Hidden Tree Tainted Memories

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Gone Tomorrow

The pregnant leader had risen at dawn for the day's journey. Indru's warmth had kept her safe and secure throughout the night, but she had bid him goodbye with a lick to his creme cheek and left the security of the newly renovated den. Corinna Donata had a mission to go on today, and she was not going to let anybody stop her, including her over-protective mate. Despite the fact that with each passing day she grew rounder and rounder, she wanted to enjoy her last few weeks of freedom before she was confined to the darkness of the Swift River den. While she knew that she would have the pack's support from the moment she entered the darkened space, she was not accustomed to not being able to move for long periods of time. Her time of relief would be short, because while Indru could certainly protect his young, he was unable to feed them. That was a job that only she would be able to complete, at least until the young wolves were beginning to eat solid food or the partly digested food of the older pack members. And that time was a long ways off.

Nose to the ground, the River female breathed in deeply, searching for the scent that would lead her in the right direction. It was one of the few territories in Relic Lore that she had never been able to explore, because when she had arrived here almost a year ago, it had been off limits to her. The fire that had taken Indru's parents had prevented her from seeking acceptance, and therefor access, to the forbidden land. All around her, the trees which had once been so magnificent were dead or severely damaged from the raging fire. Very few were sprouting buds, indicating that life was still holding on within the thick trunks. But for the most part, the area was a wasteland, and had she not been so determined to complete her task, Corinna might have turned back to escape the eerie atmosphere.

The steady pace of the wolf had long since been taken from Cori, and her creme legs moved at only a fraction of her usual speed. So when she finally reached her destination, a fair bit of time had passed since she had left the safety and security of Indru's side. But green eyes took one look at the abandoned hollow and she knew that she had reached her destination. Glancing once at the overcast sky, she tentatively took a step forward, breathing in as she did so. With her exhale, she learned several things - that this indeed was the right place. The scent of Indru, Ruiko, Triell, and Borlla, while faint, were most definitely present and lingering about the place. The hole under the den had been the place of all of their births, and to some degree, they would always be a part of this place. But the den was not currently occupied by anybody, which was good. In her condition, she would be unable to defend herself without risking injury to her unborn young. Leaning down into the entrance of the hole, she left her rear exposed for only a moment while she peered in, green eyes rapidly surveying the inside of the ruined den. And it was ruined - the fire had wrecked its damage here too. But if there was one thing she had learned about Indru, it was that it didn't matter how ruined things appeared, there was always a way to salvage them. So without further ado, she began burrowing away at the entrance of the den, moving aside small mounds of dirt here and there. She might never come back to this place, but she wanted the wolves of Hidden Tree that their home had not been forgotten.

Borlla was not ashamed to say that she'd followed Corinna as the sun began to rise that morning. After the little...Incident at the last pack meeting, Borlla had yet to apologize to her new sister-in-law. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but she didn't necessarily want an audience. Peering from her own space, she slid out after Corinna had disappeared from view. With a few careful sniffs, and cautious steps away from the denning site, she sped up her steps, trying to move carefully among the flora as she also tried to keep Corinna's scent fresh in her mind. She'd hardly spent any time at all around the female, so she tried to focus more on Swift River's scent, rather than Corinna's in particular. Although, she almost turned around a few times.

Corinna's scent led her to the Wildwood. Why did she have to come here? Borlla's ears twisted back as she moved into the land of charred trees. Things were beginning to look fresher, mostly around her paws, though. The trees still looked awful, like she remembered the last time she was here. Borlla couldn't imagine what Corinna was doing here...Or maybe she could, but she didn't like it. Maybe she'd been wrong to follow Corinna. Of course, it wasn't like she was going to do anything to the den. Borlla couldn't understand why those that had nothing to do with it came here. Corinna, in Borlla's opinion, included. She didn't live through the fire, her parents didn't die, her siblings weren't gone forever.

Slowing her steps, she found the clearing and Corinna, standing near the den. Her nose quit working away at the air and she stopped altogether, paused a few yards away from the female. She remained silent and watchful as Corinna moved towards the hole. Borlla froze, the fur along her neck rising. And then...She began to dig. <b style="color:#32527a">"What are you doing?!" Borlla cried, racing towards Corinna, chest heaving, eyes wide. All she wished to do was shove the female away from the hole, but at the risk of harming the pups within her, Borlla had enough sense to keep her paws off of her leader. <b style="color:#32527a">"speech."

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Gone Tomorrow

The future materfamilias was completely oblivious to her follower. The wind was not pushing Borlla's scent towards Corinna's nose, and she was not exactly expecting anybody to be following her (save maybe Indru). So as the dirt began to cling to her forelimbs and paws, she was startled when the voice cried out. Leaping backwards from the den, her hackles bristled, her tail arched over her back, and she growled. As she jumped backwards, she turned, green eyes narrowed as her assailant came towards her. She and Borlla had spoken so few times, that even her voice had failed to register in Corinna's brain, and it was only upon seeing the Tainn youth that the growls ceased. It was only with great restrain that the leader managed to keep her own words quiet. She knew full well that she was on rocky ground with Borlla anyway, and clearly she was doing something that alarmed her now. Though what, the leader couldn't even imagine.

