Broken Boulder lonely and dreamin' of the west coast

Paradise was, quite unfortunately, not so.  The cats which had taken up permanent residence in their home, which Olive had once considered amusing when they stayed far enough away from her children, were becoming sick and beginning to waste away. Olive, who was not a medic but a healer at heart, could smell the stench of sickness upon them and carefully corralled her family away from them. For the most part, it seemed as though the wolves of the sanctuary were resistant to the disease. Many wolves’ health remained remained completely intact, but those who didn’t, seemed to go downhill fast.

It was a eerie reminder to Olive that no place was truly safe. When she fled to escape one danger, there was always another waiting just across the threshold. It was the essence of existence — that nothing was ever permanent, not even happiness, not even safety, not even life itself; the last lesson of which had been imparted upon her by both Dakarai and Oaxaca in their leaving. However, Olive, still in the throes of her new love with Seabreeze, was keen to enjoy the bright moments when they existed so that she did not wallow in guilt when they inevitably ended; and they all inevitably ended.

It was also the reason that Olive was reluctant to become intimately involved with her new pack mates. There were many of them, new faces, new names and new personalities; but Olive doubted her ability to become close with them, not after Kaali had left so unceremoniously, and now when so many others were sick. After so much death and emptiness, it was a measure that the woman took in order to protect herself. Thank god Seabreeze was there to step up in the ways that the fae could not — at least, not in this moment. 

When Olive came across Seabreeze and Alarian; the stress upon them was more than palpable — they wore it almost as they would wear their coats in the winter. She had seemingly entered upon the nascence of their conversation, so the woman kissed Seabreeze’s cheek and offered her own cordialities. “It is a lovely day…” she noted somberly, knowing very well that the truth was anything but.