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His gait was improving, though the leg that had been bitten down on remained a little stiff every time he had just woken up. Charon was eager to keep it mobile though so he made sure to start slow and do some warming up and running before starting his day -- this he did when no one was around for he did not want his family to think that he was weak in any way. The Ostrega patriarch had started working on @Amekaze's birthing den for next year (blissfully unaware of yet that she would not birth him any more children in the coming year), feeling giddy to welcome another bunch of Ostrega children into the world. He'd found the old den in the forested lower areas of Moonspear where winter's touch did not reach as strongly as it did higher up, and inspected whether it would do for the coming year.

Deciding that it was good enough, Charon started to fiddle around at the den; first, clearing the entrance from rubble to make it better accessible. While cleaning away dead branches from the entrance Charon wondered if his children would birth children this year; they were growing older, would turn three in the next year, yet he had never heard of them bringing home a boy. Had he been more perceptive Charon could've easily seen some boys that played parts in the lives of his daughters, but at present he could think of none. Idly he wondered if they even wished to, though he hoped so, so that they could further Moonspear's legacy.
Since Charon's injuries were mending well enough (despite no sight in that eye, unsurprisingly), and he was getting around the mountain more and better than before, she was scattering her attentions all over while she could afford to. These long near-solstice nights had her dialed up, anxious.. especially while the moon waxed towards full. None of it was helped by worrying about Revui, still without sign of Yami too.. so she was not finding herself very well-rested lately with all of this on her mind.

To insult that, add in that Jarilo and Vela were out scouting too and Lyra had gone after the tiniest shred of hope they had for Revui's trail... but no word back yet on any of that. She was less worried about their likes, and far more anxious to see them back and safe while her list of offspring at home was alarmingly shorter than the gone ones right now. When she didn't trust anyone out in the wilds besides her own pack, Amekaze was not very happy about any of it. Contentment was far from her reach and she came stalking back up the mountain from all of her dead-ends with this pretty apparent, tail arced and stare sharp. A fresh trail on Charon was just her first distraction, and looking to not be disappointed by bad news, she would go see him.

She glided over well-worn paths to find him poking around at the den, and slowed herself up immediately once she arrived and found he was alone. It took a moment for his business to really click for her.. since she had been all caught up in what she had misplaced and what she to go needed to be angry about today instead. A densite wasn't really on her mission list for lately but evidently he had that under control? Denning already? she asked lightly enough after a small chuff, and found her posture relaxing somewhat at the sight of him, to her relief. At least she still knew where to find him.
Charon was yet blissfully unaware of Revui's disappearance. Yes, he'd been gone a few days, but he also was known to travel outside of Moonspear. Maybe he had simply gone to scout a bit, and he would return shortly, surely? Perhaps it was denial that made him yet unknown of this fact.. or perhaps the fact that he knew his boy might be lost was what got him denning that day. Ears perked up as he heard Ame's approach, recognising her by her gait, and he looked at her as she posed her question.

The fact that it was early to den was one that he denied, perhaps because it might breach his reality where Revui was not really missing. "I thought I'd get it done early this year." He looked at the hard ground and the small start he had made. "The ground seems harder." But last year the pups had been born in late winter, maybe early spring; so he must have done it timely then, too, when the ground was still hard.
A part of her was still unwinding, mostly mentally, as she willed her mind to relax while she settled her body in for a sit near his work. Curling her tail tight around her paws, she passed a thoughtful glance over the upturned earth. Looking deep inside herself, albeit only briefly, she wondered when it should be, if he was early or if she was just slow. Last year's lot had been her earliest yet, with each before that sooner than the year prior. For a hot second she had worried that could be it again, but.. she had long since passed that point, so those concerns circulating that were plenty diffused.

As for the frozen ground, she just scoffed softly as her expression moved towards a frown. The cold set in early this year, I am sure that does not help, she lamented with a soft exhale of a sigh. But he was doing more work towards it than she was. It wasn't all bad. Cannot say if it will be thawing out any time soon, either.. As for when spring would grace them officially, she hoped for earlier rather than later, but nature spoke of no earnest signs--none that she'd observed for herself, yet. Nothing noteworthy, and nothing to inspire great hope for her wants of warmer, greener days sooner than anything else; her lack of an internal suggestion didn't bode well either, but she kept this to herself, her focus easily wandering elsewhere--like towards him, and then all of her rogue offspring in the next breath.

