Sun Mote Copse Flannel sheets

After a very long sleep that lasted the better part of twenty-four hours, Phox finally roused himself enough to socialize. There were so many wolves to catch up with, he couldn't decide on who to call on first. So he didn't! Instead, he made his way to the common area. (The rendezvous point, I guess? Where all the wolves hang out!) It was still rather early in the morning, with the sun just now starting to make its way over the horizon.

His sleep schedule had been turned upside-down ever since his injury, and Raven had suggested a more regular one (sleep at night, wake in the morning) would help his migraines, so he followed her advice begrudgingly. He missed the stars, but he liked avoiding the headaches. Stretching his limbs and feeling a little more awake, he sent out a friendly, welcoming howl to anybody within earshot.

After a two day long, very intense scouting trip, Wraen was in no mood to leave the Sun Mote copse for a while. She was a little stiff and tired and though she would have gladly slept the whole day long, her brains had decided otherwise and had her wide awake.

First she checked out the figurative fridge near the Hinterland falls - the temperatures had dropped below zero overnight, therefore most of the dead fish stash was frozen solid within a cap of ice. This in no way improved their taste and Sovereign struggled to free them and eventually she gave up, deciding to return for the fish, if absolutely nothing else came up this day. 

She was on her way to the borders to hear reports from Niamh, Bronco or Towhee, when she heard someone call and changed her route to investigate, who it was and why had he or she called. Phox's familiar form came into the view, he did not seem to be in any immediate danger, therefore Wraen slowed her pace and greeted her cousin: "Good day to you! What's the trouble?"

There were at least a dozen wolves Phox wanted to reconnect with, and when he saw Wraen, he realized she was very far up on that list. Her voice was bright and cheery, and Phox immediately felt at ease. She wasn't a Redhawk by name, but Towhee trusted her, and so did he, and she had taken in Fennec. She certainly wasn't the milk toast like Quixote had been.

No trouble! he replied jovially. Just wanting to hang out with all my old friends and acquaintances. How has life been treating you, Wraen? I think last time I ran into you, I was hell-bent on food, so we didn't get to talk much. Finley had been there as well, hadn't she? Or maybe it was one of Finley's many daughters. Phox's memory wasn't the best, especially since he'd gotten knocked on the head.

Wraen was so used to the fact that people always needed something from her, that Phox's cheerful announcement was met with a baffled look and awkward silence. Small-talk, really? She half-expected him to tell that he was preparing ground for more sinister news (she did not know much about the ways of men, but women weren't usually too straightforward, when they wished to deliver negative information), but, when that did not happen, she sighed and shook her head. 

"I am sorry," she apologized and smiled at him politely. "It is a little unusual," said she, trying to recall, what had Phox exactly asked her and where to start answering. "Umm... good, I guess? What about you - are kids alright? How are Frosthawks doing?" it was easier to shoot questions back at her partner, while she remembered, what it meant to talk about things that did not directly concern pack management.

She seemed a bit taken aback, but that didn't bother Phox one bit. He was glad to be the bearer of good news for once. His return, along with Figment's, was good news... right? Fennec hadn't taken it perfectly well, but he was certain she would come around. As he'd said to her, he couldn't imagine what her life was like, and he would never really know. All he could do was be there to support her and listen whenever he could.

Figment's doing well. He's really happy to be back. Fennec is... well, you know. It's hard for her. She wants so hard to be independent, but she won't ever really get to do that the way you and I are capable of doing. It was unfortunate, but that was the way of the world. Just as Towhee had adapted, so would Fennec. She would have to lean on the rest of the pack, but that was exactly what the pack was for.

The Frosthawks are doing well. Raven and Quixote's kids are growing like weeds. I guess mine have been doing the same thing. It was so easy to talk about others, Phox saved himself for last. As for me, I've got this bum leg, can't see out of one of my eyes, and I've got the occasional headache, but I'm alive! The last part was what kept him going. That and the kiddos, of course.

The contrast between the super-serious and business-like Phox she had met two times previously and this cheerful chatterbox was unbelievable. Wraen listened with half-an-ear to everything the man told her about his family, while she tried to comprehend, whether her cousin had always been this way or he had got bashed on the head somewhere. Not that the change was unwelcome - it was good to have happy people around against the very gloomy and drab background, but still...

"I spoke with Fennec a while ago and I think that it would only be fair to give her a chance to find her own way," Wraen said, recalling the recent encounter far outside Sun Mote Copse. "Neither you or I are going to be around long enough to take lifelong care for her... and from what I have seen of her, I believe that she will definitely surprise us." 

