Whitestone Monadnock pink matter

All welcomed but special tag for @Anaia || Late evening, March 10th, around WM borders

Piety had given @Wraith a small nudge and promised not to wander off again, she simply wanted to round borders before falling asleep. She crept down the Monadnock to be on the less rocky surface. The snow was doing a good job of making everything looked untouched. It was like no one lived here. The dark of the night made her feel invisible to the world even if she wasn't. It was okay to pretend for just a bit every now and then.

The pale dove crept along the borders at a slow pace. She felt no need to rush and get back to the den. Her muddy eyes constantly kept looking into the vast tundra's dark as if expecting something. Nothing ever appeared, though. It was a slight disappointment but she figured if she wanted to find something or someone her odds would be better in the light. The snow that fell from above wasn't much help either. Hopefully, it would lighten up sooner rather than later.

She stopped her walking and simply stood where she was. Things were constantly changing around here that this moment of stillness was so nice. Her breath was slow as it escaped her nose and trailed into the air before disappearing. Piety wanted to stay like this forever but there were things that needed to be done.

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Anaia’s unrest was growing stronger every day.  This strange itching burn inside her was growing stronger with every passing hour, and she found herself avoiding her pack members as often as she could.  It was bad enough that she was always afraid; it was even worse that she had this strange new feeling inside of her.  What if she was sick? She didn’t dare go to Lorcan for fear of retribution from the others.  What if she died?

At least she wouldn’t be a drain on pack resources anymore.

She was wandering along the borders again, considering running for it. She couldn’t stand how afraid she was, couldn’t stand how much she wanted to get out. It only served to make her feel even guiltier and make the situation escalate.

She was so occupied by her own thoughts she didn’t even notice Piety’s presence until she bumped into her.  The young woman leapt back, cowering down to the ground. “Sorry!” She squeaked, her ears pressed back against her head. She did note that the cool ground felt wonderful against her too-hot body, even through her fear.

She also noticed that Piety smelled weird. Everyone seemed to smell weird these days. Funny, the things one noticed, even when one just thrust back into reality.

"Speech"  Thought

The silence was shattered as someone bumped into her. Piety let out a small "oof" as she turned to see it was the timid Anaia. The younger girl cowered low to the ground with fear the Santoro simply frowned. "Don't be sorry." Piety let her eyes linger on the small female before taking a few steps forward past her. "Come with me." She ordered firmly as she set a slow pace for them to walk at. It was about time they had a formal talk about what had the girl acting like someone was about to skin her. As far as Piety was aware no one had done wrong to her. In fact, the Monadnock had been rather kind to her.

One might blame the time of year for such anxious feelings from Anaia but this had been going on before the season even approached. Maybe the could work things out and get the girl mostly back to normal. "Have you been alright?" She asked softly without very much context. An answer about the strange changes was expected but perhaps she could weasel more out of the girl without being so straightforward. "I haven't seen much of you. Working hard like your sister?" Piety kept her tones as soft as possible and gave a partially concerned glance to the female.

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Anaia had feared some sort of angry snap from the other white woman, but none was forthcoming.  Instead her packmate commanded her to join her in her walk.  The subordinate quickly followed, her tail low in deference to Piety.

“Have you been alright?” The question was unexpected.  Of course the girl knew the others were bound to have noticed her behavior, but she didn’t think anyone had cared. She quietly nodded; how could she explain what was going on? She didn’t want to admit that she had no idea what she was feeling or why she was feeling it – she’d never gone into heat before, after all. And she was too afraid to try and explain her fears.

The question about her work made her ears twitch. “Something like that.” She mumbled, keeping her eyes down.  She hadn’t gone out of her way to hunt and scout like Sara had been doing, but she hadn’t just been loafing around either.  She’d hunted when she’d had the chance.  She’d done a lot of border patrols, and the few times she did leave the territory she explained it to herself as a scouting trip.  But if she was being completely honest, it was because she wanted to be alone.

“I’ve just been feeling different is all.” There; it was vague enough to offer an explanation without letting on the burning under her skin. She glanced up at Piety, eyes wide.  “Morganna isn’t mad at me, is she?” She asked, worry clear in her voice.

"Speech"  Thought

Piety had to assume that "something like that" was better than nothing like that. She simply nodded her head as they slowly moved along the borders. Her eyes kept looking to see if Morganna would appear. She had seemed to go on a trip so Piety made sure to keep up with the going on of others to update the dark leader when she came home. The Santoro just had to hope this wouldn't be a trip like Lorcan was on. Whatever he was doing, she only wished the best for him.

