the scent of foxes grew stronger the further she moved into the woodland and away from the meadow, and as dusk began to seep slowly into the sky their calls grew more frequent. all around they hunted, fell prey and survived another day, another week; spring would come soon and thoughts would turn from survival to the survival of the next generation. it was something that had not yet crossed the woman's mind, besides the seemingly unrelated and irritating itch to still her paws somewhere, the slowly dying wanderlust that had been the gasoline on the fire of her youth. 

besides, it was hard to think of spring when they trudged through the coldest days of the season, now and again open skies or a slight rise in temperature would remind her of spring to come, before clouds slid overhead and the temperature plummeted once more. she huffed, pausing in her step to examine a small, reddish clump against the rough bark of a fir. fox - pungent, yet hours old.

the sound caught her attention easily, leaving behind the fur and stepping away from the slight cover of the trees, she moved towards the source. only a few tail-lengths were navigated before she reognized suddenly the man before her; and her name leapt to her lips. "rannoch!" his mountain had been desolate, but perhaps his pack had made it just fine after all. 

she closed the distance between them until they stood at respectful distance, smile fading even as her tail kept wagging gently. "I looked for you at the mountain - what happened?" she'd considered the sunspire alongside Easthollow in terms of allies, and while the former had not changed, seemingly, she wondered what had driven them from the peak.

she listened with auds pushed forward against her crown, it seemed misfortune and starvation had pushed them from the proud peak. she wondered briefly what they new home looked like; her memories of the specific area Rannoch indicated were hazy, though the name sparked dull recognition. 

just as her question put a damper on his enthusiasm, so to did her own, pausing a moment before speaking. "our territory burned. we fled to the maplewood, but some died in the fire. many more scattered, and after a couple weeks I went in search of them." pause. "aditya left soon after me, left leadership on my brother's shoulders. he tried his best, but he could only hold them together for so long. the last of them live with a group called Elysium." her chest constricted at words unsaid, at the death of the woman she'd considered her friend. would things have been much different if she had come back? maybe. maybe not. but all there was to say was that she had left them, in the end, and so she was to blame.

she dipped her head in agreement, for surely they must be good to allow the reminents of Morningside into their ranks so freely. he probed next at her own plans, and she shook her head easily. "my brother wants me to come back with them. I can't - I left when I was desperately needed, when all I needed to do was stay, and I never managed to find my pissing packmates. while I was gone, my friend - avianna - died and left behind her daughter." her ears flicked low to her skull. "I should have been there. but I wasn't, and I can't go back only now that they've found stability." what she mean't, truly, is that she wouldn't. suddenly her future was bleak and aimless, so far from the bright ambitions of her youth.

oh, but she could. it was all so easy to see - even if she could not prevent their deaths, she could have been there. she would have taken in faye, would have fought harder to seek the missing, would have fought tooth and nail for the last of their family. 

but she had not. 

nonetheless, she was silent until Rannoch's queery had her ears flick a fraction. was he offering? there was an odd prickling under her pelt at the thought of joining a pack. she'd been a Morningsider since birth, and though she knew their time had come to end, the act of joining another pack would solidify that further, it seemed. uncertainty coloured her gaze a moment, though she merely dipped her head carefully. "Morningside won't reform. And I can't - it was all I was." she could not - would not - attempt to raise her own pack, not now.

her thoughts were affirmed by his next question. you deserve freedom. no, she didn't, and nor would she ever be from the legacy of morningside. she did not want to be. but this, this was something resembling a second chance, another start that was as terrifying as it was hope-inspiring. she was silent only a moment before she tilted down her crown, words following a moment later. "if you will have me, then yes." gaze drifted from the earth to his a moment later, and there was gratitude there mixed with something not immidiately identifiable. "thank you, rannoch." she wondered if she was making the wrong choice somehow, if it was better to remain in solitude where there existed so little chance of betraying those she loved, of failure.

she dipped her head, doubt erupting suddenly in her chest. she did not want to fail again. Rannoch was offering her what he'd told her to find all those months ago, and she did not want to screw this up. but fear faded when she realized that uncertainty would only bog her down, and she could not afford doubt in this instance. 

instead, she accepted his offer easily, and as they walked she began to speak of the last days of morningside, the good and all the bad that had ultimately brought them down. it was cathartic in the way that screaming her grief until her lungs were raw was, the simple act of telling some of the end of their story to another; in the knowledge that Morningside would not just be preserved in bones and ash.