"The den went unused all winter, I was clearing the debris," she explained, trying to keep her voice steady with patience. She was finding it difficult however, Borlla had sneaked up on her, and given the way her body was overreacting to everything, it was in Borlla good fortune that she had not actually attempted to shove Cori out of the way. The leader would have struck back, and all chances of reconciliation would have been gone forever. "Did you follow me?" Of course, Corinna was well within her rights to question why the youth was there anyways. The weak scents that clung to the den were clear indicators that this was not a frequent haunt of the youth, so the older creme and gray female was hardly intruding upon Borlla's secret hide away.

Borlla blinked slowly, trying to calm herself down. Why hadn't she just considered what Corinna was going before going after her about it? Thought. That's what she needed to do. She needed to think. Of course, while she now realized that Corinna was just doing what she said, clearing away the debris, Borlla was rather curious as to why she was doing all of this. No one lived here, no one would ever be allowed to live here. It was like a memorial, a kind of sacred space.

A deep frown was on her face, a look of apology and confusion in her eyes. Taking a step backwards, she lowered her head and her ears. This was for Indru. Her stomach churned at the female's voice, and irritation boiled in her gut. It was hard to like anyone when they spoke to you like that. The frown shifted slightly to something more angry, <b style="color:#32527a">"Why are you clearing anything? It's perfectly fine..." Her eyes shifted past Corinna at the den, and Borlla shuddered. <b style="color:#32527a">"I did follow you," The girl said, matter-of-factly, but kept her posture low. <b style="color:#32527a">"speech."

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Gone Tomorrow

Sometimes, all it took was a second look at the situation to figure out what was actually going on. Her explanation seem to placate Borlla...sort of. At least the younger female was calmer appearance wise, and Corinna no longer felt like she was being threatened. The frown was concerning though, and for the life of her, the Swift River leader couldn't figure out why the accusation had been as alarming as it had been. She was fully aware of the fact that this had been Borlla's place of birth, but she hadn't been more than a month or two months old when the fire had struck. It was a sacred place to all of the Tainn wolves, for obvious reasons, but she hadn't been destructing the den. She merely wanted to keep the area nice - a dirty den was not a suitable memorial to the legacy that Rihael and Lani had left behind. Cori was not a Tainn by blood, but she was one through mateship, and her young would all be Tainns, so it was reasonable that she would be here to try and fix it up.

Borlla didn't seem to think so, and the frown was replaced by something a bit more angry, and Cori felt herself stiffen. Her posture had relaxed somewhat since recognizing who it was, her fur settling back down along her body, but she was past the point when she was willing to take crap from her sister-in-law. "I know this place means a lot to Indru, and I'm sure it means just as much to the rest of your family. Cleaning the Swift River den reminded me that this place probably needed to be spruced up too." Put it down to nesting or whatever the hell it was, but Cori had wanted to do something nice for her family. Breathing in deeply, she exhaled, trying to calm herself down. Sitting back down on her haunches with a thud, she attempted to sit, though her belly made sitting a rather awkward process. "I'm sorry if it bothers you, but I didn't think that cleaning up some dirt would cause an issue," she said after a minute, her tone apologetic. "Why were you following me, Borlla?" She asked, her voice neutral this time. There was no point antagonizing the youth any further, and she was sure there was some reasonable explanation behind it all.

Borlla sighed, unable to meet the eyes of the wolf before it. It was probably better that way anyway, since she'd be unable to see the reactions or expressions of her. She didn't want to be mad, but it was...Oddly difficult to contain herself. She'd only been worried about what Corinna had been doing. Sure, she hardly came here, but that didn't mean it didn't mean something to her. Then again, Corinna wasn't stupid. Why the hell would she come here to destroy anything? The girl exhaled again, and looked up for just a moment. It wasn't very satisfying.

<b style="color:#32527a">"Yeah...I just...." Borlla rolled her shoulders awkwardly. Did everyone have this hard of a time being nice to everyone else? <b style="color:#32527a">"Didn't know. I um...Overreacted." The girl coughed slightly, as if this would extract some of the awkward feelings from inside of her. She didn't necessarily feel angry anymore, but the awkwardness seemed to be worse. Her ears twisted back and she looked up at Corinna again, eyes only shifting to her belly for a moment, before moving back to her eyes. <b style="color:#32527a">"I wanted to apologize...And I didn't want Indru to be there." Borlla said this in a rather normal tone, and shrugged. <b style="color:#32527a">"speech."

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Gone Tomorrow

Things were...interesting, to say the least. The two females had never socialized with each other before this moment, save at the pack meeting, and that hardly qualified as socializing, considering what had happened. But that didn't excuse the fact that they were both in this situation, and despite everything else, they would have to push through it, no matter how difficult it would be.

