Dawnlark Plains wait for me to come home

---

something in her leaped at his apology, direct and sincere and lacking any of his usual petulance. there was something changed in his gaze, and still. "I'm sorry, Sunny. for forcing you to grieve alone." a quiet acknowledgment of her own mistakes, in forcing him out. perhaps, he'd needed it. perhaps, it had done him good to grow up as she'd told him to do. still, no one deserved to be forced to endure the grief alone, so far from any familiarity. "it was wrong of me."

still, she saw something changed, there. something older, something different. she could only hope that whatever it was, whoever he'd grown to be after the grief, would stay. she was silent, pushing her muzzle into his shoulder, pulling back. "Pema and Aviana have had their pups. Dauntless left to find his sisters." there was information he needed to know, and while she bit her cheek hard enough to draw blood, she continued after a beat. "we don't have enough hunters."  that bit was fairly self-explanatory; her own thinness beneath her dense pelt was growing noticeable. her voice grew quiet, soft, as she watched him, waited him to draw the conclusions of the threat that lurked, silently.