Knowing Fennec, she would have hated Wraen's response, but it was the same one that Phox had given her when he found out she was living here. Fennec had a lot to work through, and Phox found himself wishing that Sequoia was here to guide her through it. She was so much better at empathizing that Phox would ever be. Alas! She seemed happy with the Frosthawks anyway, so there was no sense in dragging her up here with nothing to really pull her this way and everything to turn her away from it with what Kiwi had done.

I have no doubts that she will, Phox agreed. Fennec was a lot stronger, smarter, and more clever than she wanted to believe. Running off on her own with no plan was, in his mind, the real reason that she'd almost ended up dead. Not because she was incapable of being on her own for any length of time. Unlike those who could see the world around them, she had a lot to learn before she could do anything like that.

And even if we aren't here to help her out, there will always be relatives to do the work for us. Fennec had countless cousins between the Finwoods and Wildfire's kids. Not to mention Figment, who was likely glued to her side right at this moment. He did wonder if and how their relationship had changed now that they were reunited. He knew that his with Towhee had changed when he had come back the first time, but in the end, it had been for the better.

Oh! said Phox, remembering he'd forgotten to mention an important detail. Liffey and Rannoch had a litter of five about a month ago. Three boys and two girls. He wasn't even going to attempt to remember all their names, but it seemed like the kind of information that should get passed around. Phox vaguely remembered that Wraen had some sort of connection to them, so she would probably want to know about their good news.

Those guys wasted no time. Which litter was it? Third? And they were the same age as her. How time flies and treats people differently... Wraen thought, feeling glad that Rannoch and Liffey weren't here right this very moment and that she did not have to be a witness to their domestic bliss. When you are almost four years old, unwanted and undesired by anyone, it makes you a little bitter and grumpy to see others succeed in this line of life goals. 

This inner monologue did not reflect in her features, she was more than glad to steer the conversation back to Fennec's development after some pleasantries that were expected. "Their family must be very big by now," she remarked. "I remember, when they had their first-borns," that had been a very long time ago. Maybe Rannoch and Liffey were already in the danger of becoming grandparents this season. "Are Raven and Quixote also planning to expand their family this year?"

Phox nodded. The Rannoch and Liffey crew were certainly large. He was happy for them, even if he preferred his small family to their large one. How could they ever keep track of that many kids?! Phox had a hard enough time dealing with Figment and Fennec. Maybe some of it had to due with Fennec feeling like even more of a responsibility. With a whole bunch more kids, how would he ever be able to give her more attention. Despite the fact that Phox did want more kids someday, he wanted few enough that he could give them each the time and attention they deserved.

I can't imagine they wouldn't! he replied. He still thought Quixote was totally lame milk toast, but Raven seemed happy, and that managed to outweigh any of his own personal (and totally unfounded) vendettas against him... so long as Phox didn't have to live in the same pack, of course. Funny to think he never even would have considered it if it hadn't been for Towhee living there.

What about you? he asked, letting his head cant to one side. You want kids someday? Considering they were cousins, Phox didn't really even consider the possibility of shacking up with Wraen. Maybe it wouldn't have been that weird to do so, but he'd never really seen her in that light.

"It seems to come so easily to some people," Wraen remarked thoughtfully. A quiet observation, no bitterness there. Even Phox had managed to get two, even though his mate was no longer around. What had happened to her? Should she ask? As she thought this, she shot a brief look in his direction, but decided against doing this.

"Yeah, maybe," she shrugged, not for the first time answering this question. "But I am fine of being the fun aunt to the children of others. I like and love them all the same. Does not make a difference, if they are my flesh and blood or not," she added. "What about you - do you plan to enter fatherhood again?"

The only reason Phox had children was due to Camilla and Towhee's influence. He'd been rather apathetic on the matter last year, but now that he had Figment and Fennec, he understood why families tended to grow and grow. They had added so much to his life (and he imagined to Towhee's life as well). A flutter of sorrow rippled across him when he remembered that Camilla never truly got to know her children or get the same enrichment from them, but Phox did his best not to dwell on that thought.

He wondered if Wraen would feel the same about other wolves' children if she ever did have her own. Selfish as it was, Phox knew he would put Figment and Fennec above anybody else in the world when it came down to it. He had never really gotten along with Raven's kids, and any other's he'd talked to never really had the same connection that he had with his two. Maybe it was good to have wolves like Towhee and Wraen around who either couldn't or didn't have children to balance that out.

