Hushed Willows i guess it must be up to me

MANDATORY. Post once per round, no order. Next round starts on Saturday, June 15 (unless everyone posts before then). Backdated to the 5th. @Sunny @Olive @Silas @Aeliana @Tzila @Minnow @Valiant @Aeryn @Sundance @Reif @Atwood

things were changing, and rapidly. with the deaths of two and one missing, the pack reeled. cortez reeled, too, but his conversation with olive made it abundantly clear that someone had to step up. someone had to lead. dark times didn't last forever. . .unless you wallowed in them.

conversation with @Seabreeze and @Khali had enlightened him further on sunny's place here. the young man had led once before—why not do so again? the hole left by lily, after all, must be filled, and soon. and he knew he couldn't do this alone. he wasn't even sure if he could do it at all.

swallowing down his nerves, the shakti—now in name and title—lifted his muzzle to call for the remaining adult members of the pack. he kept his eyes peeled for his sister, especially. and the children would likely be shepherded along by their parents, for who else would watch them?

cortez realized, with a punch to the gut, that all three litters had lost a parent. cruel, twisted fate.

with a shuddering sigh, he squared himself, waiting in the large, sun-dappled clearing where the main party at the fertility festival had gathered. he was a poet, not a leader. he wasn't cut out for this. he wasn't equipped to handle any of this.

but he could ease their pain, somewhat, if only through eulogy. eulogy and words to bring them together again, even when things looked like they'd fall apart with the slightest breath of wind.