Phoenix Maplewood All tangled up

Scarlett was pretty shocked from her behavior once the trespasser was on their lands. She did see these woods as her pack lands already but never before she expressed such violence. The red eyed female was normally kind and hated to to fight, yet that day she helped kill a wolf. Scarlett tried to justify it with the fact that she loved hunting and would kill prey animals too. It wasn't helping. Because they didn't eat wolf, they did with prey animals. That thought made her shudder, eating wolves.

Her children had been there too. They saw how she acted. Scarlett was deeply ashamed. She would need to work on her anger issues because all those years of pressing her hurt and anger down she managed it pretty well. The girl sat by a riverbank looking at herself in the reflection. She was a bit of a mess. At least she thought she looked like one. How was she ever going to get over what happened to her?

Weariness followed the Phoenix alpha around like a dreary cloud. Her shoulders were slumped enough for anyone to suspect exhaustion, and she carried her head low, but it wasn't with the intent of tracking or hunting as it often was. Her steps were deliberately slow as she strolled through the sunny woods, but she made no effort to mask the sound of her paws. It was really just an attempt to spare her injuries any further aggravation, and because each step felt weighted.

The warden in her yearned to go to the borders and patrol, to get some energy back from that mundane task, but she worried about discovering yet another trespasser. Though she warred with herself, Saena chose to stay in the forest's interior, away from potential incidents, if only because she couldn't mentally handle it at present. Whatever had changed to make Phoenix Maplewood's borders a hotspot for wolves without a hint of instinct or sense, it was taking a toll on the young alpha, who had had little to contend with up until now.

Her aimless wandering brought her to one of the forest's rivers. She stooped and drank deeply, and was surprised to find that bending forward didn't hurt her leg or hindquarters badly. They were healing, even though she was making it bloody hard for them. She lifted her head, shook away the drops of water, and began to trace the river northward, but she didn't get very far before she found Scarlett sitting at the river's edge.

Part of her yearned to be alone with her thoughts and fatigue, but Saena was mainly social, so she slowly approached the albino with a muttered, "I'm sorry this first week has been hell in a handbasket for you. For all of us, really. We never had problems like this before, and never so soon after one another."

Scarlett didn't even see the female coming towards her at first. Once Saena was before her Scarlett looked up from the water and blinked. She clearly had been deep in thought. She was so ashamed of what happened. Her kids even saw it. Normally she would never behave like this. "It happens,' she spoke kindly. "It is not your fault." Scarlett was more than grateful for even getting a place in this pack. If she hadn't been accepted it had probably been harder than what she was going through now. The female quirked up her lips in a saddened smile. "I mean if I was alone and rejected from your pack I would have it worse. So I am not complaining," he returned to her alpha with a respectful tone, and a hint that she was still very grateful.

Scarlett glanced over the female before her, she looked rather tired. "Are you okay?,' she asked. Scar was still a mother at heart and somehow she could easily open up and ask people if they were okay. She was very eager to help out with things if needed. It would also keep her mind of the things that she was dealign with right now. She wasn't sure if she could share with Saena what she was going through. At Duskfire she was kicked out for being 'soft'. She already killed one wolf so maybe they wouldn't see her as too soft. Still Scarlett felt so bad for doing what she did.

"S'just not a great introduction for you and your kids," Saena murmured, taking a seat near the water's edge and turning her eyes on Scarlett. Only now did she realize the caretaker was a bit disheveled, and her eyes were sunken about as much as Saena's own. The alpha wasn't the only one who was weary, that was for sure, though they had different reasons for it. "We were always left alone here. Must be something in the water lately," she speculated, though truly she believed a wave of morons had made their way through the taiga and the result was Kiara, QuickPaw and Fire Wolf. It pained Saena to kick out a good potential warrior and someone who had seemed like a strong recruit, but the cut above her eye was still fresh enough that she didn't regret it one bit.

