Stone Circle you know i'll take my heart clean apart if it helps yours beat

Edit: for reference, takes place promptly after this: http://wolf-rpg.com/showthread.php?tid=27545

From the crest of Stone Circle, Clary watched the group of what appeared to be a family peel away from the borders of Easthollow, their silhouettes markedly sharp next to the health of Stark and @Valette. Her ears splayed in the upset of missing the call. Even in her rush to get here, she hadn't been quick enough to intercept, and she clipped down the hill's descent to meet her mother in the meadow. Only once had a number so large graced their family home, yet she didn't recognize them anyone from Morningside. A flare of her nostrils took in the air, but even their scent ran unfamiliar. They held the undercurrent of brine, like they'd come from the sea.

"Hey mom," she greeted, half-absent as she lingered a moment on the now distant wolves. Curiosity long held her tongue, and she turned to face her mother. Eyes lighted with the question, even before she asked, "Who was that?"

To say that Valette felt guilty was a bit of an understatement but she couldn't take in everyone. They wouldn't have enough and the family would still be starving. Valette sought a bit of comfort from Stark as the family moved away. What she didn't expect was that Clary coming to the scene moments later. Valette offered her daughter a tired smile. "Hey Clary," she greeted before seeing the questioning look on her daughter's face.

Valette could almost expect the question. Valette turned to Stark and asked him to go check on their children. She would catch up with him later. "Strangers. A family with five youngsters needing a home," she answered. Clary was not stupid, and she probably had seen the family from afar. Valette's hazel eyes fell to her daughter, wondering if she should elaborate on her answer or not. "Which we could not offer to them, unfortunately,' Valette added.

"What!" Clary felt her heart plummet and the question spilt with a pained squeak. Though she saw the tired look in her mother's eyes, her tongue ran ahead of her restraint - because she wasn't expecting that. "Why can't we help them? Why can't they stay?" She craned her neck and stole her glance away from her mother's face to try and glimpse the family again. They moved away, but remained visible, shrunken specks on the horizon. It wasn't too late, and if she was quick, maybe she could run up and catch them. Surely her mother had made a mistake. They were stronger together, or so she'd been taught, and there was always a room in Easthollow, for everyone... wasn't there?

Valette's ears flattened when Clary seemed to disagree. The mother glanced over her shoulder at the family and then sighed again. "Because we have 16 pack member, with Stark and me 18 wolves in total. Plus, three growing children who will start to eat more and more," she explained calmly. "Last time we took down a bison we hunt down a bison it was just enough for everyone. If we would accept this family, we would have 5 youngsters plus 2 adults. It would make our total of 28 wolves. We would not be able to hunt enough to feed everyone," she spoke to explain to her daughter.

"Everyone would suffer. I had to decide this as a leader not as a mother. It is would not be a wise decision for the future of Easthollow," she spoke, clearly believing her own words. Valette knew she made the right decision. She had to. Not only for her pups but also for the members of her pack she promised security.

Clary listened, but even with the sound logic of her mother's words, her heart still ruled her mind. Maybe there wouldn't be enough food - but maybe there would be, and how could her mother really know? All she could think of were the stranger's hungry bellies, and the children. She could only think of her desperate need to fill them.

She hadn't been around for the last bison hunt - she'd been on the road with Red. And for some reason, that unsettled her. "But what if we all ate just a little less? Or maybe hunted two bison instead of one? That could still feed us all - wouldn't it? Or, what if we made the borders reach even farther than they do right now? There's practically no one else living from Stone Circle to a huge glacier two day's run from here, so we wouldn't face opposition, and we wouldn't be stealing anyone's prey. And if we had twenty-eight wolves in total, then wouldn't we have more than enough help to keep the borders marked and fresh?"

Her ears slicked with clear upset, and she wondered if her words could even win. Clary was no leader; she was no mother, but in her world, there was a way that one had to suffer - not Easthollow, and not the family they'd turned away. She just didn't understand why her mother didn't seem to think that, too.

I love Clary's avatar!

She knew that her daughter was always so positive and willing to make things work but sometimes it didn't work like that. Valette kept her eyes steady on her daughter. She would let her have her own opinion and she hoped that Clary would accept hers as well. "It doesn't work like that," Valette returned. "Besides, you know how long it takes to take down a bison. We still haven't perfected the techniques. We only hunt injured or sickly ones and often they are proven too strong. If we need to take down a healthy one then someone might get killed because I accepted 7 wolves at once," Valette returned. "Think how bad your sister was after her bison attack," she added.

"If we would hunt outside the territory our kill wouldn't be safe. Dragging it would take a lot of extra energy and if we do so we might lure bears or cougars into Easthollow which could lead to the death of one of your new siblings or even you," Valette tried to reason. "Clary, sometimes there is a line where helping someone else might give danger to others, others that you love. If we had fewer members you know I would have helped them but with these conditions we can't." Valette looked rather troubled with this subject but she was not going to change her mind. She made a decision.