The Sentinels But then you make me crawl

@Aria 

Lasher's death had come as a great shock and had it not been for the kids, who still needed Osprey's care around the clock, the silver beta would have left the Donnelaith immediately to deal with her grief and sorrow. Now she could not, therefore, while doing all of the routine chores, she mourned in silence. 

When the new day began, she got up and left her little family soundly asleep. She had no doubts that Dante would care well for the little ones and keep them busy, while their mother dealt with one important question - what were they going to do now? Therefore she went out in the barren forest, looking for Aria.

Now that the burden of leadership lied entirely on their shoulders there were a lot of matters to discuss.

She is still tired and somewhat lost in the territory. Every tree seems oddly foriegn her to, and she's been unable to navigate to her den on multiple occassions. It wasn't that anything had changed, she is just a bit off. She needs to talk to someone, but can't think of who. After a while of sitting and thinking-- or really just thinking, as her mind feels completely blank-- Aria leaves in an attempt to find her Beta. 

She comes across her in the forest. She raises her head slightly and smiles weakly in greeting. "Afternoon," she said quietly, her tail wagging slowly behind her. She steps again towards Osprey, but made no efforts to contact her-- feeling any sort of embrace would send her into tears. "How are you?" she then asks. It clear she's speaking in regards to Lasher's death, but if Osprey chose to speak about something else, Aria would not blame her.

It appeared that the both leaders had been on the same wavelength, when each of them had decided to seek out the other. Therefore it wasn't long before Osprey found Aria and one look at her expression told that she was dealing with the loss just as hard as the rest of them.

"I have seen better times," Osprey replied with a smile of her own. "So it's just two of us now... what do you want to do?" 

The girl pauses, and turns her head from Osprey immedeatly, her white gaze turning icy and cold. "Do we need to discuss this now?" she asks as she takes in a deep breath. Her ears hover halfway between pricked and pressed against her skull, frustration causing them to flick occassionally. "The pack is... fine-- there's nothing to figure out," she adds, glancing back to the elder and releasing her breath.

Osprey was taken aback by Aria's sudden icy demeanor, her smile faded away as the frustration for this kind of attitude sank in. A deep frown set in her features and the fur along her spine bristled. "The pack is far from fine. My children are starving and soon I won't be able to feed them," she stated her facts. Already there was less milk and it was a physical pain to feed those little mouths, now armed with tiny, sharp teeth that kept biting on the teats hungrily, asking for more, when there was hardly anything left to give. 

"Grief won't feed us, therefore I ask you again - as a fellow leader - what are we going to do now?" she took a step forward, her gaze searching Aria's face.

Aria looks away, avoiding her white gaze from the green gaze of Osprey. She had nothing to counter with-- it would be childish and useless anyway, she knew that. "None of the pack seems to want to do anything," she begins quietly, "Everyone seems down and unmotivated." Not that she is any different, but as a whole it seems pretty true. 

"I... I know it won't help with food but, if we have some sort of... pack activity, perhaps we could help rise spirits to promote a healthy work ethic in the pack again," she says, glancing up towards her Beta slowly. "What do you think we should do?"

Osprey regretted for talking so harshly to Aria right after the words had left her lips, but she was glad that the girl did put an effort to focus on the matter and give suggestions. 

"I had some luch at scavenging near the coastline. There is all kinds of stuff washed ashore, might as well be something useful and edible. I can take the pack there for time being," she explained, giving Aria the neccessary time to answer, before moving on to the next important step. 

"You went beyond the borders for a very long time - what did you see elsewhere - is there any place, where the grass is literally greener?"

Her ears perk a little, and she glances to Osprey. "Yeah? That's a good idea," she says, her tail wagging slowly behind her as her head raises a little bit. "What about-- uh--" she pauses, her mind blanking for a few moments. "Eilidh, and Deirdre... and... Lucani?" she says, her ears flicking. "I know they've kind of been storing herbs and plants that they've found but, do you think we could do something for them? Like gather a party and search for herbs?" she asks, her head cocking to the side.

She then hesitates, smiling weakly at the fact that she had been gone for a while. "Nothing," she admits, her ears flattening and her gaze dropping. "I was gone for so long and all I found was a fucking lake," --and Casmir. "Besides, even if I had, we can't pull this pack away from their home. It means too much to them--" she pauses again, her lips pressing together. "Lasher's buried here."

"There isn't much greenery around and it will take another month or two for the plants to regrow," Osprey replied, but did not entirely dismiss the idea of herb gathering. With her knowledge about the edible roots and mushrooms, they may have that kind of hunt too. Yet another opportunity to teach her kids the essential survival skills from the very beginning. 

"Well, even a fucking lake may become useful one day," she shrugged, though the news that elsewhere was just as bad as here were not the kind she had expected to hear. "Kids are too small to walk either," Osprey agreed that moving was not an option for now. And the heightened emotional state of the pack was not a good environment to suggest a move. Even a justified one. Yet unlike Aria the elder was more practical - if she would have to leave for her and her family's sake, she would not let a personal attachment get in her way. No dead man was worth dying for. 

"Lasher was very fond of stories," she began after another pause. "When things look a bit brighter, we might have a story-evening in his honor. This would probably give people something else to think about than the most apparent and pressing problems."

"I suppose, I can take you there one day if you'd like. I actually grew kinda fond of it while I was there," she told her honestly, shrugging a bit. 

She pauses, frowning, but tilts her head to the side and answers quickly. "If we have to I think the lake is a fine place to relocate-- you're right," she says, but can't imagine dragging poor Deirdre from the tall Sentenials. "If it comes down to it, children can be carried. There are a good number of us-- we will protect them all." She quiets as Osprey speaks, thinking curiously about the situation. "I think they'd like that."

"That's a date then," Osprey said and winked, looking forward to the day, when she would be able to take multi-day travels and perhaps take one or two of her kids with her too. Even in the shadow of the tragedy, the things in general seemed to be brighter. With green returning and hopefully herds too. 

"I will leave you now," she had taken enough of the young leader's time and found out the most immediate and neccessary things. They would be able to discuss other matters later. "Just don't think that you have to carry the burden alone. I am here to help and so will be the rest of the pack. You ain't alone. And..." she decided to add. "You are always welcome to visit us. Kids just adore company."