Sun Mote Copse Werewolf woods wailings.

She opened her eyes to a familiar slant of sunlight. Towhee sat up and rubbed the sleep—and more than a little bit of crust—from her eyes. She gazed around at the copse, taking slow, deep breaths. She didn’t see Meerkat or @Njord, though it was late in the morning and there was much to do to establish their settlement here.

Towhee made her way to the river at the eastern edge of the copse to take care of her dry mouth, then tried to muster up the energy for a patrol. She hadn’t done one of those in a while. But before she took even a single step, her eyes cast downriver, toward the old family graveyard.

Towhee could never forget the spot where her godparents and elder sister’s remains were interred, the soft earth covered in a colorful scattering of fallen leaves. She stood beside the unmarked graves a while, thinking of all the bodies she’d buried in all sorts of places over the years.

Without really thinking about it, she found a trio of river stones nearby and placed them at intervals: one each for @Elwood, @Finley and @Wildfire. Though his body wasn’t here, Towhee teared up as she found and lovingly placed one for @Caracal, then thought, Why stop there? She placed three more for his litter mates, @Marten, Blackbird and Butterfly; another for poor @Primrose; and, lastly, a small headstone for @Leona.

She could add so many more, though she stopped after memorializing each of her lost children. Towhee carefully stepped back from the row of tombstones. She didn’t think they were here—especially those buried in faraway places—but it was cathartic, building this little place of remembrance.

She would have to find Meerkat and invite her daughter to perhaps place a stone for Narwhal. With that thought in mind, Towhee turned her back on the little necropolis and headed to the northern stretch of borders to help solidify the Sveijarn-Corten claim.