Blacktail Deer Plateau Unfortunate Catching Up

@Grayday, Set same day or day after Pema returns

She was happy to be home, but there were things she need to talk to Grayday about and she suspected there were things Shale didn't know that Day wanted to tell her about. She had had a short amount of time to settle back into the territory. But time to relax would have to wait until things were alittle more clear for all parties involved. Or maybe this talk wouldn't be that serious, and Pema's worry was getting the best of her. But she thought if she would believe anyone telling her nothing was wrong it would be Day. Or Shale. But between the two Day would know more about the pack. She set out on that snowy day in search for the only other leader within the pack, seeing as how Dawn was scouting for new ground.

Grayday had only just heard that Pema was back - he was getting to be a deeper sleeper as he grew older. But he'd eventually woken, and the grapevine had filled him in on the return of his fellow leader and absent relatives. This was all good news, and thus, Grayday was in a much higher spirits than Pema when he finally ran into her.

"Pema! I'm glad you're home," said the male, seeking the fur of her neck with his twitching nose. He'd missed her dearly while she was away, and had worried as much for her as he had for Dauntless. "How was the trip?" He wondered if Dauntless was nearby. Grayday wanted to see his son, of course, but thought catching up with Pema sounded nice as well.

She gave Day a smile and returned his nudges. "It's good to be home. I missed to many of you guys." she said refering to all those she had left behind at Morningside, especially Day and the kids. But her mood had to change when he asked about their trip. He hadn't known since she hadn't said anything the first day she had gotten back. It was more important that she was home and back to help then why she had been away so long.

But as he asked how the trip went she couldn't help but tell him. He needed to know. "It... it ah..." she began trying to think of how she would tell him. "It didn't go... as planned." she said getting alittle teary, but not quite crying. She had cried enough, but it still hurt to think about.

His ears pricked forward at the shaky quality to her voice, and the sudden scent of salty sorrow in the air. Obviously, something had happened while they were away. She and Dauntless had returned safe, so he hadn't thought... "Pema," he said gently, moving forward to tuck her head under his. He was at a loss, not knowing just what to say. Obviously, he wanted to ask what had happened, but it didn't seem right to press her in such a vulnerable state.

For the moment, he simply stood there, offering what comfort he could. She was safe now, and whatever had happened, Grayday couldn't imagine being angry with her. It occured to him that she might have found a man, mated with some stranger - but he'd given her that right, and he would accept her children as well as his own. "You're alright," he assured her, hoping this would comfort her. "You're back home. Everything's okay."

She had gotten the bulk of her grief out already, but she still appriciated Day's comforting embrace. He was her family and it felt good that he cared about her. Though she knew she was safe, she just wished Burr had been when they had traveled with him. She stayed under his chin for a moment, making sure she wouldn't actually cry before stepping back to look at him and speak to him. 

"I know. It's not that... Um... Burr didn't make it home... He went off and was attac... Killed by a Blackfeather Woods pack member." she said still shaken by the whole incident, as she took slow breaths to keep herself together. It was getting easier for her to comes to terms with what had happened, but having it come out of your own muzzle never felt right.

Grayday paled beneath his fur, his breath catching in his throat. It was difficult to even think of Burr being killed. He'd been a good friend to Easy, and although he'd not done much else for the pack, he'd been a likeable enough fellow that Grayday hadn't minded carry his deadweight through the winter. He'd wondered if Easy and Burr might become something more than friends one day - it had been too early for such things, of course, but a father always wondered.

Now, they would never know.

"That's terrible," he said, his voice mechanical. His shock bled all emotion from his words, leaving him an uncomfortable statue for Pema to stare at. For a moment, all he could do was stand there, a stupid, disbelieving expression on his blind face. Slowly, though, he realized that what he felt for the boy's loss, Pema must feel tenfold. "I'm so glad you and Dauntless are alright," he admitted, guilty even for feeling it, but knowing it needed to be said.

Day expressed how terrible he thought this was, but didn't show an extreme reaction. But he hadn't been too close to the boy and he hadn't been there to see the remains of the act. But it wasn't as though Pema wanted him to feel the pain and grief that she did, but a part of her wanted to know she wasn't going through this alone.

She nodded her head when he expressed his releif that her and Dauntless had been alright in all of this. "Yeah. The moment I saw... Burr's remains I went straight to Easthollow for help. We weren't too far away and I just couldn't have Dauntless out there in the open with a wolf like that out there." she said, explaining to yet another wolf why she had done what she had. Still feeling a bit uneasy as to wheather she had made the right decision. 

"Howl and a few other Easthollow wolves followed the trail to Blackfeather Woods and brought his remains back. Dauntless wanted to go with them, but I wouldn't let him. I just... I thought it was too dangerious." she commented, wanting Day to know what Dauntless would have done without her. Letting him know his sons ambitions and thier risks. She understood the desire to prove ones self at that age, but that wasn't the way to do it. She hoped that Day would agree with her gudgement.

