Sanguine Cove I'll be missing you

Backdated to 7/20 for @Stella @Leo. This takes place right after the announcement of Aleister's death.

It was hard losing her husband so soon after they'd found each other. Especially so soon after his children were born but Oksana knew that life in the lore was hard. She'd wanted her children to find that out later but it seemed nature had other plans for them. They weren't the only ones she was worried about. Leo and Stella were still with the pack and they'd already learned these lessons in the loss of their mother. The death of their father would no doubt be much harder for them since he was all they had left in the cove in the way of family.

As Aleister's wife she felt she had a duty to speak with them and explain how she felt. The crow had never had any delusions of replacing their mother but she'd hoped that she could be there for them. Now it was time to make that clear to them.

After the announcement to the rest of the pack she pulled them aside. She wanted to speak to them privately since this was a sensitive matter. Once they were alone she spoke looking between the two yearlings, "Thank you for speaking with me," she said before pausing to give them both a few moments to gather their thoughts.

Pa was gone. She was numb as the realization washed over her, unconsciously drawn toward her brothers. Stella knew they would need to lean on each other, but she couldn't bring herself to think of it just yet. She hated goodbyes, and this was so sudden, so final.

She barely comprehended anything until the Crow was pulling them aside, but then the reality started to creep in around the edges of her vision. Stella blinked at Oksana. She had lost a loved one today, too. Too adrift to offer any words, Stella could only bear to meet her gaze.

Her disbelief wrestled with the cold harshness of reality, with her most fervent wishes that still somehow this was all a bad dream, and the girl settled to reach for one thing amid the chaos. Pa might be gone... but unlike their mother, there was closure here, if she could bear to take it. She didn't want to. But a part of her already knew she had to. "I want to see him," She choked out numbly. "Please," she implored of Oksana.

Like his sister, Leo was numb, though he was forcing this lack of feeling onto himself, saving the tears for later, when he was alone. For now, he hovered near Stella, ever the protective brother, trying to offer her what little comfort her was able. He remained mostly quiet, only nodding in answer to Oksana when she pulled them aside.

He’d grown to both like and respect the Crow, in the time since she and Aleister had become mates, and it soothed him a little, knowing that at least his father had had that love in his final days. After their mother’s disappearance, Leo had struggled for a long time with feelings of abandonment and inferiority – seeing his father move on, while painful in its way, also did a lot to assuage those emotions and help him move past it all. But this was an entirely different situation, he didn’t think he could ever move past this loss.

Stella’s voice drew him out of his own thoughts, two-colored eyes moving from his stepmom to his sister, widening a little in shock. He actually had to bite his lip to keep from asking: Why? They’d seen Al right after the fight, grizzly wounds and all, and they’d visited while he was healing. Seeing his father like that, weak and in pain, had made Leo feel sick. That wasn’t how he wanted to remember him, he certainly didn’t want to remember him cold and lifeless, and he couldn’t understand why Stella would. But he kept quiet, waiting for Oksana’s answer.

Oksana hated that she had to have this conversation with Aleisters children. She wished they didn't have to go through this but now more than ever they needed to understand. It wasn't something that needed to be spoken of in front of the pack. While there were a million things running through her mind of what needed to be done she needed to take this time for them, she needed to check in on them.

Pulling Leo and Stella to the side away from where the rest of the pack could see them she thanked then for speaking with her. Oksana realized that now that their father had passed away they didn't have to stay but she wanted them too. Her full attention was on the both of them but Stella spoke first. She tried offering a reassuring smile, "Of course you can see him for as long as you like. Both of you can if you want." She wasn't going to jeep their father from them but she also wasn't going to force them to see him either. They were old enough to know what choice was best for them.

"I know that this is going to be really hard on you both but I want you to know that if you need anything I am here for you." She wanted them to know that just because their father wasn't eith them anymore it didn't change anything for her. "I care very much for you both."