Another sigh, and she doubted he would like her picking about his healing still, but there was more. Did you hear anything from Revui before he left? I know he is not one for words necessarily, but.. it has been a little longer than I would like, she asked with her ears tilting back.
Charon nodded as Amekaze said that it was cold early. He wasn't too sure if it would thaw out anytime soon, but he also wanted to make sure that things were ready for when time came.

Amekaze asked him if he'd heard word from Revui, and it was the first time that he thought about it properly. Charon then shook his head. No. He's probably just out patrolling. Hopefully not getting himself into more trouble with the Blackfeather wolves. Speaking of which... I visited them. Potema doesn't live there anymore, it seems. There was a mute woman there who said she didn't want war with us, so I think we should be fine for a while. His experience with Blackfeather woods was that some aggressive weirdos lived there alongside a lot of perfectly good wolves, and it was easiest to let the behaviour of the weirdos slide and sort it out with the reasonable wolves if trouble arose. He certainly did not intend to start a war like Redhawk Caldera had at the time.
He set upon her mention of their silvery son with words meant to diffuse the concern, and to an extent, it worked. Although deep down she was suspicious of otherwise given the time frame, his explanation sounded well and good--fitting for the boy, too. Maybe it was the fact that the absence had Arcturus wounded (and still here, not with his brother obviously) that truly inspired the worry settling deep in her heart. Something about that led her to believe it was not exactly of his own volition, and thought of ill will on her offspring somehow or another riled her. Hopefully you are right, she murmured, ears still tipped back more than not.

But, Blackfeather had her attentions quick elsewhere, with or without Revui's potential involvement in stirring trouble. She wasn't going to be quick to forgive what they had done to Speedy so close to the peaks, and now knowing that Potema was no longer there meant less leverage in their favor--along with the fact that she was fairly certain Vaati, another key, was not with them either.

Her brow furrowed, not wanting war either, nor intending to incite it, but still irritated by the pointless violence brought upon her packmate. Good to know they do not want war.. She best keep her peons in order then, she grumbled, clear that she was not about to tolerate many more mishaps like that without backlash. Because I find them lurking suspiciously around near here again, I will do it for her, she griped, wishing in hindsight that she had acted on her gut instinct and rallied the one she had found before the little incident in the first place.

She shook her head gently and hardened her expression. Especially without your.. link to them there now, they are difficult to trust.. but I will take their word for it this time, she sighed, not intending to go out of her way to start anything, although would finish it if they brought it to her. Ame had always toed a fine line with Blackfeather, neither against nor with them most times. She respected that they had lasted through the moons, and that they had upset the Redhawks enough to uproot them, but harassing her own and harboring their enemies was not keeping them in her good graces very well.
Amekaze seemed more worried than Charon was; time would tell which of them was right. For the moment Charon did not want to worry yet. He knew he'd have to look if it came to it, or Arcturus would never forgive him. The boy had had a hard time processing Yami's loss, too. Charon could not help but wonder if Yami had wandered off on her own, like Julia had (though admittedly at a lot later age than Yami), but he could not fathom why. Why would they not even tell their parents if they'd want to go elsewhere or were unhappy? It made no sense to Charon, who, despite having wanderlusty paws, had also always been much of a homebody himself.

The subject of Blackfeather was tiring and he hoped they could close that chapter soon. He nodded at all Ame said and responded: You're right. Let's hope they stick to their word and will not bother us again. Charon was done with it, at the very least. He then wondered: Do you think any of our children will want pups of their own this year? And there was an underlying question that he didn't yet ask... Did she think they would find love if not for the same way their own parents had; through rationality, through leading together. Charon could not imagine stepping down for his daughter(s) -- not yet -- but what if it was the way for them to realise their own desires to further the legacy? He was looking forward to fathering more children but to have grandchildren... Even though he did not feel old enough for them, it was somehow appealing.
True, Blackfeather best mind their words to him, or they would be regretting it somehow she believed. As a pack that had done well to fall from her favor in these recent months, either due to their own shortcomings or just bad luck, hard to say, but she did prefer a quiet relationship with them over anything else. It was best when she was able to all but forget about them. Most days, they weren't worth a second thought anyway.

