Lost Creek Hollow I'm afraid it's too late

The borders were now less appealing.  After the two new joiners, Treason had decided that was plenty of excitement for her and maybe she'd just stick to the center of the territory unless something interesting dragged her towards the edges.  A little earlier in the day she'd done some tracking and had wandered her way past a rabbit warren, but not only were the occupants well out of reach, but she wasn't in the mood to chase them.

Instead she was just wandering the core of the territory, checking out caches and mentally bookmarking anything else that she hadn't paid much attention to lately. Of course, no matter what she did today, it would probably end with her scarfing down a good amount of food from somewhere, as she was close enough to the end of her pregnancy that she was basically always ravenous.  Treason had better enjoy her last bit of freedom before she got leashed to the den for a while...

As protective and doting a mother as she was, Liffey still felt a bit of relief as she stepped out of the den to get some air for herself for the first time in hours. She planted kisses on the cheeks of the her latest litter's chosen guardians - @Rannoch and @Deshyr - before she went, whispering some words of encouragement to the latter who was a little anxious about the responsibility. But that's what her father was there for, and Liffey had complete faith that the two of them together could keep the newborns alive for the hours or so she was away.

Liffey had no real intentions for how to spend her small window of freedom. She just wanted to get out, breathe some fresh air and stretch her legs. So when she came across Treason in doing so, she didn't mind giving in to her curiosity of the woman and taking a break from her run to say hello. She knew the guardian was expecting her own litter soon, which meant for once they might have something to talk about. Maybe. Worth a shot, anyway.

"Hey Treason," Liffey said as she approached, offering a smile and a wag of her tail.

Let's be real, Treason was kind of jealous of the fact that Liffey was free to actually like... Move.  Okay, sure, she had her pups to take care of but right now Treason just was tired of being physically weighted down and prevented from doing everything.  She wanted to be free to go beat up people if needed and not feel like she should be pretending to be made of glass.  But whatever.  She'd have her own kind-of-freedom soon enough (hopefully).  It didn't really show or anything, just nibbled at the back of her mind obnoxiously as bad moods do.

For whatever reason it had seemed like this entire time that Liffey and Treason had somehow run in different circles, despite the overlap.  She wasn't quite sure how that even really happened -- it wasn't like Treason had completely outlandish interests or something.  Treason protected the pack.  She hunted stuff.   Uhhh.  What else?  Whatever.  She dipped her head in greeting and wagged her own tail, Everything going well?  Kind of a silly question.  If stuff was awful, Liffey probably wouldn't be out here socializing.

It didn't take Liffey very long to realize just why she didn't really spend much time with Treason. She never really knew what to say to the woman. Frankly, it had come as a surprise to her that Terance had taken her as a mate - that she actually had wanted children. She just didn't strike Liffey as the type to want to settle down. She struck Liffey as the type to want to frown a lot, and beat people up.

"Yeah, things are great," Liffey said with a smile, "I have to say though, they're exhausting when they're in you, but when they come out... They are exhausting." It occured to her after saying it that this maybe wasn't even the woman's first litter. Maybe she'd gone through this before, but her kids had parted ways with her like Remi and Wisp had. She didn't even know how old Treason was, or where she'd come from, or... anything.

It wasn't like Liffey was entirely wrong.  She was pretty irritable right now, she enjoyed fighting, and most wolves in the pack didn't know anything else about her or even any side of her besides the stoic warrior.  Most people didn't need to know, let alone deserve to.  Liffey hadn't exactly been the most available either -- Treason had kept well away from her and the pups last year, then there was the chaos with Rannoch's injury where she also kept a distance.  It wasn't like Treason was useful (or probably wanted) in either scenario.

These last few weeks had been the most demanding -- not necessarily physically because she'd tough her way through just about anything, but just because it mentally was taking a toll on her.  She needed to do something, and she couldn't because it was physically demanding.  Mm. I'll gladly take the other variety of exhausting at this point.  Sitting around waiting for Terance to come back got boring after a day or two. Which was why she kept ending up wandering around, even if her body hated her for it later, I miss being able to do things if I have to.  Right now she'd have a hell of a time defending herself (and anyone else in the pack) the way she was trained.  Everything was too far off normal balance.  It wasn't like she didn't understand that she'd be pretty much chained to the den for a while, it was just her current inability to efficiently deal with a worst case scenario that drove her up the wall.

