Herbalists' Cache Before we packed our bags and left all this behind

Tags for reference! She won't be "missing" for long probably.

After her run-in with @Khali the Betrayer (and after she'd gotten nice and dry following a good soaking in a pond), the girl had retreated to the safety of the communal caves where she could dry off and get warm again. Every time someone came wandering by the cave mouth, or dipped in to the system to say hello to her, she would only grumble at them; eventually even that grew stale, and Ibis flatly ignored any attention that her presence earned. She didn't feel like talking to anybody. Even when her brother @Okeanos popped in to check on her she was resolute in her unhappiness, going so far as to shove him away when he tried to squish up against her - sharing warmth maybe, or trying to be a comfort in the only way he knew how - and she refused even that. The girl was hurting. Her body soon warmed up though, and as the chill and the wetness vanished from her lithe little body her mood stabilized.

A couple of hours passed. They were spent alone in the cave, as she had alienated everyone by this point. Her mother must have been occupied with some other task because Ibis did not see @Seabreeze - or her other mother @Olive - for that entire span of time; not that she wanted to see them. They'd been the ones that brought change to her little world and Ibis had concluded that she loathed the concept. If she went to either of her mothers for help, they wouldn't fix anything. She wanted her father and Khali's trick had only reignited the embers of her sorrow over him. Whatever limited composure she'd worked herself in to had become fragile in that moment. She could still taste the warm tears, hear the echo of her own wailing voice through the willows. Ibis had wept openly — and the willows, with their bent heads, began to represent that sensation for her.

She hated it here, she decided.

So the girl got to her feet and abandoned the cave. Ibis was no adventurer - and even if she was, she'd have brought an adult or maybe Okeanos for company - and yet she found an easy path along the territory's eastern edge and scrambled along it, filled with her tumultuous emotions. There was rage within her, and sadness, and wanting, but no room for fear as she climbed along the nearby ridge — heading south until the ridge evened out. Ibis didn't want to be tricked again, didn't want to look at the sad trees anymore, didn't even want to play with her little skull friend she had found — she wanted her father, and if she had to hunt him down herself, that's exactly what she would do.

***

By nightfall she had realized her stupidity, but there was a new flare of anger to accompany it. Ibis was furious with herself for being so easily manipulated by her own emotions - perhaps not in those terms, and not in any discernable sense that would occur to a child of her age no matter how precocious - but she was frustrated that her adventure would be so easily spoiled with the early darkness of the season, and that god awful chill that descended through the trees. She had thought to turn back on more than one occasion but she was in the thick of it now, lost among the trees and unsure of where to turn. Ibis would go a few steps before a sound would startle her, or a shifting shadow. 

Soon enough the girl was so very lost, and so very cold. It made more sense to stay in one place and warm herself up - she's reminded of the cave she had emotionally abandoned, of her brother's love and warmth, of mommy and mother olly, and even the enviously pretty plush coat of Eleuthera — but none of them were here because she had been so mean to them! So mean, so rude, and so stupid! Ibis gasped as her brain spat out another little thought: They'll never come to you, her doubt said, you're too mean, they hate you! They hate you just like daddy hates you!

As she sank sadly in to a gully of ferns, she let out a pitiful little sound - a small cry, tempered by her fear and by the low chattering of her teeth - and felt the familiar warmth of tears along her lash line.

Gundham's somber attitude hadn't changed much. He avoided wolves like the plague and remained by himself. But winter was coming, and he'd never been on his own in the season before. Could he survive it alone? A part of him yelled, Of course! I, Gundham Tanaka, can do anything! but the voice that had been dominant for several months now said... No, you can't. Just the idea of joining a pack and willingly subjecting himself to others made his anxiety flare up, but starving to death was a far worse fate.

Or was it?

His legs brought him into an unfamiliar forest, and he decided to shove those thoughts aside for now in favor of focusing on examining the new area. The sun had already set, and the land was blanketed in darkness. A terrible chill replaced the sun's warmth, and while Gundham could tolerate it, he felt the desire to find someplace to curl into a tight ball. He could find a safe place to rest in these woods for the night, but he wouldn't retire just yet, if only to keep his mind occupied. Sleep had been all-too difficult lately with the fog that collected around his head. Gundham put his nose to the ground, picking up the scents of various animals, none particularly exciting — hares, deer, squirrels; the usual. However, he also detected the scent of another creature: wolf.

His heart picked up its pace the way it always did when he sensed a wolf nearby. Gundham had so little interaction with his own kind in the past few months that the mere presence of one nearly brought him into a panic attack. Instead of confronting his fear of interaction to quell this reaction, though, it only encouraged him to avoid them more — and so the cycle continued.

