Silver Moraine She's earned her degree

@Quennell let me know if the light pp is OK!

Once they made it to the Moraine, they found a place that was sheltered, and curled up to sleep. Lilia wasn't tired; she was wide awake, but she could tell that Quennell was exhausted, and needed both the warmth and the rest. She stayed beside him through the night, wondering what she should do with him. There were a few places she'd sworn to scout, first- but then, perhaps, she could bring him back to the Rise with her. A new recruit would be welcome- but she'd want him to rest up, and have a bit more energy if she was to bring him home. 

She left before dawn broke, and scanned the Moraine. It was broad and flat, and in the summer it would likely be mostly dirt, rock and dust. In the winter, it was like a great broad river, with no worry of ever sinking below the surface. A jackrabbit lopped out into the pale light, and then another. They boxed with one another, while Lilia snuck closer and closer. They danced and kicked at one another, bouncing on their hindpaws while they batted at each other with long forelegs. Neither of them saw Lilia coming, and they scattered in a panic when she gave chase. 

After catching one of them, she brought it back for Quennell. He was warm, still, sheltered from the winds. She paws away a bit of snow that had accumulated, and settled back in beside him, laying the jackrabbit at his paws for him to find when he awoke.

always all good! <3

the sleep had been a void this time.

for it felt that he had never really slept at all, even if he had been out for hours. his legs had twitched all night. soft sounds bubbled in his throat and chest.

he felt as if he had been running all night instead of sleeping alongside leelee, in the place she had led them to.

yet he had not even realized that at some point she had departed! now she was back and he could smell what she had brought back with her. food had been the only thing that seemed to perk him at all with his healing. especially now with a hunger so ravenous that he drooled.

his head swayed upright as he blinked himself awake.

the warmth of her, the warmth of the jackrabbit.

ah — his mouth felt dry despite the drool.

he could not help it that instinct drove him to devour first and speak second.

Lilia yawned and stretched. She heard the moisture on Quennell's lips as he made a small sound and looked over, to see drool pooling at the corners of his mouth. Not exactly an attractive sight, but endearing. "Eat," She said, and she flipped over onto her back, allowing one of her forelimbs to drape over his side gently. 

She blinked heavily, and peered up into the sky. The evergreen trees that protected them were tall, lodgepole pine. Their branches weren't terribly long or thick, but the stand of them, staggered the way they were, seemed to cut the wind. They'd struck some good luck in having this place so close to the glacier- the only other places nearby that she knew of were in the opposite direction of her home, and she'd wanted to bring him just a bit closer to the Rise.

he did not need to be told twice.

soon the meat was down and it settled like stones in his stomach. heavy and dense for the first meal he had had in some time.

eventually his brain returned to him as he emerged from his tired and hungry haze. blinked free any last remnants of sleep. then —

leelee. he mumbled as he leaned into her hold as much as his body allowed.

"Good," She said, as if to congratulate him for eating the rabbit. He left very little for scraps, and leaned against her contentedly. She snuggled her muzzle into his ruff, and rolled toward him, over onto her side so she could still have one leg draped across his shoulders. With her belly toward him, she kept her back to the wilderness and the wind. 

"I'm gonna hafta get back to the rithe, thoon." She said softly. This was the topic she had been preparing for, carefully. "I'd like for you to come with me, but I gotta make sure that Avicuth ith OK with you coming." She said. She hadn't asked- she figured her plan might work if she simply convinced him that his fate was already figured out. "She doethn't like thurpritheth, that'th all." She said. "That thound OK with you?"

huh?

huh?

he was a drain. a time and resource sink. even quen knew as much as that when he looked upon himself. sunken and haggard. a boy mauled by a bear was about as big as surprises could get, even if warned about before hand!

nerves and guilt devoured him whole in that moment. ah, i dunno, leelee... he shifted some. the rigidness of discomfort began to seep back in again. dun t'ink it be best...

although his other current option was wandering around until another kind face appeared — or he met a far worse end.

She snorted. It was sweet that he thought he was in any position to be deciding what happened with him, but she felt like she knew better. He was weakened, starving and injured. Currently incapable of giving himself the care he needed, and that was why he needed for her to step in and make the decisions. She felt sure he would understand once he had some time to heal up. She'd been there before. 

"Nonthenthe." She said. "Wortht cathe thenario, I leave you here, an' you'll probably freethe or thtarve, probably both, in whatever orduh. I can take you back to Thapphique, if that'th what you want. But I figure if that'th where you really wanted to be, you'd be there. Tho- while you figure out what you wanna do with yourthelf, you come thtay at the Rithe. I gotta make sure it'th cool with Avicuth, but I dunno why it wouldn't be." It would mean another debt that Sapphique could owe them, and they could go and collect that when they needed it. They'd already harboured one lost child from the oceanside pack, what was one more?

it was blunt and harsh. truth or not, it cut something jagged in his already torn heart. maybe she meant well — and he figured she did, seeing as she cared for him in these dark moments — but it soured him.

go speak wit' 'er den. he gestured off towards where she had come from in the first place. i be waitin'.

she'd leave, he hoped, and he'd do the same before she came back.

it was cruel, but apparently at some point it was who he had become. able to burn those who wanted only good for him.

breaks my heart he won't be there but <3<3<3 Thank you for the thread!

He seemed to consent to her idea, which was really for the best for him. She couldn't see him surviving long out here on his own like this- and she felt pleased that he would come back to the Rise with her once she'd cleared it with Avicus. 

"Okay. You thtay heah. I'll be back in about a day, kay?" 

She was tired. Exhausted. She hadn't gotten much sleep, as she'd spent the night hunting for him, but the sooner she returned to the Rise, the sooner she could get Quennell some help. She gave his tired brow a kiss, and then picked up a trot headed back toward the Rise with the Silver Moraine falling away behind her. 

Past the tall timbers, the wind began to blow. She wished she had stayed one day longer with him there, where the treeline stood against the Moraine. She glanced back over her shoulder once, toward the line of tall trees, and could pick out the small, sheltered area she'd left her friend at. There was a slight rise in the old lakebed, there- she'd recognize it in an instant the next time she saw it. 

Though the next time she did- he was gone.