Liffey could understand where Treason was coming from. Being pregnant was rather inhibiting. Then again, so was having newborns. She considered letting Treason in on this little secret, but hesitated. She didn't want to come off as a know-it-all. Then again, it would be nice to actually talk to someone about motherhood for once. This was the first time the pack actually had another pre-approved reproducing female in its ranks.

"I'm afraid they also bring another variety of not being able to do things," Liffey said, her smile almost apologetic, "For a time, at least. Then you'll be waiting around for Terance simply so you can go stretch your legs for a few minutes." As she was doing now. Though that realization pushed another truth into her head that she shared, "And even that'll feel like too long away from them."

If Liffey had thought she meant as far as just going on jaunts elsewhere, she didn't know Treason particularly well.  Treason barely traveled beyond the packlands unless there was some real point to it.  She stayed where she was needed.  Mm. But I'll be able to move.  And she wouldn't be totally alone in an empty den.  It was the void that let her mind wander too much.  Hopefully by the time she got bored of fussing over newborns, they'd be starting to be vaguely mobile.  They had to keep developing, after all -- it wasn't like they were rocks.  Right now, if something attacked, all I could do is flee.  It's just.. Not practical.  And she didn't like it.  She didn't like relying on everyone else.  Her independent streak was far too wide for that.

To a certain point, it was all bad timing.  And she also couldn't exactly go recruiting to fill the gaps she could see existed.  She'd definitely been allowed too much time to think about this all, and at least at this moment it was her only regret -- that she was also partially responsible for this predicament.  For the short term, it's not ideal.  But hopefully we'll be lucky.  Because though I'm a soldier, how many others are?  I think Terance would be the only other one with proper training who'd be up for a fight if something went bad.  The others all left.  I don't like it.  She wasn't sure Rannoch was really interested in proper fighting if he had the choice, especially after his injury.  But still, someone had to be willing.  Either way, the others had all left at this point.  Just this tail end of the pregnancy made her feel like the pack was especially vulnerable.  But at least she wouldn't have to worry too much about her own pups as long as she was able to guard them -- she had no qualms with removing appendages of those who trod too close.

It occurred to her then that she really hadn't understood what Treason had been talking about. And once she realized that, she realized that she and this women really... had zero in common... Which didn't come as a complete surprise, to be honest. Liffey had always been a little uncomfortable around the warrior woman, seeing as she had no stomach for violence of any kind. It was good that they had someone like Treason for that very reason, but being grateful for her presence didn't bring her any comfort when it came to interacting with her socially.

So.... Yep.

"Well, Rannoch might not be a soldier per se, but he very well capable of keeping us protected," Liffey commented, hiding the slight offense she felt over the woman's disregard of her mate who had nearly gotten murdered by a bear to try and keep the pack safe, "And my son is strong. He could be taught." And since he was Breccan, he would be better than them all. She kept that bit to herself as well.

"But yeah, I don't know about the rest," she finished, thinking of ....well, she didn't really know anyone besides who they'd already discussed, so she mostly just thought about Gannet. He'd certainly had his bouts of valor, but they'd left him with injuries that might've cost him his talent. Liffey would still trust her friend with her life, but whether he'd be capable of protecting her if it came to it... Well, she supposed she did have faith in that as well.

Treason didn't seem to agree.  Did she even look at her mate?  Like really.  Rannoch still limped along, he still moved slow.  How could someone fight when they couldn't keep an even stride on good terrain and low stress?  Even Terance wasn't perfect, but he was a good deal better off than Rannoch.  The only truly fit one here was Treason, and right now she was benched.  I think you're overestimating him -- he isn't a first tier line of defense any more.  If he had to in an emergency, sure, but so could any other wolf.  I'd be more afraid it would make his condition worse.  Do you want to risk that?  Treason certainly didn't try to soften her words.  In fact, if anything she tried to make sure they cut to the point.  Logic was a fine weapon, one that was cold and hard to argue with.  If Treason didn't find Rannoch to be a particularly useful buffer to things she wasn't interested in doing, perhaps she'd try to convince him to step down and hand the pack to her -- or to Terance again, if necessary, that was close enough -- but she certainly wasn't going to count on him for the pack's security except as a stopgap until one of them arrived.

