@Krypton
Steady lifted his head from the river after drinking his fill. He had found that drinking more water put off the hunger pains for a little while, almost like it tricked the body into thinking there was something better in his stomach.
Knowing he hadn't seen Krypton in a while, he lifted his muzzle and called for her, though didn't make it urgent, in case she was busy. While he waited, he laid down on the bank of the river, enjoying the sunny day.
The brute of a woman was participating in her late nap. Ever since the kids were born, Krypton had been skipping her naps to go and search for food to sustain them. This time though, she wasn't able to fight off the tired feeling.
having her murky eyes shut for a good 10 minutes, the howl of Steady awoke her. Cracking one eyes open, then the other, the gamma picked herself up and started to head over to Steady.
Yawning loudly, Krypton could see the dark beta resting against the water. He looked quiet comfortable, soaking in the warm sun.
with a tired smile, krypton made her way over, her large paws gliding over the stones of the bank. She settled right by him, nudging his shoulder with her own. "What's going on stead?" She asked, her eyes looking over towards him.
Krypton was not aware of the problems between pack mates going on, but it really was none of her business anyways. She just was glad to k ow Silvertip was beginning to pick up the pieces again and grow up in size.
Had he known she'd been sleeping, Steady would not have called at all and let her rest. He knew how much the members of Silvertip were working to make sure the pups were fed, and all other duties still tended to. They did deserve to rest when they needed it.
He smiled, returning her shoulder nudge, a friendly gesture between them. She asked what was going on, and he shrugged a bit. Nothing too important. I just hadn't talked to you in a little while and wanted to see how you were doing, he said honestly. Krypton was a valuable member of the pack, and he wanted to make sure she was still happy here. With the influx of new members, he knew it might get easy to get lost in the crowd, but he didn't want that to happen to any of them.
Krypton smiled a little to Steady, feeling happy to know that the pack was there for her. Her head returned to lay facing the water, not moving an inch. "I've been doing fine, surprisingly. The fish are somewhat plentiful, though hard to catch." Krypton shuffled her front paws a bit, trying to make her position a bit more comfortable. In the back of her head besides the gnawing hunger, Krypton wondered if they were catching onto her changing personality, but highly doubted it.
When she first met Steady, she had already grown out of her shell and learned to be more vocal and interactive. Yet, now during the famine and after the death of two family members (not even knowing that another had died), Krypton was already building up her walls once more. Her once bright and glassy eyes became murky and dull.
No, this was not about her. It was the pack before herself, the children before herself. Krypton couldn't let simple things draw away her attention to serve her family. Looking down to the river, she saw small fins and currents float by, pebbles sometimes skidding into the river water. She turned her head back to Seady. "You ever caught fish before Steady?" She asked, curious about his answer. Hopefully if they were succesful, they cpuld both bring back the kids something to eat.
They hadn't hung out like they usually did, so Steady wasn't aware that anything had changed with her. Krypton replied that she was doing fine, and Steady believed her. He knew the famine was hard on them all, and moral wasn't exactly great, especially when they were losing loved ones, but he hoped the pack was strong enough to stick together through this. Yeah, they are hard to catch. They're slippery and a lot stronger than they look, he commented.
She asked if he had ever caught a fish and Steady's gazed moved to the water. A time or two, but I'm not great at it, he admitted. Now would probably be a good a time as any to perfect his fishing skills, since it was the only abundant food source around at the moment. But, it still took a lot of energy with no promise of a reward. He glanced to Krypton, Wanna go fishing? he asked, assuming that was why she broached the subject.
His responce made her smile gently, nodding her head to signify she was listening to him. Although they weren't best friends, Krypton still saw her relationship with Steady to be tightly knit. She looked onto him as her own brother and would always see him as a friend and family member. Hearing his question, she was happy to know he got the clues she was making.
Krypton felt it was the need for her to use herself and catch food for those that needed it. Hopefully Steady would spill the beans about the drama between him and the other pack mates that Krypton was unaware about. "Yup! I was hoping that we could bring some back for the kids. I hadn't brought them a lot of food lately" she admitted, feeling a bit guilty for not being as active for them as she wanted to be. Krypton wasn't very skilled with fishing, but at least understood the concept and how to's.
He nodded, knowing the pups always needed more food for their growing bodies. He didn't read much into her comment about not bringing food back often enough. He knew they were all doing their best, and he couldn't ask for much more than that. Standing, he waded into the river slowly, enjoying the cool water against his legs. He went about half way, and turned to face up river, figuring he might get a better few of the swimming prey.
It took a little while to the fish to come closer and closer, and Steady waited patiently, knowing any movement would scare them off again. Finally one fish came close enough that he went for it, but came up empty. It would be several tries before he caught one. He went back to shore, dropping it on the growing grass, and looked to Krypton to see if she had any luck yet.
He complied, soon wding into the river quietly and attempting to catch the scaly animals. Krypton soon followed, going a bit farther away from Steady to hopefully catch any fish that escape him and swim towards her. With the cool water lapping against her belly and legs, she waited. Small schools of fish swam by calmly, thogh they were guppies instead of full grown adults. Krypton wanted the big fish to bring back and hopefully excite the kids.
Soon, a few larger ones came by. Her murky eyes locked onto them before she dunked her muzzle into the cool water to grab them. She first came up empty, though a couple of stones landed into her mouth. She spat them out quickly as the older fish swam away, making her grunt. Like Steady, it took her several tries before she finally locked one down. It was a fighter to say the least, its' large and flat tail slapped Krypton silly until she put an and to its life. Hopping out of the calm stream, Krypton smiled towards Steady while setting her fish down next to his. "It looks like we aren't too bad of fishers, huh?" She said lightly, looking back to the fish.
After a few tries, Krypton, too, caught a fish. His tail wagged as she walked over, setting her fish next to his. No, not so bad, he replied, smiling. Should we go ahead and take them to the pups? he asked, figuring the sooner, the better. Steady knew he would need to come back soon and hunt for himself, and he hoped Krypton did the same. He knew the pack was giving their all for the pups, but they needed to focus on themselves, too.
It was a fine line that they were walking during the famine, and Steady did worry that they might lose some more friends before the famine was over. The end of this couldn't come soon enough, but he had no idea how long that would be. If they didn't have enough time before winter to fatten up, they would all be doomed.
His reply and smile made her beam brightly. It was nice to be in a pack with such close ties to one another, there were rarely any problems. Besides, there were also no awkward situations! Krypton couldn't be more thankful to have joined Silvertip.
Steady's suggestion made her nod her head towards him. "I bet they'll snatch these up in no time" she commented, thinking about the pups for a second. The kids were probably starving just like the rest of them but were in need of nourishment the most. Growing up without as many resources could cause them to become smaller in size than what they are supposed to grow into.
Krypton picked up her fish and motioned to the trail that led towards the kids' den.
Gonna archive this here <3
He nodded his head along with her. For sure. I don't know even know if they've had fish yet. He hadn't brought them any before now, but with the whole pack feeding them, it was hard to tell how many different meats they had the chance to try, but he expected a lot of smaller game. He grabbed his fish, and followed Krypton to den the site, his tail waving in the air as he thought about how excited the pups would be to have a meal.