Eske moves through the familiar territory of Drageda in search of Kendra. It is with the older girl that the Cheka elects to spend as much of her down time when Heda does not need her with and she has prepared another hunting lesson for them. Her scent is as familiar to Eske as her own and she follows the trail that Kendra leaves at a leisurely pace. Eventually, along the path Portia’s scent crossed with Kendra’s which did not strike Eske as particularly odd. After all, the pair shared a common interest and for a split second the Cheka hesitated not wanting to intrude upon them as they talked about their plants. Conversations that went way over Eske’s head, but of which she was always a willing participant if only to see how it light up Kendra’s face as she spoke about them. In the end, there was a intuitive nagging in her gut that told her to continue on. When she found the end of the trail …she was not prepared. Her eyes go to Kendra first and Eske’s body freezes, going cold as she stares at the unnatural and eerie stillness of Kendra. She knows what it means even as her heart vehemently denies it. She is a warrior, she is a huntress. She has seen (and caused) plenty of death to know when she is looking upon a corpse. For a moment that feels like a lifetime she is emotionless in her shock, and numb. Until she is not. It comes rushing upon her like an unbidden tsunami that crashes upon her with a raw “No!” choked off in a violent sob that hurts her rib cage. She rushes forward, blind to Portia’s presence as she closes the distance between Kendra’s body and her own. “Kendra,” She is shivering as she tries to suppress the hard sobs that come from deep within her. She licks the older girl’s cheek, and nudges her muzzle knowing that it is too late. She presses the crown of her head to Kendra’s and sobs until she cannot draw a proper breath. “Bring her back, Portia. Bring her back.” She demands in hiccups in-between uncontrolled sobs knowing that there was no reviving her. Kendra was gone and she took a fair chunk of Eske’s heart with her. She feels it's absence with a sharpness that further robs her of breath.

Kendra’s flesh grows cold, the warmth quickly leeching from her body in her death, her grief preoccupying her that she almost forgets Portia is even there regardless that she had just plead for the healer to bring Kendra back to her seconds — or was it a lifetime? — ago? She is startled when she feels warmth and rises her head from where she has pressed it against Kendra’s to look at Portia realizing sluggishly with a rough hiccup of breath as she tries to regain control of it and calm herself down. The older woman presses against her, even offering her gentle licks that causes Eske’s lips to tremble and the ripping sobs to start all over again. In any normal circumstance Eske would have been her usual aggressive self and snapped Portia away but instead she leaned into her. Her emotional strength is gone and all she can do is feel the infinite numb of her limbs and the harsh, unrelenting heartbreak at losing someone she truly, deeply cared for. She does not know Portia well but in that moment Eske realizes that she is grateful for Portia’s presence and that she needs her. “Why?” She manages after a struggle. Why did this have to happen? Why Kendra? Why couldn’t Portia save her? Why? Eske does not seek answers of course. She knows what Portia is telling her. She knows you cannot bring back what is dead. Eske knows this but her heart combats her logic. “It’s not fair Portia. It’s not f-fair.” She draws in a deep breath and holds it and lets it out, repeating this process a few times until she feels she has herself under some semblance of control; because she has to be in control. She has duties to return to. She has to figure out what they are going to do with the body because Eske wasn't just going to let Kendra's body for the scavengers.