Whisper Marsh disappearing ink

RE: Willow Ridge, one of your packmates is missing!

Gonna say she left on the 9th, so she's been gone 5 days so far.

It was with growing frustration that Skana was noting the limitations of her failing body. Short of keeping an eye on the cubs, who were growing more independent and needing less supervision with each day, there wasn't much for the old wolf to do besides sleep. It left her feeling rather useless, like a lead weight dragging the pack down. She couldn't even keep up with the hunts, let alone make a kill, leaving her feeling like nothing more than another mouth to feed. Intent on proving she still had some sort of use, she decided on following the creek downstream to wherever it fed into. At one point she'd been a great fisherwolf, and maybe if she was lucky that skill hadn't entirely eroded away along with everything else.

What might have taken a younger wolf less than a day, Skana took three just to slowly limp alongside the creek. She was pleased to find it fed into a marsh, where it would be easy to find fish resting from the summer sun in the shade. She had spent the day stalking the catfish who lurked between the reeds, and Skana's prodigious patience finally payed off when she landed a sizable catfish. Proud of her catch, the advisor made for the return, picking what she thought was the stream she'd followed here and aiming to follow it back to the Ridge. As the evening wore on, it became clear that she was getting no closer to the Ridge and was headed the wrong way, and the big catfish tucked between her jaws was wearing on her energy and sore joints. She'd spent the night by the creek, returning to the marsh by noon with the now-stinky catfish still dangling from her maw. Although hungry, she was resolved to save the fish to bring back to the pack and prove her worth.

She'd checked the rest of the tributary streams, finding none that looked to be the one she'd followed here. It was frustrating that she couldn't quite remembered how she'd gotten here in the first place, and it was becoming apparent that her fishy gift to the pack would probably spoil by the time she found her way back, if she ever did make it back. In a flash of anger she growled, fish still hanging limp from her jaws as she flung the thing back and forth. The soft, decaying meat of the fish, unable to take such abuse, tore under the motion of its own weight and went soaring out into the marsh. The tail end of the catfish landed somewhere among the reeds, and the head landed with a soft 'plop' right at Skana's paws. "Just great," she snarled, kicking the head away with her front paw and wincing with another snarl when the impact hurt her swollen ankle.

Since this is so lonely for so long

The marsh was no place new for the silver wolf who's long legs made it easy for her to trot through the mud and muck. Though she had picked better places to hunt before in the meadow or among the cedar forest, Nari had decided to give the marsh a chance and see if anything interesting was around. Last time she had been there for example the blue eyed fae had seen a nice buck near the edge of the marshland. So it was worth a shot.

Besides, she had more mouths to feed. Along with her own pups of gray, rust, and black; the silver hunter also had to help feed the injured wolves Tokino, and Athena, and the Aphrodite pup. With Minka out of business for the most part healing her own injuries, only Narimé, Inali, and Kieth were around to hunt for themselves and the rest of the pack. So once more the gray females skills would be tested. Though she knew that it would be impossible for her alone to get a deer or elk, Nari would chance fishing or chasing rabbits to bring home some extra meat for the family.

However the young mother did not expect to meet another wolf out on her hunting expedition. Let alone one that she immediately recognized the scent of which clung to a few reeds to the woman's left. Pausing to sniff at the long leaved plants the womans tail began wagging just slightly; not enough so to disturb the water or plants around her though. After a few round about circles the silver wolf figured out the direction Skana was moving in and began trailing the elder.

It wasn't until she heard a "Just great!' from somewhere ahead of her that Narimé finally saw the willow wolf's brown pelt through the tall grass like reeds. She had heard a splash just to the right of her paws before the brownish she wolf growled out her words. Quietly the silver wolf sniffed the place where something sat half floating and sinking into the water. The strong smell of fish came to her nostrils making the girl decide to pick the thing up. For now she decided to leave whatever the thing was be. At least until she figured out if lady Skana actually needed the kinda slimy brown fish tail thing.

"What's wrong Skana?"Narimé said half jokingly announcing herself before Skana had a heart attack seeing someone stalking her from behind. The smell of swamp and decaying materials clung to everything masking the scent of Skana's fish along with her own smell quite well.