Phoenix Maplewood love as if you were a child

he'd intended to bring a bunch back to the pups to eat, but instead, he'd lined his stomach, instead.

there were plenty more, though! aditya guiltily licked his lips, tongue stained a black-blue from the berries. they had this pop of vibrant taste that contrasted nicely against the gamey squirrels and rabbits he had been consuming, and they didn't sit in his gut like rocks. perhaps they would digest poorly, later--

but no--he had long known the merits of these berries. an herbologist long ago had educated him as to the pros and cons of these fruits: which to avoid, which to savor, and so on. he thought he had remembered her lessons well enough to stay clear of the bad ones. besides, he'd seen the deer eat from these bushes with no harm done.

deer weren't the brightest, but they certainly weren't stupid.

it was a day lazier than he was accustomed to. having patrolled earlier in the morning, he now lounged in the depths of the maplewoods, appetite sated from berries. adi now blinked slowly, looking around with hooded lids. keeping his mind off the thoughts that had plagued him for some time. for if he focused too closely on the problems that his beleaguered pack faced. . .

well, it was easier--if not better--to think about berries, and that was that.

Kasatka followed after @Sunspot, her breaths a bit ragged and her paws a little sore. When the woman found her, she'd been curled up under a rotting log a few miles east of the plains, nursing painful burns on her paws and a lot less fur than she would've liked. The fur thing was still a problem, and her lungs were weary now in ways they hadn't been during the actual event, but Kasatka was on her way to recovery.

Now that she could walk, her aunt was returning her to her family. She was a little sorry to leave the other cubs behind, but far more eager to be reunited with the Morningsiders once more. And, speaking of the Morningsiders - "Adi!" she cried, bolting toward the male, careless of her smarting paws. Sunspot hung back, uncertain of her reception.

noise in the brush caught his attention, followed by the smell of a stranger--god, what now?--and then--

"merbani!" he exclaimed in a wheeze, rushing toward her while noting her singed appearance. he embraced her gingerly, his heart pounding against his ribcage, awash in the flood of emotions the sight of her had given him. joy, excitement, irritation--god, she hadn't ran, she'd gone back to the fire--

"kitten," he gasped, blinking down at her with misty eyes. "god, i'm so glad--so glad you are okay. and have come back to us." he pressed his face into the ruff of her neck, letting the tears flow freely. aditya had started to lose all hope of seeing the girl again; to have her once more by his side was more than he could handle. he wept, forgetting himself, before remembering that another had accompanied her.

adi lifted his head and stared at the woman, countenance suffused with gratitude. "thank you for bringing her home," he said, giving her a nod and wag of his tail. "i'm so grateful." something seemed familiar about her--but what?

She was five months old, now, and a little under half Aditya's size. That meant it was difficult to hide herself in his chest, but she managed it. Sunspot and Jarl and the other Round Valley wolves had been wonderful surrogates, but no one smelled quite as sunny as Aditya, and no one's heartbeat felt quite as strong. "Missed you," she whined, rubbing her cheek against his chest. 

Sunspot moved closer when she was acknolwedge with neither snarls nor accusations. "I've heard a lot about you in the past weeks," she said to the stranger. "I'm Sunspot - the late Grayday's littermate. I was bringing my family to meet him when we saw the flames, and came across Kasatka, here." It was Kasatka who had shared the news of her brother's passing with her. They'd cried together.

"Your other girl, Lavender. She's with us as well," Sunspot added.

adi pulled her tight, the tears slowly drying on his cheeks as he took a moment to compose himself. "missed you," he said fervently, quietly, rocking slightly back and forth with the girl in his arms. even the woman's voice took a moment to cut into the joy that cloaked him, and he looked up slowly, meeting her gaze.

sunspot. grayday's littermate. adi's face darkened as he realized what this meant, what news he'd have to give her. dawn had found bones in the wreckage that couldn't have been her father's, and no one had seen shale since the blaze. he held it back for now, knowing it could wait for later, when they were a little more settled. give him a chance to break the news gently to kitten, who'd already been through so much in the last moon.

"thank you so much," he said again, almost automatically. then-- "lavender! oh, god." he had thought her lost forever, too, and the news that another of grayday's daughters was alive and well was all too much. "thank you--god, thank you. we owe you so much." she was family, sure, but under no obligation to take the girls in. but she had.

lavender, alive! and merbani, safe with him. adi let out a shuddering breath, marveling at the way the world had shifted in the last few minutes.

"Nonsense. We're family," said Sunspot, who was used to family she'd never heard of coming out of the woodwork. She didn't know exactly where Aditya fit into things, but he did clearly care for the daughters of Grayday. That was enough for Spot, and she assumed it would be enough for Aditya as well. She could see, however, a familiar withering to the male's countenance. It didn't suit him at all, but then, death and fires never had.

