Silver Creek hers is the strength

if you have time! @Spring but all welcome!

It would have been a lie if she suggested that her thoughts didn't frequently returned to Shrike. She wondered how far away the Caldera was, even what he was up to. Shrike certainly wasn't the first person to be kind to her, but, on the back of the series of missteps Rowan was perhaps more grateful for his presence. She shook her pelt out, the puppies stirring her to a point of needing to get up and move around again.

Beneath her breath she hummed a tune, something old and something beautiful - from the Quarter, so far away. She started at her little nook in the Creek and began to cross the packlands, keeping moving and not letting herself slow down too much. 

For a while she walked alone, thinking of all of the events going on, when the creamy pelt of Rowan caught her eye.  For a moment she considered letting Rowan have some time to herself, but the Alpha quickly thought against it.  She was Alpha around here though, it was her job to be a guidance for her pack.  So with that Spring began to make her  way over towards the pregnant female.

"Hello Rowan."  She called out when she was a few feet away.  "How are you settling in so far?"  She found herself rather curious of what Rowan thought of the Creek and her expierences here, although she must have still enjoyed it because she was still here.  Spring also found herself a little curiosu about if Rowan had travelled beyond the Creek since arriving.  So with that she waited, waited for Rowan to speak.

When Spring's scent caught her nose she debated if she should go after her or not - not wanting to impose but at the same time she wanted to seek the Alpha out, to learn more about her. She had seen the sort of concern that Spring had, even for wolves that were not her own, and she was grateful for the chances afford to her when others had given her none. Her tail wagged a few times when she was addressed, the pale woman giving a respectful bow to Spring. "Hello," She said with a brief smile. "It's....it's nice here. Peaceful." With the distance between them and any other packs Rowan felt a sense of comfort. Perhaps it was too naive and idealistic, but, she did find herself relaxing here. She'd finally stopped looking over her shoulder for any hidden dangers. 

While she had spent some time in the Forest near them she still spent most of her days inside the packlands. She wanted to try and learn it, to find the places that she and her children would spend most of their time. She didn't want to be unprepared, although it felt like she would never catch up properly. Everything would end up being too soon, too fast. It wouldn't be bad though - she refused to let it be that way. "How are you?" She could only imagine how she was feeling with Laurel and Indra still not home. 

Spring found herself delighted to hear that Rowan was settling in well.  Although when the Mayfair asked her how she was doing that was a whole other story.  Spring loved it at the Creek, she really did, but she was feeling pretty down lately, especially since Laurel and Indra being taken away from her.

She hoped they were alright.

Spring did not want to lie to Rowan so she told her the truth.  "I miss Laurel and Indra."  She replied to the question in a sadder lower tone.  "I'm glad to hear that you're settling in though.  I sure hope that your children will like it here in Silver Creek."  She told the female in a little bit of a brighter tone.

Rowan frowned as he looked down at the ground, listening to the unhappy tone to her voice. Rowan reached out and pressed against her shoulder for a moment before she stepped back to look at Spring. "I hope they are alright." The pale with said. "And that they come home soon." Because she knew how much it meant to Casmir and Laika - and now to Spring as well. 

The want was still there for Laurel and Indra to come home - to know their cousins. "They are getting much more active." Rowan confessed. "I just fear the burden I will put on all of you in the next few weeks."

Rowan seemed sympathetic in her response and Spring didn't mind.  She was glad that the new recruit could have feelings for two pups that she'd never met.  When Rowan said that she feared the burden that she would put on them all in the next few weeks Spring shook her head.  It would be no burden for once the pups came they would be gifts from heaven.

She smiled at the pale girl before speaking.  "Your pups will be gifts Rowan, you place no burden upon us, do not worry."  Spring hoped that her words would be taken seriously, for they were truth.  After all pups always seemed to be able to lighten the mood with their cute little puppyness.  Everyone at Silver Creek needed the mood to be lightened right now.

A little shiver ran down the length of her spine as Spring said that they were gifts. If she only knew the way that Donnelaith was now falling apart - well. Her revenge extracted, she might suppose. Her goal was not to see the pack suffer, no matter how negatively she felt towards Aria for her hypocrisy. She was cautious - giving Spring plenty of time if she felt the need to pull away - but Rowan approached and rested her head for a moment against Spring's shoulder, tail giving a few wags before she stepped back. 

