Noctisardor Bypass light a candle for the dead, with sprigs of fir do warm their bed

Druid stood beside the stony outcropping, staring at the place where she knew Bracelet slept. The snake hadn’t emerged in days; it was the longest they’d gone without seeing one another. Something niggled at her about the days and weeks leading up to the snake’s long slumber. Had Bracelet tried to tell her something? If she had, the young she-wolf hadn’t quite understood the message.

She feared for her friend, not understanding why she remained buried out of sight. Didn’t she need to eat and drink? Was she ill? Druid swallowed and swept suddenly into the depths of Rivenwood, certain @Mahler or even @Sequoia might know what was going on with her reptilian familiar.

mahler wished to avoid all of rivenwood.
he wanted only to lie down, and plodded toward the den that would be covered once more with ferns once spring returned.
the great and tall wolf had lost weight beneath his padded coat. druid's company, as he caught sight of her, was not unwelcome. mahler stood at the girl's side in silence.

The moment she spotted Mahler up ahead, Druid hastened to his side. Mahler, she said tightly, it’s Bracelet. She’s hiding under some rocks and hasn’t come out in days. I think she’s sick.

Her eyes fixed worriedly on the Graf’s face, seeking reassurance. For the moment, she didn’t notice his own careworn appearance, too distracted by her concern for her scaled companion.

mahler twitched an ear and sought to put a paw around her shoulders. "creatures like bracelet need the sun in order to be active, to move, to hunt. vhen the sun goes avay, the snake goes to sleep. she vill avaken vhen the sun has come back."
"it is like hibernation, and that is vhen animals go to sleep during the vinter and come avake in the spring."

He slung a foreleg over her shoulder and its weight was immensely comforting. Druid let out a breath and relaxed a little, head canting attentively toward the Graf as he explained what might be going on with Bracelet.

Hibernation? her mind echoed, though before she could ask, Mahler provided an explanation. Did this mean that instead of waking each morning like usual, Bracelet would not come out of her secret shelter until spring?

Druid balked, her insides clenching with grief. I won’t see Bracelet until spring? she whispered, mouth gone dry. How long is that? she immediately wanted to know, eyes stricken as they probed Mahler’s face. How many sl—moon cycles? she pressed.

mahler wished he had an easier answer for her incredulity. "at least six cycles of the moon." he sought to bump his cheek against her own. "it seems such a long time, and it is. think of how happy you vill be to see her again."
there was no changing this. but neither could mahler convey how much druid would grow in that time. they would both then be changed.

Druid audibly gasped when Mahler said it would be six moons before she was able to see Bracelet again. Her mouth fell ajar, only to press shut, her upper teeth digging into her bottom lip as tears welled in her eyes. Her chin trembled. That seemed such an unbearably long time.

She tried to cling to Mahler’s gentle suggestion to look forward to their day of reunion. But Druid grieved that huge chasm of time yawning in between now and then. She couldn’t contain the hiccuping sob that tore loose from between her pressed lips.

mahler harrumphed but tucked druid in against his side. children felt such large emotions. had he been the same? unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, those days were long faded to the gargoyle. "der winter wird nicht mehr lange dauern," he murmured quietly.
"you saw the frost that has come in the mornings. imagine a blanket of it, covering every part of the ground that you see now."

He shushed her with soft Germanic words but Druid only felt more flustered. She had been pining for winter all this time, never knowing that it meant her closest friend (aside from her sisters, of course) would leave her for such a long time.

He painted a picture with his words, which stirred a memory of her conversation with Wylla. Druid sniffled. It still sounded so magical to her. But how could she enjoy a whole season bereft of Bracelet?

She opened her mouth to say something to that effect when Druid suddenly noticed the way Mahler’s ribs poked almost painfully against her own. She slipped out of his grasp but didn’t go far, eyes touching on his face before drifting down his body, then back up again.

Druid blinked, fresh tears still glistering in her eyes. Mahler, she whispered with alarm, are you sick?

D:

mahler did not know what to say.
perhaps his face gave it away, a barren moment in which he glanced aside from her questioning young eyes.
yes would harm her. no would be a lie.
druid did not deserve to have the foundations of her world shaken in such a way.
"i have been a little under the veather. so i have been taking medicine."
he tried to tilt her an encouraging look.

It didn’t seem to be very serious, though still she worried. Bracelet momentarily forgotten, she snuggled closer to Mahler again, drawing and providing comfort at the same time.

What’s wrong? And what are you taking? she murmured, curious about the nature of whatever ailed the Graf and how he was treating it.

"i do not know. i think it is just vone of those colds that lingers after you get better in other vays. right now i am using mint for the coughing and honey to treat how my throat feels."
always with an ear and eye for medicine, mahler glanced down at druid. "are you interested in learning about the things at the pharmacy?"