Scarlett must've cottoned on to Saena's downtrodden state, for the woman asked a gentle question that tugged the alpha's lips into a disarming smile. "I'm fine. Just tired. It's hard to rest when you're expecting a third someone to waltz into your land uninvited." There was certainly more than that, but it was stuff she could deal with herself. She wasn't an overly private wolf, but Saena did have some secrets. "You seem exhausted, though. Everything okay?"

Scarlett shrugged slightly, though she had to agree on one point because her kids saw her behave in a way that she never really would behave. The mother looked at Saena. She couldn't really blame the other female for her own behavior. It was her own fault. "Don't worry too much about it," she assured her. Scarlett never wanted to make anyone worry. She would just do as she was told. She was far happier like that rather than making her own decisions. She would doubt herself too much.

"I can imagine, but sleep is also important for you. Because you need to be fit to lead us," Scarlett spoke. "Do we have Wardens in this pack that could do some extra patrols? Maybe the warriors could join them too,' she spoke, though she had no clue how many warriors and or wardens there were in this pack. She was just helping the alpha female brainstorm about possible options. The red eyes female quickly darted her eyes away once Saena asked about her.

"I just need some time to adjust, nothing bad though," she spoke. Somehow telling her alpha female that she could snap into a terrible rage by certain triggers wasn't exactly nice information to tell. Scarlett liked to keep that door shut and not open it again, even though deep down she knew she had to face all that hatred, humiliation and anger.

"It's tough to sleep sometimes with those images in your mind," Saena admitted. Killing was a natural part of being a wolf, but killing her own kind had an effect on her psyche. At the time the alpha female had felt proud and triumphant, but less than a day later the shame had crept in. Had there been any other option, she might've taken it, but the wolf who walked into their land with an intent to challenge her had a death wish. She had to keep reminding herself of that, lest she fall into despair. Kiara had deserved death. Saena had to tell herself she did. She was young and stupid, but a simple command to leave never would've worked on that kind of wolf.

Still, the image was burned into the back of her mind and haunted her at times. Scarlett's following suggestions were good ones, and Saena bobbed her head, but then faltered. "No, not really. Reek and I are both wardens, and we have Ashka and Arion for warriors, but that's it, I think. Citali was great at manning the borders, but..." But Saena didn't know where she was. The woman hadn't said much before leaving. In fact, she hadn't said anything at all. Unlike Nochtli, who had set out on a mission and had informed Saena of that decision, Citali had simply departed without a word. The alpha female wanted to hate her for it, but it was tough when she'd looked up to the amazon. One day perhaps her sadness would harden into disappointment, but for now the wound was still fresh.

Thinking about Citali was depressing, so Saena shook it off and asked, "is there anything I can do to help you adjust?"

Scarlett nodded softly in agreement. She knew about those images all too well. They were haunting her too, if only shaken that the alpha female was also feeling some regret towards killing that trespasser. Scarlett thought about it often, quickly remembering that she trespassed on accident once. She could have died if Malachi had not been kind to her. Scarlett had treated him horribly last time she saw him. Maybe she should visit him and apologize for treating him so horribly. That whole thing with Tuwawi was a mess.

Scarlett nodded softly when Saena talked about their wardens and warriors. "I am not good at both of those, I'm sorry," she admitted. "Maybe one of my pups..," she ended in a mutter. Nanook might be a good warrior or warden. Desna could be a warden if she wanted to but she might be a bit too enthusiastic. Scarlett showed a grateful smile when the alpha female offered some help to gather settled. "Just a lot of things have happened before I came here. I lost my mate, and my only son. They went to Black Feather. How horrible. Such a dark forest no place for pups. I just.. hate how the division separated us all. That is just takes some time," she explained.

Perhaps one of the pups would make a promising addition to the wardens of the maplewood. Saena made a mental note to track them down and feel out the situation. A warden trained from adolescence would certainly be a good addition, and anyway, Saena's condition for accepting the pups had been that they seek out apprenticeships. She knew Desna was seeking gamekeeper and had hear from Reek of the sylph-like one's interest in naturalism, but the third pup, she had heard almost nothing of. Better find that one first, then.