"I think soon you will be able to see them move," She admitted, turning to survey her stomach as if they might answer her on command and be good children already. "But I cannot tell if I see it because I feel it or not." She admitted with a cautious little smile. 

Rowan suddenly seemed much more cautious, it made Spring a little uneasy.  Had she said something wrong to upset Rowan it was it something else that was bothering her?    Although Spring was excited despite all that to hear that the pups were beginning to move.

"I can't wait to see them."  She began with an excited tone.  "But tell me Rowan is something bothering you?"  The Alpha asked but this time in a much more motherly concerned tone.  She wanted her pack mates to fell secure and not cautious.  So if something was bothering Rowan she wanted to know because she cared about her pack.  They were the her family after all.

Rowan just wasn't sure that Spring would accept her touch. They weren't familiar, after all, though they were becoming friends and this was a boon to her. It didn't mean that she was going to assume she was allowed to be so close to the Alpha. She offered a reassuring smile (Or what she hoped was, at least) to the woman. "I just....I have an issue with boundaries." She explained quietly. "Just not being sure when I've passed one. You've all been so wonderful to me, but, I don't want to overstep any sort of boundary." She had always been a little bad at reading social cues, but, she did try. 

She thought of Casmir, of how quickly the male had been accepting to her - and how he trusted in her, unlike his twin. Why would she lie? What good did it do to her when the truth was already so damning. The thought became good though given how Silver Creek had become such a home to her, and had taken such good care of her when her pack had not. 

Things happened for a reason, and the witch was assured that they had led her to the Creek.

When Rowan told her that she had a problem with boundaries and Spring nodded understandingly.  It made things make more sense of why Rowan had gotten so cautious all of the sudden.  Yet she didn't want the woman to feel that way around her.  Spring was Rowan's Alpha and while she would be kind about Rowan's problem with boundaries she wanted the female to know that she could trust her.

Spring gave the woman a brief small smile.  "I understand Rowan, but please know if you ever have something troubling you that you can trust me and I will help you out.  You don't have to be worried about stepping over any boundaries with me," she remarked, but then quickly added with a little bit of a friendly tease in her voice, "well maybe except trying to take over my position as Alpha in Silver Creek."

The silver eyed girl gave Spring a small smile, nodding. She felt comfortable as she could, given the reason she'd joined the Creek, and the longer that she spent there the more it was become a home to her and not just a refuge. It would take time, naturally, until the two became one and the same, but Rowan was eager for the shift and embraced it. "Not at least until the children potty outside the den." She teased back, her smile growing a little bit stronger. 

"If there is anything I can do to help you - please, let me know." Rowan couldn't hunt or properly defend the borders but she could offer council and she could heal. She could do the more intellectual things while her body physically was set in its process. "The other children - Indra, Laurel, and Milo - they were born outside the packlands right?" She asked curiously. She was thinking more about where the puppies would be born and it was becoming more and more necessary to decide where her whelping den would be. 

Spring smiled as Rowan teased her back, but then made sure to listen attentively as the female continued on to a more serious matter. Birthing.  When she asked if Laurel, Indra and Milo were born in outside of the packlands Spring realized that perhaps Rowan didn't know about Phoenix Maplewood, so with that Spring decided to give a little explanation about it.

"Well actually Rowan when Laurel, Indra and Milo were born we lived in a place called Phoenix Maplewood.  It was lovely over there," for a moment her eyes were dreamy and clouded with memories but then they darkened, "there was a pack that was going to attack us though if we didn't leave and we would have probably stayed to fight had we not have had pups so young.  So we decided to leave and then eventually found Silver Creek."  The Alpha informed her.  "So technically the Redtail pups were born in packlands."  She finished.

So the children had been the firstborns of the pack, but, had not been born in the Creek. It must have been a long journey, and while she isn't familiar with the Maplewood at all it sounded far away. '"It must have been difficult, still. Perhaps even more so with the puppies to travel with." Rowan surmised. She might have been in the same position herself had Casmir not been there for her. Though the dark male frequently said it was nothing Rowan felt like she owed him the world. 

"The Creek is a haven, it seems, for all who have come to it's borders." It was something she had come to realize the more that she learned about it, and the recent history lesson from Spring only cements the concept. 

Rowan spoke and Spring listened quietly with a few nods of her head.  She found herself smiling though happy to hear Rowan tell her that the Creek seemed like a haven for all who had come to it's borders.  "For most I hope to make it that way."  She responded with few wags of her tail, before shifting to a more in depth topic.  

