Blacktail Deer Plateau burnt earth

Maybe @Dauntless, for our sibling thread? AW, though!

Although there was a certain area her father expected her to be in, he'd never told her specifically that she couldn't explore the rest of the territory. Usually, he was there to explore it with her, but not today. He was gone hunting, or looking for mama, or marking the borders... Easy didn't know for certain. She'd been half-asleep when he left, and his words had fallen on deaf ears.

Wherever he was, Easy knew that she and her siblings weren't alone. There was always someone around to watch them, which suited Easy just fine.

But she didn't feel like sitting with Heartha at her den, today. She didn't even feel like playing with Kieran, unless they could play out in the meadow. She was sick of the trees, after spending most of her short little life out on the open plains. So the charcoal girl wandered out into the open and enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her back, and the grass tickling her whiskers.

Ah, thought Easy. This is the life.

Hope its ok I pop in. @Dauntless you should join us.

---

Pema had decided that today she was going to look into the local foliage to see what type of things grew on the plateau and where. If she was going to have any hope of perfecting her skills as a possible medic she would need the herbs to do so. Most of the common things she knew like lavender or tansy grew in more grassy open areas and so that's where she was heading. Threw the woods and down the incline of the plateau where alittle ways off the river ran and plentiful grass and flower grew.

The light from the sun and the way the wind made everything wave in the wind made everything look so peaceful. With the help from the wind she was also able to smell some of what she was looking for. Some plants didn't have distinct smells but things like lavender and mint sure did. She followed the smell and found the purple colored flower lavender. The smell played in her nostriles for a bit before she turned her head to the side and nipped off one of the stems.

When she lifted her head up again with lavender in her jaws something abnormal came into her vison. As the wind blew in one direction a curtain section of the grass was moving in another. She decided to check it out and came across the lovely, young dark pup known as Easy. Who was taking it easy. "Hello there." she said her voice only slightly muffled with the little lavender that was in her muzzle.

The sound of approach and the scent of lavender made Easy pop to attention. "Momma?" she yelped, running toward the sound - only to stop short as she realized it was a familiar, tawny shewolf. The wind was briefly knocked out of her sails, but she still found a smile and a quick wag of her tail for the woman. "Hi, Pema," she greeted, a little more subdued than usual. She approached the woman with a false spring in her step, but by the time she reached her, all she could do was fall down on Pema's pale paws and sob her little heart out.

"Why - " Sob. "won't - " Sob. "she - " Sob. "come back?"

The last words were twisted into a desperate yowl of pain. She'd been okay with her mother's absence at first, but she'd been gone so long, now - and Easy was far from okay with that fact.

Easy shot up and ran towards Pema and she was surprised. A simple hello didn't necassarily meet the standards of something worth getting that excited about. She had't hearded that the young wolf had thought it was her mother. It seemed as though once the pup had a chance to really look Pema over her attitude changed for a split second from happy to disappointed to happy again. Not quite as happy as before, but there was a smile on her face and a sway to her tail.

But none of the mattered a few moment later when Easy had sunk down onto Pema paws and began to cry. Pema immediatly crouched down to lay down infront of Easy. Keeping her paws where they were. She set the lavender down to the side. "Easy, Easy, you're ok. What's wrong honey? Who won't come back?" she asked her, lightly licking her face here and there cleaning the tears away.

"My momma," Easy cried, clearly frustrated that the woman wasn't keeping up with her. Still, when Pema lowered herself to Easy's level, the young girl gladly burrowed into the comfort of a warm, fluffy chest. "She left and - and - and Daddy can't find her, and she's not back!" Easy sniffled wetly into Pema's fur and attempted to dig herself even deeper into her arms. "Why'd she go away, Pema? Didn't she want us?"

Easy and her sibling mother had left them without so much as goodbye and now Pema understood what was going on. Easy further burried herself into Pema's chest, which she didn't mind. The little one clearly needed some comfort with all her emotions pouring out like this. Alittle wetness on her chest seemed like nothing compared to what Easy must be going threw, thought Pema.

She asked questions that Pema had no way of knowing the answer. When she say Grayday alone with the puppies the day earlier it didn't cross her mind where their mother was or why she wasn't with them. "Of course she wanted you sweet heart." she lowed her head and pressed Easy against her chest with her chin. "You and your siblings are wonderful." she tried to assure her as she whept in her arms.

