woman had more than taken up the slack for her. Perhaps she needed to remind her that everyone deserved a break once in a while.

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"I couldn't catch him." She said, as soon as she met up with Naira, having chartered a different course as soon as she caught the alpha's scent so that she could spend some time in her friend's company. She shook her head softly. Both of them had known what it felt like to lose a pup, and just when she thought she had him back again, he'd wandered off. He had howled, this time, to say that he was leaving and she knew she'd heard regret in his voice, but it made no difference. Before she could catch up to him and dissuade him from going out into the wild in search of Aponi, he'd left. She felt frustrated and flustered, knowing that she couldn't control him- but at the same time, the need to keep him reined in became even stronger. She couldn't bear to think what might happen to him. He was old enough to hunt on his own and protect himself, but he and Aponi were both still so weak, she doubted that they would last long on their own unless they were taken in by another pack, and that thought saddened Sagacity even more.

She reached over to nuzzle Naira's cheek gently. While she was still envious that Naira was pregnant again this year, she still loved her friend, though she worried for her as well. She had noticed the new limp and the slower gait that had become a part of Mapplethorpe's stride and she didn't like it. Naira herself had become quieter and a bit more reserved, which was unusual for the woman who could, in her prime, be quite a firebrand. Despite her envy, she still felt bound to Naira through both obligation and love, and would support her friend as much as possible.

"Did you find Aponi?" She asked, knowing that Naira had gone off in search for her daughter shortly after she'd decided to run off. It was Naira, after all, who had told Sagacity that Aponi had run off and that she should go and try to find her son to keep him from doing the same but the warning had come too late.

Sometimes I stop and tell myself

• NAIRA •

I'm getting far too old for this shit

The silvered second’s words caused Naira’s heart to sink a little, but it was also met with a tiny degree of relief. Together they would stand a better chance than alone, and in truth she knew it was probably Mercy that she owed the greatest thanks to for Aponi’s return. “Yes she went back to Bramble Falls. He’s quite the little hunter, I’m sure he’ll track her down without a problem.” Naira offered up with a smile. She could only hope the pair would be wise enough to set themselves up a little ‘base of operations’ from there. It was close enough that their parents would be able to swing by on occasion from a distance to check that all was well, but far enough away that the pair could feel some degree of independence if that was what they craved.

Motioning to a sunny spot a few feet away she moved somewhat stiffly and lowered herself to the ground, in no rush to be off about other business. Once she was comfortable she actually managed a smile for her companion. “You know I can’t help but think this all would have been avoided if we’d just stuck to kids related by blood,” she joked obliviously “if you find anymore distressed dying loners laying about with children at their side, please just leave them be!” she said with a chuckle, jokingly of course. She would be hard pressed to send away an orphaned child, but surely things would have been so much easier if she simply hardened her heart that little bit more.

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Bramble Falls. At that moment, Sagacity didn't quite know what to think. She was surprised to hear how relaxed Naira was about the fact that her daughter had wandered off again, and still while she was relatively weak. If Naira had found Aponi, then why hadn't she brought her back? Had Naira sounded more concerned about her daughter, Sagacity might have asked- but as it was, Naira smiled, slightly; it seemed as though she had come to accept the fact that Aponi had left the pack, but it didn't suit Sagacity at all. She knew full well that her son would track Aponi down, and that he would try to bring her back to the pack- the two were close enough that he might have a good chance at reasoning with her- but if she refused, Sagacity feared that her son would be lost to the wild, just as Aponi was. This caused Sagacity to frown, and made her somewhat skeptical of Naira's priorities. Sagacity was not nearly as willing to allow her child to run off into the wild and leave the pack. She'd sooner find him and drag him back and make him stay in the pack- at least until he was fully healed, three years old, married, had a full-time job and a first aid kit.