Gundham's ears picked up a strange sound, and at first he thought it came from some strange creature. However, as he continued to strain his ears, he discerned it as weeping. It was coming from the direction of the wolfess, and he had no doubt it was her. His anxiety urged him to turn the other way and mind his business, but a tiny voice in his head encouraged him to approach. You should help her, It said. Gundham knew deep down that he wasn't heartless, despite how he pretended to be. He was quite the opposite, really. She appeared to be alone. Was he really afraid of a lone, sobbing wolfess? No, of course not! That irritatingly boisterous voice yelled. He'd been ignoring it for the most part lately, but Gundham did agree with it there. He was being ridiculous.

So his feet took him closer to the wolf instead of further — something they hadn't done in months. The sound of her soft cries and whimpers intensified as he neared, and sympathy swelled in his chest. Gundham found her small, pale body crumpled on the ground, tears in her eyes. She was just a girl, alone and presumably lost in the woods at night. It was dangerous for her to be out here. That thought urged him to speak. What's wrong? Are you lost? Gundham murmured gently as if speaking to an injured animal, though his voice was startlingly hoarse from misuse. He crouched down to her level to appear less intimidating, remaining several feet away for his own comfort as much as hers.

Crash, burn, you'll never be what anyone wants you to be. The words were cold like ice in her dream. Haunted her like the house that no one wants to visit that lied on the corner. Leaving the wilds was the worst decision she had made, especially to travel alone. The band that had made her regret to ever leave had still made their way into her nightmares every night. Scars that had since healed still stayed emotionally. The pain of a claw that slashed her tail became real as it flashed before her. 

Muscles jerked and Laska opened her eyes only to realize now that she was in the comfort of Morningside. A sort of relieved sigh escaped her as she laid her head on her paws for a moment. Life had taken a down hill slide before she had come back and it had taken some type of toll on the woman. After the sudden awakening the snow queen decided to take a long stroll just to take her mind off of things. Laska brought herself up in a groggy way and headed to the Herbalist's Cache to gather some things for her pack.

As she walked it felt better than ever to be free, to be able to sniff the air and eat or drink whatever she had liked. The closer she had come to the Cache a noise filled the air much like a muffled sob. Laska had put it off as another animal calling out but as her paws brought her closer she heard another voice asking the other if it was okay. Quietly the snow queen made her way to the bushes only to see a small pup and a man. The picture seemed off. Had this man made this little one sob like so? 

Laska stepped forward through the bushes, a soft face on but in her mind she was determined to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. "Hello little one, hello Sir." she addressed them both as she stopped a respectful distance away. Soft eyes met the pup and she gave a small head nod. "What is going on here?" the maternal instinct got the best of her and it sounded accusing toward the man.

At first when she heard the voice, she thought it was someone familiar - but she steeled herself against the concept, having learned better recently. The first thing she did was lift her nose out of the dark, and it was dusted with bits of dry fern and soil. She looked around with doe-bright eyes, and spotted the larger wolf -- a boy she definitely did not know. Her gaze first landed on his silhouette, and then on his one red eye as it caught some light (or, rather, more light than the opposite) and she shuffled back in fright. Ibis would never consider herself to be meek or easily frightened, but she felt emotionally raw and decidedly more exposed here in the darkness of this new place, and so she reacted as any frightened child might. She sat up, shivering, and opened her mouth to explain herself - but didn't get the chance.

Another wolf arrived, and she turned to face the sound of their oncoming steps; but when she saw the pale woman her tired mind jumped to one conclusion: ghost! Ibis felt a preternatural chiill descend through her, creeping down her spine and knotting in her stomach. I — I — I wanna go home! I wanna see Okee! I want mommy! She could say so many things, but instead she blurted, My daddy left me!! Her ears slipped back and she gasped a breath of the cold air, feelign the pain of her statement as if Terance had really been here only moments before and chosen to abandon her. It wasn't wrong - it was just the wrong thing to admit to strangers at this precise moment. Why would they care? And how could they think to help her? She sniffles and, pathetically, adds: I wanna go home.

The pale girl was frightened when she peered into his mismatched eyes as if she saw his inner demons and shuffled away from him. D-Don't be afraid! I can help, He said, feeling quite nervous, himself. Knowing that moving closer would only make her more fearful, he instead decided to lay his belly on the ground. Comforting a creature that couldn't understand him was much easier, but he could do this. Some of it had to carry over, right?

Gundham started at the sound of foliage rustling nearby, head whipping around to see what caused it. He felt a wave of panic when he realized it was another wolf and gawked at her with wide eyes. His heart pounded, and his legs began to quiver. Her tone sounded accusatory, which puzzled him for a moment until it clicked: She walked in on the sight of a man (was he, really?) approaching a young girl in the woods at night. The woman probably thought he was some child predator.