Borlla's sigh caught Corinna's attention and she looked up, wondering what would happened next. What did happen was surprising, and she found herself nodding her head in acceptance. "It's quite alright," she said, glancing at the dark hole beneath the tree. Beyond the recently moved dirt where she had been tidying up, the place looked fairly untouched. Maybe a badger had found its home there during the cold winter months, but the wolves had left it alone. "I can understand...I didn't tell anybody I was coming here, and I would probably overreact too if somebody was messing with my den," she said after a minute. Her eyes met Borlla's gold ones, and for a moment she just looked. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in her place. She had lost her own mother, but not until she had been old enough to fend for herself. She couldn't imagine having to grow up under the wing of her older siblings.

The apology came from nowhere, though Cori wasn't honestly sure what she was expecting in terms of an answer. She could appreciate Borlla's unwillingness to do it in front of an audience, it was hard enough as it was. "It's okay," she said after a moment, offering a small smile, wanting to extend the peace offering. It would not be an instant reconciliation, but they both needed to make the effort. "Would you like to help me?" A nod of the head gestured towards the den, and the question hung in the air. There were still some minor repairs to do, and it might do them both good.

Little-by-little, things were becoming less hard for Borlla. She'd hardly taken the time to speak to Corinna, how had her mind thrown her into the conclusion that she was somehow out to get the near yearling? Where had this hatred stemmed from...Well, that was obvious enough, but that had been fixed. Indru didn't belong to Borlla. And Corinna hadn't stolen anything from her. No matter how many times she told herself that.

Corinna's nod was satisfying. Every little act of acceptance calmed Borlla to her core. While Corinna's eyes fled to the hole, Borlla kept hers fixed on the leader. Then, Borlla nodded, graciously meeting Corinna's eyes, though that still felt rather odd. Instead, she relived her own feelings by letting out the faintest of laughs at what Corinna had said. That was better. Her tail even began to wag a bit, though just a bit. There wasn't really anything to get too excited about.

In response to her sister-in-law's smile, Borlla let out her own. "It's okay" sounded like an "I accept your apology". Borlla pretended it was, since it made her feel just that little bit better. Like a big step instead of a small one. Her eyes drifted to the den when Corinna held out the question. Did she really want to? Now that she understood Corinna's purpose, well...It wasn't that bad. She was just cleaning up the memorial. Wouldn't Borlla want to honor the parents she hardly knew? Without speaking, she nodded, and turned taking a step towards the hollow. <b style="color:#32527a">"speech."

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Gone Tomorrow

Progress was progress, no matter how small it was. The faint laugh emitted by Borlla was the first time Corinna had ever heard her sister-in-law laugh, and she liked the sound of it. It was good to know that the pretty tan creature was not all rage and angst, that there was still some pleasant life there. The bit of motion from Borlla's tail caught Cori's green eyes, and her own creme tail wagged in return. There was hope for the two yet, and while things still might be uncomfortable for a while, this was better than being angry at each other. Which was silly, seeing as neither one of them knew too much about the other. Sure, Cori knew the family history of Borlla, but she honestly had never spoken to Borlla much beyond today. Who the girl was as her own individual self, that was a mystery, one that one day the leader wanted to figure out.

The question hung in the air between them, but no verbal response was given. That made her nervous, but she did her best to keep it from her face. But she relaxed again when the unanswered question was answered with Borlla approaching the den. Grinning, Cori grunted as she hoisted herself up off her rump. Every time she moved, she exerted far more effort than she thought she needed too - no wonder she was so tired. And then there were the kicks. As she started back towards the hole, following Borlla's lead, she groaned as she felt a painful kick to her ribs. Flashing a painful smile, she spoke up. "Not so sure why people think puppies are so cute," she joked, waddling forward before shifting a small pile of dirt with her front paw.

Borlla began to move the earth carefully, suddenly cautious to move too quickly in the presence of the pregnant female. Borlla knew nothing of children, only what she remembered of her littermates. They were all the same age though, in her memories, and she wondered if that made her opinion of the little buttheads any different. But, nonetheless, pups were small, probably even smaller since they weren't even born yet. Corinna seemed to have no problem moving, and she was digging and well...functioning. Clearly that didn't do any harm. Borlla let her eyes wander to Corinna's belly before she went back to shifting the earth and moving a group of fallen sticks.

She felt brighter, and almost irritated at her older brothers. Why had the non-Tainn thought of this before any of them had? The tawny girl laughed to herself, and shook her head. Picking up the sticks, she took a few steps away from Corinna, before she froze, hearing the older female groan. Oh no...Of course, Borlla's mind immediately drifted to the idea that Corinna was in labor or something. Borlla didn't want to have to deal with that, but when she twisted around, the fur along her neck pointed straight up, Corinna was smiling.

Borlla let out a sigh of relief, then blinked at Corinna's joke. She laughed through her nose, the air puffing out a bit, before she turned back to dispose of the sticks, tossing them a few yards away, where hopefully nothing could drag them back. Moving back towards the hole, she began to shift the dirt again, then paused to look over at Corinna, <b style="color:#32527a">"What's it like?" She asked, the question feeling strange in her mouth, but it had already been let out. Borlla never really...imagined herself as a mother, which made sense, she was hardly even a yearling yet. But she supposed she'd have to think about it eventually, even if it almost made her blood curl. <b style="color:#32527a">"speech."

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