Permafrost Hollows you cannot swallow a life that large

wintersbane is respectfully quiet and attentive as faeryn offers her own insight and with it, a bit more about her past. admittedly, he only knows that she was once apart of the pack called undersea and, of course, that she decided to leave them for the vartija. while it wasn't ever his intention to steal wolves from other packs he tells himself that he didn't steal her and thus doesn't feel true guilt over it. he doesn't feel like he'd manipulated her: he'd have taught her how to fight either way. admittedly, it'd have been a bit hard being so far away but he'd have worked it out somehow. she'd left undersea of her own free will — he'd simply provided her with a choice.

she spoke that she'd helped lead it. once and that when she got sick she chose to step down. as hard as it was, i think you did the right thing. you weren't physically capable of being your best for them at that time, wintersbane interjects, voice quiet and thoughtful. there's no shame in admitting you needed time to recover. the physical body could only be pushed so hard. would faeryn not have chosen to step down she might've literally worked herself to her death and then what? the undersea wolves would've had a body to bury and presumably mourned the loss of her life. sometimes i think that if we hold onto something so tightly we either kill it or ourselves. he murmurs, thinking now of blackfeather woods, of teaghlaigh. he knows enough of arturo to know he'd never relinquish total control of the family ...had that been it's ultimate downfall?

in regards to the potential of overpopulation, wintersbane knows that ultimately only time would tell. regardless, he fully intends for the vartija to withstand the storm if it decided to veer their way, even if that meant hostility towards neighbors and those that would trespass on chosen hunting grounds. the vartija was his first priority and he would put them first above other packs, ( potential ) alliances be damned. the pair then fall into silence and continue on with the patrol.