His other question was a clear reminder of where his thoughts were at this time of the year, as if the work on the end already didn't point cleanly towards him. Hm, maybe. Perhaps the oldest will, she supposed, thinking on her quartet of daughters mainly. Korei, who knew? It wasn't their concern anymore now that she had left them. Alya had been her most likely first choice, who had been keen to the opposite sex first. Lyra, almost equally in the opposite direction less so, who may make the wisest choice to not make a hasty decision when she still had her whole life ahead of her--especially when suitors worth their earnest mettle seemed pretty scarce. However even so, she had her suspicions that Hydra wouldn't want to dawdle any either and this placed up alongside Alya. She licked the back of her teeth as she considered this, thoughtful and wishing her prospects to say yes, absolutely, were far better.

As for the youngest pair, much harder to say with any certainty. Vela had been burned early by her interests in Drogon, so the mother wondered if that had any lasting effect to not have her hurrying, plus she didn't seem to have a very.. ah, mothering personality (which Ame understood). Jarilo? A different sort of consideration entirely--not a daughter, and thus harder for her to judge. She could only guess what was best for a young male's investment in such, and him, a difficult read in truth, wasn't an easy one to tell for sure. If I had to bet, Alya over Hydra.. and Lyra less likely perhaps. Vela and Jarilo? Cannot say for them.. she sighed softly, since they were young still and the season only ahead.

Although I hope they do not rush into anything they—or their suitors—are not ready for, Ame replied, a distant, albeit stern look on then for she believed in quality over quantity. This was a concern for her daughters; she didn't want them to end up like so many, with a dead, absent, or worthless mate. Every potential wolf she had even dared to halfway look at before Charon landed a place in her life had disappeared, vanished, or otherwise failed and not risen to any further consideration. Her trust in them was few and her standards high. Especially the triplets, she added, more carefully for she knew they attracted attention of many, surely good and bad alike. They were too important to her, wherever their paths may lead them.
It was nice to muse about their children. Charon admittedly did not expect any from Vela or Jarilo either; they were both still pretty youthful in the way they were. Yet he did feel the urge to further their genes and therefore he wondered if their daughters would choose to have children... or would they wait, like their mother, until they were queens and king of a mountain of their own? Amekaze mentioned Alya, and Charon was silent for a few seconds, his expression on thinking mode, until he said: Do you think she and that Nikai fellow will return after their trip to Easthollow? There was an edge of doubt to his voice. When she'd promised she would only visit and then return he had believed it but now that they were gone, Charon began to wonder if it was really plausible to expect her and her three-legged mate to live on this mountain. And was the guy even really worth his daughter? Charon felt robbed thinking of it, and thought Alya was making a huge mistake and could do far better, but honestly, he also knew it would only drive Alya away to tell her or him this to their faces.

As Ame mentioned the triplets rushing into things, Charon grinned. Well, luckily we have some good years on us yet, he said with a smirk. So there's no rush for them yet. Except that Charon really would have liked to see two generations of Ostrega children on the mountain this year. But his hopes weren't very high. He hadn't seen any prospective suitors yet himself (which, admittedly, was in part because he was too blind to see that wolves like Rian, Rannoch, Terance and Gannet had all carried some potential in that regard).

He also wondered.. I have an idea. What if we stepped down to Beta to make room for Hydra to lead? It will make her think of her own future and legacy more if she could step away from our shadow. It was a bold thought, perhaps, for they'd been Alphas on this mountain for as long as he remembered. But while proud to be Beta to his mother, Charon had not fully realised his potential until he'd met Amekaze and claimed Moonspear alongside her. Or encourage her to find her own... This he raised with a bit more doubt and thoughtfulness. Honestly, he thought that it would be better for Hydra to lead, but as soon as he raised it Charon also realised that he was not so sure he was ready to not be an Alpha himself. I'm not ready to retire yet or be in someone else's shadow. But neither do I want her to squander her potential by staying in mine. He frowned then, as he was basically thinking out loud at this point. There was no good solution, really; not one where some of them would need to compromise.
It was a curious situation to think about suddenly, from the fates of the lives they had raised, to what effects it could have as the world as large was at their disposal. Hm, really not sure. They should.. They might.. Because in her opinion, despite the formidable slopes of their home, they were safest here. If he truly has the wherewithal to try living on the mountain, she sighed, trying not to sound too skeptical but impossible to be blatantly hopeful. For now, she would just believe what she saw. She didn't even know Nikai well enough to judge outright, and handled everything to do with males trying to get in her daughter's lives with an appropriately prickling caution.

