Sun Mote Copse Departure to destruction.

Four nights had passed since Sugar had disappeared. Four long, dark, awful nights. There had been daytime somewhere in there, but to Finley, it was all just dark since her child had gone missing. Sugar was not the first child to have been lost to her and on some level, she knew that this was simply a fact of life--something that happened when you lived in the wild as they did. Experience had taught her that. That was why she raised her children to be smart, strong, and self-sufficient, because life was simply unpredictable, and they needed to be prepared. Still, it was never easy, and the mother mourned deeply every time.

The weather seemed to echo her mood. Fin stared silently out into it, though she paid it little mind. Since Sugar's disappearance, she had retreated helplessly to the den where she had whelped her last litter. She knew that there was little more she could do than to hope for the best--that Sugar would either find her way home or that wherever she ended up in the world, she would have a safe and happy life. It was all she could do for any of the children she'd lost over the years, including the ones who had said good bye first.

A call drew her from her miserable reverie, though she didn't move at first. Her eyes drifted across the terrain ahead of her until they clapped onto Towhee's dark form. She laid there for a moment, knowing she would need to physically retrieve her in order to be found, but struggling to get herself to move. She sighed after a little while and stood, braving the sleet to come near enough to touch her muzzle to Towhee's shoulder and gesture her to follow her back to the comfort and warmth of her den.