Only with the right partner, he replied. Phox did want to be a dad again one day, but he wouldn't be rushing into anything with anyone. Niamh came to mind, but he hadn't said anything to her, so that was unlikely to do much more than stew unless he brought it up... and even then, he wasn't sure if she'd be into the idea.

The first question that popped in Wraen's mind was, whether the last partner had not been the right one? She did not know the full story of, what had happened and why, but she thought she saw the resemblance of the said she-wolf in Fennec's looks. Had it been love of Phox's life - the same way Wildfire had been to Eljay? Or both had entered a more pragmatic arrangement? Which was better? Terance came to mind and his fling with Seabreeze, which had ended up into so much hurt and disappointment. Sometimes it seemed like having a partner was too much work, too risky or too painful to deal with. 

"That's important," she remarked. "Last year we had three couples, this year - only one and I do not even know, if they plan to have children," Wraen referred to Elwood and Finley. They still had their permission, but both had aged so much during this winter that she no longer considered them to approach her about the matter. "Looking at Eljay... He has not recovered from losing your sister and I doubt that he ever will. Makes you wonder, if that "one true love" is truly worth it," she mused to herself.

A spring without Finley and Elwood kids? That seemed unimaginable, but he knew they were getting to be old farts. He wondered if there came a time when their parts stopped working, but the thought grossed him out thinking about what were practically his parents, so he quickly shut it out of his mind. Wraen mentioned Eljay, and Phox frowned. He realized there were three wolves in this pack that had lost their mates to death last year.

Eljay had always been a bit of a... special case, but Phox didn't have any hard feelings for the guy. He was, after all, a brother to him. Maybe he could track him down and try to chat it out with him. A bizarre thought popped into his head just then: a wolf like Camilla (docile, ever-pleasing) probably would have made an excellent partner for Eljay.

I don't know if you met Camilla, Fig and Fenn's mother. Our relationship was... complicated. She really wanted to be with me, and I was pretty ambivalent about the whole thing. She got sick shortly after the pups were born and passed away. Phox knew that if she were still alive, he'd still be with her. He was not the type to abandon his duty—at least not since he'd made a fool of himself as a child by running away from a war.

"I am so sorry," Wraen told Phox, searching his face for any sign of similar anguish that she had seen in Eljay, but her cousin seemed to have got over it. He had entered a relationship on more pragmatic grounds than emotional and this may have helped him to cope better. Or he simply was a different person altogether. Eljay's baggage of insecurities and low self-esteem did not help in any way. 

"If that's not too much to ask, maybe you could hang out with Eljay time from time. This year has been very difficult for him - first his mate, then he had difficult time with his son Elfie and..." she paused and looked away. It was not easy to talk about the boy, who had not returned after Asterism Grove had crumbled to pieces. "... now the son has disappeared completely. I would do it myself, but I was the one to suggest that the boy goes to the grove for training. I am not sure I am his favourite person at the moment."

"Distraction would do him good," she finished her thought.

Phox hadn't realized that Elfie hadn't joined the rest of them here. He must have gotten lost in all the chaos after the landslide. Phox couldn't even remember if he'd been there with them in the grove or locked outside of it. His memory from around that time was fuzzy at best, and he frowned trying to recall what had happened. Phox held out hope that Elfie was still safe and sound somewhere. If Fennec had been able to find help, hopefully he had, too.

I'll make it a point to find him, he replied. Sequoia, who's living with the Frosthawks now, helped me work through some of my hang ups around Camilla, so maybe I can pass some of that knowledge along if he's willing to listen. Phox couldn't remember ever "hanging out" with Eljay, but maybe this was his chance to get to know him better. They had something in common, even if their situations had been rather different.

"That willingness to listen is the tricky part," Wraen sighed. "He is so hell-bent on blaming himself for every little thing that even solid proof that it is not so, does not convince him," she explained with a pained smile. Eljay was too tough of a nut for her to crack and, frankly speaking, she was tired of him being the way he was. The Sovereign was not proud of feeling this way, but after a whole year in his company she did not believe that there was even a cure for the guy's messed up self-esteem.

"If you don't mind sharing - how did Sequoia help you deal with it? What did she do or say?" she asked, willing to learn from Phox's experience.

That was about the answer he had suspected. Eljay had never seemed to want to improve anything. In Phox's opinion, he just liked to complain. But he would put on his most empathetic compassionate face and do his best for his brother. It was only fair. How was it that Sequoia managed to do it with such ease? In fact, that gave Phox an entirely different idea that he would have to run by Eljay when he tracked him down.

