Lost Creek Hollow every time we have no control

<3 <3 looking for my sweet precious daughter @Ibis the babies are welcome to pop in too! no obligation

terance was in charge of the little menaces again today -- save for hood who was a sweet little child. terance didn't know how all three of the children were so different. in the past, okeanos and ibis had been so similar... at least, as babies. who, speaking of, as he watched the children play(ash gnawing on a nearby stick), terance wondered if she would stop by today. he didn't have anything new to share with her... but he was pretty sure she hadn't met her baby siblings yet, maybe she could today. or... if she wasn't interested, he would at least love to spend some time with her.

either way, terance took a few minutes to stare towards a pathway across the clearing, and when she didn't appear, he just leaned back to relax.

Journey had done Sarah good and she returned to Lost Creek Hollow a bit more whole and healthy than she had left it. Nothing much had changed here during her absence - same people, same noisy children and the same bleak corner she called her den. She did a perfunctory check of the messages along the borders, raided a cache and with belly full and her mind tired she delved back in the depths of the forest, in order to find a solitary place to have a nap.

However, on her way there she stumbled upon Terance babysitting his little children. She was hidden by the undergrowth and had a good view of her brother. It had been months now, since she had spoken to him, busy dealing her own problems and having no wish for him to witness her struggles and weakness. For a long time she had felt ashamed and feared that her once confidant and best friend judged her for her failures. Even now there was a part of her that did not want to stop by and talk, but she reasoned that it had been too long since she had tended their friendship properly. 

Come, what may be, it could not be any worse than she had gone through. With this resolution in mind, she stepped out of her hiding place and approached Terance. She gave him a quick look, but avoided looking him in the eyes, instead she focused on the harmless targets that were playing around him. "They do grow up quickly," she noted with a small smile and shy wag of her tail.

just as sarah hard avoided terance, he had avoided her. 

terance was not, by any means, angry or upset at sarah. he was quite the opposite, actually. he was thrilled she was here. every day he thought of how blessed he was that she was alive and well. but she was the bearer of bad news, after all, and try as he might not to kill the messenger -- sarah was a reminder of him that the two wolves he looked up to more than anyone else in his life... were gone.

he'd held himself together at first, especially the day of. he couldn't let sarah see how badly he hurt, especially how bad that news was on top of everything else in his sorry life. he almost crumbled daily -- until he moved on. but even then, terance avoided the fact that he'd been avoiding her. and now -- in his mind -- it was just a mess. but maybe it made it easier for them both that they had both been avoiding one another... or maybe worse.

either way, her appearance surprised him. 

terance looked up as she approached. even as her gaze was not on him, his was on her. he studied her as she looked upon his children, a small smile brushing across his features. she was quieter now than terance remembered her... but maybe he was too. they do, he returned with a wag of his own tail, sweeping it across the ground, i think maia and the others were about this big when we left. despite everything, terance still looked back upon their departure with fondness. 

he ventured, how are you?

"Feels like..." it happened in a different life, but Sarah did not like the sound of it for some reason, therefore she chose a more neutral way to finish it, "... ages ago." She watched the three children playing in silence, missing Terance's inquiry on her well-being, trying to find any resemblance in these cubs with her own younger siblings, any likeness of Osprey or Dante. But, either the kids were too young, or they really took after Treason's side of the family, she deemed the task futile. 

Which left her with the other difficult option of keeping the conversation going. It was odd really, how life could change - once there had been no other person that Sarah had trusted more than Terance, now, however, there was an invisible wall between them. She did not know, what to say or tell him, he felt like a stranger to her and she was sure that the feeling was mutual. The easiest thing to do now, would be excusing herself and leaving. But that would not help anyone, would it? Especially, since they had to co-habit this place for a very long time ahead.

"I accompanied Ibis and Gannet on the messenger duty," she told him. "She is safe and sound at home," she concluded, having parted with the girl earlier today and caught a glimpse of her later, busy catching up with the sleep.

She stayed and spoke with Terance for a little while longer, but the conversation felt forced and uneasy and she left soon after.