Broken Timber Pines Fragile sound

@Ember!

Iopah had thought she would recognize her daughters in an instant. After all, she was well-used to their every sound and the particulars smells their adventures wrought upon their pelts. Many nights had been spent listening to them play (and sometimes argue) and she had cleaned many mal-odors from them after a wild day of adventure. The aging mother laid her head down, inhaling the scent of cedar needles and letting the smell remind her of their pup-hood.

When the wavering call first came, she dismissed it. Her memory varied so much from that uncertain tone that it triggered no recollection. The daughters she remembered were impetuous and wild, and that fading-away-sound had never left their throat before. No, it could not be them. Her dark nose pushed at the layer of cedar needles, hoping the scent would soothe her.

It wasn't until the sound of an approaching wolf made her stir. Golden eyes snapped open and her head lifted in the direction of her impending company. Even now, she couldn't have guessed who it was. It was one of the other Pine's wolves, likely Eirian or perhaps Nova with some news. Well, they would find her well enough here. The woman set her muzzle back on the earth and waited for her un-invited company to state their peace and leave.

@Eirian's advice had done little to soothe the tension Ember was feeling deep inside. Guilt weighed as heavily as stones within her gut, and as excited as she was to be home and see her mother and pack mates again, something was keeping her from straight out bolting. Would her mother be unhappy with her? It was very possible, but would that outweigh her relief that she had returned? What of the fact that it had not been with Bracken? A whine drifted from her throat as she focused on all that she had done wrong, all the ways that she had failed, and she desperately prayed that Iopah could find it within her to forgive her for it.

When she at last made it to her mother and the woman did not look her way, Ember's heart sunk further. A wail of a bark whispered between her teeth as she squirmed closer, all nerves and no confidence.

"M-mom?" she uttered, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. The girl lowered herself onto her stomach, crawling the remaining distance between them. Once having reached her mother, she leaned forward to lick her paws and muzzle if allowed, tail whipping through the pine needles and remaining slush behind her.

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2016, 01:56 AM by Ember.)

Lemme know if any of this PP is not okay, I can absolutely change it!

They were still there, that unexpected and uninvited visitor.

The Pines' queen felt her sorrow struggle with exasperation and she remained stiff and un-moving, not sure if she was going to weep or rage. If only they would go away and leave her be. They pressed closer and Iopah pressed further into the cedar-strewn earth, willing herself to ignore them.

"M-mom?"

Something lodged in her throat - it could have been the pervasive scent of the cedar or it could have been her heart. The woman swiveled around to the sight of her eldest daughter crawling to her and the exasperation melted in an instant. "Ember?" She breathlessly questioned, starting to rise to her feet as reality sank in. The girls nose touched her foreleg and the mother moved automatically in turn. As Ember licked her paws and muzzle, Iopah pushed a dark muzzle through her daughters coat. There were no wounds to be found and the mother relented to clearing the muck from her child's coat with forceful, single-minded determination.

For a while she could say nothing, she simply tried clean the travel and grief from her only remaining family member. "Where is... A quick sniff was all she needed to know Ember was alone. Her eyes flashed through the forest; wanting to know, but not wanting to hear the answer to her unspoken question. "What happened? Are you okay?

At last her mother's head lifted and her gilded eyes locked upon her, lacking all of the anger that the eldest daughter had fearfully anticipated. The relief she felt was immediate but wavering. Still, her tail's wagging became more energetic, and when at last she reached her mother's side, she unabashedly showered the woman she had missed so much with kisses.

The care and attention Iopah returned to her was relished, and she continued to writhe with her happiness at seeing her mother once again. Only those first words stifled such expression, her mind completing the question with a damning echo. The girl even flinched, but the last few words to leave the firestarter's tongue were enough to bring her back.

"Yes, I-I'm fine. We... we tried to find papa," she murmured, her voice at an unusually low volume by mark of her shame. It had been a stupid idea, she knew it had, especially to leave without a word. At the time, she had only cared about making sure that Bracken didn't go off without her, and had been naive enough to think that if they worked together, they'd be back in no time with @Koda in tow. Stupid.

"I'm sorry, mom. I'm so sorry we did that to you."

(This post was last modified: Jun 18, 2016, 02:05 AM by Ember.)

Note to all: this is set before Koda's return

It hurt to watch the pale girl flinch. Iopah tried to not acknowledge it and forced her mind to follow the words even while her muzzle pushed further into Ember, a silent 'I'm sorry' in the gesture. It was her fault, for voicing the question and not being there to watch them. It was her fault only one daughter had come back.

