Wild Cherry Orchard Electrified, my love is better

February 25th; Early morning; Clear; -17° F/-27° C

The pain in his back and shoulder had not improved with the cold and frost that continued to linger into the end of February, but Mapplethorpe was determined to not let it get the best of him. Believing that a good amount of stretching would aid some sort of healing process, the Leader of the Keep wandered just far enough from his borders to touch upon the tree line of Relic Lore's cherry tree grove, the Wild Cherry Orchard. The trees were bare and still encased in ice, but it was still apparent that there was life here. A select few of the trees bore the shallow marks of what seemed to be a territorial Leader marking off his territory. Mapplethorpe pressed his nose to where the tree had failed to heal, the woody gashes revealing themselves to be nothing but an abandoned landmark. The scents, if there had been any once upon a time, were now gone. Swept away by wind and washed away by the rain and snow. Whoever had been here was no longer around.

In that case, the masked Leader helped himself... even if it pained him to stretch up onto his hind legs and dig his nails into the frozen bark, the dull black nails on his forepaws stripping away the remedied part of the trunk's smooth tree bark. The Orchard in its entirety might not have been his but he had a mind to let anyone else know that, at the very least, this end of the grove now belonged to him. Both of his front paws crashed back down into the snow with a muffled groan that hissed through his teeth and sounded in his throat and chest. "Superi miserera..." he winced as a sharp pang in both his elbows made his arms fold and he fell over in the snow. His head pressed against the blanket of white, momentarily resting it there while he allowed his hind limbs and tail to sprawl out behind him.

He sighed, laying there at the foot of a tree. At this point, it seemed it would be a miracle for him to return back to the den by nightfall, but as it stood, the very least he could be thankful for was the fact that it was only his joints and back that were hurting. For him to rue the day his limbs stopped working or for him to survive a terrible accident would be a long time coming... or so he hoped. With as much energy he could muster, he righted himself by rolling onto his stomach so that he could properly take a look at the world from where he lay, staring up into the fruit- and leaf-less canopy.

Nova had been growing increasingly worried by @Mercy 's absence at the den. Each day that went by without seeing him made her worry that he might not be coming back. She knew he was pretty independent, and was often out with Sagacity doing something or other. Nova had meant to ask Sage about him, but whenever she saw the woman the question sort of died on her tongue. It was likely she would get an answer, but Nova wasn't sure that she wanted to hear it.

After a sleepless night of worry she told herself she would head out to look first thing in the morning. At the first break of sunlight on a fortunately sunny yet frigid morning, Nova set out after a stale trail of Mercy's scent. It wasn't much to go on, and she was unsure whether she was even going in the right direction. Nova howled Mercy's name, and as her call ended she lowered her head waited a few moments to listen for his voice. After her own echos faded, only the land responded back with the cold, lifeless groan of the wind. She continued on, intermittently howling and hearing nothing in return.

Eventually she ran out of any evidence to go upon, scent or otherwise, but she continued onwards with hopes she might pick up the trail again. What if she never found him? Or what if she did, and he was frozen solid? Dead. Her throat clenched and her eyes began to water, and she hastily blinked back the moisture she told herself it was just the sting of the cold.

Making it into the trees, sparse and leafless, she came upon a much more recent and familiar odor, but unfortunately it was not the wolf she was looking for. She would feel self conscious running into Mapplethorpe while feeling so shaken. But Mapplethorpe had always been kind, and perhaps he could even help.

Nova caught sight of the old wolf lying at the base of a tree. She made an attempt at composing herself, trying to look more adult and less like a panicked child. "Ap-" She began as she approached him, stopping herself when she realized she was about to use her childish nickname for him. That would be at odds with the adult image she was currently trying to project. "Mapplethorpe, I was wondering," She restarted, "Have you seen Mercy? I've looked all over for him." Despite her best efforts otherwise, the girl sounded worried.

It seemed some time before the sting of the impact faded but Mapplethorpe was wholly glad that it seemed like no one had been around to witness, let alone hear him hiss under his breath. When the sound of crunching snow and a singular syllable reached his ears, the grizzled man found himself staring, wide-eyed, into his adopted daughter's face. Well, now this was a surprise... It wasn't everyday that Nova joined him for a conversation.

