Dawnlark Plains What does this mean?

@Aditya
It had only been a day since the news of Day's death had hit the pack. Though it happened the day before it was only truly hitting Pema now. She had gone off away from the others with quickened breath and in a state of unfamiliar panic. In some way yesterday she still thought that he was there, but she would have to learn now that he was gone and that she was now left alone to run this pack. She would have the help of others for sure but it wasn't the same.

She stopped in her tracks and crouched down. She felt a pain in her stomach. A cramp mixed with the feeling of grief. She would be having her pups soon and she wouldn't be able to leave them. Let alone the stress that this would no doubt cause on her unborn children.

he sought out pema the next day. grayday's unexpected death had left the weight of responsibility heavy on her shoulders, and with the pups soon to come, it was a monumental challenge for her to take on. not that he didn't think she could handle it--aditya thought she was perhaps best equipped--but he did worry about stress wearing down his friend.

adi found her low to the ground, face contorted in pain. he thought something might be physically wrong and rushed toward her, crouching down beside her. "pema," he murmured, eyes meeting hers. "pema, are you all right? what can i do?"

he had decided he wanted to help raise the litter left behind; that was his primary goal. they still had catori, but he hoped dawn would join them as well. it would be a way to prepare for their future children. but if there was more he could do, especially to assist pema, he wanted to do it. it was time to step up.

She remained crouched taking slow huffed breaths as the cramp took its time to pass. She was beginning to get a headache from the stress of Day's death, but she received a momentary distraction when Adi came and approached her. He came up to her in a concerted manner and asked if she was ok.

She nodded her head at first continuing her breathing. "It's just a cramp. I'll be ok."  she explained before sighing and looking up at him. "Who am I kidding there's no way I can do this. Now that Day is gone I'm the sole leader of this pack. I'm going to be having puppies soon Adi. I can't greet everyone at the border or be everywhere at once. I wasn't even that good at it when I wasn't pregnant." she said releasing her worry upon Adi's ears.  "Day was the real leader of this pack... and I was just someone to help."  she said discouragingly.

he was relieved to know it was just a cramp, although he didn't want pema to endure any extra stress under the circumstances. as she began to speak, however, her words struck a chord of additional concern within him. he shook his head, not necessarily to brush off her words but to let her know that she had it wrong--she was a leader. she was a good one.

"pema, you've done wonderfully so far," aditya countered, smiling gently. "you're invaluable to this pack. don't put yourself down." he swallowed, nodding almost to himself. "i know it's scary, the road ahead without grayday. but we'll be okay. we'll make it through."

he cast his eyes toward the border, a good distance off. "tell you what--i'll take care of the active stuff. border patrols, greeting newcomers, traversing the territory. you rest, and oversee the rendezvous site. at least until your pups are weaned," he proposed, tilting his head in inquiry. "i want to help you. i want to help us all as much as i can. whatever i can do--i'll do it."

he had to do it. sunny was gone, dawn was building herself back up, shale was borderline insane. it was on his shoulders to keep everything together. and this wasn't your classic tale of a hero begrudgingly taking on an obligation. he loved this family with everything he had. he was happy to do it.

for timeline purposes i'm assuming this happens after the shit with sunny/dawn goes down

She appreciated Adi's words, though still couldn't believe them at this time. She thought at least that she hadn't done quite as bad as she thought if Adi was giving her this much praise. But she still believed that he was over exaggerating for the most part. 

What really caught her attention was his offer. "Oh Adi I couldn't ask you to do that. You didn't sign up for that." She hated to take advantage of his kind nature during this time, but it was something that she could really use help with. She hesitated a moment, a look of contemplation on her face. "But I could really use the help... It would only be till the pups are weaned though. Then I can set you free." she told him, though she was trying to convince herself. She stopped there still thinking things over.

he laughed, again shaking his head. "i didn't sign up for any of this, really," he pointed out, looking wryly over at her. "when i came to morningside, i had no idea what to expect. i just wanted a home for the winter. but you all are my family, now. it's my duty."

aditya gave an easy rolling shrug of his shoulders. "and if it's only until the pups are weaned, i'm sure i'll survive," he teased, eyes glowing. in truth, he was excited for the new challenge. for moons, he had been itching for more responsibility here. he hated that the opportunity came cloaked in the shadow of grayday's death, but if his father-in-law were still here, he'd be rooting for aditya, right? grayday had been that kind of man. 

he gave pema a gentle nudge of his nose to her shoulder, a sort of "chin-up" gesture. in the wake of everything, his good humor was returning; he needed to keep everyone's spirits afloat. "we'll be okay," he repeated, smiling but his eyes calmly serious. "we'll come out of this even stronger than before. grayday would have wanted that."

His ability to find humor in this situation was strangely comforting. It didn't seem like a funny situation with Day's recent death and the fate of the pack in the balance, but it seemed alright to laugh alittle with him. Becoming overly stressed about a possible demise wouldn't help anything. Looking for solutions and trusting in her family would be Pema's answer.

Though it would only be for a short amount of time it brought her great comfort that it was Adi that would be there for her. He was a true member of this family and one that had been very close to Adi. She didn't fear that he would try to take over the pack or leave her out of its decisions.

She tried to think if this was something Day would have suggested if he was still here, and she thought Adi said it perfectly. "I hope so." she said in a hopefull tone.