Wordlessly, she moved toward the sunny patch Naira had gestured toward and kept her mouth shut, though her concern still showed on her features. Sure, Naira was having more pups, and her last litter was grown up- as was the litter before that- but Mercy was Sagacity's only son, and she couldn't stand the thought of empty-nesting. It troubled her greatly to think about Mercy leaving the pack, but she didn't know how to say so to Naira, who seemed completely comfortable with the idea of her yearling daughter leaving. She knew she shouldn't have judged- Sagacity had left her birth pack when she'd been younger than Mercy, but life seemed to have been kinder then, and she'd travelled with a small group of other young wolves so that hunting would be easier.

Her throat clenched slightly when Naira mentioned having children related by blood. Smoothely, though, she settled down onto the ground next to Naira and huffed a small snort. She was stung, somewhat, by Naira's comment about finding a lone pup and leaving it, even though she could tell Naira had been joking. "Well if we were to do that," She said, "The only option would've been for me to have children with Chulyin," She said, and smiled. It had taken her some time to trust Chulyin- and she wasn't entirely sure he'd even been in the pack when Naira had been pregnant...No, he hadn't, had he? She couldn't remember. Of course, it wasn't the only option- she knew full well that she'd already exhausted the other. "Unless Mapplethorpe has an eligible brother?" She asked, and glanced toward her companion. It struck her, then, that she didn't know very much about Mapplethorpe's side of the family at all.

Sometimes I stop and tell myself

• NAIRA •

I'm getting far too old for this shit

Perhaps she had struck a nerve, but if she had learned anything over the last three years it was that there were more foolish times for yearlings to strike out on their own. The thought of @Chulyin pairing up with her loyal second made the tawny leader giggle out loud, but the question about @Mapplethorpe’s siblings quickly quietened her as a thoughtful look crossed her face. “You know I honestly could not tell you...” she admitted with a somewhat sheepish grin and a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders. There had been so much stress in the last few weeks that the impending birth of her children was leaving her giddy. She would be able to walk again, be able to run! And she might even manage to turn around and groom out that irritating matt that had been pulling at her right rear leg for what had probably been a day or so but already felt like a lifetime.

But her trip to the falls had awoken other memories in the woman. The sound of the falls and the feeling of the mist caressing her face. The comment could have sounded off the cuff but she felt it was time she confessed to someone and admitted that perhaps Mapplethorpe’s suspicions of what had gone on last year weren’t at all that far from the truth, founded or unfounded. “Although to be honest, at least for last year, my brother would have offered more of a certainty than any sibling of Rhysis...” she quietly confided. With her former mate so long gone she no longer felt a need to conceal the truth. “I can’t help but wonder if he suspected and if that was why he left...”

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Sagacity looked at Naira for a moment, surprised that she didn't know anything about Mapplethorpe's family. Sagacity chose not to judge, though, knowing that Mapplethorpe, of all wolves in the Keep, could be quite cryptic and might not have chosen to speak a great deal about his family. Sagacity herself knew little of his past, and thought better than to ask about it as such things were personal, and she and Mapplethorpe had never been terribly open with each other about personal issues. She was more of a servant to Mapplethorpe than anything, though she gladly considered Naira to be a friend of hers, now that time had past and their lives and lonliness had brought them together in Rhysis' absence.

She mentioned Rhysis and Sagacity looked at her; she realized then that it would have been very foolish of her to judge Naira for not knowing whether Mapplethorpe had siblings or not. She had, after all, mated with Rhysis without knowing much about him at all. But no one knew that; no one but her and Rhysis. Naira said something about Chulyin being a better option that Rhysis's siblings and she found herself wondering what a brother of Rhysis might have been like. She found herself inclined to shudder; now that time had past and the flame had died, she couldn't have imagined life with Rhysis. He'd been unstable, narcissistic, needy. Sage needed more freedom than that.

But what Naira said next really intrigued her. "Suspected what?" She asked curiously, trying to keep the desperate need to know exactly what Naira was talking about out of her voice. How could Naira have driven Rhysis off?