The Sentinels they suggest a second opinion

At Aria's instruction the woman heads towards the heartlands of her pack, looking for a recent pathway that @Lucani might have taken. Her own plans for her health were more direct; eating, eating, and more eating first. finding fennel for her milk. There was a lot to do and she needed to get started. The ashen woman moved along the lands slowly and with a purpose, she would not hide away. Not unless Aria was so distressed, and if it came down to it, she would simply leave. The druid's children would be able to come back and move among his forest and his family. They could. 

Her concerns were to the future, and still the dark male moved next to her, though now she could not see him. He whispered in her ear his assurances, that he would do what needed to be done - that he would do what she bid of him. Her thoughts kept going to Aria, to her Alpha's sudden pain. Any promises made by the dark male had been broken by Rowan and it immediately put her on edge. 

Just yesterday Osprey had came to the denning area with a small mouse held by it's tail in her jaws. Sarah - being the curious one and the only around at that time (for the other two siblings were spending time with their dad) - had attempted to grab the small kill only to be surprised by the fact that it was still alive. And moving. It had taken her a little longer to understand, what her mother wanted her to do. And once she had it had been a great game, where she was chasing the small thing, under her mother's watchful gaze. Eventually she had stepped in and killed it with a one precise bite, but rather than eating it right away, Sarah had spent the next hour, poking and nudging the little thing, hoping to make it run again. 

It had not and therefore she had eaten it in the end. Today, however, during a little wandering around, she had ran accross a similar being - a small mole - that had crawled out of it's den at some point and for whatever reason had died. The girl first sniffed it carefully, then poked it with her paw and, when nothing happened, she danced around it and barked. Still it did not move. With a puzzled expression she sat down and looked around. And just then there was a wolf approaching and without a second thought, the girl got to her feet and leaped towards the white lady. Maybe she could help, maybe she would know, how to make the creature move.

She was more sullen than she could remember ever being and while it was not in her character to behave that way Rowan found herself still struggling with Aria's instructions. She wanted to seclude herself away, go back to her den with it's peaceful fairy ring, to hide and mull in her own thoughts as long as she could. She gave a soft sigh, a sound catching her attention; a child. She blinked back her surprise for this was not the lump of fur and fluff she had once seen no, this was a bright and airy thing. She smiled in spite of herself, the pale complexion making her think of the pup's mother. 

"Hello," She offered with a bemused smile as she looked down at the little puppy. "And who are you?" She did not know the children's names, perhaps Osprey had told her, but, she could imagine she would find out soon enough. The girl looked like she was excited about something and Rowan was curious just what that was. 

Sarah, who was usually very shy around strangers (that included anyone, who did not belong to the set of parents and siblings), had forgotten all about it - now that she was very excited and eager to see the mole moving. The fact that the tall, white-furred lady replied imediately and acted nicely only made the kid's belief that she would be able to do something stronger.

"Sarah!" she told her, adding a quick smile (because she had learned that people usually liked that lip-twitching activity) and then, leaving out the part, where she asked, what was the lady's name, the girl went straight to business. "Make... make you stuff move?"

Rowan offered the small girl a smile, her eyes softening as she realized the child had no way to help itself; she hadn't been found under anything but a wandering pup's notions. No way for the child to know her mood, after all. "I'm Rowan," She offered with a gentle nod, as Sarah offered her own title. Yes, this was one of Osprey and Dante's children - though she had no idea the order of their births or even the genders of the others. 

"Make things move?" She repeated, giving a nod to the girl as an indication for her to lead Rowan. It might be easier to see what the fuss was all about then. The girl wanted something moved, maybe a log had been in her way or maybe some rock had covered up a plaything. They would see once Sarah took her to what she needed. 

"Aha," Sarah nodded and then ran back to the spot, where the dead mole was lying. "This one," she poked the corpse with her paw and spoke to the woman, who had followed here. "Why it not move? They run," the kid plopped down on her haunches and regarded Rowan with the question of, why was this creature different from others, that would inevitably lead to a conversation about death and living - topics, which in the end would be too hard for the young mind to grasp just yet. 

"Can you?" she asked again. "Make move?"

Where was her mother or father to take on such a hard topic? Rowan frowned when she looked down at the child, realizing what she was complaining about and knowing that she could do nothing. Even with her various gifts she could do nothing to bring something back from the dead. Surely if she could she would have brought Lasher back. "No, sweetheart." She said softly. "This one - this one is dead. Gone. It lives no more, not like you and I do - like your mother and father and siblings." 

She sat down, watching the child to see what her reaction was. No doubt it would lead to more questions, more hard issues to process. 

"Oh...okay..." Sarah replied, her expression confused, while her mind worked hard to process the information she had gained. It made little sense to her at that moment and therefore her next question was nowhere as easy. "What's like - not live?" she asked. Her reality was all about living - everything was bound to it. Even the... dead things for that matter. So... what was it like - not to live? How could one live and at the same time not?

It was so hard to explain death to a child in a way it might understand. For Rowan she was quiet for a moment, gently nosing the puppy's shoulder to just give her a little touch of comfort. "It is like sleeping - but forever." Rowan explained. "Never waking again." She supplied. It was nothing that the little puppy had to worry about for many, many years to come - but still, the information was new to the child. 

Sleep forever... never walking again... the further you went in the forest, the more trees there were. Sarah thought about all of those times, when she had slept soundly, and, how opening your eyes and waking up had always been the logical sequence of events. So, what would happen, if she did not wake up? She had sometimes seen her parents and siblings sleeping, yet there was a big difference of, how they looked like and how this tiny dead mole looked. 

"Do they dream then? Always?" she asked, because it must be boring to sleep forever and see nothing.