The Sunspire nothing makes sense, so i won't think about it

Rannoch's appreciation of an emptier den was a futile effort to protect himself from the reality that Sunspire had lost six important family members. His heart hurt and he grew more restless by the day; was this what he had put Hydra through? When Olive and Seabreeze had told him of their intentions, Rannoch knew that there was nothing he could have done anything to make them stay—their minds had been made up. That is how he had so easily let them go, despite the anger and hurt that had threatened to leak out during their conversation. 

With Sunspire's forest at his back, and with twilight twinkling overhead, Rannoch took a moment to himself to reflect. He thought of Hydra, Lyra, and Alya and wondered how they were faring—of Charon and Amekaze and hoped that they and the rest of the pack were thriving. Rannoch's eyes lingered on Moonspear in the distance, and he exhaled at the thought of what he had done to the wolves who had saved his life. Guilt gnawed at his nearly-empty stomach. 

For now, Sunspire survived. But at what cost? How long could they realistically stay before they were all in danger? Rannoch didn't have an answer, and he hoped that a moment to himself would allow for him to work past his guilt and hurt to work out a solution for the pack. 

Making small assumptions based on how I know Rannoch will respond! AW!

She was out walking thinking about how whatever emotional progress she thought she had made in Sunspire quickly vanished when she'd found out that Seabreeze and Olive were leaving. She hadn't been especially close to either of them or their puppies but she had taken care of and cured Seabreeze a few times, which meant she had developed a sort of care for the woman. 

She was also concerned about how the pack would take it. She wasn't a therapist but surely Terance would be hurt and Rannoch too? Just as she thought about that she caught the Alpha's scent trail and decided to follow it. She spotted him staring off silently and gave a small chuff, slowly moving closer in "Howdy Rannoch....y'Alright?" she drawled her face an open book of concern and sympathy.

It was Hyacinth's voice that diverted Rannoch from his thoughts; although initially startled by her sudden appearance, he quickly pulled himself together. "Hyacinth," he greeted weakly, and turned towards her with a smile. "I'm surprised to see you out and about at this hour," he commented. 

"I'm okay," he replied in regards to her concern. "I've had some trouble sleeping lately."

Hyacinth could have shed a tear. His sadness and hurt was so evident in the way he spoke and smiled that she came in closer and sat by his side. She gave him a sympathetic look and nodded "me too. Seabreeze and Olive...What they did wasn't quite right huh?" she began. She wasn't exactly sure why they left, but they had abandoned their friends and family, broke their promise of loyalty. That in itself was pretty messed up. She had previously assumed that it had something to do with the nasty feline that had attacked Ibis, maybe it scared Seabreeze so much she thought they couldn't protect her and her pups anymore. "Losing friends like that really hits ya hard. I don't know why they did it, but maybe the cat just had the mothers really spooked? Seabreeze took some damage...I did too." she spoke hesitantly unsure what to say to make him feel comfortable. An idea struck her quite suddenly and she perked up "Ya know...back home we medics were sworn to a code of secrecy. Anything our patients said and requested to be kept silent would be locked away real tight. So...why don't you come with me back to my den, I'll give you something to help you sleep and you can vent to me real good" she offered with a warm smile, eyes softening.

"It doesn't feel right," Rannoch agreed quietly. Hyacinth elaborated on how she had perceived their deserting, and Rannoch listened closely—he agreed with what she said. 

Hyacinth then proposed an idea that elicited a soft smile from Rannoch. "I would really appreciate that," he replied. "And once my ranting is done, you can vent to me as well," he offered, "Although I am not a medic, I am always sworn to secrecy about what my friends share with me."

"I may take you up on that. C'mon then" she said with a small smile and turned to lead him back to her den. On the walk there it sank in that he had called her a friend. Besides Maia it really did seem that Rannoch was the only one that she truly got along with. She had sort of mended her relationship with Seabreeze but that had ended abrubtly when she left Sunspire. She smiled to herself and felt her tail sway as they arrived at her den. "You can come right on in, or stay put it matters no different to me" she said and ducked inside.

She grabbed two poppy seeds and a stem of lavender with some flowers on it. "Breathe this in while we talk, it'll help relax you before you take the poppies." she said and dropped the lavender in front of him. "Mmkay..spill it Rannoch." she said and sat down, giving him her full attention.

Rannoch and Hyacinth's jaunt to the medicine den was short-lived, and when invited, he followed her into the cave. As Rannoch entered, an array of pungent scents hit him suddenly; he couldn't help but wonder how she lived with so many different smells. "It smells interesting in here," he commented lightly as he took a seat. Rannoch was then offered some flowered lavender, and he did as he was told. The herb that Rannoch breathed in was distinctively floral, and he felt it's soothing effects almost immediately. Rannoch sighed, silently realizing already how much better he felt—he was ready to "spill it". 

"I'm just... hurt," he admitted, and looked towards the lavender on the ground. "I wish we could have found a way to figure out of to keep them in Sunspire, and I feel like I failed to protect them." He bit his lip and sighed. "I understand why they left ... I just... wish that they hadn't. I know that it's selfish of me to think like that."

Hyacinth tilted her head to the side, giving an almost surprised look around her den when Rannoch commented on the smell. She had been around herbs so often that the smell just blended right in like normal air to her now, she didn't even notice it one bit. "oh! yeah, the herbs do have a strong stink" she agreed with a humorous smile. She turned her attention back on him and waited for him to spill it. When he did she remained silent for a few moments, thinking it over. It made sense that he was hurt, she assumed a lot of the pack was hurt by what happened. Those she was particularly concerned about were Cassiopeia and Terance. The first she was too annoyed by and scared of to check up on, the later she made note to go see if there was anything she could do to help. "It's more then understandable that you're hurt. They just left....didn't try to figure out how to stay." she murmured sympathetically and then continued "Now...there are many reasons why it is ultimately better that they left. both for us and them. The main being that with so little food here, those pups would have died rather quickly. All food caught would have gone to Seabreeze, Olive, and their pups which would have left us to slowly starve. Our adults would be so weak in the end that protection and hunting would be impossible. We'd all die or be forced to seperate and feed ourselves" she spoke in a brutally honest way, knowing medical advice wasn't always pretty or easy to hear. She fell silent again waiting to see if he had anything to respond with.

Hyacinth was quick to reassure Rannoch about the validity of his feelings, and elaborated on her perspective of the situation. 

After taking a significant conversational hiatus to consider everything that Hyacinth had said, Rannoch exhaled slowly. "They made a sacrifice for Sunspire," he concluded, and looked to the medic, "I just have to keep remembering that." The lavender had allowed him to remove his thoughts from what he felt. "Does lavender always allow you to think like this—like, clearly?" Rannoch wondered out loud; was the herb something he could implement into his daily routine?

They talked for some time, and at the end of their conversing, Rannoch felt much better—he slept soundly once he returned to his den.