But she still felt alittle bad dropping off so much responsability on Adi with only two weeks from when she was supposed to give birth. And in her current state she wouldn't be able to walk him through everything. Even if she could explain everything to him he wouldn't be able to be in two places at once. The allies of Morningside needed to be informed of Day's death. Which gave Pema an idea. "Dawn!... Dawn could help you too. If she wants to that is... She has past experience and I'm sure she would be able to help notifying our allied packs." she thought aloud and once she felt confident about this throught, called for @Dawn.

the sterling huntress summoned Pema's summons promptly, ticking through the list of any number of things this could be about. at a distance, it was clear to see the honeyed girl was standing near her mate; even at this distance, she picked out his silhouette clearly. she trotted the last dozen meters between them, even though all her muscles seemed saturated with a heavy soreness that made it hard to stomach the idea of a lot of things. 

still, she chuffed her soft greeting, glancing to her mate and then to Pemaas she waited for one of them to explain the reasons for their summons, not quite wanting to offer her own news to Pema until she offered her own.

his ears perked with pleasure at the idea of dawn handling some of the responsibilities, the three of them working together to keep morningside running smoothly. before long, his mate had answered the summons. he nuzzled her cheek, giving her a warm smile.

"how are you?" he asked gently, eyes wandering over her form before settling on her face again. "pema and i were speaking, about things going forward. . .but i'll let her explain it more to you."

he turned to look at the current leader with a patiently expectant expression, curious to see how this would all work out. he would be lying if he said he had anticipated being a leader so soon--and he'd never wanted it to occur in these circumstances. it was a challenge he hadn't expected. . .but he was ready to tackle it.

Dawn was quick to answer her call, leaving Pema little time to worry about that the former co-leader might say. She didn't seem any disagreement or hesitation from Adi, which made her feel as though at least he thought she was making the right choices for the circumstances they were in. When she arrived Adi and Dawn shared a shorted affectionate greeting before Adi set Pema up for the explanation as to why she had called for Dawn.

She looked to Dawn and took a deep breath.  "Day's passing has affected everyone in this pack. But his passing won't just affect the moral of the pack but also the structure of it. Day was the primary leader of this pack and though I was there to help him along the way I fear I am unprepared to take control of the pack all on my own. I will be having my litter soon and will not be able to be around and at the border as a leader should..." she began explaining. "I have asked Adi to help me watch the borders and to patrol the territory while I wean my litter."  now it was time for the question, enough with the explanations, "But we also need to keep in touch with our allies, inform them of the news as well as look for new members. I was hoping that with your past experience as a co-leader and your experience as a scout that you would be willing to help me with that." she said looking to Dawn with a hopeful face.

"I'm fine." she stated, looking between them both. pema and I were talking. she felt some sting at the words, and his smile, at the feeling she was being sheltered. then pema began her lengthy spiel, and now the sting returned, some sharp prod at her heart. so they'd discussed this already, forged her role. if she didn't feel so hollow, she would have said something, would have had time to deal with the sharp-toothed thing that stung her.  "I know who my father was. what his passing means" she didn't need Pema to try and explain the yawning hole in their ranks, in the pack. 

"of course I'll step up. I should have done so earlier, as soon as I'd returned."  there to was guilt, for leaving her post, for not claiming it again sooner. "I'll lead the hunts again. with Sunny gone, and Shale as he is, there are hardly enough hunters to sustain three whelping mothers." here was what she'd held in that day they'd returned. it was easy, to force her mind and body to hunt, to work, if only to avoid the grief.

dawn was quite sharp, which didn't really surprise him; sunny's departure had rattled her greatly, not to mention left a physical mark as well, and he had always sensed some underlying tension between her and pema. with grayday gone, there was somewhat of a power vacuum, and pema seemed eager to close it as soon as possible.

the delicate balance between mourning and duty was hard to find, but they were doing their best.

"then i suppose it's settled," aditya said, once the two had said their parts. "pema will look after the pack's members, dawn will lead the hunts and speak with our allies, and i will watch the borders. and if either of you two need help from me. . .just ask." though he looked at both, his eyes focused more on pema; dawn was a proud creature, and offering help could be seen as a slight. pema was much more likely to accept charity.

then again, there was a risk that dawn could feel he was shutting her out. no interaction was perfect, and he pressed his shoulder against hers, wanting to reassure her he still had her back, no matter what.

Pema could sense Dawn's sharpness. That's how she always had been in Pema's eyes. She had learned to not take it personally, knowing that more often then not that was how Dawn was. It was part of the reason why she had spoken with Adi first before confiding within his mate. In the past, though they had worked together many times, Pema and Dawn had never truly seen eye to eye about things. Both very close to Day but for almost opposite reasons.

Despite any harshness, Pema was happy to hear that Dawn was willing to step up backing into her old role. It hurt to know that Sunny wouldn't be part of the pack for the time being and suspected it had something to do with Dawn, but she didn't want to pry during this sensitive time. Especially because what Dawn said was true. "Dawn's right. Our numbers have fallen since the beginning of breeding season. Another one of our focuses should be finding more capable wolves for the pack." she stated.

Adi summed everything up and offered his help anywhere it could be used.  "Thank you Adi. I'll keep that in mind." she said before turning her attention to Dawn. "And thank you too." she said simply wanting to express her gratitude.

---

she knew she was sharp, cutting, but she had no qualms over it; it'd been a long time since she'd been on clear terms with the healer. her condescension, whether it be accidental or intended, had left a sour taste in her mouth that would not fade.

still, she deflated slightly when her mate pressed against her, using his words as a rock to dull her sharpness against. she nodded only when Pema thanked them both; slighted, still prickly in the slightest, yet at ease. when things seemed to be sorted did she take her quiet leave, whispered promise to find Aditya later leaving her lips before she moved past the pair.