Scarlett's troubles seemed to boil down to emotional things, but the alpha female's hackles shifted perceptibly when Blackfeather Woods came up. "I don't know much about them, but their alpha female is an idiot if ever I met one," Saena seethed, recalling how Meldresi had tried to tell her she didn't know where her own lands were, and how Nochtli had spoken of the woman. "I'm sorry you lost your son to them. Your ex-mate must be moronic to think that place is any good for anyone, let alone a child." Surely Blackfeather Woods had children of their own, as all packs did, but Saena was willing to bet they were so sideways that the horizon looked vertical to them. Nothing good could come of a pack with an alpha female who knew nothing of instinct or etiquette.

"Is there no hope of finding him and coaxing him away from them?" Saena wondered. It was a terrible idea, and would incite hostility with the Blackfeather wolves if ever the Phoenix pack attempted it, but... Saena already condemned any wolf that lived in the south and wouldn't mind adding Meldresi's band of misfits to that list if it meant easing Scarlett's heart.

Scarlett had to admit that it felt good to hear someone talk bad about kove. So she wasn't the only ones that thought Black Feather was a very bad pack. Scarlett dreaded the future of her son. Hopefully Kove wouldn't make him a murderer or something worse that they might think of in this woods. A visible shiver went over her. Though, Meldresi ha been her friend once, now she heard Saena talk about her Scarlett couldn't help but agree slightly.

Raziel had complained about the manners of the BFW pups, and the dark female hadn't really shown much friendship back, especially at the end of things. She hoped she would take care of her son. Though if Scarlett was really honest she had given up on him. She didn't want to force him back to her. He chose his father over her, so then so be it. She knew he was young when he chose for his father but Scarlett wasn't going to fetch him. She just wanted all that happened in the past to be over.

"He is. In the end he said some horrible things to me," she admitted. "I don't want to retrieve him, they have him for several weeks now already and he choose his father, not me," Scarlett pointed out. "No, don't need to stir up drama. But it was nicely offered. I just hope my daughters will be okay in the end. I only seen Desna adjust," she admitted. Scarlett's red eyes fell into Saena's eyes. "No hope. I just want to focus on my new life here," she spoke.

"Sounds like a typical guy", Saena scolded, then admitted, "growing up, there was this douche in my home pack who told me I couldn't hunt because I'm a girl. I got kicked in a hunt once while learning and he made it out to be a good thing". Maybe it wasn't entirely accurate, but all Saena had anymore were exaggerated memories of Koda. In another year, she might insist he'd thrown her in front of the deer himself. Long story short, the young alpha knew a little bit about the terrible things men could say to women and she immediately lumped Kove into that same category. Had he cared about Scarlett beyond being a breeding machine, she thought with some very unfair vehemence, he would never have taken her son away.

"Desna is... the darkest?" Saena's exposure to Scarlett's children was sorely lacking, but the alpha hoped to remedy that in due time. Her eyes raked over the albino's own coat with the assumption that the father of her pups must've had black fur. Albino wasn't in Saena's vocabulary; Scarlett could've had all the genes to have black fur and Saena would never know the difference between her and any other arctic wolf. "She has a lot of promise as a hunter if she keeps training for it".

Scarlett bit her lip for a moment and nodded. She thought at the time that he was not such a typical guy. He was kind and her saving knight. Though that knight turned against her with words, horrible words that Scarlett couldn't get out of her mind. She looked down at her paws, feeling horrible still about what he said. It wasn't easy. She might look like she was always happy and kind but she wasn't. Scarlett knew Koda too, but Saena didn't called out his name, she wouldn't never think that about her friend Koda. "He sounds horrible," she spoke with a light growl. "But now you have Reek to encourage you," she returned.

Scarlett nodded. "Yes, she is the charcoal one," she returned. At least that comment made Scarlett smile a bit. It nice to hear that someone else saw potential in one of your kids. The red eyed female nodded in agreement. "She always liked food, and now she is determined to catch it herself, probably so she can eat more." Scarlett didn't know that there was a whole other reason for her passion for hunting.