At first, Pema's words only made her cry harder. This was the breaking of a dam that'd been building since she first woke up without her mother's familiar face being one of the first things she saw in the morning. She'd tried so hard to be happy and tough for Dauntless and Lavender, because she knew how sad they were, and it came as something of a surprise to the charcoal girl to find out that she was just as upset.

Eventually, though, she cried herself out, and untangled herself from Pema with a wet sniffle. She did not retreat, but leaned back against the woman's chest, breathing in the scent of her coat and the lavender buds that lay to the side. When her eyes fell on them, she took a deep breath and told her new friend what'd set her off:

"Momma loves lavender," she said matter-of-factly. "That's how come she named Lavender lavender."

Easy still had something she needed to cry out and so Pema waited patiently licking her to try and calm her down. Once she had settled down a little bit she was able to tell Pema what had made her start crying in the first place. The scent of the lavender that mostly likely blew her way. At first Pema felt sorry for what she had done and began to apologizee. "Oh. Easy I'm sorry.. I didn't..."

But then she began to think that no matter what she said she would not be able to cheer the girl up. So for a moment she stayed there in silence. She though back to the lavender and how it might help. She lowered her voice down to somewhat of a whisper. "Do you want to try some. It might make you feel better." aside from the relaxing smell of lavender, it was also good at calming wolves down for those who decided to take a bit of it. 

Pema though that maybe interacting with what reminded her most about her mother would help as well. It might also make her a bit more sad, but if Khoe had really been away for such a long time, it was likely she wouldn't be back. Easy and the others would eventually have to learn to live without her with them. This might be a good start.

Easy sniffled once more, but nodded her head in assent. She'd never tried to eat a flower before, but if a Big Wolf said it was okay, then it couldn't hurt, could it? Maybe Momma liked lavender because it tasted good?

The girl stood and wandered over to the purple flowers, breathing deep and feeling something in her chest simultanously clench and release. Ignoring that feeling, she bent her head and picked up a flower, biting down and trying to move it down her throat with her tongue. A slightly sweet but mostly bitter taste exploded across her tongue, leaving her mouth a bit numb and a cloying, floral taste at the back of her throat. She spat it out, a lightbulb going on in her pea-sized brain.

"Hey, I have an idea!" she shouted, perking up and looking to Pema with shimmering eyes. "If we spread lavender around the borders, maybe she'll smell it and want to come home! Will you help me? Daddy says I can't go that far by myself."

When the pups agreed and began to head over to the lavender, Pema waited to see what her reaction was like. At first she took her time with it and it spent some significant time wondering around in her mouth. She was surprised at how well she was taking it for her first time. Most wolves didn't eat too many plants other then at times fruits and berries. But this would have a significantly different taste.

Pema smiled and made a small chuckle when Easy spat out the plant. She then claimed to have an idea and suggested that they spread the plant along border. It was a nice thought but the border was the most dangerious place for a pup to be within the packs territory. But she also thought about how important it would be to Easy. "Sure hun. But" the but was emphasises. "When we get closer to the border you need to stay very close to me and we need to do it quickly. Ok?" she told Easy as she began to walk back over to the lavender plant she had found before.

Easy picked up a smaller bundle of the flowers as well, nodding eagerly at Pema's instructions. Daddy had rarely allowed her and her siblings around the borders back at the Old Den, but they'd travelled all over, now. Daddy didn't mind them exploring as long as they had a big wolf with them.

She wondered if Momma was lost. Easy had heard Daddy say that she'd gone away on purpose, when the leader thought his children couldn't hear. If Daddy believed it, then Easy certainly did - but maybe she just couldn't find her way back? Daddy could always find his way back, but Daddy said that he had a magic nose. Momma didn't have a magic nose.

"We have to get lots of flowers," she decided. "Momma doesn't have a magic nose like Daddy and Aunt Spot."

