Moonspear some to dust and some to gold

She dipped her muzzle in a small, short nod. "I am," she exhaled. It wasn't something she'd made a lot of noise about, and would continue not to because it would be unnecessary to do so. With her heat falling when a lot of the pack was injured or preoccupied, that had somewhat let her slip under the radar with this, but she knew no one would really need to feel surprised. Maybe a little.. dismayed she'd let it wait this long, if anything. "I would have preferred them to come earlier in the spring or summer, but nature had other ideas," she justified with a frown. Charon had only been on the cusp of his sexual maturity, and she not blatant about signs of heat then. It had not been meant to happen.

She would have preferred spring puppies too and looking back, she knew what had played a part in why not. Nature had not guided her incorrectly. If she and Charon had conceived anything the first time, they would have been born right around when the locust swarm happened and thus the famine began. That was hardship she had no interest in. Even dealing with all this.. frustrating shit right now seemed better than watching her litter starve. If she had them now, in a moon or so, she'd still have the tail of summer and autumn to ease them through before winter's bite came. By then, hopefully she could mold them into survivors.

Amekaze fell into the rhythm of her routine. With Dash at her side, it gave her a greater sort of focus. With him, it was easier to not let her thoughts roam away to whatever bothered her when the scents around were wholly uneventful. He kept her a bit more on task. "Anyway, that aside, how far out have you ranged for Lazarus?" she asked quietly. She knew they had yet to find anything, but how far had they gone for sure?