Hushed Willows Hold her to you, for she is part of you.

RO to announce Sundance's trip away. He will be gone for a week or so, tags for reference.   :)

The druid busied himself at his mother's garden from Dawn's first light, picking at dead flower heads in need of removal and trimming herbs for Winter storage. He was careful with each of them, fearful of ruining that sacred place Olive had held so dearly. After hours of making sure everything was presentable, Sundance stepped back to survey his work - and felt totally unsatisfied.

The yearling exhaled a sigh, deflated, and lowered his ears in disappointment. The Shakti matriarch would not have dismissed his efforts had she been there, Sundance knew, yet he couldn't shake that it was all wrong. Nothing appeared as he do wanted to remember and thus, he turned to remove himself so he could tend to another task. Gathering the plant clippings -  between gentle teeth, the young silverwhite padded from the garden and made his way to the hollow he'd claimed to dry them.

By the time that was done and he stepped from the den, there was a discomforting chill to the air. It was enough to make his skin shudder a little, for his guard hairs to lift and trap air for maintaining body temperature, and he pressed on with the intention of a hunt to occupy his troubled mind. Sundance weaved his way through his beloved willows, powder stare and ears alert for movement of potential prey, but an odd silence hung over the forest.

When he reached a clearing in the woods, Sundance was at once drawn to the pallid appearance of the sky above. He paused to regard it quietly, curiously, and wondered what it meant. Only moments later did something flutter past his nose, settle on a whisker: the first snowflake of the season.

He'd seen the growth of white caps on their neighbouring spires, and this arrival to the lowlands was met with mixed feelings. Soon, Winter would truly be upon them, and Sundance felt a little doubtful that Seelie Court could survive it. The pack didn't bring the same connection he'd felt as a son of Elysium, and he barely knew its wolves. They felt more like passing ships to him than the family he so craved.

As he lowered his crown, he thought solemnly of @Towhee. His worry over the uncertainty of the pack had kept him from departing home to seek his former guardian, despite the pull of his heart to look upon her face again. The coming of Winter snows would prevent him travelling far to fund her so, rather uncharacteristically, Sundance made a decision then and there: it was time to reunite.

Before allowing himself the chance to reconsider, Sundance canted his snout skyward again to annonce his temporary departure to @Lumiya. His call included an invitation, a hopeful note to @Teya that she was welcome to accompany him if she wished.

I will not be gone for long.

From there the druid trailed North, a fresh spring in his stride at the idea of finding his Redhawk friends.