Pema had cut some lavender at the stem and was piling it up beside her. Easy had a bundle of her own and spoke about needing more flowers. A magic nose? What made their noses so 'magical'. It could have been that Khoe simply didn't have the best sence of smell, but the way it was phased made Pema think that Easy was taking about how good Grayday and Spot's sence of smell was over the average wolf including Khoe. "A magic nose? What makes their noses to magical?... Is your nose magic too?" she asked with playful pretend excitement. She also wanted to specifiy what it was the Grayday had said to the pup so Pema could transfer it into adult talk for herself.

Pema had a pretty decent sized pile of lavender at her side and because this was Easy's plan she asked her. "Do you think that's enough." she asking thinking in her own opinion that it was plenty.

"A magic nose is when you can smell real good," she explained. "Daddy says we'll know when I'm older if I have a magic nose too or not. But he saw Sunny and Dawn have it, so we prob'ly will, too."

Easy looked at what they'd gathered. It seemed pitifully small against what she was quickly learning was a big, wide world - but when she looked at Pema's face, she couldn't seem to put that into words. She was still too young for these thoughts to fully form, and the idea was fleeting in its clarity, even if the feeling of desperation lingered in the pity of her chubby belly. "I guess so," she allowed, gathering up her bundle once more and following after Pema. "Do you think we can come and replace it when it loses it smell, though?"

For Pema, it seemed that the only magical thing about having a magic nose was the simple ability to smell, but it didn't really matter. She enjoyed watching and listening to how Easy discribed the process of someone who had such a nose. "I think so too with how well you could recognize the lavender." she complimented Easy and played into the childs fantasy. 

Easy inspected the pile and then looked up at Pema saying it was basically good enough for now. The amount of lavender they had obviously wasn't enough to cover the entire border, but there was no way the two of them could hold that much in their jaws. Easy pick up her bundle and Pema did the same with hers and the two headed towards the border. When asked if they could do this again Pema replyied saying, "Sure thing honey. You just let me know when you want to go and we can get more, but you can't go without me or another grown up." she added. Even though Easy said she already new this rule it didn't hurt to repeat it. After all if on another day Easy was really missing her mother at an untimely time, like in the middle of the night, she didn't want Easy to think that she shouldn't go off on her own because all the adults were sleeping. "My den is right by the rendezvous site if you ever need me."

"I know, Pema," Easy chirped, feeling better with the woman's assurance that they'd renew the scent, in time. "I won't go without you," she added, giving her own assurance in turn, with a slight emphasis on the last word. She didn't want anyone else to know about this - about how much she really missed Momma. Besides, she liked Pema, and having these special trips together seemed like a fun idea.

"Can we go see it after this?" asked Easy, wanting to know just exactly where it was. Just in case.

Easy agreed and even went to lengths to say she would only go with Pema. It felt good to know she was connecting with Easy. Partly because she was a new member of the pack and wanted to feel accepted, but mostly because it made her feel good knowing that she was making her happy. The loss of someone so close to you, especially a mother, even by means other then death, really took a tole on some. Even effecting how they were as adults. Pema was glad that she was here helping Easy work threw those possible feelings.

"Of course we can." Pema said when Easy asked if they could visit her den. The section of whitefish river that bordered the packs territory came into view and Pema slowed her trot to a walk and began looking side to side for any possible wolves that might be on the other side. For now there was no one around, but Pema didn't want to wait and see if one showed up. She moved closer to Easy and look down at her saying. "Ok we're here. Where do you want to spread them out, but we have to be fast." she reminded her.

Easy simply laid the bundle on the ground and looked out over the flatlands, a peculiar ache in her chest. The mountains that bordered this wide valley were almost too far to fathom. How much further had the come from, but in the opposite direction? How much further did this corridor go?

"It's so big out here," said Easy. "How will she ever find us?"

She didn't cry, this time, but turned her face into Pema's ankles. She wanted to go back to the rendezvous site, where Daddy always seemed to appear out of thin air just when she needed him. "Can we go see your den, now?" she asked.

Pema followed Easy's lead and layed and spread out her bundle of lavender beside hers. Easy asked how her mother was supposed to find them with the world being so big. Pema didn't make the connection that the reason the border wasn't marked to it's fullest was because the pack had recently moved. In her mind Khoe had been to the plateau at sometime and that unless she was forgetful she would be able to find her way back. Even though this assumption was wrong, Khoe did know the general direction that the pack was in because of the conversation she had with Grayday about it prior to their move.

