Northstar Vale A mother's heart

@Meadow

Her children were just over a month old. @Astri and @Hakon were active and healthy, growing more mobile and curious by the day. But the same could not be said for Arika. She seemed miles behind in her development. Far smaller and delicate than her robust siblings. Because of this, Keyni fretted over her often. Always keeping a watchful eye on her. Waking each morning with a prayer to find life still in her body.

The anxiety was getting to her. After a quick chat with @Tamar earlier, she decided that it was time to call in a wolf of knowledge and experience. Meadow. The beautiful gold and silver female who had offered her so much support on the stressful day of their birth. Her lips tightened after she called out, thinking briefly of Cerne. She could do this on her own, without him. Just as in Moonglow, she already felt she had a wonderful support system at her back.

Tamar and her young had been the focus of the aspiring healer, but with the newcomers to their ranks, her focus was divided—her concern only growing, when she had noticed the small girl of the litter who seemed to sleep often compared to her siblings.

She did not wish to overstep, but she had begun to venture further from their home at times, seeking potential remedies and any herbs and plants that could be of assistance.

She heeded the call their newest mother gave her. Honeyed eyes sweeping over the weary form of Keyni as she uttered a low croon of greeting, her lithe form sweeping forward to greet her pack mate with a gentle nudge. “How are you?”

She welcomed Meadow with a tired smile. One that did not reach her eyes. But her tail waved with life and she openly reached out to bump her nose against the curve of the woman's cheek. She enjoyed the company of those who came by. Anything that might serve to take her mind off the children's father.

"I could be much better, truthfully." Her soft voice was tired. Strained. She would not mention Cerne. Anyone who had dropped by in recent days would have sensed her betrayal towards the man. "I'm worried for her..." She shifted back, unfurling a platinum furred fore leg from it's protective embrace around tiny Arika. "She's so much smaller than her brother and sister. Naps longer, too." She looked down, afraid to even touch the tiny head of her daughter. "I just...I just want to know if she is healthy. If she will be alright." Keyni looked up, a plea in her eyes for Meadow.

Her smile was soft—sympathy was not usually given from the silver waif, as she herself had never been one who wished to receive it, but she also appreciated the new mother was in a tender situation. A new brood—the father having just disappeared—and having given birth in a pack she had not chosen, but had little choice in the matter. It would be hard on anyone. 

Let me look, she murmured, for when the mother unfurled from the tiny girl, Meadow would lean forward to inspect gently. She was tiny—clearly not thriving as well as her siblings, and the healer gingerly fretted over her. An ear to the girls backside, listening to her heartbeat and measuring her breathing. How does she eat compared to her littermates?

so sorry about my initial response I have edited it, I can make edits if i'm wrong about where her development should be.

Arika's world was small and the changes happened slowly, rather than rapidly. She did not know she was a sickly pup, but her sibling's activity confused her. Most things did, the tiny wolf could not wrap her head around the slow progression of her world. Her sight came much later than her siblings, and watching her siblings first steps and being unable to do the same was frustrating. Her legs were weak, unable to keep up with Hakon's or Astri's.

Arika was not active, but exhaustion riddled her little body, it kept her beside her mother as her siblings were beginning to venture farther with their steps. Once she was nudged from her mothers warmth and stirred from her slumber she responded with grumbling, while she was a unusually quiet girl, not knowing who was near.