Remains. Grayday blinked, thoughts beginning to whirl behind his shellshocked expression. A little boy on their borders. A silver body curled up beside his daughter's. Two cubs with their heads bent together, voices hushed in secret council. "I should have sent someone with you," he said, face slowly beginning to crumble. "Anything could have happened to you and Dauntless. You must have been so afraid - "

He'd promised Mawk that Burr would return in the spring. How must the man feel, losing a son he was looking forward to regaining? Grayday felt as though he'd lost a son, and Burr had meant far less to him than any of his children. And his children...

"Oh, god," he murmured, hanging his head. "How are we gonna tell Easy?"

She appriciated his concern, but didn't know if sending another with them would have helped. Burr had gone off on his own, something that she wasn't sure any member of the pack would have stopped had they have been there. She didn't want Day to feel as though he could have prevented this, had he done something differently, something Pema needed to learn herself. "There wasn't anything you, I, or anyone else could have done. I don't think any of us would have refused to let Burr go on a walk as he did." she stated, not sure if she believed it herself.

When he brought up the idea of telling Easy, Pema wasn't sure what to say. Telling an adult this was hard enough, let alone a young child who had been close to the young boy. "I don't know. But she has to know. Lavender too. I think Dauntless wanted to tell them himself. Maybe that's best." she stated, not sure if that would be the best option, but knowing it was something Dauntless had wanted to do himself.

Grayday gave a shaky sigh. She was right, of course. Burr would still have been alone. Still - he hated to think of Pema and Dauntless at the scene, horribly grieved and completely alone. It would have been good for them to have had Shale alongside them, or Aditya or Dawn or even Sunny. Dauntless was not yet a warrior, and he must have been frightened. Pema must have felt helpless. He couldn't help but feel responsible for that.

"I don't like the idea of him burdening himself that way," the father said, the fur along his spine raising uncomfortably with the need to protect. He was too young to be giving such news, and yet, Grayday found himself unable to take away the boy's agency. The boy had to do what was on his heart. "One of us should be there to help. You or me or Cat," he decided. "You know the girls - Easy might lash out, and someone needs to be there to tell him she's wrong."

She agreed with Day, though she thought it would be hard to talk him out of it. But it seemed that Day didn't want to deny the boy of that task, but simply help him with it. Which Pema thought was a good middle ground. She nodded, not saying anything at first. "I think that would be a great idea."

He was going up so fast, or at least trying too. She was worried that he might be doing it too fast. "He wants to grow up so fast. I'm not sure what to do." she commented, but felt just a bit weird saying it, hoping she wasn't stepping on Day's toes at all seeing as how it was his son. "Did you experience that with Dawn or Sunny?" she asked.

"Sunny and Dawn were even worse," he said with a sigh. "Dawn was out of the borders almost as soon as she could run without tripping over her own paws. Sunny dispersed when he was around five months old. It was terrible." Less terrible now that they were both back home, and now that he knew they could take care of themselves either way, but still.

He offered Pema a weak smile. "You've helped to give these three the childhood that Sunny and Dawn deserved. I can never thank you enough, Pema."

Pema was shocked to hear that Sunny and Dawn had been worse. She had only seen them as fully grown adults. And for a majority of that time they had been here with the family. Seeing how Dauntless's behavior had changed so much it was hard to think of how anything could have been worse. But listening to what Day had to say it sounded like his problem was them wondering off. She supposed that it would be better to have a rebellious child close by then a child far away. 

But hearing that Sunny and Dawn had been worse gave her some hope. Hope that in the end everything would be alright. "Well they seemed to turn out alright. At least in the end. Hopefully Dauntless will too after all this settles down." she said in a hopeful tone. 

She smiled when she heard his words, about her roll in his children's lives. She couldn't explain how she had gotten so connected with his children, but now she considered them her own. "Oh, there's no need. It's my pleasure to care for the kids. I just hope they will be alright." she said softly. There wasn't much else she really needed to tell Day as far as updates went.

Grayday nodded somewhat unhappily. He hoped so, too, but it was always concerning when his children were going through things he couldn't fix for them. He wished more than ever that Dauntless had just stayed home, but Grayday wasn't one to curb ambition in his offspring. Neither was Pema, it seemed.

"We just need to make sure he knows we are there for him, and that it wasn't his fault," said Grayday with a little sigh, making a mental note to speak to Catori about this as well. They should really start having conversations like this all together - the kids belonged to all of them, after all. "I know you don't do it for thanks, Pema," he assured, "but I do need you to know how much I appreciate it. I know how much you do for us."

She nodded along to what he said feeling a bit bad that that was all they could really do, but able to accept the reality in it. She appriciated the extra complements and replied humble saying, "You're welcome, and thank you."

Now that she had gotten such bad news off her check Pema felt it was time to say hello to the others member of the pack. As well as try to reaquaint herself was normal life. "Well I'm happy we had a chance to talk. I should get back to it." she said with a smile ready to depart.

Grayday wagged his tail, weighed down by the loss of Burr but glad, at least, that his own family had survived the encounter. He didn't know what he'd do without Pema, not to mention how very badly he'd cope with the loss of a child.

"See you," said Grayday, bumping her cheek with an affectionate nuzzle before heading off to find Catori. They'd all get through this, one way or another.