It had been sixteen days, now, since Minka had passed from the living world. It wasn't healthy, counting the days like this, and some part of Calanthe's mind knew it, but the larger part of her clung to the same mental tricks and tactics that had helped her keep herself grounded after the fire. Keeping track of how many days had passed was a good way to keep track of how well she - and now each of her pack mates, as well - was coping with and moving on from the loss of their former Queen. Unhealthy, yes, but Calanthe knew no better way to keep herself focused on the future than to attempt to turn the past into a marker to be moved away from.
She kept such thoughts to herself, not wanting to impose upon anyone else's grieving or healing processes, but she paid attention all the same, especially where Draven was concerned. The young former prince even had center stage in her mind as she stopped by a narrow stream to drink during her afternoon walk, and as usual her thoughts about him were a tangle of fret. She knew this had been the most difficult for the darkling boy, but she was beginning to grow worried that the once extremely curious and adventuresome little tyke was still so closed in on himself, so... lost as he wandered around the Crest pack's territory. Surely by now he must have explored any nook and cranny of the mountain, and she feared the effects of boredom on his mind when he was clearly still reeling from all that had taken place over the last few weeks.
The boy needed variety - something new and exciting, something that would hopefully take his mind away from his pain, at least for just a little while. Even in her lonely flight from the Gambol, Calanthe had still had plenty to do the same for her. Hunting, changing dens, hiding and fleeing from potential aggressors... she had been too busy to grieve. Draven needed something of the same: A distraction.
Now, in fact, would not be an inopportune time for it to happen, either. Calanthe's eyes narrowed as she raised her head slightly from the water, bright pink tongue still half-lolled between her teeth as she paused to think. At the pack meeting a few days ago, @Gent and @Raela had lifted the ban on the adult members of the pack, removing the barrier that had kept them all within the pack's boundaries for the first ten days after Minka's death and burial. The rule has also been lightened somewhat for Draven; now the boy was allowed to leave pack lands as long as he was accompanied by an adult.
There were safe places to wander beyond the pack's border's, and Calanthe was no stranger to doing so. She did not wander often, and had never wandered to the eastern reach of Stonewatch Timbers since coming to the Crest. There was no reason to; it had always felt too much like going back in time, took her too close to the days when she had been alone and afraid and desperately trying to survive through the fog of her own grief and confusion.
The longer she thought about it now, though, the more going back to her old wandering route seemed rather tempting. There had been no one there for her along that road, but there had also been no obligation, no responsibility, no duty or loyalty to anyone but herself. All these things that lay now at the root of her suffering did not exist in the east... and she had heard tell among her pack mates of a recently discovered place they referred to as the Bowed Maple Bend. From what she had heard the place was rather lovely, and although the water would be both too frigid and too deep for Draven to play in, surely being near it at all might provide the boy somewhere peaceful to rest when he was not exploring the area.
That was her hope, in any event. Even if that didn't turn out to be the case, however, the pale woman was convinced the trip would be a benecficial one for Draven. He needed new sights; he needed to be reminded that the entire world did not consist of the Round Stone Crest and his mother's burial grounds. Her mind made up, Calanthe gave herself a shake to send the water on her muzzle dancing away from her like bits of crystal in the chilly autumn air, then leapt across the creek and trotted off into the territory to search for Draven. All she could hope for now was that the boy was receptive to the idea of leaving the territory for a little while.
It didn't take a very long before Calanthe found the boy - and as usual, though he seemed engrossed in whatever he was currently up to, his disinterest was plain in the half-lidded set of his eyes and in the way he held his body. Not wanting to startle him, Calanthe announced her presence with a quiet huff through her nose before closing the remaining distance between herself and the former prince and nudging him gently in the side with her muzzle.
"Why don't we do something a bit more interesting than this, Draven?" she suggested in a soft murmur. "You must have seen the entire territory twice over by now, and the ban on anyone crossing the borders has been lifted, remember? I know a place where no one cries; if you'd like, I can show you the way there. You can't leave the territory on your own," she reminded him - just in case the fragile child took her offer as an excuse for her to shadow him, "but I wouldn't mind taking you out to see somewhere that you haven't seen before. Would you like to go?"
Once the boy agreed, Calanthe gave a quick howl to alert the Alphas to their plans, then lead Draven eastward, across their borders and back through the eastern Stonewatch Timbers until they reached Bowed Maple Bend. The change of the seasons had begun turning the grass and leaves from green to shades of yellow and orange, making the pool light up like a mirror reflecting an inferno. The sight was a peaceful one, though, and birds sang overhead as Calanthe chose a spot to lay down and watched as Draven did as he chose with this new play area.