Anyway, she was of the same thinking in that they had time—all of them. While experience, and all of her time here did teach her that rushing into anything had never ended well enough, and she was protective of it all on their behalf it seemed.

But his next idea got her attention. You think she would be ready for that..? Ame asked, skeptical here, too.. but eager to know otherwise. She was more keen to the idea if Hydra had a good counterbalance of steadiness beside her to help her focus as well, for it seemed she had her business in a lot of places, plus her devotion to her sisters, the family, and their ever-expanding lives as the months passed? All of it had its pros and cons, though. Everything that could be an achilles heel could always be a greatest strength, too. However, Ame sighed again, though smirked a short laugh after he went on to say he wasn't ready to retire. Yeah. I did not think it sounded like you to willfully want step down, she nodded, although their own daughters were the only worthwhile successors she could ever imagine.

Still, she reached to nudge her muzzle gently along the underside of his. She has to be ready to focus, first. Ame decided for her answer, supposing she would be on the lookout in weeks to come. At one point, my mother simply encouraged I wander.. she mentioned, although it had been a place not quite like here, and she had driven her points well home across the bloodied valleys below, so the old mountain sage had seen it fit to put the idea in her head to see the world and clear herself. Never so explicitly as go find a claim, but it was different.. I think she did know I would not fit so neatly alongside them for good. Could the same be said for Hydra, or any of them? Yet Moonspear did not have to be like that. They were the first, with history theirs to decide.
When Alya had told him that they would return Charon had believed her but now he was beginning to doubt. What if they'd choose to stay there after all? He frowned at the thought as Ame spoke sceptically but carefully so -- she did not outright say she thought they would stay there, simply that they should return and that she did not know. That was about as far as he could go, too, but an ill will settled in his heart towards his daughter's new and very sudden mate, who had taken her away from him.

Amekaze's first consideration for Hydra becoming a leader of their pack was if she was ready, which seemed like a decent concern from an outsider's perspective. However, from Charon's perspective, who shared many of his most prized daughter's characteristics, she was definitely ready. He did not think that there should be anything holding her back from finding her full potential... but neither did he want to lose her. So it was tricky. He contemplated if maybe she should find a mountain nearby.. one of the nearer peaks, but then again, the only mountain formidable enough for his daughter was the Sunspire, if not this one. I do not doubt that Hydra is ready, he spoke confidently. But. The mountain would feel empty without her, now. Maybe once they had another litter this year.. Jarilo and Vela did not seem ready to move out just yet, and they had Yama and Arcturus left of last year's litter too. Maybe if Yami and Revui were found... but he somehow was not so sure they wanted to be found. He'd always assumed they were taken against their will but what if they had gone themselves? The thought was close to unbearable and he quickly pushed it away again. He liked to think they would have told their parents if they'd made that decision. Charon had come to a stage in his life where he much preferred knowing about them being happy and healthy to them being somewhere else without his knowledge (this should've been 'to them being by his side', really, but admittedly he still greedily wanted it all. them by his side and happy, if he could have his way).

I don't want her to just wander. I think she fits here just fine, I just don't think that she is made for being in anyone's shadow. Maybe another mountain in the valley... But this was a desire that needed to come from her. Or maybe when we are older, she will succeed us. Still, it might be harder for her to find someone worthy enough to stand by her side when she was their Beta rather than the Queen the proud father knew she deserved to be. It was tricky.
Ame tried to discern exactly where he stood on this through his answers. Imagining him wanting to step aside just because wasn't coming easy, but maybe his injuries and the downtime associated with it had rattled his head more than she had once thought. It was still too new of a thought for her right now to give definite answers, although she did appreciate the chance to muse openly. She wasn't opposed, out right, but maybe not right now. She didn't feel it explicitly so, not intending to go anywhere herself and not particularly feeling like she was overshadowing something that ought to shine. Also, she needed a better sense of the present Hydra too--who had been keeping busy. A lot was happening, always, between what of their family splintered off and what became of themselves left behind.