Unsurprisingly, Treason made a leap of logic that maybe wasn't too much of a stretch.  And if Breccan wants to learn, he can, but if he'd want me as a teacher he'll have to wait 'til my own children are ready.  He'd seemed malleable enough and willing to learn hunting skills, at least.  But that was still an entirely different kettle of fish than fighting.  Some just didn't have the spirit, and she wasn't going to force an uninterested adult to be taught -- she'd rather work with younger, willing minds.

The rest, she agreed with.  They didn't seem interested in fighting or had other issues that put them in that "emergency defense only" tier.  Liffey probably was somewhere beneath that in the "probably bites like an angry trout" tier.

So. That was how it would be.

Liffey had to give herself credit for one thing in this conversation --she didn't lose her collected composure even when the woman insisted on insulting her mate. Her smile tightened, but it didn't falter. Not even when she went even further and declared that Breccan was essentially not worth her time. True, that wasn't exactly what she said, but that was exactly how Liffey heard it. And suddenly, the Frostfur was realizing that it was indeed possible to be more angry at someone than she had been at Moonspear.

She paused for a moment, collecting her thoughts before speaking. She was not good with conflict. Words were difficult for her in even the best of situations. Adding this level of tension made them nearly impossible. She knew she should defend her mate and verbally flay Treason alive for disrespecting him--her alpha, as if she needed a better reason to treat Rannoch well other than the fact that he was his own good-hearted, caring self. She also knew she shouldn't just let it slide, this disregard of Breccan in favor of Treason's children. As if any of those whelps would ever hold a candle to the princes Liffey had born herself.

But she didn't. The tension in her smile relaxed after only a few seconds, and then it reached her eyes again. Liffey could handle this. In her own way. "Don't worry, I have other teachers in mind for my son. I know you'll be too tied up with your own soon enough for much else," Liffey said, fixing Treason with a cool smile before glancing skyward.

"The air is getting cool," she commented lightly, "I do believe a storm is coming." Liffey lowered her gaze again on Treason before adding, "You might want to get home. Wouldn't want you to catch a chill." She dipped her muzzle then, turned and strode away. She'd gotten all she needed from this conversation.

Treason was never on what most people would consider "their best behavior" but all things considered, she'd been pretty tame -- it was usually pretty clear when she was pushing limits because then the pale devil looked more like the Cheshire Cat.  It didn't exactly bode well that Liffey couldn't seem to tolerate even this level.

She scoffed and gave her a brief sort of over-the-glasses look. Really?  Other teachers?  Was she going to send him to some sort of exchange school for wolves because she was pretty damn sure that if he wanted to fight, there were a grand total of two people who were qualified to teach... Wonder who those folks were.  Hell, even if she believed that there were other teachers available, they weren't anywhere nearby -- Elysium was all flowers and nonsense, Easthollow seemed pretty soft as well, Diaspora was about as trustworthy as thin ice, and.. Uh.  What other packs were there?  That creek pack kept to themselves.  Was she gonna go beg Moonspear, or dump her kid halfway across the map wherever the rest of her family was?  Whatever.  She could make up wolves all she wanted.  Treason would live in reality with the rest of the sane folk.

Still, she didn't think that was even worth gracing with a comment.  Treason was in the right, as always, and it was Liffey's loss, not hers.  Then there was a slight shift in her usually neutral expression -- a hint of disappointment as Liffey's final comments put her earlier ones in a different light.  This whole time, had Liffey just been doing her best to subtly look down her nose at Treason?  Seriously?  Liffey had stepped down because of her children, and now did that make her a martyr or something?  Whatever.  Treason would make sure Liffey knew her place if this attitude continued.  But she would give her the most sincere "I don't know why you'd suggest that at all" tone she could muster, I don't think I have to worry.   The one who stomped off was frequently the one who lost, and Treason would remain polite. Fare well.  So.. What was she doing again? Hm.