Hushed Willows And I don't care, I just gotta figure out a window to break out

When she'd sent Reina and her brothers on their way, Reverie took a moment just to breathe. She gathered her thoughts, checked over her children, and decided who she would call to her next. This time she summoned @Kyrell, @Dusty Rose, and @Abel.

There was a wariness in her to have so many unrelated men near her children, but it was necessity. And she knew these men; she knew they would maintain a respectful distance. She only hoped that this new upheaval of the pack would not drive them away in the end.

The woodsman had been hollowed.

The borders of verdant eyes tinged with red. Polished emeralds dulled, absent of their playful inner light. The recent events carved a rift through Heartwood that could not be mended.

Blood at the borders. Boone was gone. Wife and children left behind.

Wolves before him had tried to find him. Kyrell too, restless, desperate to find the Harbinger. To no avail.

In his failure to locate his friend and leader, the Punk folded into himself. He had avoided the Bluebird Thicket as Reverie approached her date. He avoided the birth. Choosing to hunting to have a fresh meal for the new mother.

Kyrell hadn't been watching the borders. He should have been.

He had been wallowing when the Coach made her summons. His ears turned towards her attentively. Waiting for whatever she planned to say.

Abel did not linger long around the birthing den after the previous night's events. Piercing wails and cries, the likes of which he'd never heard, steered him away from the site. There wasn't much he could do to aleiviate Reverie from whatever pain she endured, so he thought it best to make use of himself elsewhere.

But she called for him now, and he'd come to. Already met with another face he'd yet to see, Abel took his place beside them.

Dusty is temporarily NPC so I will be powerplaying him here with permission!

Kyrell was the first to arrive. Reverie greeted him with a soft smile, equal parts sympathy and reassurance. Her own eyes were red-rimmed from crying, exhaustion written into her expression; they were all in mourning, all those who had known Boone. He'd been their leader.

She nodded her greetings to Abel and Dusty Rose, and took in a deep breath. Her voice wavered slightly as she began. I'm sure you all know by now that - that Boone is gone, Reverie swallowed hard. It was the first time she'd been able to say the words aloud. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. I don't know if we'll ever find him.

I'll be honest: Hearthwood is his pack. His dream. It won't be the same without him, and I won't pretend it is. I can't - I can't run this pack the way he wanted it, She wiped away a few stray falling tears, taking a moment to collect herself before she fell into hysterics again. There's going to be some changes. A simpler way of living. And if - if we ever find Boone, if he ever comes back to us - then it'll be his pack again, the way he pictured it.

For now I have to try to - to keep it together. For our daughters, Her gaze flitted briefly to the newborns at her flank, then back to her packmates. If you don't want to stay, I understand. This won't be the same pack you joined. And Boone - he's - he was our leader. Reverie's voice turned tremulous again as she went on, but she tried to smile, remembering her husband with a bitter fondness now. Boone had been the leader everyone wanted to follow, their protector, their guide. He was good at it. I - I was just here to make friends.

I've asked my brother, Everett, to lead the pack with me. I know he hasn't been with us for very long, but I trust him, and I hope that you'll all come to trust him too, She searched each of their expressions, anxious now. And I'm still the same wolf who brought you all here. I can't promise I'll be perfect, but I'll - I'll do my best. Reverie wasn't sure that her best would ever be good enough. But what else could she do but try?

With his arrival came a wave of new information. Boone was gone — Abel hadn't known until now — and as told with a choke in her voice, perhaps never to be found.

Abel hardly new the leader aside from the first day they met at the border. Still, the sudden news of his absence caused a spark of anxiety. An overhaul of the pack sounded daunting to be a part of, even as a mere bystander.

But despite teary eyes and quivering voice, Reverie seemed sure of her word. She worked up a smile, and a promise to do her best for this pack, whatever the future may hold.

I trust that. Abel nodded, looking to Kyrell for some confirmation in shared assurance.

Dusty Rose didn't know or particularly care about Boone — except for in the usual common-decency sort of way, which he had been raised to believe was very important. He had also been raised to believe that he should not eat people's children. An unusual emphasis had been placed on that ideal, so much so that he was sure it was a pretty common occurrence, and it had happened to his sibling, and did that same rule apply to other people's kids?

He wasn't sure. But he didn't really want to eat Reverie's kids. It was just on his mind, because how couldn't it be?

He did wanna get a look at them, though. He was the youngest of his family, and so he had never seen a newborn pup before. Not since he was a newborn himself, anyway.

His expression was sweetly impassive while Reverie spoke, his brushy tail swishing in idle contemplation. Only when silence fell did it become clear that he'd been listening.

"'Course I'll stay," he assured her, his tone upbeat and sincere, but lacking the depth of feeling with which his leader had spoken. "You don't gotta worry about me."

He wished she would introduce the kids. They wouldn't have names yet — (Dusty Rose could still remember several months of "Hey, you!" before the family had settled, jointly, on Dusty Rose) — but she could at least show them off, couldn't she?

"If you need anything, just let me know," he said, still simply. "You oughta shut your eyes and focus on your varmints for a while."

Hint hint.

Emotion is spilled into the air as Reverie attempted to convey a hopeful future to them. Dusty Rose and Abel, one an acquaintance to him while the other was a stranger, both seemed to accept her vision without pause. And why shouldn't they? Reverie sat before them with new babes at her belly. She already elevated her brother to assist her in leadership. Despite dancing around her grief before them she already was setting things in motion. Ultimately, to change Hearthwood.

His breath caught in his chest. She had shared similar sentiments to him before, hadn't she?

I'll be honest: Hearthwood is his pack.

It was hers too, wasn't it? Did it also not belong to those that were present at its founding? A fire sparks in his chest. Burning.

There's going to be some changes. A simpler way of living.

Wait, it hadn't been that long, right? They could still find him. Why change things when he might come back? Were they really giving up on Boone's dream that quickly?

It takes him several seconds to realize that they were waiting for him. He swallows then parts his lips. When did he start clenching his teeth? He reminds himself that Hearthwood was barely over a season old. That new still? His jaw is slack for several heartbeats before he collects himself with a tight frown. Brow furrowing.

His gaze passed over Reverie briefly before he turned his head away. No words escaped his lips.

Perhaps the pack he joined several months ago had already come and gone.

Perhaps it was time to go himself.