We talked a lot, Phox replied when Wraen asked how Sequioa had helped. About how death isn't the end. About how grief takes time. About how life isn't fair. Just having somebody who would listen and wouldn't judge was really, really nice. It probably helped that she was going through her own grief learning about Wildfire, too. So we sort of got to talk about that together.

Phox had never been particularly close with Wildfire, but she'd been a strong maternal figure to Sequoia.

If Phox had voiced his opinion about Eljay out loud, Wraen would have agreed. As much as you felt sorry for all the misfortunes that came over her packmate and friend, she had not seen him put up much of a fight. He had taken everything laying down and thought it his fault of it happening. 

"She sounds like a truly great asset that we need here as well," Wraen remarked, because her capacity of listening and being helpful with advice was not limitless. "I never asked you, but, what are you trade-wise?" if Phox was an advisor-type, she could put him to good use to fill in blanks that she was unable to.

Phox smiled, thinking that Sequoia really could do some good here. But she was with the Frosthawks, and she seemed to have fallen into a good routine with the wolves there. Of course, there was another option. I'm sure she wouldn't mind lending her ear to visitors, especially if they were coming from a sister pack. That was exactly how Phox had gotten the advice he had needed at the time. He hadn't gone there under the best of circumstances, but it was nice that he'd been able to work through things while he was recovering physically.

Me? I'm a decent hunter, mostly small game. I try to keep track of how much we have in the caches, too. Beyond that, I know a lot about the night sky, mostly from my time outside the Teekon Wilds. He'd been only a boy then, but the knowledge had stayed with him. Much of it was stories that were passed on to him by various rouges, but there was some useful stuff in there like how to navigate by checking the position of certain celestial bodies.

"That makes two of us," Wraen said, happy to hear that there was another trapper in their midst. "We should have a hunt-date sometime," came the next suggestion. But then again they had had at least two of those before, so - maybe - let's hang out and talk date would have been a better option.

"So you are a star reader?" she wanted to clarify, what Phox had meant by being able to interpret the nightsky. "My brother - Terance - is a stargazer. Might be that this runs in the family," she mused, wondering, which parent had contributed to this talent. Neither her mother or father (she was not sure though) had been good at reading stars. So, perhaps, this came from another branch of the family.

Phox did remember hunting with Wraen on at least two other occasions, which was somewhat amusing considering they had not shared a pack until now. He nodded to the suggestion that they should do that again sometime. Phox was always down for a hunt, no matter who it was with or what the circumstances were. It was one of the things he'd always excelled in.

The name Terance probably should have rung a bell somewhere, but it was lost on Phox for the time being. His head bobbed up and down at her calling him a star reader. He didn't know too many of them aside from himself, and he wondered where Terance lived. Does Terance live nearby? We could swap knowledge on the subject if he is.

"Nah, he lives in a land Far-Far-Away," Wraen said the last words with a semi-amused grin. She did not often wonder, how her brother was doing, which would have made her devastated in the past, but now she accepted that he was somebody, who belonged to a different life. With Treason by his side and his own steady and calm personality there was no way he would be doing badly. 

"The last I heard it was somewhere on the other side of the Sunspire mountains. Rannoch would have been the best source to get the exact details on, how to reach him," she added, then remembered that the former besties had left on mutually bad terms. "I have not seen him for almost two years. Feels like a lifetime," Wraen mused thoughtfully and - in her case - it was true. In human years it would be like not seeing your sibling for 15 years, if you were 30.

Huh, he said, a bit perturbed that she seemed to know the vague location of her brother, and yet she hadn't seen him in years. Phox and Towhee had been all but inseparable their entire lives. He had older siblings (a lot of them), and although he didn't know where a majority of them lived now, he liked to think that, if he did, he would at least make an effort to catch up with them every once in a while. Raven was a prime example of that, but he supposed different families worked in different ways.

Welp, Phox said, rising to his feet. Sure, he'd been sitting before. Let's go with that. I'm gonna go familiarize myself with the layout here. Get the lay of the land and all that. I'll take you up on that future hunting date, though! Just holler whenever you want to rustle up some grub.

After hearing Wraen's revelation about her estranged relationship with her brother, Phox seemed no longer inclined to continue the conversation. The Sovereign wondered, whether it was because she had told him a tad bit too much of what he had no interest to hear or there were reasons for him to judge her. Whatever the reasons were for him to hurry away, she was not going to hold him off. 

She shook her head, smiled, as if earlier deep moment had never been and got to her feet as well. "Do so. And I will call, if something comes up," she told him. "See you around!" and with this she headed towards the borders. With no particular aim in mind, but being there was just as good as being anywhere else now.