"Yes", agreed Saena, but her lips press tighter together as Scarlett's gaze sunk to her feet. The other woman's lack of self esteem, for that was how Saena took it, ought to have drawn more words to her tongue, but the alpha female wasn't one for helping others with their problems. Not because she didn't want to, but because she was ill-equipped for it and didn't know how to do it well. Since her youth, she'd focused primarily on her own woes, her own pain, and so empathy for others had fallen by the wayside. It was difficult to dredge up now.

So rather than addressing Scarlett's look to the ground, she chose to focus on talking about her daughter. "Well", she mused, "any motivation is good motivation, right?" Having not known Desna as a young pup, Saena had no idea that the charcoal juvenile had been quite fat. She was still somewhat plump, but mostly she was just promising to be big. A boon to the pack, surely, especially if she did develop into a strong hunter. "Do your other daughters have any interests?"

Scarlett really didn't need any verbal confirmation of how close Reek and Saena were. She could basically smell it and it hurt her since she didn't have that. Though the slender female would probably have to work on herself first if she ever wanted someone to like her. The topic switched to her children, which was actually her favorite topic. "I guess so. I hope she doesn't get discouraged," Scarlett admitted. She wasn't sure yet if Desna was really determined. She was bossy, yes, but maybe she was a quitter. The girl was stubborn though, so probably she wouldn't be a quitter.

"Nanook... Well she is a bit mad at me. But she is always exploring things, or well she was. So outrider would be a fitting one for her, although I wouldn't be comfortable with her traveling yet," Scarlett admitted. "And Sesi.. Sesi is not that social. So probably Naturalist might work for her," Scarlett analyzed, still that didn't mean Sesi couldn't become the best Counselor or even Outrider. If any of her girls had dreams she would make sure that they would be on the right way.

"She won't", said Saena with confidence. She knew nothing about Desna, it was true, but she had faith in the girl all the same. Anyone who strove to become a masterful hunter had to have boundless patience. Hunting was not a sport for thrill-seekers. The majority of it was spent in hiding, or creeping slowly toward a target. There was only a brief, fleeting moment of adrenaline. If Desna sought to be a hunter, it was likely because she had enough patience to enjoy the majority of it, and not just a need for speed.

Scarlett spoke of her other two daughters and Saena listened. On Nanook, she didn't comment. Saena could think of no logical reason why Nanook should be upset with her mother; had Scarlett not brought them somewhere safe? The woman could've left her offspring behind, like Saena's parents had in her eyes. She almost asked how old the pups were, that Scarlett wanted to keep them safe from venturing, but she held her tongue and listened with interest to Scarlett talk about Sesi. Not very social, but interested in naturalism. That had been Saena once, but out of shyness rather than dislike of others.

"I might be able to help Sesi", she offered. "I can definitely help Nanook, being an outrider myself, but I was a naturalist once so maybe I could pass on some of what I remember". It wasn't much, though. Enough to get Sesi started. Saena's mind went to Wildfire then, of all wolves. Saena had wanted to help Wildfire become a naturalist once. She could surely help Sesi... and maybe the free-spirited red-haired wolf would be willing to help with that if Saena could ever track her down.

Scarlett was so honored that Saena would offer her help. Frankly the red eyed female was glad that they had shelter in these woods. She had never expected the piebald female to also want to help out. Scarlett's tail started wagging in appreciation. 'Thank you, Saena," she spoke. Maybe it was also because when she had her own pack no one really helped her except for Raziel. He only wanted other things for it in return. "Sesi is just a bit withdrawn but once she knows you she is really sweet. And Nanook, well she too I guess. Desna is the more easy one actually," she admitted.

Scarlett was a bit at loss because she hadn't expected her girls to be the way they were. She loved them with her whole heart but sometimes she wished Nanook and Sesi wouldn't make her life more difficult than it was. "I guess I will go check upon them now," she spoke, bidding a friendly goodbye. "I will make sure to send them your way," Scarlett added. That would be the polite thing to do after all. She gave a final nod and then her petite frame rushed away from the scene. She was still a bit unfamiliar with these lands, and she wasn't the bravest. She tried though. She would never stop trying.