Whitebark Stream the world you left, and forgot your name

she'd been hesitant, at first, to enter the den. the sudden absence of Aphrodite was jarring, and a thorough scouring of the territory revealed no sign of her. but days had past, and she'd finally slipped inside the familiar warmth of the herb stores. she set about adjusting the neat piles the same way aphrodite had, intent on keeping them just the way she'd like them when ultimately she returned. 

but while her parents had masked their worry and concern well, she'd not been able to hide the many disappearances before ditey's. she knew, then, that sometimes wolves simply did not return home. and with her mother injured as she was, the girl was on edge. it was unfair, and an ever-growing ball of unease and worry gathered in her stomach. 

maybe @Taikon?

Taikon had returned from checking the northern regions of Aphrodite. There was no trail to follow, and no person he'd run into had seen her. He was beginning to fear the worst, although he knew that if she had been taken captive by the Saints or even killed, they would likely have heard about it by then. Messengers did take a while to move, so the thought was still lingering when he woke that day.
Like every day since her disappearance, Taikon ventured toward the den to check for the healer's return. It had been long enough that his heart knew she wouldn't be there, but that didn't stop his stomach from feeling heavy with anxiety as he approached.
When he saw movement, he gasped, but the scent didn't match. He saw Juniper's small form as he poked his head in. Juniper, he said, breathing out an exasperated sigh. I thought you were her for a minute, scrub, he put on a small smile for her. The white male imagined that the little apprentice was probably taking this as hard as everyone else.

she's in the midst of carefully piling some sort of wilted stems atop each other when the sound of footfalls has her start. she spins around to face the owner just as he says her name, surprise fading when she recognizes the face attached to the voice. "hi, taikon," she greets, the wag of her tail a little subdued. nudging aside the pile, she turns to face him fully. 

her auds sink when he explains. she's tired of it, all the disappearing. "why do people go away, taikon? pele and grezig and kavik and surya and that other guy and aphrodite," she says, words coming out in a tangle. "why can't they stay?" alsek had gone too, but at least she knew where he was, and just maybe he'd return. but all the others had faded, and with a sudden burst of worry, she looks back to taikon. "you're gonna stay, right?" 

Juniper's usual firecracker self had been diffused by the visit to the healer's den. She was clearly disappointed by Aphrodite's absence. He realized that the youngster had been helping to tidy the herbal cache that had been left behind. As Juniper asked him a very loaded question, he stood there for a minute. He didn't know who most of these people were that she had mentioned, but it was obvious that this was not the first time she had been let down. Surya, Taikon knew, had been an important figure to Aphrodite as well, though he had never met him.
I don't know, he said when she asked why they couldn't stay. At her next question, he looked into her large, brown eyes, and sighed. He laid down in front of the den entrance to prevent straining his neck.
For you, scrub, always, he said, though even he wasn't convinced it was true. I just got here, anyway. Where would I go? The implication of course was that all of the people in Juniper's life had left voluntarily. He had a strong feeling thing was not the case at all.