Whitebark Stream We remembered you, and were waiting.

Setting this a few days before the meeting.   :)

Reiko's heartache played on his thoughts that morning, fresh with the reminder of her words regarding @Kavik. The gilded ranger, reluctant to believe that a leader would abandon his followers in a manner that the ghost suggested hers had, had taken some time to dwell on the matter since his return. His initial plan had been to discuss it with Dawn but, seeing the pregnancy weigh on her, Artyom was loathe to burden her with further cause for concern.

So he roamed his territory in search of the emerald-eyed raven, a discomfort in his pulse as anxiety coursed his veins at the thought of such a confrontation. Every story had at least two sides and, in his willingness to hear what Kavik had to say, Artyom considered his lineup of questions carefully. The last thing he wanted was to appear judgemental or appear to accuse anyone.

His ability to march forward and ignore the gnawing depression within was waning with each day. He supposed it was just a matter of time before everything finally caught up with him. He was often filled with doubt over whether he should even be in the children's life. He was broken and would probably end up getting them killed like Soter, Morena, and Polaris. The thought of leaving them alone was too much, though, yet he constantly found himself eager to distract himself from it. Today was more manageable than the last few had been, and so he hunted along the borders, killing two birds with one stone by searching for food for Grezig while also patrolling. So far, there was nothing concerning and there hadn't been much in the way of food.

The alpha's scent filled his nose after a while; it was fresh, not the same as what marked the perimeter of the territory. He stopped moving and looked around for the man, finally seeing his pale form moving towards him. Kavik turned to face him, dipping his head in a respectful greeting as he waited for the stream's leader to get closer.

When he spotted movement of a dark figure between the trees, Artyom quickened his stride to meet him. "Kavik," he called out, and offered a cheerful sweep of his ivory tail as he approached.

"How are you?" Artyom asked, "and Grezig?" They'd proven to be quite a private pair, which was not necessarily a bad thing, but he hoped for them to better integrate themselves as the pregnancy progressed. It'd been Dawn's vision, after all, to build a family around them - one of their own blood and of their choosing.

We're well, just trying to get settled in. It was easier said than done. This was not how things were supposed to go. He hadn't anticipated that they would be faced with such uncertainty while Grezig was pregnant. But he had learned well over the last year that things rarely went according to plan, especially for him. 

How are you? he asked. It was an automatic response. Everything had felt like an automatic response lately, like he was completely numb to the world and was just acting how he knew he should. It was all kind of exhausting really, but he had no other choice but to push on through each day.

"Doing alright," he answered warmly, glad to hear that Kavik and his pregnant companion were making progress in settling in. Artyom took note of the dark wolf's almost robotic response to the question he'd asked, but chose not to question it - not yet, at least.

Reiko's accusation weighed on his mind, and he couldn't help but wonder if Kavik's stony exterior was how he normally appeared or if guilt had shaped him to be this way. Was he really capable of abandoning his struggling pack? "I met a wolfess from your pack in the Emberwood on my travels with Minnow," the leader started, "her name was Reiko. She was very upset."

Artyom studied his comrade's expression, keen to see any sign of recognition or even some sliver of shame. "She said you abandoned them. That's not true, is it, Kavik?"