Grizzly Hollow both its wings bear other birds’ sorrows

@Felix enjoy moody baby-brained momma i dont know how this post got so long help

Oula tread softly through the cedarwood, a place that seemed unusually quiet in the aftermath of the late season storm. She had set about hunting, digging out all the little critters that had thought to weather out the blizzard by burrowing down beneath the snow. She was insatiably hungry, and it took great effort to not eat every little bit she found and instead set some aside for the caches as part of her penance.

She found it hard to keep her spirits up, and it was difficult to tell whether her gloomy mood was from the recent events or the life growing in her belly. She made a great effort to try to convince @Pip that everything wasn't so bad as it seemed, but often she herself had to find a quiet place to be alone and cry out her frustrations where none could find her. It was shameful, a woman like herself sobbing alone in the woods. She didn't know what was wrong with her. The thoughts that overwhelmed her most was the thought of Joan out there somewhere, alone in this wild and unrelenting winter that seemed to have no end. It was hard to strip the image from her mind that Azar had given her of her dear Joan frozen, half picked clean by scavengers. To think that could be Felix's fate as well... She would not let her mind venture down that avenue.

Oula wondered when her son had hatched this plan. Whether it had been something he'd been stewing on for weeks, or if the recent chaos had spurred his decision. Was this her fault? The mother in her insisted that she try to convince him to stay, but realistically she knew such nagging would likely be met with deaf ears. And she most definitely could not urge him to stay and endure this royal mess. But how could she just let her baby go?

She regretted that their relationship was not a closer one, and that she had to learn of her son's plans through his father. She supposed the communication within Grizzly Hollow was sorely lacking in all directions, top to bottom. But she still did not forgive herself for not being more present as a parent, and wished she had more time left to try to make up for it. Who knew if she would ever see Felix again? With her next litter, she promised herself, she would be a better mother, and if there was any hope for Ophelia she would try.

Oula was walking aimlessly as she ruminated, completely forgetting about the marten she had been tracking. She stopped when she realized she was just about to stumble into a stream. She shook her head, trying to clear the clouds of worry that filled her mind. It was useless trying to hunt with her brain full of mush as it was. The mother noticed Felix's pawprints at the water's edge, and her heart tugged her to follow him. 

"Felix!" She called after him, kicking her legs up high to wade through the deep snow as she walked along the streambank. Even now, flakes still filtered down from the sky, but at least the deluge of the days past seemed to have tapered off to something more manageable. To think of her son setting out in the thick of this made her throat tighten. If only he were still a cub, where she could keep him close and safe from all the harm of the world. She stopped as she neared him, looking at how much he'd grown. He wasn't her little baby anymore, but he still was far from an adult.

"Is it true? That you are leaving?" She asked, sage eyes searching his face as she tried to keep her voice as steady as he could, praying that he had changed his mind.

Was it ever going to stop snowing?

Ever since he discussed taking a tour of the wild woods with his father, it seemed the weather insisted on keeping him at home. ‘Once the winter lets up a bit,’ Veho had said – at the time, it seemed perfectly reasonable. After all, cuddling up with the rest of the family after a long day out in the cold certainly had its perks, as did a full belly. But now that he had permission, and a (vague) plan, the pads on his paws were starting to itch. He wanted to go. He wanted to see. And with all this chaos erupting within the ranks of Grizzly Hollow? It certainly didn’t encourage him to stay.

“Mama?”

Oula’s voice roused him from his thoughts and he drew to a halt, allowing the woman to catch up. She was greeted with a lick against her cheek, his tail wiggling low as he chuffed. Maybe he should be mad. But he wasn’t. He might have said as much, had the question not come bubbling out. His ears flipped backwards and a small whine slithered from his throat. “I, uh. Yes. I was planning to say so before I left – just waiting for better weather.” His smile was sheepish. “It’s not forever, though. I’m gonna come back before the summertime.”

A young deer has been separated from the rest of its herd. Hunt Opportunity