The woman came close, cuddling Kasatka between them. "We have a way of finding each other, don't we?" The words were spoken like a secret, and punctuated with a small, understanding smile. "Over mountains and oceans, and always in the nick of time. The world isn't quite as big as we make it out to be, and we are not quite so small." She gave Kasatka a kiss on the cheek and amended, "Well, some of us aren't."

She stepped back from the embrace, taking one last look at her niece. She looked so much like her own Saturnalia it was almost uncanny. The pair had made fast friends as well.

she had the same folksy wisdom as her brother; if the voice had been masculine, aditya could have closed his eyes and pretended it was grayday speaking to him, instead. awash in comfort, he did, in fact, close his eyes, pressing his muzzle against kitten's forehead in blissful relief. it was only when he heard her begin to step back that he looked up at sunspot once more, brows raised.

"won't you stay?" he asked, half-pleading. "i know it's a little chaotic here, still. . .but we would love to have you. sunny and dawn--those are grayday's oldest children. . .they would love to spend some time with their aunt." had they ever met? adi wondered just how familiar grayday's morningside family was with sunspot. he had been here for a year and not seen her.

Kasatka looked around, alarmed by her aunt's impending departure. "Can't you stay just for a little bit?" she begged, making big eyes and giving a tiny whimper to convey her sadness at the prospect of saying goodbye.

Sunspot could only see little Saturnalia. How could she deny her baby niece? "Okay, but just for a few days," she relented, shooting Aditya a look of understanding and sympathy. "I have my own little ones to get back to, and a husband who is probably already going spare trying to corral them on his own." Jarl had his brother and sister and Lavender, of course, but no one was quite the taskmaster that Sunspot was. They'd make due without her for a while longer, though. She would, at least, stay long enough to reconnect with them all.

"I'm sleepy," said Kasatka, resting her cheek against Aditya's chest once more. "Are River and 'Tide here?"

kitten helped him with his request, and did a much better job of it than he could ever do--nothing could withstand the large, plaintive eyes of a young wolf. sunspot relented, and aditya broke into a relieved smile, aiming the sunny expression toward her face. "thank you," he murmured. "we won't keep you for long."

he closed his eyes as kitten curled against him once more, only for his blood to run cold at her question. "eventide is around here somewhere," he began, starting with the good news and trailing off as he floundered. "river. . ." adi pulled back, looking down solemnly at her. "merbani, we're still looking for river. he might be with sebastian, who's also missing--i thought he might have been with you."

the golden wolf braced himself for the girl's reaction, knowing that this was largely his fault. if he had just stayed a little while longer in the fire, instead of trying to corral everyone in the maplewood. . .he could have found everyone. everyone would be safe. if river never returned, it would be a burden he'd bear for the rest of his life.

Kasatka shook her head, feeling like crying all over again. Despite all Sunspot's gentle warnings, she'd still childishly assumed that things would just magically be okay again when she got back to her family. Now, it was clear that this wasn't true.

Once again, Sunspot moved to embrace them both. Kasatka wiggled so that she was not quite as squish, but allowed the feeling of being safely ensconsed between the two adults to overwhelm the yawning chasm of fear and sadness that she'd been slipping into. Hiding her face in Aditya's chest, she shut herself off from the world and tried her best not to worry.

"We combed the area east of the plains for others, but I don't think anyone else came out that way. Not before we retreated, at any rate," said Spot, her voice quiet so as not to disturb the young girl between them. "You must count yourselves lucky, Aditya. Some fires spare none. I feared there might be no one here to receive her. You've saved her a great deal of heartache by surviving."

his heart broke all over again to see kitten's face crumple like it did, and he happily participated in the sandwich embrace, resting his nose against the side of her head. when sunspot began to speak, he snaked his face awkwardly back, still close enough to feel the air from her words against his pelt. aditya nodded slowly, a mournful smile on his face and fresh tears in his eyes.

"we are very lucky to be alive," he whispered, his voice slightly hoarse--as if he breathed the smoke all over again. "i only wish i could have saved them all," adi admitted, gaze falling downward. it lighted on kitten, and the clouds across his countenance cleared, revealing the sun behind. "at least we have her back. there were moments where i thought i would never see her again."

aditya had even began to accept it in a practical sense, a cold finality settling in his bones. it was only when he'd felt her touch and heard her voice that the ice had melted and he knew, for certain, that she was with them once again.

"You did what you could, as did I. Now we must wait for the rest of the world," said Sunspot, her tone apologetic. Perhaps Kitten would be the last to come back to them, but perhaps the others would be returned as well. Sunspot did not begrudge the man his grief, but she hoped he would not dwell too much on what he perceived to be his own failings.

There were no more platitudes after this. Sunspot merely embraced them both, and when Kasatka began to nod off between them, she had Aditya lead them both to a place where they might rest. Not all could be righted in a day, but they'd come a step closer on this one.