Sun Mote Copse Fairest of the seasons

I give you 1000 words for your 1000th post <3
wc: 1011

She would nod and growl in agreement with Phox, and the conclusion he made about the way their lives had gone- and how strange time could be manipulated by the passing of so many eventful twists and turns. It was almost impossible for Niamh to believe how she had ended up where she was- especially consdering everything that had transpired along the way. How many tmies had she come to find something she wanted, only to lose it either through fate or by her own foolish actions? She'd lost a mate both because she'd been a hot-headed fool and then again, to the fangs of the wolf that she had personally trained in the art of fighting. She had once been the beta of a pack whose alpha had seen fit to demote her- but had shown her the mercy to tell the masses that Niamh herself had elected to step down. With one swift, ill-fated move she had completely changed the demeanour of a wolf- shifting him from being her closest friend, to putting his name at the top of her kill list.

But she was not the only one who had found their life had taken several unexpected turns. She knew that Phox had drifted from his sister's side, and had had to claw his way back into her life- the same way Niamh had had to do, after she'd left the Redhawks to move to the Firebirds. And that was no simple task- while Towhee was not an unforgiving wolf, she wasn't one to suffer betrayal without a flinch. Phox, like her, had taken a mate, had children, and had then been widowed shortly after the birth of his first two children. Like her, a son and a daughter.

If nothing else, their lives had been eventful- and yet here they were again, each with a devoted and loving mate as they led their pack and family alongside Towhee. It was amusing to trace all of the ways that their lives had run paralell to one another before they'd collided, like two stars drawn together into a never-ending orbit as they circled one another for eternity.

She smiled when he mentioned the children they would have the following Spring, and referenced their current children. Between the two of them, they'd already made seven children to pass on their legacy, though this would be the first year for both of them to have a second litter with a mate from the previous year. She was glad that their relationship had persevered through the difficulties of raising a large litter of children and the difficulties that the summer had brought with it. She felt guilty still about how she'd reacted when Alyx had gone missing- but she also forgave herself for being so protective. She loved her children.

“Well, hopefully they'll step up and help out,” She said. “And hopefully next year's kids will only take the best qualities from their older siblings. I'm pretty sure if we have another kid as loud as Quetzal, I'm gonna go deaf. Though-” She admitted with a shrug, “It might make it easier for putting up with the next seven litters we have, if I can't hear their screaming,” She said. Not that she thought Towhee had it easier, of course- she recalled the morning that one of the twins had been stung by a bee, and she had awakened from her dreams by her child's pained screams, though she'd been too tired to wake up when she'd heard the bee's buzzing. If she'd heard it, she potentially could have stopped it from stinging Alyx. So while she didn't want another banshee baby, she wouldn't take her hearing for granted.

She assumed Phox was joking when he mentioned sending their next batch of children to Moonspear once they reached the difficult age. To be fair, Meerkat had gone to Moonspear (alongside her escort, Bronco) when she'd been about that age and she seemed to have thrived, though Niamh fully believed that Meerkat was a good kid to begin with, who hadn't elected to leave because she didn't like where she was. The kid visited every month like clockwork- how much more could a mother ask for, from a child who'd moved away?

“Just as long as we don't have to take someone else's kids in return,” She joked. “Unless they're grandchildren, though I highly doubt I'll see any of those anytime soon. Who knows- maybe Nellie'll come back with a bratpack in tow,” She said, with a shrug. She pondered the idea a bit longer- about sending their kids to another pack, be it the mountain or the glen, for a bit of work away from home. Perhaps six months was a bit early, unless they had an escort- but at the same time, maybe their older siblings might step in to take that role upon themselves. The one thing that she found remarkable about her cowardly son was that he was a faultlessly devoted older brother. While she did feel as though he sometimes spent more time and attention on Meerkat than he did his other younger siblings, she was grateful that he'd stepped in to take care of her.

“But you know,” She continued, having spent a few more thoughts on the matter, “I think that might be a nice idea, especially if we could pair them off with one of their older siblings,” She said. “I think we'll have to wait and see what we get, though, and see how well they connect with Alyx, Prim, Quetz and Figment” She added in Phox's eldest son, considering the fact that he was the only one from that brood which had chosen to stick around for any amount of time. “We'll need to make some more allies over the next couple years if we wanna keep doing that, though. Something tells me all it's gonna take is one of our ambassador-hellions for one of our neighbouring packs to turn away any future Redhawk-Blackthorn kids we send to their doorstep.”