Moonspear in the dark star of night

It had rained all day, maintaining a steady shower well through the afternoon that tapered to sprinkles come late afternoon. Everything was slick, dripping even still. Humidity was staying high in and so there was no hope of her coat drying quickly. Not so long as she insisted on being out, and the dark alpha did not see that happening too soon. Recent events, and upcoming ones too, had her feeling extra defensive. After Charon had left to visit Neverwinter, she had come down the mountainside feeling considerably better than last week before the moon had gone full. Evidently being secluded had been necessary for a bit, and the funk of that was seemingly shaken loose.

She was in good spirits, although still grimly aware of what she would soon be facing again already, paired with everything else to consider. Even for now, all of that was seeming awfully mild—not that she wanted to jinx it, and maybe she was misinterpreting the absence of just wanting to constantly throttle Charon et al. somehow and healing from a lightning-charged hunt gone wrong (to begin) as mild, though. It seemed just easy this time, so she went about her business in full. Ame attributed it to healthy winter and spring, plus she was nothing short of fit thanks to their plentiful (and relatively easy) times. It was only that now, hiding the telltale swell was about to be more difficult, and that would have it concerning others besides herself and her mate  afterward—if they'd not picked up on her shady behavior already anyway.

However she was a long way away from it hindering her patrols, so she dogged the borderlands and hunted over them intently for hours on end, letting them all run together while she savored the distraction of a body and mind in motion.

However even with everything else, the loudest concern of it all for her right here and now was exclusively hunger. Plain and simple, instinctive and wanting for something fresh. Ame couldn't kick the motivation to keep moving, and hunting deeper into the woody stretches of mountainside that fringed their base in spots. She hit stride in a long trot, and arced determinedly towards the lowlands to double her effectiveness, if she could.

On this go around, it was starting to get dark, dusk winding down toward full-night by the moment but she had no plans of bringing this to a close. There would at least need to be one more earnest sweep, and hopefully, one more small kill so that she'd have something newly-pick to eat before resting again.

a borderland thread*

Her notched ear, courtesy of Lyra, twitched. Her sister had done an impeccable job upon it, and now she, Alya, and Lyra were identical once again. They each wore the scar proudly; Alya had fought bravely and well in defense of her, and for each of them it would always be that way. They were one anothers greatest protectors other than Amekaze and Charon, who Hydra was also unquestionably devoted to. Though her sisters came first, her loyalty to her parents and to Moonspear could not be doubted at this point in her life. Though she strayed frequently from the borders to learn and experience [with her sisters] what could not be gained here, she returned and fulfilled what she felt to be her duty. 

Hydra patrolled diligently. The stranger had not struck fear in her heart but rather anger that fueled her drive and her passion. She was not at all surprised to see her mother near the borders as well, and Hydra caught up to her swiftly as she lengthened her stride to meet her. She chuffed to forewarn her mother of her presence, deciding against stalking her here at the borders in light of recent events. Hydra did not want to be mistaken for an enemy; she had seen her mothers strength, and admired it. Naturally she did not wish to be on the receiving end of it, and she was intelligent enough by now to know how to avoid it (not that she herself had ever in her life endured it). Hydra moved to nose her mother, but there was something... different. Hydra withdrew, her eyes reading her mothers features searching worriedly for something amiss. But Amekaze appeared normal. Still, that thing was ever present, and her nostrils flared. You smell different, Hydra observed aloud, and never one to beat around the bush, she asked, what is it? And it wasn't the smell of foreign lands, no... it was something that Hydra could sense but had no name for.

While more devoted to sniffing out a meal, she still eased her momentum to a stop long enough to mark and scuff about to ensure everything here stayed fresh and tended--all signifying her presence, her watchful eyes, and so much more.

When a shadow materialized, she had known it was only a matter of time, especially when prowling on the borderlands. They had long since established themselves as a facet of this mountainside, and even into the lands beyond. She had come to expect them always in some way. Enemies to the peace on this spire would not, so that realization always felt favorable.. even with their numbers thinned lately.

Ame's lifted tail waved, and she chuffed back to the girl who had about matched her on height by now.