What have I gotten myself into?

I should've just minded my business.

I'm not helping, anyway.

Idiot.

His breath became shallow and quick, the thoughts swirling in his mind like a vicious tornado and drowning out everything else. Except...

"My daddy left me!!"

As if being awoken from a bad dream, Gundham snapped out of his mind and turned his attention back to the whole reason he was here in the first place — the girl. Help her, you fool, He told himself, getting back on track.

"I wanna go home," She added with a sniffle.

He left you here? He softly asked to confirm what the girl meant. It made sense, for she was where a young child should not be in the middle of the night — alone and far from home. The though disgusted him, thoughts briefly flashing to his pitiful excuse for a father. But that wasn't important. We'll get you home. You have a pack, right? What is your pack called? Gundham asked next. He could tell the woman had a pack, as well. Perhaps she would know where the girl's pack was. Even if she didn't, he was determined to help find it.

In focusing on helping the girl, the drumming of his heart had quieted, and his breathing became more even, though his limbs still quaked. Thankfully, he was already lying down. Putting his inner struggle aside, Gundham would wait for her answer.

Laska had watched as the little one had been upset and blurred out words. It broke her heart to see her like that. I want to go home, was all Laska had caught with her ears but knew she frightened the young one by sight. “I can help bring you home along with him. If you could tell us where your pack is sweetie” she said as softly as she could. 

She was now representinf Morningside and would see that the little one was returned safely. If she didn’t what kind of woman would she be? Laska let a small smile come upon her face as she looked at the young pup and then back at gundham.

He left you here? said the scary wolf with one eye, except the more she watched him the more she realized he had two eyes and was actually very normal looking, and with a pathetic nodding of her head Ibis confirmed that yes, her daddy had left. Not this precise location, but she wasn't going to delve in to the specifics. Why did it matter where? The fact was that he had left, and she was looking for him, and she was lost!

The wolf wanted to know the name of her home, and Ibis sniffled as she thought about it. She wanted to say the right thing but -- but home was so many places! She didn't know what her new home was called, and she expecially didn't know what daddy's home was called — Tell us where your pack is, sweetie, the ghostly lady said next, and that was all it took - just a little more pressure to the stressed out little girl, and she finally broke.

A sob wracked her tiny self, and the sound of her crying filled the air. Through her cries she managed to drawl, I -- I don't know! I don't -- I can't re'memmer! Ohhhh what was she going to do? She cried for a little bit, but once the strength of her gale-force emotions ebbed she looked sadly at the two adults so eager to help her, and wished she could give them more.

The girl nodded at his question, and Gundham fought the urge to recoil from the repugnance of the confirmation. Unfortunately, with no trail to follow, there was nothing to be done about it. What was important right now was to get the girl back home. He jolted from the sharp sound of her cries starting up again, ears flattening and heart skipping a beat. Gundham managed to mostly keep his composure, though. She exclaimed that she couldn't remember where her home was located, which he honestly expected her answer to be, so he wasn't too dejected upon hearing it. Having even a vague idea of what direction to head in would've helped, but that was fine! He could fix this.

That's alright, we'll find it, He gently assured her, yet his promise was firm.

Gundham wracked his brain for ideas. He'd been a nomad for months now, and he had his own methods for keeping track of where he was and what direction he was going in. What was something easy someone could absentmindedly take note of? Landmarks. There were mountains nearby, and they were practically impossible to miss. Perfect.

What side were the mountains on when you came here? Your left, or your right? Gundham would be surprised if she didn't remember this, but worst case scenario, he and the woman could travel around to the nearest packs and ask them about a missing girl. He did recall passing one a while back. That was when the mountains were to his right, so if she said the same, it could be that she was from that pack.

I'm just gonna skip over Laska and fade this with an abrupt ending, it was fun but its taking super long and Ibis has places to be!

One wolf was desperately trying to help her, the other one was waiting for something - or maybe they didn't feel the importance of the lost child's plight, either way, Ibis was becoming more overwhelmed by the minute. She didnt' know where she was, or where her daddy was, or even how to get back to mommy — and try though she might, the little girl couldn't answer the red-eyed-wolf even though the question seemed to simple. There was no way she could remember something like where the mountains were; she didn't know how long she'd been out here or how far she'd traveled, and was certainly too distraught to think clearly. The pressure of the question caused her to start crying again, wailing, the sound of her voice carrying through the trees, and then she was just embarrassed -- frightened of course, and tired, and so many things — to the point that Ibis just had to escape from everything. If she was more lost because of it, fine! She'd deal with that. But the girl chose her route without thinking, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the strangers, and the questions, and her emotions, as she possibly could.