Her good ear perked at Anaia's comment of feeling different. Oh, dear, Piety forgot she was still so young. "I promise it doesn't last forever. Don't let any boys get too friendly." Piety looked over to the young girl before her muddy eyes returned to the land before them. "Not all of them have good intentions." She was content to walk in silence for a bit until she heard the timid female speak again. Her eyebrows raised in surprise. Where had such an idea come from? Was someone amongst their ranks planting rumors of hate?

"Morganna doesn't hate you. As far as I know, no one here does." She spoke a little sadly. "Did something happen? You can tell me anything, it'll stay between us." It would stay between them until the female Archer returned home.

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Piety didn’t seem to question her vague statement, and yet she seemed to know what was going on. What do boys have to do with anything? She wondered. “Does… does that mean I’m not sick?” She asked tentatively, afraid that voicing the concern would bring down her fellow’s wrath upon her.

The reaction to her question about their queen did calm the girl a little bit; it meant that if Morganna was upset with her, it wasn’t enough for her to talk to her beta about. The notion that the alpha didn’t hate her was almost laughable to the girl; every time she interacted with her, she got the strong impression that she was nothing more than a leech to the pack.

“Did something happen?” Piety’s question and followed assurances of confidentially rang in Anaia’s ears.  

She shook her head, keeping her eyes on her paws. “Nothing much… I just always seem to mess up and everyone is disappointed in me. I’m in an endless spiral of debt and I’m starting to think I’ll never be able to pay it back.” She mumbled.  This was a fear she hadn’t really voiced except to her sister, and to do so now to the beta was both very liberating and very terrifying.

"Speech"  Thought

"This isn't a sign of sickness." She informed the younger girl kindly. "It's a sign that you're old enough to start making your own family." Piety looked over to Anaia to make sure she wasn't spooking the poor girl. "But that doesn't mean you have to. Only do it when the time is right and you're ready." The pale Santoro firmly stressed the end of her last sentence.

As they moved along there were moments of silence that seemed just as nice as talking. It was good to finally have a bit more one on one time with the elusive Anaia. The silence was shattered when Anaia gave her answer and perhaps some of Piety's heart shattered too. "I don't think anyone is disappointed with you, Anaia." The dove moved to lightly nose at the girl's ear. "Would you be willing to work something out with me? We can work together, I can train you if you need it and help you out with repaying off your debt." Her tail swayed softly behind her in a slow motion. "After my face injury I think I have a bit of a debt to pay off too." Piety let out a light chuckle to see if that would help Anaia lighten up some. She was still confused on where and when the girl had picked up those downer thoughts but Piety was willing to help as long as the timid girl would let her.

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The news that she wasn’t sick was an immense relief, but she wasn’t entirely sure she believed it.  Piety didn’t seem upset with her, though, so Anaia supposed that was a win of sorts. “It means you’re old enough to start your own family.” 

The thought scared the young woman, yet she also found the idea of having children strangely exciting.  She’d never been ambitious – that had been one of her sisters – so she’d never really thought about it.  She was always happy to support her sister’s desires rather than pursue her own.  What would it be like to be a mother?

Piety tried to ease the girl’s fears by nudging her ear and telling her nobody was disappointed in her. Anaia just couldn’t believe her.

Suffice to say, the offer of help came as a surprise.  The girl had been quite Cimmerian as of late, and it had never occurred to her that her packmates might help her. She blinked in surprise up at her companion. “How?” She asked. “Why?”

Anaia had noticed the scars, of course, and heard about the challenge.  But she didn’t understand why she would have debt because of it. She’d held her position, and the challenger had disappeared soon after. And why would she help Anaia?

"Speech"  Thought

It wasn't hard to tell the girl wasn't at complete ease but Piety assumed that as long as the words got through her head she couldn't complain much. The pale female next to her was old enough to make decisions for herself.

As the strolled along the Santoro waited for Anaia to answer her offer. The two short questions caused a bit of a surprised look to come from Piety. "Well you don't have to take the offer if you don't want to." She chuckled with the intent of it being a joke. "I mean, we've both used up some medic supplies." Piety shrugged leaving out the part that perhaps Anaia had used more because that wasn't exactly the point here. "Why not work together to pay it off? It'll be half the work and done twice as fast." She mentioned with a kind smile. "We'll hunt together and work on borders. Nothing extravagant but there isn't much exciting about the winter around here it seems." Another bubble of laughter rumbled from the pale Santoro. The tundra had not bode well for their hunting this season but they still were alive. Piety knew that the occasional hare or lemming could be caught with a bit of work. All that was needed someone (or someones) willing to work for it. "Sound like something you're interested in?"

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There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health