Herbalists' Cache cen

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there was to be no immediate visit upon the snow shelter. sun eater ate what was brought, filling his belly with fat and bone-marrow. for thirst, pale drifts to quench. 

first he counted those that had not come, running in mind's eye a count of his clan and their faces. "i think three at the den with her," he said to @Dark Fang, @Meleeys, and @Sulukinak, voice turning to a hiss as pain scintillated through torn shoulder.

forcing himself upward, sun eater turned his unreadable sight upon the snow shelter standing gently distant. @Black Hawk he expected to be there and @Other Shore as well. @Ishmira he had not seen; he did not remember her swift visit to his side. but there was no other place for her to be, and so he put her there in mental arrangement.

a step, and in his heart a dull sense of dread for what truths he might find. he had not yet come to think of star eater as he did her kin.

but sulukinak would not lie.

sun eater did not press the boundaries of the place still standing sacred; he stood there in a line with the lanzadoii and drew a breath. exhale held steam in the cold air. an effort to place words in proper place sounded then, a call roughened by the imposed cold of his tone.

"@Morwenna. did you go to darukaal?"

Her brother spoke the names. Meleys listened. Other Shore and Ishmira, two pale yearlings with little knowing or experience. Black Hawk would be the only true threat to get past, should it be true that not only had Star Eater decide to stand against her mate, but to sway the people of Saatsine, ripping them apart and turning them against one another. For who? For what? In the defense of those she had long ago chose to run from. 

She follows behind Cen, towards the den where new life stirred. For all the others knew, it was the time to collect the pups into warm maws for their journey. Meleys remained watchful.

she had known this was coming.
the moment her husband called, star eater steadied herself, rising from where their children hungrily tore at her teats. she soothed each one, pressing a gentle kiss to their tiny crowns before she stepped away. they whimpered at the loss of warmth, but she did not look back—not yet.
she stepped out into the cold. sun eater stood there, waiting, questioning, weak.
her heart twisted at the sight of him. his wounds—why had they not been tended? hadn’t ishmira…? but no, it seemed she had not. rage flickered through her like a candle’s flame, burning at the edges of her restraint. for all his faults, for all the war he had waged, she had never wished him to suffer like this.
he spoke, and she did as a good wife would. she moved to heal him.
with measured steps, she grabbed the herbs from a small pile she had gathered earlier, dropping them before him with quiet finality. no words of comfort, no softness in her gaze—only duty.
i followed the trail of my sister’s blood, she answered at last, voice steady, unwavering.
i did not breach the heart of darukaal.
her hands worked as she spoke, chewing the herbs, preparing them for the worst of his wounds. she met his gaze only briefly, searching for something—understanding, anger, regret.
i left herbs, and came back to our children.
her meaning was clear. she had not abandoned him, nor their family. whatever war he had started, she had not fought in it. but she had seen the cost.