Of course, she was interested in anything the Graf wanted to show her. But Druid did not reply right away, taking a moment to really think about the question, particularly in the context of his own medical maladies.

Mint and honey, those are plants? she asked, not entirely certain. She hummed thoughtfully before adding, I would like to learn more about the… properties of plants, she decided. Druid knew a little about their medical uses—as Mahler had just described—but what other purposes could they serve?

"mint comes from the ground. honey is made by bees. there is very little of it after summer is over."
druid spoke politely of his studies. mahler nodded. "in the spring i vill show you fresh blooms. vhat i have is dried." he was warming to their talk of greenery, remembering back along his vast wealth of knowledge.

His mention of the resources’ scarcity made Druid think. Did bees sleep through the winter, like snakes? And what exactly did the plants do? All around them, the trees were changing colors and shedding their leaves. What happened next? Druid knew winter would come, bringing snow, but what happened to all the greenery in the meantime?

Mahler answered her question in part. What happens in spring? she questioned. Druid vaguely recollected that she’d been born late in the spring. Of course, she couldn’t remember it. She was all too familiar with summer and quite well acquainted with autumn now too. She looked to winter with anticipation. But she knew very little of what to expect of springtime.

And though it was sort of off topic, Druid couldn’t help but wonder suddenly, Mahler, I’ll be a year old in spring. What does that mean? Is that when I’ll join the adult ranks?

he smiled a bit.
"vell you vill be taller," he teased. "spring is a time of much sunlight and rain. the snow melts avay, the grass returns, and little birds begin to hatch. fawns too. and wolfcubs."
that thought put him upon the start of another spiral, but thankfully he found control.
"you vill join us as mäher vhen you are six months old," he informed her. "i think then that you and your sisters vill be old enough to come hunting vith everyvone."
he did not say that at a year, many young wolves chose to disperse.

She drew in a breath as Mahler explained the characteristics of spring. Most of it sounded agreeable enough, though the mention of cubs gave her pause. She thought of Laurel’s offspring and her complicated feelings toward them. Would Laurel bear more in the spring? Would Sequoia?

Druid’s lips parted. Will mama give me more sisters? she wondered, hopeful but also reserved. What if they were obnoxious, like Indra? Worse yet, what if her mother had boys?

A look of consternation settled on her face and she initially didn’t process Mahler’s next few words. When they finally registered, she blinked and looked at him. Just the other day, Sequoia had been cleaning behind her ears and saying, “I can’t believe you’re almost six months old already…”

I think I’m old enough now, Druid whispered. She didn’t mean to question the Graf’s intelligence on the matter but who would know better than her mother? She tipped her chin a little, smiling graciously at the patriarch. I’m ready. I want to join the hunt.

mahler harrumphed to cover his surprised sputtering. "that is entirely up to your mother. she must decide she vants to have children again." they were veering, careening, even, toward a subject of education that the gargoyle had desperately hoped sequoia would explain.
"i believe you are ready now." he brushed the top of her head with his cheek. "but are you ready to hunt vith other volves? perhaps the vones in duskfire?"

She would have to speak to Sequoia about the matter of younger siblings, though the topic passed out of Druid’s mind entirely as she anticipated Mahler’s answer. He quickly agreed with her and the young she-wolf felt a flutter of exhilaration. She was excited to assume the title of Mäher, which bore a curious resemblance to the Graf’s given name. She liked it very much for that reason.

But then he mentioned hunting not only with their pack but another. Truthfully, Druid inwardly quailed at the thought. She felt confident around those she knew well, though she was much more aloof in the presence of strangers. Even a single unfamiliar face sometimes brought out her bashful side. Many of them would surely present a challenge.

If she was mature enough to assume an adult’s rank, then she realized she must prove she could manage something as daunting as this. She was also honest, so she answered, I’ll do my best. When will it be? Hopefully Druid would have some time to properly prepare.

"perhaps in the next two months," he suggested. there was much that could happen in the time between.
mahler stood carefully and looked down at druid. "i am going to finish my patrol. you may join me, if you vish."
his smile was soft, and the man turned away slowly, with enough time for her to react if she wished.

Two months meant two lunar cycles. That was certainly plenty of time to prepare herself. Druid squared her white-branded shoulders a bit and nodded. She nodded again when Mahler invited her to accompany him on a patrol.

Guardianship was not her vocation, yet she was not yet done picking the Graf’s brain. Although she didn’t query right away, Druid did wonder when exactly she would assume her new title. Somewhere along the way around the ambit of Rivenwood, she would be sure to ask.