Dawnlark Plains talking trash under your breath

Raid was an indecisive creature, most of the time. When with others, she preferred to allow them to make the decisions - not because she was incapable, far from, and if it the situation ever called for it, Raid would take over and lead in a blink of an eye but rather because for the smaller things, she'd rather let them choose. Most of the time, she didn't mind whatever decision they made and would be good with anything but whenever she made the choice, she was constantly paranoid that they said they didn't mind but actually did mind and now harboured some vague sort of resentment for her.

Occasionally, however, Raid knew for sure what she wanted, what she needed and what she had to do. Though she needed time to think through her plan of action, she would do whatever it was she had to do when the deadline arrived. Today was the deadline. She would leave, no matter what. She couldn't stay here anymore. It was unfair to her, and unfair for them (she hadn't been putting in her heart and soul for the pack, after all). She needed time away. Time to find herself again, and think through her feelings and thoughts and...Harley's sudden reappearance. 

Swallowing hard, the weight of her burden and soon-to-be said words heavy on her shoulders, Raiden began to search through the territory for @Grayday, @Dawn and @Aditya, hoping to at least find one of them. The talk would happen no matter what.

heavily edited because i can't read lmao

from a distance, the brown woman caught his eye, and aditya wagged his tail, happy to see her after so long. thin coat rippling in the breeze, he trotted to where she was, face falling as he took in the look in her eyes. it was clear this wouldn't be a happy conversation.

"hello, raid," adi greeted, smiling warmly nonetheless. "how are you lately?"

he had noticed she'd been absent, away from the others for a long time. he knew she'd participated in a few things, but nothing really since arriving at dawnlark plains; she seemed withdrawn and sad. he had hoped that she would settle in, become more a part of their family, but something was holding her back.

he hoped, now, that she would admit the truth to him frankly, and they could move forward from there.

---

she'd only recently returned from her brief northern journey, and had yet to inform her father of what she'd learned. bracken sanctuary lay far from them, and besides, posed no threat; news of them could wait. it was aditya she sought; perhaps she could entice him to journey east with her. she would like to see the lands of her childhood, for while the huntress was by no means sentimental she had some odd desire to see how those long forsaken lands fared. 

her mate was not alone when she found him; rather, she arrived at his side to catch sight of the rather elusive Raid. she rather liked the girl, even though she'd been sparse. she did little more than dip her head a fraction and offer a curious glance once she caught sight of the seriousness in her gaze, some of her lightness falling away as she awaited an answer to her mate's question.

---

Although Raid hadn't called for any of them, all three of the wolves she was looking for converged on her location all at once. For Grayday, it was a nigling feeling at the back of his mind that drew him to the confused young woman within their ranks. He still felt that there was more he needed to do for her, but the male didn't have the faintest clue of what exactly that should be. He had only a year of parenting under his belt, and nothing had prepared him for guiding the dark girl through her misery. It seemed that his approaches weren't working.

"Dawn, Adi," said Grayday, surprised to find Raid in company. There was an odd, tense mood in the air. Grayday's great, blind head turned toward each wolf in turn, learthery nostrils expanding and contracting as he tested their scents. All hale, all healthy. "Is something the matter?"

They came. One, and then all at once. Lucky? Or not.

Aditya was first. The man was the one Raid felt she truly connected with throughout her stay in the pack despite having only really talked to him once, and looking at him now with his wagging tail and too-bright eyes, the girl found herself swallowing. This wasn't going to be easy, she could tell. "Aditya," Raid greeted in return, inclining her head softly as a soft smile, underlined with melancholy, tugged lightly on the corner of her lips. "It's been..." she trailed off, "hard," she finished honestly.

Dawn was next. She liked the other girl - she remembered the first time they met, when Raid bumped into her on the mountains smewhere, and the second time, where the exact same thing happened - she was nice, clever, fierce...anyway, there was no time for reminiscing. Cut ties, quickly, that was the only way forward. Just as Raid was about to launch into the lengthy parting speech, she'd prepared Grayday emerged. As if this couldn't get any harder. The man had taken her in when she offered nothing for the pack, and had been nothing but kind and helpful to her. Doing this...it felt almost like betrayal. In the end, she couldn't repay him. 

"Grayday, hi," Raid smiled quietly as she gathered herself, inhaling sharply. "I've been wanting to find the three of you, actually, so, lucky coincidence?" Just get on with it. Dodging the matter won't help anything, you'll just drag it out, make it worse. Stop beating around the bush. "I'm sorry," she blurted out, then catching herself she averted her gaze to the ground and shuffled awkwardly. "I don't think I can stay here anymore. I need to get away and sort out my thoughts and I can't do it if I'm bound to a pack. You guys have been a great help to me, and I'm sorry to let you all down, especially Grayday - you took me in and I still can't repay you, and now I'm leaving and I don't know, I'm sorry. If there was any other way, I won't be leaving, really, but I just- I can't do this anymore and my memories-my ex girlfriend is back-and it's a lot, you know? Just, I'm really sorry." The words stumbled over each other in their hurry to escape the confines of Raid's mouth, emerging as a whirlpool of churned up mess.

dawn and her father wandered over shortly after he'd arrived, oddly enough. the three of them had descended upon raid, clearly with something to say. he gave his mate a gentle nuzzle and a smile paired with a nod to grayday before looking back at raid, waiting for her to speak.

her eyes had indeed betrayed the truth, and as she spoke, aditya felt his face fall. he couldn't blame her, not in the least. after all, hadn't he thought his stay with morningside would be temporary? there were things that one had to do alone, thoughts that could only be entertained alone.

he just hoped she'd be safe out there, by herself. not that he doubted her competence--but he did doubt her state of mind.

"i'm sad to see you go," aditya rumbled quietly, his eyes doleful as he gave her a long look. his mouth opened once more, wishing to say. . .well, something. anything. you'll always have a place to stay. but that likely wasn't his call. his gaze shifted toward grayday and dawn, waiting for the leaders' response.

It was spring again. Grayday was not surprised to hear that some of his family had itchy paws. Especially not Raid, who had never quite settled into the pack the way he'd wanted her two. He'd come to understand, in part, that Morningside might not be the place for her, but he'd refused to believe that this should mean she was unwelcome among them. Still, he was relieved to hear that she had not given up, and that she was still searching for the spark of life that he'd seen in her when she'd still been Genie.

"You've done more than enough," said Grayday, feeling the need to refute this, most of all. "Raiden, please. Don't fret about that. You've filled our caches and marked our borders, and everything I've asked of you, I know you've at least tried." He moved forward to press his nose against the younger wolf's cheek. "If you must go, go with a light heart, knowing that you'll always have a meal and a bed waiting for you with us. I know you are burdened, and I don't want to add to that."

He pulled back, wishing he could see just a bit better - so that he could know that his words were being taken to heart. "Will you come back in the winter, if you haven't found a place?" he asked worriedly.