"The journey from the Maplewood was hard though.  I am grateful the Indra and Laurel survived it.  Sadly Milo was sickly and died shortly after arriving at the creek."  Spring informed Rowan as she found herself lost in memories of the journey to Silver Creek.

"It truly has been for me." Rowan offered sincerely. She did not question things in the Creek, not the way that she had in Donnelaith, and it finally felt like she could relax. She wasn't worried about some axe swinging above her head, constantly keeping her worried and fearful. She could blossom and she could relax and give her children the life that they deserved. 

"I am sorry to hear of the loss." Rowan said softly, her fears for her own children realized in the child she'd never met. "I have heard it was a horrible time for everyone then." 

Rowan's words were kind and made Spring all the more proud of what the Creek had come.  Milo's death was very sad though, yes.  That had been a terrible time for everyone around then.  "Thank you for being so kind Rowan, I am proud of what Silver Creek has become and those who are here with us."  She said with a brief polite smile.

"Milo's death was terrible though, yes.  He was never as strong as his sisters though."  Spring sighed.  "I should have seen it coming."  For a moment she found herself lost in her thoughts before blinking herself back to the present.  She looked up at Rowan wondering what she would think of this, before briefly flicking her eyes to Rowan's bloated belly.  She hoped her pups would be as kind as their Mother, they did have a good one.

Rowan sobered when it came to hearing of Milo, this time when she reached out to touch Spring she was more certain in her motions. "You gave him the best chance you all could...without a healer to help him, it is still hard to say if anything would have changed." Rowan offered quietly. She drew in a deep breath, frowning gently. It was a hard loss and she worried over her children and what their lives would bring.  "I cannot imagine the pain you all have gone through." Rowan admitted. They had somehow survived a nightmare of hers, although she couldn't tell what the future held, she knew with the wolves of her pack she would make it. 

They had done what it took to keep their children safe and secure and Rowan knew it would be done the same way for her children if need be. They would take care of her. She would do whatever she could to do the same for them, too. 

Rowan's words hurt a little when she mentioned the healer part, but of course that wasn't Rowan's fault, because she probably just didn't know that Spring was a healer.  Her eyes flickered to the ground for a moment before restudying Rowan's form.  "I actually am a healer..." she said trailing off at the end, "but you probably didn't know that so its fine."  She felt a little awkward, but did her best to shrug it off, still it clung to her and something else too.  Guilt.

To Spring though Rowan was right.  A healer should have noticed, that healer being Spring.  She should have picked up that  Milo was running out of time.  Perhaps if she had she could have saved him.  It hurt the more she thought about it, but did her best to hid it with a solemn expression.

Rowan was excited for a split second to hear that there was another healer in the Creek - at least until she realized that it also meant her words had questioned Spring's ability. "Forgive me," She said quietly. "Even the best of us can't know everything - can't see everything and children especially..." She trailed her words off for a moment. "They can't always tell us what ails us." She said softly. "I don't specialize with children, I find it to be such a difficult field." She sighed quietly. Life was simply unfair.

Rowan was a little pragmatic in that regard - perhaps even pessimistic. No matter how much she wished it to be otherwise she truly felt it was too difficult to try and imagine what might have been the perfect wand to fix things. Her attempts had only proven to put her paw in her own mouth. 

Rowan's words were true... Spring knew that but still they handed her very little comfort.  She gave a small nod though because while she understood what Rowan was saying she still believed that she should have tried harder.  She could've saved him if she had looked, if she had tried.  Yet she never had even attempted to try.

"Children are a difficult field, yes, especially when they're young and don't know how to communicate as well," she agreed.  Children were a difficult field, but perhaps if she had just watched Milo a little harder she maybe figured out what was wrong with him and helped him, giving back to him a healthy state.  It was too late to find out now.

It was part of why wolves had such large litters; the chance of bringing any to adulthood was still slim. She worried for her own in the coming weeks and months, but fretting wouldn't help her. "There is only what you've done so far - to continue, to improve, in his memory." She offered softly. "Would you mind a walk?" Rowan asked, feeling antsy from her faux pas. 

For awhile the two pale wolves continued on their path, Rowan eventually choosing to recline in her own den. The closer she got to her due date the more anxious she became and the more she needed to sleep as well.