I know, it would be empty. I do not think the same should necessarily apply here, since someone able to last and contend will inherit it one day, she sighed softly, not thinking she was shooing any of them off intentionally--although understood if they had to roam. She had been the same once, eventually going with the suggestion to leave instead of staying home to inevitably inherit something that was waiting for her, easy and free.

We will see, I think. I need to talk to her.. it has been distracting with everyone here, or there, or lost. I do not want to make her shoulder anything she is not ready for, before she has enough of herself balanced well.. Which was a highly subjective matter. Had she been at peace when she had taken the slack of the Sunspire? Probably not entirely, but that had been a different matter, somewhat, and had worked enough to make it work for long enough to get here. Not a loss, she supposed, and she had learned she much preferred alphaship as a duo, not a solo flight. Since it is not like I have anywhere else to be right away, anyway, she said, but a lot could change in a short amount of time--this she understood well, especially given the opportunity. But for now, that was her best answer.

Much unlike the way the Sunspire had been to her, Moonspear was one of her most valuable possessions, however, and she took matters of it very seriously. Anything, whenever it was going to be time for such shifts, would be decisions made carefully.. so long as she still had any say in it.
His daughters could do no wrong, especially Hydra, the one with the most potential. Charon valued her greatly. He also valued Moonspear greatly, for he believed that he and Amekaze were strong king and queen who deserved these lands. Hydra was the only one that he, so far, felt deserved similar things. He wanted her to have those things, and he did not want to be the one to hold her back. It seemed Amekaze was largely on the same page as he; not wanting to lose her, but neither ready to step down herself. Time would tell what it would bring them.

Charon nodded as Amekaze mentioned things had been distracting. And Hydra was travelling a lot, too, that much was true. Perhaps she enjoyed being her parents' second more than Charon was willing to admit, thinking his daughter as ambitious as he. Hmm, it has, he agreed. Talking to Hydra could do no harm, regardless. It's good to give it some thought. He decided on this eventually, knowing Amekaze to be wise and level-headed so she would do well mulling it over in her head and talking to their daughter of it. He let it go for now, just as he let go trying to dig on their den. The ground was too hard for it.

It was nice to have mused about this so open-heartedly and Charon felt appreciative of Amekaze for it. It would not be the same to stand on the top of a kingdom so great as this one without a beautiful queen by his side. They truly completed each other.
They were in agreement, then, it seemed. She said nothing further beyond a low rumble steeped in satisfaction. It would all happen as it need to, she intended, with timing key--but not right now. Right now, she panned a blank look back past Charon to his efforts on the frozen ground and oddly felt little about it, she realized. Looking at it made her glad there was no such urgency in the matter from her, quite unlike him.

Exhaling through a natural pause, she peered back to him scars first. Well.. either way: are you tired of this yet? she asked, lighter than before with her snout jerking down (smirk included). Ame didn't really want to leave him, but she didn't want to watch him scrape away at the cold earth when she still had plenty of time to kill instead, apparently. I plan to hunt, she said in way of inviting him to something potentially more productive, assuming she could nose out a trail in the woods first.
At first when she spoke Charon thought she meant 'this' as in, their leadership. Only then did he realised that she had been peering at the cold ground behind him. He already had given up on digging for today; he would just have to let it rest a bit more. There was a restlessness in him to get the chores done in time before spring, more urgent than ever before. Maybe he had faced his own mortality and wanted to plant seeds now that he still could so that his legacy may never be forgotten, or maybe there was something else. Maybe he was overcompensating in the wake of Amekaze's own lack of necessity for it yet.

At her passive invitation to hunt Charon nodded, and without a word he joined by Ame's side to try and catch a trail of something or other.

seems like a good place to fade? :)
Quiet now, though a cozy satisfaction did warm her, she took his acceptance with a turn of her heel and was off towards a pursuit. Selfishly she believed it in his best interest to come with, whether or not he could dig more, rest, or otherwise--she'd still rather have him. Plus, he could always benefit too. It wasn't like her interests were all to herself.. but a den could definitely wait, she thought, and she had a lot to consider. May as well do it on a fully belly.

With her nose low, and paired up beside him, she had confidence they could find something to chase pretty soon as they set off for the heart of the mountain.