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Stella hovered by Leo's side, her shoulder brushing his as she both sought and offered support to her bigger brother. She could sense a shock go through Leo at her request, but she couldn't dwell on that just now, only hope he would understand somehow. Grief hit each heart differently. She just needed to say goodbye one last time.

Sunlit eyes drifted up to meet Oksana's once more, holding a glint of gratitude beyond simple words. "Thank you," she uttered, releasing a heavy sigh. She looked over Leo, whining quietly, before her ears and gaze flicked back to their stepmother. Their leader. Oksana. Stella tried to digest her words, over the swirling of other emotions in the pit of her stomach. She knew Oksana cared for them, but right now Stella only wanted her Pa back. All the same, she knew there was no place for the tinge of bitterness she felt, so she tried to cast it aside. She was bitter at the world, not the woman before them now.

Not knowing how to respond to such condolences beyond simple thanks, or having the stomach to come up with a response, Stella was in a way she was glad Oksana had pulled them aside from everyone. Drew a  breath to steady herself. "I know you cared a lot for Pa. We are... I am glad to have you here for us, especially now." Looking to Leo again, she trailed off, having run out of words for the moment.

Having Stella by his side was doing a lot to help Leo keep it together, leaning his weight back into hers to return the comfort she gave him. With both Lynx and Kateri gone, he was eternally grateful for his sister’s return, he wasn’t sure he could have handled this all alone. Two colored eyes flicked back to Oksana, as she answered Stella’s request, his ears flicking back for a moment as panic gripped him; No, NO! He shook his head, turning to look at his sister again, eye no doubt betraying his feelings for a brief moment before he bent down to brush his muzzle against her scruff, hiding his face. He had to take a moment to collect herself, swallowing back the storm of feelings, fighting to reach the surface and take over; Not yet… Only when his step mother spoke again, did Leo pull his head away from Stella, straightening up to meet the dark woman’s eyes. It was kind of her to pull them aside like this – Leo didn’t need her words to know how she felt, but he appreciated them all the same. He let Stella answer first, and only when she seemed to waver did he chime in: “We both are, thank you Oksana. And if… If there’s anything we can do to help… I know this is tough on you too.” The offer was almost automatic, it felt like the right thing to do. But he also wanted to do something for her and the little ones, anything; They’re in pain too… Thoughts ”Speech”

Lakela @DA

Oksana worried about the effect that their fathers death would have on Stella and Leo. She also understood how important these moments after Aleisters passing were for everyone. So she wouldn't be the one to keep his own children from seeing him. So granting Stella's request wasn't a gard one for the crow to make. She noticed the shaking of Leo's head which worried her. "Leo, dear," she said gently, "If you don't feel that you're able to visit your father then you don't have to. It's what you need to find closure in his passing." She felt she had to help him understand that he had to do what he felt he needed and what he was comfortable with.

Oksana smiled sadly at both yearlings as they spoke and thanked her. I did care a lot about your father," she still did even if he wasn't with her any longer. "I'm really glad that I can be here for you and do what I can to help you through this time." Her gaze then turned to Leo when he made his offer to her. "There's actually two things you can do for me."

The first she thought would be easy for the two of them. "Your little siblings haven't had as much time with your father as you have. You know the love he had for his children as I do. What I am asking is that you help me let them know how much Aleister loved them." She wanted to make sure that her children never questioned their fathers love. She was then ready to move on to her second request which was something that needed to be done but she thought it would be good for the yearling to have a few days on their own. "The other thing I need is the Backwater and Kateri needs to be told of your father's passing. I would like for you both to go. I think it would help for you two to have some time on your own. If you don't want to go that's okay." She didn't want them to feel as though they had to do it.

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I'm very sorry for the long wait on this post ♡

Things that had been easy, automatic once were now new and unknown tasks once again. She didn't even know how to breathe normally, without a tightness in her chest. And yet she had to anyway, to draw breath and carry on and answer whatever life put to her. Or else what, just stop here? She looked to Leo again, hoping he'd be able to find some understanding for what she could not yet put to words. She did not want to move past this, she'd probably never be over it... but they had to find a way to survive, right?

