Hideaway Strath reebok

attempts to match length of all of these gorgeous posts

a stranger appeared, and though jhala could make an assumption about who she was, the bear was not certain until lotte introduced herself. she used words that jhala was too ignorant to understand-- she spoke one language, mixed with a few words from the language of her old pack, but it did not match this woman's. her head dipped respectfully, knowing this was not the time or place to assert dominance, but waited for lotte to finish speaking before she asked her questions. the biggest one, about tapat, was answered in lotte's greeting to astik-- jhala almost wept. she sucked in a heavy breath, leaning into reek for a few heartbeats before moving back to stand on her own. jhala didn't have time to express her pride in her sturdy little rook's stance. he looked strong and answered like a true young man should-- but she was too worried about tapat, too relieved. she didn't even noticed astik's inner-grieving.

reek spoke, he'd found his voice before she could. but jhala nodded, anxious almost, as he mentioned tapat's poor fate. "he was gettin' better-- he could follow trails and landmarks and stay within the borders on his own. he must've gotten distracted," she added on, trying to defend her son. she was no fool, tapat would very well have died out on his own, but he was trainable-- smart, just forgetful. "thank you," she echoed, reiterating her husbands gratitude.

she glanced to astik as reek spoke of the glade's sorry fate. it was sad, sure, but jhala was happier now knowing that tapat was safe that she was living in the glade without him. her family-- her pack-- would survive wherever they went, make a home wherever they went. her amber eyes fell back to lotte, not being so bold as to meet her own gaze, of course. "i'm sorry dagfinn couldn't stay, he was a great friend," she commented honestly, missing the happy-go-lucky male. he was bouncy and friendly and a fantastic warrior, and jhala would miss seeing him around the territory.

with a last, reassuring glance at her husband, jhala gave a humble bow. she parted her jaws to speak, but was interrupted by a distant yipping and howling. she stood alert, eyes wide, scanning the landscape as a still-tiny tapat came sprinting full-speed towards them. minding her manners, her tail remained at a humble posture, but her excitement was clear across her entire body. "tapat!" she yipped as the boy came running, ducking to kiss and nuzzle and love all over her little boy again. she'd missed him so much, and she'd never been so relieved to see him back in front of her again. tears welled in her amber eyes, hoping this moment truly was real. "oh, goose," she cooed, letting him greet the rest of his family was still hovering protectively over him, "i'm so glad you're safe."