Since they were awfully good at amplifying her traits right back at her, curiosity was not in short supply here when the juvenile drove straight for the point. Save for a hesitant flick of just one ear, she kept stoic about it and bit back the defensiveness that wanted to rise all the while. She huffed softly, yet with eyes flashing when she spied the worry on her notched daughter's brow. "You have a sharp nose," she remarked over her shoulder as she kept moving, although she had been nothing but generous with her marking today. Anyone perceptive enough was bound to notice soon enough, and much of her time was spent almost exclusively with Charon lately. Thinking of this had long since slowed the wave of her tail.

"Unless you are smelling something I do not know about," she warned over her shoulder, although her health wasn't in any questionable shape right now. There was really only one notable change in her condition and this was it. "It is a subtle--yet obvious after a point--change thanks to pregnancy." Knowing how weighty that was, she squinted ahead and spoke on despite not particularly wanting to. They'd need to know, though, and this was her territory to tell them. With a fresh sigh: "In about a turn of the moon, my next litter will be born." Her stride stayed long, maybe just a little longer after that big piece of information was presented to one-third of the cerberus.

Her mothers observation made her grin despite her worry as she responded lightly, it should be, if I am to become a Tracker, which was one of her goals other than becoming a Warrior and Guardian. Hydra sought to become a master of all three trades; she wanted to be the best, and would settle for nothing less. Her sisters matched her in her excellence, she felt. Amekaze spoke on, explaining... and the word pregnancy caused Hydra to pause in her step. What's that? And then, mention of another litter. Hydra had enough base sense to know what a litter was, and correlated pregnancy to mean a litter would come of that. Oh, she responded, resuming her movement and trotting to move next to her mother. 

She was more worried about something else. Am I going to smell like that soon? How the hell did this even happen to her mother? Hydra wondered if ever she would have a litter. There was no desire at all within her at present to have one... but then, she was young still.

Her ambitions aligned well, then, and Amekaze had never doubted any of them for an instant but before she could become wrapped in her pride, she knew she had explaining to do--and the sooner that was over with, the better. Although, she seemed to take it in stride, or was still deciding where to begin. Ame would start with what she did ask, though: "Not soon, no. You are very young for that still," she answered, wanting to scrunch at the notion of her girls being that old one day.. and perhaps passing their line onto their own whelps. "It will make more sense when you are older, though." Of that, the dark alpha could assure her. How long it would take her was anyone's guess. Charon had been quick into the game of reproductive success, not Ame, who had resisted playing seriously for a long time.

With Hydra matching stride alongside her, she kept the pace steady, now even more towards their outer edges with the two of them. "Around two years old, female bodies have cycles--if conditions are favorable, this includes a time when they are fertile, so with a viable male.." Which meant to imply a speckled mate's involvement in all this, too. "..they can then have pups. Not that it is always wise to do so," she detailed, and warned, together. She'd thrown out females for breeding carelessly before because it had to be done right here, and with the right, wise timing; even she was pushing her own frustrations on it for so soon, and with the pack small and daughter's not yet among the adult rankings, a little vague dismay seemed natural.

...Conditions are favorable? She asked with a headtilt. Bodily conditions? Hydra, while moving, glanced at her own body. But her mother had already addressed she was too young and it would not happen for her... so more likely than not, conditions for her were not favorable. Viable male? she echoed, and narrowed her eyes to display her confusion. What makes a male viable? And, lastly, for good measure, she tacked on, Why would it not be wise?

More questions gave her better structure, so now that she was in this deep, answers were beginning to roll. "Yes, because along with age, if times are difficult like prey is scarce or any other stresses--even if they are unseen, the cycle may not complete then. Nature has a good sense of it," she detailed as she nodded alongside her strides, because it decided when it happened, and no sooner. 

Flicking an ear, she thought to shirk at her use of viable male, yet it simply summed it best, short of having to explain to her daughter about.. the process itself, virility, and the like in detail. "Viable as in... Of breeding age, healthy, then strong and worthwhile enough to warrant those genes continuing on to his pups," she said. In here came many determining factors, too, but these were everywhere, in all things. "That is where females should be choosy, for why put such huge energy into raising weak young?" She'd instill this onto her girls, as her mother had; the strength of the line was in the female's control, or so she believed and felt wholly, looking sidelong at her own. "For many reasons, potentially. It would not be wise for those without support of a capable pack, or those lacking the rank to breed freely depending on the customs of a pack and its Alphas--since non-alpha puppies born can be a delicate subject depending on where and when," Ame went on with. "So much of it all is very, very circumstantial." And above all, not to be taken lightly. More questions or not, she was prepared to weather them as she moseyed her trail onward.