Broken Antler Fen Endings and Beginnings

For @Pearl

Odette stared into the water of the fen, thinking of beginnings and ends.  Why had she come here alone?  Why was Stoic an Adeline not with her?  Why had her Mother and Father died?  Why did Solemn have to die?  Why did STeady take such a horrible turn?  Why did she have to lose her family...?  Was she really even Odette Silvertip anymore?  For a moment she wanted to say no, that Silvertip, her last name was a terrible thing of the past.  She wanted to burry it for a few seconds.  Kill it even.  Suddenly though those thoughts just froze.  Silvertip had been the name shared by her Mother and Father.  She couldn't leave that name in the past.  She couldn't leave Odette and Odie in the past either.  These were the names that came from her Mother and Father, they could not just forgotten, for it seemd like one of the deepest betrayals.  It was then that she realized it was not Silvertip Mountian that she truly feared, it was the wolves who inhabbited it.

Odette started to walk and walk.  She walked for what seemed like hours, thinking of what could have been and what had happened.  Still she felt special to have such good wolves who seemed to take on the roles of her Mother and Father in ways.  Sebastian and sorta Pearl.  She personally wanted to spend more time with Pearl, to learn about her and all which would be more than great.  Soon her legs got tired and Odie found that she had to sit down and rest for a little while, now staring back into the Fen that she had visited with Uncle Seb.

Pearl had picked up exploring the territory again, now that she had the strength to do so and everything wasn't dry and dead. The fens were nice and warm, and she would occasionally walk in until just her head was out of the water to drink. She was considering going in again when she circled around the fen that she had seen Sebastian and Odette swimming in, when out of nowhere Odie was there, staring across the water. 

She chuffed to let the little one know she was there before she got too close, as was out of habit. Pearl had meant to find some one-on-one time with the pup, and it seemed like the opportunity ahd just been served to her on an unexpected platter. "Mind if I join?" she asked, walking up to her.

For another half an hour Odie was alone, just staring into the water... thinking.  She thought about her questions and so much more.  Sometimes she didn't think about anything, just watched the Fen's magnificent beauty, imagining floating there in the water... peacefully.  Soon enough though a familiar scent caught her nose.  Pearl.  He tail gave a small wag as the pearly colored female was soon by her side asking if she could join Odie.  "Of course."  Odette replied in a happier tone, but still seemed a little distant as her gaze still lay upon the water.

"How did you meet Uncle Seb..." Odette asked Pearl as soon as the question came to mind, but soon found herself a little nervous to finish the sentence, so after about ten seconds Odie finally mustered up enough courage to finished her sentence, "Aunt Pearl?"  She finished, then stared at Aunt Pearl with a curious gaze, waiting for Pearl to tell her... if she felt up for it.

Pearl smiled softly at the little one, then took a place beside her, looking out over the water peacefully until Odie asked her a question. "Well that is a very interesting story," she said. Remembering that day was odd. It was like imagining an awkward conversation, except that the awkwardness was tripled and that it actually happened. Before starting, she snorted.

"It was really awkward, to say the least," she began. "I was on a break, of sorts, from my pack, going exploring, you know. Decided to take a nap in the middle of a field of flowers, and who should come walking by other than a handsome, dorky guy to wake me up. He did have a girlfriend, though, so it wasn't love at first sight. Talked about packs, swapped advice and awkwardly went back and forth. Met both of them later at the hot springs. It was after..." she paused. "You want to know the whole story?"

Odette was delighted when Aunt Pearl began to tell her the story of her and Uncle Seb, how they had met.  As the story began Odie laughed when Pearl said that Sebastian was a dork.  It was kinda hard to imagine at first, but then the image fully came and made her laugh even harder.  Eveentually she stopped and finsihed listening to the rest of the piece of the story that Pearl gave her.  It was strange to hear that Uncle Seb had had another female that he had loved.  Anyways Aunt Pearl was probably better than taht other Sebastian girlfriend of the past  anyways.

When Pearl paused in her story, Odette found herself actually leaning towards her Mother figure wanting to hear more... almost demanding to hear more, as this really caught her interests.  So when Pearl finally broke her silence and asked her if she wanted to hear more, Odette nodded fast like a blobblehead.  "Yes, yes, yes."  She whispered eagerly.  "I can't believe that Uncle Seb was a dork."  She then cried out with a sweet little giggle.

Pearl giggled along with her, Odette's eagerness compelling her to finish the story. "Yes, he was. He can still be, sometimes," she said, grinning at the pup. It was immensely enjoyable to entertain her adopted daughter, and she couldn't help but think about telling it again to her own. 

"Well at the hot springs, it seemed like they were having a lot of a fun, like they were meant to be together. It didn't turn out that way, though. I ran into Seb quite a while later while tracking, him being heartbroken by his ex-girlfriend, Haven. Aduin is her brother, if you wanted to know. Anyway, at that point he was a sad mess that had supposedly given up on love. He'd been heartbroken too many times, and this was the last straw. I really thought they'd be good together, but I ended up comforting him and trying to get him to believe in love again." she paused again, wondering briefly if this was too much information for the pup. Whatever, if she wanted the whole story, she'd get it.