"Our borders tell others were we are and who is inside of it. Your father's scent is especially strong so even though your mother doesn't have a magic nose, she can smell it. Along with your genious plan to lay down these for her, she should have no trouble finding us." Pema assured Easy.

They had finished and it was time to go back towards the rendevous site. "Ya lets to." she said nudging Easy to take the lead so that Pema was between her and the border for the time being. She nudged her a few more times playfully as they walked to try and see if Easy would start running, or maybe a playful race between the two.

Easy nodded in understanding, feeling a little bit better about the obstacles her mother would have to overcome in order to find them. Daddy said that he'd been leaving scent-messages for her every day he was gone, so that helped her feel better, too. With the scent of lavender flowers now wafting out from the borders, Momma would surely be able to find them.

Pema sure is nice, thought Easy, tail wagging idly as they headed back toward the rendezvous. While she knew that she could've gotten one of the other adults to help her with this task as well, it seemed significant that Pema had been the one to take her, and the one to comfort her when she cried. It was almost as good as having Daddy around - especially when they started to race!

Soon enough, though, the tiny girl tired and went back to her unsteady lope. It seemed like it took a lot longer to get back to the rendezvous than it took to get to the borders.

Easy picked up speed and Pema followed behind or to the side of the young pup wanting to have her feel like she was winning this pretend race. But it didn't last long. It seemed that the days events had taken the energy out of Easy as they got to the rendevous site. 

Pema was silently impressed by Easy. She seemed much older then her age, yet her innocence was still very present. Being with her and her siblings always seemed to brighten her day, even if they were sad, as long as they were smiling and their tails were wagging after it all, it made her feel good. The day had begun with herb gathering and had turned into much more. Even though Pema now didn't have and herbs to bring back to her den, she made a mental note of where she had found it and planned on returning in the upcomming days.

Once at the rendevous site Pema continued on leading Easy to her den. She stopped to the side of her entrance to allow the pup to look inside and even enter if she wanted. "Here we are. This is the product of all that dirt over there." she said pointing out the big mount of dirt to the side.

Though Easy's ears perked at the mention of dirt, the girl was getting awfully tired. She passed the pile by with a regretful glance and moved to investigate the den. With one last, querying look at Pema, she moved just into the entrance, looking in at the carved walls and earthen floor with bright, curious eyes.

"I hope I can dig this good, one day," she commented, amazed at how a wolf could make something bigger than them - at how Pema could change the landscape with just her paws. She turned back to the older female with a hopeful look on her face. "Can we take a nap in here? Will you cuddle me to sleep?" she asked. If Daddy had been there, she might've been tempted to find him - but Daddy didn't have a den, and Easy sort of missed the feeling of being inside one. (Had Daddy dug their old den, she wondered?)

Pema hadn't though she made her den into a master peice, but hearing Easy's compliment she took a second look and though to herself that she had done a very good job. Maybe it was because Dauntless had been with her. Trying to impress the young male pup. 

Pema had explected Easy to play in the dirt or go off to find her father, but she was happily surprised when Easy asked to nap and snuggle with Pema in her den. She let out a happy sign with a smile. "I'd love to." she said lightly in almost a whisper. Pema wasn't exactly tired but alittle rest couldn't hurt. She stepped into the den and layed down, gesturing with her head of Easy to come cuddle up into her side.

Easy's tail wagged more slowly than it would have if she weren't so tired, but it showcased her happiness just as well. When Pema laid down, the girl didn't even wait for an invitation before cuddling her smaller body into the brown-sugar pelt of the older shewolf. "Thanks, Pema," the girl murmured, stifling a wide yawn. She laid her head down on the woman's flank (for she was lying the opposite way as the older wolf just so she'd have this built-in pillow) and was asleep in a matter of seconds.

Easy plopped down on Pema's side and in what seemed like a matter of moments she was asleep. Pema curled herself up around the small pup and rested her head beside her. She was so small and innocent, yet full of so much more. Pema was too young to have children of her own, but being with Easy now made her want them more then ever. To see a pup like Easy calling her mama. It made her smile and she was happy for that to be one of her last thoughts before she took her nap. For now Easy and her siblings would do perfectly.