Luneshale Pass A sinner once a sinner twice

Stormpup had traveled with Qiao for several months. He had not forgotten about his riverland home but his fondness for it had diminished. He was nearly six months of age and he he had spent the better part of it following a strange woman’s orders. 

She had fed him. She did not love him. This shaped a boy. 

The young wolf stopped at the edge of the measly water source. He drank until he felt his belly swell. Lantern gold eyes lifted, hoping to see @Qiao against the pale stone.

lose a puppy, kill a mother, silence a father -- it was hard to love anything, much less herself, the older she became.

this puppy grew. qiao made sure she fed it well. it wanted for little, besides the affection of a mother -- this she could not give.

the day would come where all her efforts here would be for something magnificent.

 today, the boy found her murmuring, binding the sharp end of an antler with an aniti's curse. she felt his gaze upon her and lifted one eye, noticing the dribble of riverwater which darkened his chin. tch, it is rude to stare child. what is it you want?

Her tone was always that way with him. She spoke as though he was still a whelpling, needing to suckle from his mother’s tit. Stormpup had grown used to it. He took no offense, nor did he adjust his burning stare. 

What is that for? the young man inquired, voice grown rougher and moody over time. 

Qiao was a peculiar woman. Stormpup had never come across another like her. She would not have fit among the wolves of Riverclan. He had started to think this was not a flaw on her part, but a strength.