Broken Boulder or without your smile

With a lack of reponsibility came the absence of true failure, or at least the knowledge of it. Lily had never been in charge of anything before this. Her parents had given her no real power, her siblings more capable than she. She had made it nearly to her second year of life without having to taste the bitterness of regret.

Ali's howl startled her from the edges of the Bracken Woods, where she had been practicing her stalking. It was a call of grief--the announcement of death. Not of one she had known well. . .but a packmate nonetheless. Lily swallowed, approaching slowly.

Ioa. The pale form lay motionless on the ground, the Keil siblings industriously digging a grave. Lily had only truly interacted with her once, at the hunt, and even that had been brief and unmemorable. Truth be told, she couldn't even summon the sound of her voice, the story of her life. She had known nothing--and she felt shame rise over her in a wave accompanied by grief.

She should have cared more. Should have reached out. Broken Boulder was safe; if the girl felt at home here, she would have stayed, not strayed out into the wilderness. Ioa smelled of the acrid smoke that rose from Sleeping Dragon; she looked as if she were merely sleeping herself, except stiff with death. She had met her end there, likely alone. Lily felt entirely responsible.

She was a counselor to these wolves, a friendly face to help them in times of crisis and need. It was her job to know everyone, to make sure everyone felt welcome and loved. But she'd not known Ioa, and now she never would. For the first time in her life, Lily felt failure.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Those words echoed through her head, a silent chant, but the dark Consultant remained wordless as she slunk next to Lanawyn and began to dig. And dig. And dig.

Each small shower of dirt was a weight on her heart.