"Then later, at the beginning of spring, he showed up at my pack's borders and asked me to join him here. I didn't even have to think to know I wanted to go with him, so I quickly told my Alpha and left the same day. We came down here, started up a pack, and became mates just a few months ago, once the clueless dork realized that we liked each other. The rest is history," she finished, smiling at Odette.

The first part of the story was sad and Odette found herself really beginning to dislike this Haven.  How dare she hurt her Father!  As the story progressed though it actually turned out quite cute.  Pearl got Uncle Seb to believe in love again and he and Pearl began mates.  It had a happily ever after... she sure hoped that she would get one of those someday.

She smiled back at Aunt Pearl.  "I hope I find something as special as you and Uncle Seb have one day."  She told her Mother figure longingly.  She wanted a happily ever after, not constant death after death.  The thoguht of death suddenly caught her attention and she whimper, a thought occuring to her.  "Aunt Pearl?  Did you know my parents?  They were named Zaria and FitzDutiful.  Do you know if they loved eachother just as much as you and Uncle Seb do?"  She wanted Pearl to say yes, yes that her parents had had a perfect relationship full of love and passion, no better.  She wanted to know that her parents had been happy.  That they had been truelly in love, for she had never truelly known her Father and her Mother had never really talked about him that much.

Pearl has no idea how to talk to kids lol

 
Pearl smiled warmly at the young pup, wishing the same for her. "I hope you do too," she spoke, giving Odette a nose boop. All pups deserved to wish for a happy ending and believe in it, and it was easier with mates around that made it seem possible. She briefly wondered about Odette's parents before the pup asked about them, if she remembered them at all, or if she had been too young. 

Her whimper snapped her attention back, wondering what could have caused it. She listened to the question, struggling for a way to answer it, since she had no interactions with those wolves. "Um...no, I didn't know them. But you know what, I'm sure they did love each other. How else would such a sweet little girl come to be?" She attempted, trying to make up in her lack of parenting skills with a happy nudge to the shoulder and a smile.

Lol

Odette beamed with a bright smile when Pearl wished her well on her road in life.  To have a happily ever after.  Then came the answer to her question about her parents, her expression starting to look a little sad and depressed when Pearl claimed to have not know her parents.  Odie could tell though that Pearl seemed to be trying to make it a little lighter though, telling her that her parents must've loved eachother because of how she had turned out.

"Maybe."  She began quietly, sadly.  "My Father died when I was very young though, I don't remember him.  I don't even know what he looked like really.  I just basically know that he was my Father, his name was FitzDutiful or Fitz for short I guess and... well I know that he died."  She paused for a moment, staring at the ground.  "Mom never really talked about him too much, and know any chance to find out about him from her is gone.  I will never truelly know how strong their bond was."

Pearl listened to the young one as she told what she knew of her parents, which was tragic for a pup to go through. She tried not to let it show on her face, but the pale woman was becoming very concerned for Odette, especially with all that had happened to her already, that really shouldn't have in the first place. She resolved to talk to Seb about it sometime, and see if he had talked this much in depth with Odie.

Still having no idea how to approach the topic and what she should and shouldn't say, she was relatively at a loss for words, to say the least. "Well maybe not, but you could always ask some wolves that knew them from your old pack. And don't think on it too much, even though your parents are gone, they're still watching over you, regardless of their relationship with each other. And don't forget you have a place here, with our family."

Pearl did her best to sympathize and Odie would have been very grateful for it had she not brought up talking to her old pack about it.  The Silvertip Mountain wolves.  She couldn't, wouldn't do it.  For very specific understandable reasons.

"Almost all of my old pack cannibalized my Mom.  My Uncle," she spat the word with disdain, "Steady have the order.  He even offered me a piece."

Images flashed through Odie's mind of when Steady had offered her a piece of her Mother's body.  She remembered looking for Stoic, but he was not there, she had not found Adeline either.  Then she was alone out in the open all alone.  Then a friendly face to help rescue her from all of the tragedies.  Sebastian to her at the time and now Uncle Seb.  Now she was here with a family, but still felt the painful moments of losing the chance to live and love her birth family.  FitzDutiful her Father, Zaria her Mother, Solemn her Brother, Adeline her sister and Stoic her brother.

She missed them all so much.

A sad low whine escaped her maw and she looked up at Pearl with big sad eyes.  "I don't want to face those wolves again no matter what anyone says."

Pearl quickly realized mentioning Silvertip had been a huge no-no. It was an understandable no-no, but she hadn't recieved warning that one existed up until that point. She nodded at the girl, patiently listening to the trauma that the pup had too soon endured. It was during the famine, justifiable, but she agreed that Steady had gone much too far. 

