Dead Empress Backwater as the ocean opens up to swallow you

It had been six days since he had seen his mother. It wasn't normal, it wasn't okay, and by now? Dacian was starting to truly freak out. When he woke and again she was not there at their sides as she should be, his small frame began to practically vibrate with anxiety and it had yet to stop.

He searched again, all the places he could think of, everywhere his short legs were able to take him, and still there was no hint of Sharlee. There was no more trying to ignore and brush away the bad feelings, of convincing himself that everything was going to be alright and she would show up again. Dacian couldn't stop his paws from moving, now double-checking the swathe of territory that was available to him.

"Mom?" his small voice carried loudly, and echoed back to him. Tears began to fall.

"Mom!!"

Sharlee's disappearance had Clover worrying, frantically on the inside but doing her best to appear calm on the outside. For everyone else's sake. Reade had not been seen for a while, and with her friend gone the three children had no parents to look out for them. Without a second thought she had decided to treat them as her own for the interim until Sharlee returned, taking extra time out of her personal time to dedicate towards them. It didn't matter if she got less sleep, the important thing was that the three were kept safe and healthy.

When she heard a young voice cry out desperately for their mother she wasted no time in making her way over to the small child. Though she was not the mother the young boy sought out, she would do her best to console him. Clover stepped over to him, cooing softly with a gentle tone. "Aunt Clo is here Dacian," she said softly.

"What can I do to help?" She was sure he would just respond with wanting her to find his mother, but that was one of the few things she could not do herself. Clover just hoped that maybe getting the child to talk would get him to stop running around so frantically.

Reade had been gone long enough that the father was just assuming he wasn’t coming back. It was something he couldn’t understand, how parents could just up and leave their kids behind while they were still so young and helpless. He had even missed the birth of his cubs, it was despicable. And now, now days were passing by and Sharlee’s scent had grown stale within the territory as well.

Viorel knew that Clover was making sure that the children were physically cared for and so the leader had taken up a different role. He had been quietly, and angrily, searching for any sign of his cousin or her partner and every day he came back empty. It only further agitated him that he had taken the chance on allowing his cousin breeding rights just for her to abandon cubs young enough they still needed milk alongside meat.

The salt and pepper wolf had taken to being a silent lurker in his cousin’s lives, checking in frequently from a far. He worried about them, but couldn’t allow himself to get attached, not after all of his losses. Today that would change, today while he lay nearby but out of eyesight he heard a small cry. Rushing to his paws and pushing through the brambles, he was surprised to see Clover already there comforting him. Viorel wanted to back away and disappear but feared it was already too late and his lurking had been outed.

Instead he murmured quietly, ”I still can’t find her.” He knew Clover would know who he was talking about.

The panic built swiftly once he started to give into it. Still, his raucous did not attract the wolf he most needed. Instead it was Clover, as it had been each day since that first, long night. She meant well, Dace knew that, but he couldn't help resent what she now represented. There were times he even refused to feed, falling asleep on a hungry stomach and only able to think about how much he missed his mother.

He stepped away, and began to cry harder. He didn't want his aunt, he wanted his mom, and she should know that. There was nothing else that could take her place, that could pacify this immense sense of loss, but he didn't have the words to convey this.

Someone else came too, a grownup he didn't see very often. Dacian tried to gather his voice, stomping one of his overgrown puppy paws.

"I want my mom!" he demanded through his tears.

(This post was last modified: Jul 31, 2023, 02:34 AM by Dacian.)

Viorel appeared out of the bushes like a frightened doe, on edge and looking like he wanted to turn tail and run away. His words only brought more bad news, and her lips turned down in a frown. She could not understand how Sharlee and Reade had both disappeared so quickly, and no part of her would believe it had been on purpose. Surely something bad had happened to cause their disappearance.

"Not even a trace?" She said just as quietly, already knowing the answer but wanting to believe there was something that could point them in the right direction. Clover was more than happy to care for the trio as if they were her own, but she knew they would be happier with their real mother and father around.

Her presence just seemed to agitate the boy further; he stomped his paws and cried out in anguish. The whole act made her heart feel as if it was being squeezed into a small crumpled ball, and she wished desperately for anything she could do to make Dacian feel better.

She motioned for Viorel to come closer, hoping that perhaps his presence would not elicit such a drastic response from the boy as hers had. "I know dear, Vi is doing everything he can to find her." She did not want to get his hopes up, but perhaps making him feel like he was doing something of use would break him out of the emotional spiral he was in. "Would you like to help him?" The thought that she was putting Viorel in the spotlight did cross her mind for a moment, but the words escaped her mouth before she could stop them, and at that point it was too late to take them back.

The leader shook his head only a fraction at Clover’s words, hoping that the child wouldn’t see the response. There wasn’t a trace of either of them, and unless they reappeared soon with a perfect explanation he wasn’t sure he would be willing to take them back. Except of course for the sake of the cubs. He was distracted and the rage was building in his stomach, itching to get out, let out of its cage and destroy something. The hair along the nape of his neck began to lift momentarily until he heard his name being spoken.

His paws had moved him forward until he was standing in front of the child before he even realized it had happened. Viorel shot Clover a look that clearly showed his displeasure at being voluntold what to do. What was worse was he could not see how taking Dacian around to show him even more places his mom wasn’t could possibly help him feel any better. Instead he would be forced to look after a child who would be even more upset than he already was.

Still, if anyone deserved to have him pretend to be happy for a little while it was the innocent abandoned children. Sighing, he turned back to Dacian and tried to muster some enthusiasm, ”Have you ever tried tracking anything before?” He half hoped the kid would say he wasn’t interested and then he could leave him in Clover’s paws to sort out the tears and the snot.