Iopah nodded rapidly. Of course they had been trying to find Koda. The goal had consumed their mother and it would have understandably rubbed off on the girls. Ember had always wanted to please, always wanted to help out. "Thank you," the mother whispered thickly back.

"It's ok, I'm not angry with you." She couldn't be, not when the girl had simply been copying her mother. There was no question that a lesson had been learned, but there were still questions left unanswered. Hopefully they would not be as distressing as the first. "Where did you go?" Iopah had searched in the direction Koda would have left in; the pups' trails were faded by the time she'd realized they were gone as well. One more question begged to be asked and Iopah prayed for an easy answer. "Did anything happen to...

Wingin' this, let me know if you want anything changed! I'm totally flexible on what they were up to.

Ember's ears perked as her mother whispered gratitude, confusion sparking within her mellow eyes. What on Earth had she done to deserve thanks? She had done so much wrong, caused so much more hurt and helped nothing. But Iopah spoke again, confirming aloud that all of that was okay and that she wasn't mad at her for her mistakes. The acceptance meant the world to her, but also made her feel even more guilty. Her mother was the best and she swore to herself then that she wouldn't let her down like this ever again.

Where did you go she asked, and then of course Bracken was brought up again, because how could that just be swept under the up? She deserved an honest answer and Emer was quick to give it to, even though it hurt her heart to speak of it.

"N-no, I don't... I don't think so. We... we got into a fight. We went all over Snowmarch, b-because we figured, if he'd gone South he would've h-hit the packs and not have g-gotten lost..." because they were so sure that @Koda had been lost and that was the reason he hadn't come home; they couldn't fathom that he would stay away from his family by will. That shadow of doubt had rooted itself firmly within her head now, however.

"I, I wanted to come home b-but, sh-she didn't want to give up and I understood that but I... I mean we were s-so t-tired, and hungry and sc-scared and we ended up f-fighting and I," her words began to rush together, tears burning her eyes as her regrets assaulted her heart. She should've been more patient, a better sister. She should have never turned her back on Bracken.

"... I went one way, and she went the other."

(This post was last modified: Jul 10, 2016, 02:00 AM by Ember.)

Shallow water has trapped several fish in a small pond. Hunt Opportunity

The explanation painted a crystal clear picture. Iopah remembered the past winter months and her own fruitless searching; it was only too easy to imagine theirs. Both daughters had her determination and their footprints fit seamlessly in the way she imagined it had happened. Iopah had gone south and they had gone west. As she'd travelled through the frozen forests, they'd gone along the icy slopes. Her own hunger and frustration would have been the same as theirs.

This was all her fault. They had been copying her, seeing everything she did; even as she'd said nothing as explanation to them. She had let this happen.

She nudged closer to her sobbing daughter, pale ears flat to her skull in shame. The tears burned on her tongue as she tried to clear them away. "I couldn't find Koda. I lost his trail." It was pitiful little information to share, but Ember and Bracken had risked so much for it. "I came back and found that you two were..." Her fault; all her fault.

"We can keep looking." There was only so far a partially grown pup could go and she might have a starting point once Ember was ready to travel outside the borders. "Do you think you could show me where you saw Bracken last?"

sorrysorrysorry ;~;

Still she expected disappointment from her mother. Despite Iopah's patience and forgiveness so far, Ember was certain that they would both run out as she piled more and more details into the air. Yet this was not what happened, her mother's grace proving bottomless as the woman only sought to comfort her pitiful daughter. More and more Ember leaned into that unconditional love, ears lifting to take in her words regarding @Koda. The unfinished sentence caused them to lower again; that was exactly why she had wanted to come back. That they had done that to their already hurting mother...

Then Iopah had an offer, and to her own surprise even, Ember recoiled from it, almost physically. Pulling back to be able to look her similar-pelted mother in the face, her throat and tongue were suddenly dry as she attempted to find the right words for this horrid feeling that had suddenly knotted itself within her heart.

"Please," she whispered, golden eyes thoroughly wetted as they sought their mother's, "please don't go again. Every... every time someone goes s-searching... we just l-lose someone else. I want it to stop. I don't want to lose you too."

By no means was she trying to vilipend her sister, and she hoped dearly that Iopah knew better than that. Ember had learned the cost of traveling too far, however, and she could not bear the thought of losing the last remaining member of her blood family.