"Mapplethorpe," she addressed him properly. "I was wondering. Have you seen Mercy? I've looked all over for him." As much as he wanted to smile, to tell the youngest princess that he knew exactly where her playmate was or what he had planned on doing that day, the Leader found that he had no truths or white lies to tell her. After all, Naira's daughters were no longer the curious, dream-chasing youngsters they had been in the early Summer. "I'm sorry, Nova," he spoke quietly, his voice low and rough like the gravel shifting underneath rolling truck tires. "I don't know where Mercy is."

Just as she had seemingly tried to cover up her concern, Mapplethorpe had failed to cover up his weariness. His ears lowered, wholly anticipating Nova to spiral further into distress. He truly felt for her. While Aponi had usually been busy with Karpos, Nova had Mercy to keep her company... and when Mercy was gone... What fun or exploration was there to be had if she had no one to accompany her? He knew Nova to be a dependent on others; it had been her nature since the day she had been born, and a part of Mapplethorpe felt as though she could have been better off as an only-child, spoiled and well-looked after by him and Naira alone.

He took a deep breath and gave her a rather crooked, closed-mouth smile. "Don't worry about him," he suggested, not daring to move in fear that he might wince in front of the girl. "He'll be back."

x_x sorry Thorpe, Nova's gettin that moody teenager sass

Nova's wide brow furrowed at Mapplethorpe's response. She didn't really expect he would know where Mercy was, but he didn't seem terribly concerned about it either, suggesting that she just not worry. Nobody but her and Sagacity seemed to even be looking for him. How was she not supposed to worry about it? Whether or not his smile was meant to reassure her, it only irked the girl.

"Back from where?" Nova pressed. Mapplethorpe had already said that he didn't know, but Nova didn't get how he could be so sure he could come back without even knowing where her friend was in the first place. Without waiting for Mapplethorpe to answer what she knew was an impossible question, even given how omniscient adults sometimes seemed, she dramatically fell back on her haunches into the snow, then slid forward on her forelimbs until she was lying down as well. She set the side of her head on her forelimbs and tilted her face to look away from the elder. She stared off into the snowy orchard, watching some small chickadees flit about the base of a neighboring tree. "You don't even care 'bout him," she mumbled into the crook of her foreleg, half hoping he wouldn't hear that and half hoping that he would.

It seemed that Nova wasn't convinced, she countered him with a scowl. "Back from where?" Mapplethorpe eyed her warily, ears coming up as the girl came to lay down beside him. He opened his mouth to tell her that Mercy could have merely wandered off and that Datura, once upon a time, had done the same, but she tucked her nose into her forelimb, looking away from him. His head tilted to one side, staring into her face to read the emotion that was distorting her face with anger. She mumbled something which he could have sworn was something in defiance... something about caring or maybe if his eardrums had possibly heard her correctly, not caring.

A low, warning growl emitted from his throat and chest as he looked at his daughter. What the hell was this attitude all about? Well, he knew very well about the relationship between Mercy and his girls, but for Nova to have harnessed a sense of defiance or insolence was something quite new. Quite frankly, Mapplethorpe wasn't sure he liked it at all. Not one bit. He already had Aponi to deal with; Gods help him if he had to allot his concerns into Nova's wellbeing also with her newly developed adolescent temper.

"Excuse me, young lady?" he retorted. "What did you say?" If he could have rubbed his temples the way a frustrated human often did, he probably would have, but as he laid there, he glared back at her. "Look," he tried again, his patience already worn thin. "I get that you miss him. Your brother, Datura, was the same way when he was your age." He dragged the tip of his tongue down the front of his nose, recalling the days when he had both the golden prince and Taima, his princess bride, to look after. "They were able to find their way back," he lied through his teeth, hoping the tone of his voice would at least ring true. "With a little help... I mean, I don't know where he is but you would know that he has the smarts to find his way back home."

There is an elk carcass nearby. It looks like it froze to death. +12 Health