thistle and weeds

@Nineva - RE:Ophelia, you find a branch partially frozen in the ice. Can you pull it out?

Ophelia kept mostly to herself since that awful morning. She still felt guilty about attacking Pip, but the entire pack had given her so much grief over it that she felt an apology at this point would seem forced. Besides. What if she saw the mute again and felt all that misplaced anger bubble up again? Then everyone would really hate her. Her parents hadn't given her any slack either. Ophelia knew she really didn't deserve any, but to even have her Daddy mad at her was almost too much to bear.

The pale princess, feeling dejected and unwanted, wandered away from Grizzly Hollow territory and just kept on walking until she reached the edge of the forest and found herself looking out over an expanse of frozen marshland. Honestly, she had no idea what she was doing. Not running away from home. Definitely not that. Grizzly Hollow was the only home she knew. And even if everyone was mad, she was determined to stick it through and get back in everyone's good graces. It just meant she'd have to...she wasn't sure. Do something. Better. Do better.

Nearby, a branch jut out from the frozen marshland. With nothing else of interest nearby, Ophelia trotted over and grabbed hold of it, giving a sharp tug. There was a crack, but the branch held fast within the ice without budging. Scowling, the pale female growled and tugged harder. Still nothing.

Anger and frustration boiled up in a flash and her jaws lashed out again and again at the branch until it broke under the stress. For all the effort, the lower end of it remained firmly trapped in its icy coffin. Panting, she snarled over it before her shoulders drooped and she sat. She didn't used to be so angry all the time. While Ophelia knew it started when Mama left, she thought it should go away now that she was back. Shouldn't it?

"Maybe I should just disappear," she muttered. "No one would miss me," the girl said to no one.

Nineva hadn't meant to follow Ophelia. She truly hadn't even realized she was on the girl's trail until the gunshot-like sound of the branch breaking ricocheted into her ears and grabbed her from her thoughts. Initially, she was alarmed, until her scrambling mind placed the noise. Snow and ice must have gotten to be too much for some poor branch, but as her nose sampled the air, she couldn't placate herself. Even if it was just wood breaking, who was to say luck wasn't cruel and it hadn't landed upon the young girl? Moving as quickly as she could through the drifts of snow, Nineva searched.

When she finally found the girl, she was allowed a breath of relief. While the pup had her back to Nineva, it was clear what had happened and that she was unharmed. Yet just as she was about to call out to Ophelia, those sad words floated back to her. Nineva's brows knit with concern as her ears drooped backward. After what had happened between the two, it was clear that Pip had suffered the worst. But that did not mean Ophelia wasn't still hurting as well. The violence she'd shown had been alarming, had made the worst thoughts flash through the yearlings mind, but she knew Ophelia, had watched her grow from the day she'd been born into the girl she was now.

Her nature wasn't cruel. There had to be a thorn in her heart that was inspiring such explosive anger.

"I would miss you," she spoke up, walking to the girl's side. Her ears were resting against her skull, but her expression was open with a small, earnest smile on her face. "I can't even imagine Grizzly Hollow without Ophelia in it."

The pup turned, ears immediately flattening against her head. She'd been found out. She wasn't supposed to be out here. Mama said. But she just had to get away. Get out of the territory and away from everyone's disappointment. Ophelia wanted to be alone. But she supposed if any of her packmates would be welcome now, it would be her big sister.

As @Nineva approached, the pale princess brushed her head against the gray female's shoulder and turned her muzzle to bury it into her elder's chest fur. She smelled of home and pack and comfort. At least she still had that.

"I can," Ophelia said, staring at the discarded end of the stick that had torn free from the part firmly frozen in the ice. "Perfect @Joan excelling at everything and getting Mama and Daddy and Papa's attention. Fee charming everyone on his endless hunt for bugs and weird things. @Tomen forever making eyes at you and @Deacon trying to impress you anyway. Mama coming back and thinking everything will be as it always had been before she left. @Yvly and Mama finally confronting each other and working things out okay. @Amaryllis teaching Fee about plants because Daddy doesn't have time with leading the pack. @Pip being everyone's favorite always just because she can't ever argue with anyone's opinions. And Mama coddling @Felix and Joannie most because she loves them better than me. I can see it. I could wander off in the forest and only you would be the one to notice," she muttered, pointing out the exact thing that happened with her last sentence.

Feeling more than sorry for herself, the girl kept her pale green gaze down with disappointment and frustration.