Northstar Vale white clover

He wondered at first if she would answer.  It was a pointless question to ask, as the answer didn't matter.  Happy or not, all they could do was all they could to ensure their families a happy and peaceful life.  But he still felt lighter for the asking, regardless of whether she gave a response or no.

The answer, when it did come, was far from definitive.  Yet he didn't mind.  Instead he considered what she said, for it almost begged to question whether happiness that he asked about was even possible.  Somehow he felt what she spoke of was different though.  There was a distinction between knowing there was something more and longing for a situation different than the one you were in.  But he wasn't sure he wanted to get into that because he wasn't sure 'longing' was even the correct term for what he was experiencing.  It was more a sense of discomfort, a niggling urge that he wasn't where he should be.

"As do I, and perhaps even too easily as well."  He'd been literally handed the reigns without a second thought and even when challenged and defeated, still was accepted as rightful leader.  He'd all but abandoned them after the fire with no repercussion, right as his desire to search for those missing might have been.  He knew the truth: he had also been running.  Yet no one even questioned him.

"It has.". He admitted readily, hardly seeing a point to denying it.  "I would never abandon responsibility, of course.  But I suppose there is little harm in wondering."  So long as he did not let it color his dealings with his subordinates - a feat that was getting harder to pull off.

His real wonder he kept to himself; that perhaps another leader, one able to put heart and soul into the task, might be better for them.  For he could feel the distance the pack held.  He might not feel like a pack of ghosts yet, but it was quickly going that way, and he had little motivation to make that fact change. The isolation suited his desire for space.  "You may be right.  It might be wrong to call it unhappiness.  After all, if you have nothing to compare with, there's no way to tell if the new would make you happier in the end.". Maybe instead it would be more dissatisfaction.