Silvertip Mountain Empty handed

Picturing a set of very hungry pups and a frustrated mother x) Oh and Zaria would totally let them free roam around the den! :) @Stoic @Solemn @Odette @Adeline others are welcome too!

There was nothing! Nothing! Zaria was growing pretty desperate herself. She wished she was still giving milk so she could feed her pups at least something. The mother had emptied all the caches already and tried to bring her young everything she could. Zaria was not doing so well under it. As fat as she was before that much she was sunken in now. Only her belly was still a bit bloated, along with her teats. It was a weird sight and Zaria did not feel pretty but for once she pushed herself to ignore it. Her pups were more important because she was not going to fail this.

She went after a rabbit but her stamina had been gone soon after she started the chase. Her head was low to the ground and she panted heavily. She would have to return empty handed to her young waiting by the den. They were two months now and probably terribly hungry. Zaria returned with a scowl on her face, laying down instantly by the den trying to catch a break as she panted for air.

As her Mother came back to the den empty handed, a low hungry whine escaped her.  Still Odie could tell that Mother had to be upset with herself for not fidning the food, due to the circumstances and that scowl.  Although she could not yet speak, she still tried to do so with body language.

Odette padded up to her Mother's side and although it was quite obvious that the pup was horribly hungry, she knew that others were too.  She was not alone in this unpredictable world afterall.  Once she reached her Mother's side, Odie settled down next to her and snuggled up.  Trying in her own way to say that even though her Mother hadn't brought anything back she still loved her... and to try and cheer her Mother up.

success roll

June trotted up one of many towpaths, her white fur ablaze under a warm mid-morning sun. There was a skip in her step that had been absent the last few days, because hanging from her slavering lips was the carcass of an unimpressive mouse. It was nothing substantial, but for the once-pampered Silvertip adolescent, it was a catch worthy of pride. Her tail beat back and forth at half-mast as she ascended, seeking the company of the pack wolves while she stuffed her face with her meager meal, and not even realizing that to eat in front of them was rude. Yet another childhood lesson June had yet to grasp.

As she levelled out on a flat shelf and paused to catch her breath, she realized she was near to Zaria's den and the pack's temporary gathering place. Knowing that FitzDutiful wouldn't be there caused her heart to skip a sad beat, and June made to pass it by until she caught sight of the muddy brown coat of her Alpha female. Her steps faltered as she weighed her options, chief among them the right of the Alpha to her meal. Had she not spotted the butterbull nestled at Zaria's side, June might've selfishly carried on, absolving herself of guilt by forcing herself to believe that the Alpha had not stopped to think of anyone else when she emptied every cache in the pack for her brood, but June was not capable of blaming others or disregarding them, and Zaria deserved better than her hungry selfishness. Instead, she sighed around the rodent and made her way toward her father's widow.

Once there, she lightly whined, dropped the mouse and glanced away. Her stomach rumbled in protest, but June knew FitzDutiful would want this, and the wellbeing of the pups was more important, anyway.

Zaria leaned down when Odette came towards her. She licked over her cheek and top of her head. The girl did not only look like her father but seemed to have his caring nature. Zaria could not help but feel sad. She missed Fitz. She had to hunt on her own now and she doubted that she would be able to survive. She wanted to give her young everything but she could not with this scarcity of food.

That was when June came in. Zaria raised her muzzle when she approached. June came before her and dropped a mouse. Zaria's green eyes instantly settled on it, pushing herself to her feet. June looked hungry too. God, since when did she care so much? June was Fitz's daughter too. Zaria bit the mouse in half and pushed one part back to June before giving the mouse to Odette to see if she was interested to at least nibble on it. If she was not then Zaria would have to eat this part of the mouse and see if she could get it back up in some form of meat paste they were currently on. Zaria settled her eyes briefly on June. "Thank you," he spoke.

Odette watched quietly as that white female who looked a little like her disapeared Father come up and give her and Mother a mouse.  Odie's heart lit up in excitement.  Food!  It looked so good that she almost found herself drooling, but stopped herself.  She stood by as her Mother divided the mouse in two halves.  Then she watched as her Mother gave the white female the mouse and then pushed the other half towards Odette.  Then she listened to her Mother speak two words: thank you.

She said those words in her mind, quietly.  She liked the sound of that, so then she attempted the words and said her first words ever.  "Tank uo."  She said, then took a startled jump back surprised that she had actually said words.  Her fluffy tail began to wag happily for once.  Odie shot the white female and her Mother a beaming smile, then turned back down to the mouse that she had forgotten about while trying to say those first words.  Odette then began to nibble on the mouse.

Adeline was indeed frustrated by her hunger, but really did not know to blame anyone for it. She simply knew hunger, and when there was food, she went for it. The young babe came out when she heard her mother returning, her tail wagging gently for the presence of her idol alone. Food was not connotated with much of anything nowadays, it was so sporadicly given. When Odette went to snuggle up to their mother, Adeline hopped to the front of her mothers face. She was not much interested in bullying her little sister right now--hunger pains were a magnificent distraction--and though she did not administer or have the same proclivity for giving affection as Odette did, her eyes were warm and her expression was one of happiness. When a white wolf in the corner came in on the scene with a rodent, Adeline knew it for what it was. She moved toward the creature when mother offered it, and knew nothing of manners and the importance of thanking others quite yet. Alongside Odette, Adeline went to press her teeth against the creature, not too sure that she was doing things right, but doing what she had seen others do.

June's stomach twisted into a knot when Zaria bit the meager offering in twain. The juvenile couldn't help wondering how the Dotharan woman did it so easily. Whenever June attempted to partition meat like that, she made a mess of it, and more often than not failed to do it. Her eyes were still on the mouse, her brain still churning at any effort to memorize the woman's deft movements of jaw, when Adeline joined them from the depths of the den.

June's eyes flicked up at the youth's approach. Adeline looked much like the other pups, bearing a dirty brown coat with patches of silvery-white in unusual places. It was a heart-wrenching reminder of FitzDutiful, and suddenly June's hunger soured in her stomach. Though June did not view them in the same way she viewed Mason—for they were trueborn Silvertips and these pups were not—they were only cubs, and shared her blood to boot. She was incapable of taking food from their mouths even at the behest of the Alpha female.

She used a paw to press the mouse back in the direction of the family, insisted that, "you need it more than me," and with a smile, turned to carry on her way. Guilt gnawed at her stomach for not wanting to spend much time with Adeline and Odette, but June was still hungry, and there was bound to be another mouse somewhere to sate her.

Zaria looked up at June when she pushed the mouse back. The female was grateful and silently took the piece of meat and placed it by her other daughter. Now both pups had each their own piece. The queen looked up to see that use was leaving without a goodbye.

The slender female watched her leave, not knowing that this would be the last of ever seeing her. The mother however didn't look away too long and watched over her daughters nibble at their small meals while she was starving herself. Zaria laid down once more, deciding it was better to rest now and try to hunt again later.

Once again someone that Odette liked would walk away from her life forever.  Odie didn't know that though, for death was normally unforeseen, just as her Father's death had been.  Of course death all in all was unknown to the young pup, but one day she would understand the tragic losses that resulted from the cruel famine.  Until then though, it would be harder for Odette to understand.  So she watched the white furred female walk away for a bit, grateful for the mouse, then returned to the meal, contiuning to gnaw on the mouse.

The mouse was quite delicous indeed, it had a pretty decent texture and was kinda juicy, dispite it's slightly malnourished appearance from the famine.  Although it of course wasn't as much as it probably once was and could have been, which was to bad.  Yet Odie didn't really mind.  Food was food after all.