It felt like waves were crashing upon them, but the world around was standing still. The Cove, her brothers and Kat, the Crow and Moon and the pups yet learning to welcome the world as harsh as it was, they were her family and Pa wouldn't want them to give up when he'd given everything for them. She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked up again. The first part of Okasana's request was something she'd give without hesitation, in whatever way she could muster, and she met it with a grave nod.

The trip to the Backwater... Stella turned to Leo again, uncertain. Her first instinct to remain in the home she'd returned to struggled with her natural inclination to agree to the request, and her desire to see Kat again. The girl would not agree for the both of them without seeking her brother's say too, though.

OMG guys I'm SO sorry, I completely missed this one! Feel free to wrap up, or I can fade with my next post <3

Leo was rapidly losing his last bits of composure. If it hadn’t been for Stella at his side, he would surely have dissolved into an uncontrollable mess. But now, despite his whole world having collapsed, his top instinct was to protect his sister, and he would do anything in his power to make this even the slightest bit easier for her. That was why, when Oksana kindly explained that he could stay behind, he looked to meet Stella’s eyes, to see her response. Swallowing back a big lump in his throat, he took a moment to gather himself before saying quietly: “I’ll go with you, if you want.” He still didn’t want to see his father’s body, to be openly confronted with the reality of him broken and lifeless. But even less than that, did he want his sister to face that alone, or for her to feel like he’d abandoned her in her grief. So, he’d go in with her if she asked. Then came their stepmother’s requests. Much like his sister, Leo found the first one easy – he would do everything in his power to keep his father’s memory alive and make sure the little ones knew just who he was. The second one though; Does it need to be right now? It didn’t feel right to leave the Cove even if just for a few days. Sure, their allies needed to be told, but that could wait a little; But Kateri… An ugly knot of mixed feelings tightened in the boy’s chest as he thought of his half-sister. The loving part of him knew that she needed to be told, that she would be just as devastated as them and that she would need her siblings to grieve with. But there was a stony side to him too, one that could never forgive her for leaving her family behind, and it insisted that she deserved to not know, that she had chosen to leave and that was part of the price. But that side was the smaller, at least for now, and looking at Stella, he knew she couldn’t go alone, and that Oksana was right, it would be good for them to have a few days alone, away from the little ones and the rest of the pack. Stoic as he tried to be, Leo was sure he would soon feel a need to let all his feelings out, and that wasn’t something he wanted everyone to see, especially the pups. “I think it’s a good idea…” He said softly, looking to meet his sister’s eyes to make sure she agreed. Then, turning back to Oksana, he gave a small nod; “We can go tomorrow. It should only take a couple of days.” Thoughts ”Speech”

Lakela @DA

Oksana knew that to ask them to help her in ensuring her and Aleister's litter would know their father wouldn't be hard fir anyone in the pack. She felt they all would want to keep his memory alive and for that she was grateful for. Though she knew that a lot of that had to do with her husband and the kind of man that he was. It said a lot when the whole pack was deeply grieving the loss of their leader.

The second request that she had was more difficult. She knew that. Oksana understood grief and felt more familiar with it than she'd like to admit. She understood if the siblings chose to deny her this. However she offered them both a sad smile when it was agreed that they woukd go. "Thank you both. I'm glad that you think it's a good idea. I want you to take your time though. This isn't something that needs to he rushed but you both strike me as the type that might need some time to yourselves to work through things and I want you to have that time without having to worry about responsibility and everything else. Come back when Kateri has been told and your ready."

The crow knew how important it was for them to be able to work through whatever they were feeling. She also knew that Stella and Leo depended on each other so she wanted them to go together in case they needed to lean on each other. As much as this trip was about telling Kateri about her father it wad also about helping Leo and Stella in their grieving process.

Please see Sharlee's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you