When the child looked at her, Pearl didn't even try to resist the eyes. She bent down and nuzzled her head before saying, "No, no one is saying that you have to. It's your choice, and if you never want to see them, that's alright."

Pearl gave her a satisfactory answer and she nodded gratefully in response only giving a single sniffle.  She was grateful to hear that someone else in her life could understand.  She wondered at that moment what Stoic and Adeline about the matter right now at this moment.  She hoped they both knew the truth.

She missed them.  She missed her family.

Odie then sunk into Pearl nuzzle leaning forward to give her Mother figure one back.  

"Do you miss your family Pearl?"  She asked quietly.  While she knew that Sebastian and Pearl were mates she had never seen or heard of any of Pearl's blood family.  Where were they?  Had she left or had something happened to Pearl's family?  Something that separated them from her? 

Odette waited quietly for an answer if she were to receive one.

Pearl was all too happy to see her words finally give comfort to the young pup. Smiling at her as she returned the nuzzle, she sighed contentedly. At least until the topic of her own family was brought up. 

Taking some time to think about them, as she hadn't done in quite a while, seeing that she had built her own quite amazing life here. "Well," she paused, and proceeded slowly, "I do miss them, but I know my brother is probably doing just fine in his own pack, and my parents are both watching after me." She looked up at the sky and smiled, feeling a little guilty that she hadn't even thought of her blood family in some time. They were a good family, but had never been that close.

Pearl seemed at first to be a little hesitant to speak about her family and Odie wondered why.  Had something happen?  When Pearl finally spoke though she spoke of her brother, who she said was probably doing fine.  When she spoke of her parents though, Odette caught that she said they were both watching after her.  For a second Odette thought that perhaps Pearl's parents were here at the Fen too.  All of that vanished though when Pearl looked up at the sky and smile.

Her parents were probably dead.

Just like Odie's.

"I'm sorry about your parents Aunt Pearl."  She said softly, with a sad look on her face.  "I'm sure that they would both be proud though to know who you've become."  Odette sympathized, but even though there was sympathy in her tone, she still meant what she said.  Pearl's parents would be proud of her, they would just have to be.

wrap up in a few?

 

"No, no, it's all right," Pearl nearly rushed to say, not wanting to turn the conversation on her. What happened had happened, and while it was unfortunate, they had to accept it and move on. "It's in the past now, and there's nothing I can do to change it now." Or if she could, even then she wouldn't have her life any other way.

"Hey, I'm sure your parents are just as proud of you, little one," she smiled, not wanting to reach a tone of sadness, or to recieve sympathy. Yawning, she smiled down at the pup and laid down to match her level.

Sounds good.

Pearl was very quick to try and push the topic of her parents away.  She told Odie that it was in the past, that she couldn't do anything to change it now.  The words that Pearl had told her made the pup feel a little bit better about herself though.  Perhaps she shouldn't dwell so much on the death of her parents and Solemn as she normally did.  It was in the past now as Pearl had said.  She could not change it.

But what if she could?

What if she had not been born?  Would it have been easier for her Mother to survive the famine instead of having to take care of four then three hungry pups till her death.  Maybe.  Would Solemn still be alive?  Maybe.  What about her Father though was there any way that she could have helped save him?  She didn't think so.

Maybe none of it was her fault though.  Maybe everything did actually happen for a reason, because as much as she didn't want to think about it if her Mother and Father had never died she would have never come to Broken Antler Fen and met all of these amazing good hearted wolves.

That didn't mean that her parents or Solemn desevered to die though.

So when Pearl told her that her parents were proud of her too.  Odie brightened up like a light blb freshly places into it's socket.  "Thank you Aunt Pearl."  She quietly thanked her Mother Figure, then was quiet reflecting upon her own thoughts.

Pearl quietly watched the little girl get lost in her thoughts, hoping that she would be able to help more than she had today. If she even made a difference. The pale woman shoved her doubts aside for the time being, and waited until the girl spoke up again. 

"Hey, anytime, pumpkin," she sighed happily. When Odette lasped back into thought, she nosed the pup to get her attention back. "It's been a long day. Do you wanna take a nap with me?" she asked, head cocked to the side, awaiting a response from her adopted daughter.

It warmed her heart a little to hear Pearl call her "pumpkin."  Would her Mother have called her that?  A rush of sadness swooped through Odie.  She didn't know and probably never would.  Then Pearl nosed her bringing Odette back to the present.  The puppy shifted her gaze quickly to Pearl to hear her speak, asking if Odie wanted to take a nap with her.

For a moment she wasn't sure if she was ready to sleep, but when a small wave of tiredness ran through her at the thought she gave a nod.  "Okay.  Sleep sounds nice Aunt Pearl."  The Xi said, her mouth beginning to open in a wide yawn.  Then with that she strode closer to her Mother-figures side ready to go back with her.