Bearclaw Valley gentle bent by wind

ooc: phone post will format in a biiit. no rush on this <3

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Since witnessing the great metal bird Poet has fallen back into seclusion. Her contact with the rest of the pack has been limited, seeking only @Phocion's company to speak in hushed tones of omens she cannot parse. The arrival of the horrible beast and the loss of time that came with it has shaken the ex-priestess to her core. She'd turned her back on her faith, and yet... here she was, being confronted by something. A test. A condemnation.

She remembers Laurel's scorn. Thinks about the children that have newly arrived in the Valley. Thinks about Sif. And then she knows what she wants to do. Anxiousy Poet seeks a spot near the mouth of the Valley, far away enough to not overwhelm her with the memory of the beast, and tips her head, calling for @Xan.

Tagging for visibility.

Whereas the Priestess stationed herself near to the mouth, Alexander was deep within the heart of the valley. He’d hunted down a rabbit earlier in the day for his wife, to whom he offered it just moments after the lesser mammal met its demise; he’d been close to her whelping den at the time, making the delivery an easy one. Yet the den of his first litter was not where he was when the howl rang out through the valley, the afternoon having begun with him managing to catch two fish within the valley’s river—there would have been a third, had his second catch not been so troublesome that he’d frightened the rest of them away. No matter, he took what he had and deposited it just outside of @Laurel’s den, giving a soft whuff to alert her to the snack before he turned and sought out Poet; he’d needed to resist peeking inside of the den at the time, curious to see the children but knowing he was not yet welcome.

Xan slowed to a walk as he spotted the mysterious woman, before coming to a complete stop just within a few paces of her. “What’s up?” he asked, glancing past her for a moment to see if there was anything worth being concerned over, then settled his gaze back on her.

Poet greets the pale king with respectfully lowered head, feeling an unusual uncertainty flutter in her belly. "I am glad to hear of your new children's health," the ex-priestess begins, voice formal (as usually it becomes, speaking to Xan). Uneasily she shifts her weight from paw to paw, rather at a loss on how to proceed. After a beat, she says "truthfully, I have felt ill at-ease since the metal beast's visit." A deep breath."I don't know what it was, but I believe it must have been an omen of something."

Nervously she lifts her gaze, worried at what expression she'll find on Xan's face. "I want to thank you for offering Sif and I shelter, but I feel it is time for me to move on, with Sif and Wardruna both departed, and the ill-telling of that strange creature." The metal beast, the loss of her sister-wife, even Wardruna and Blondine's departures have affected her deeply. She worries Xan will take her to be ingracious, a crease pressed between her brows as she waits for his reaction. The Valley will surely make do without her minimal presence, and yet it is ... frightening, willingly giving up security, even with the surety she feels for herself.