Blacktail Deer Plateau One With The Dirt

"No," Grayday replied, a bit confused. Had he? The male felt no pain, presently, and assumed the blood he smelled belonged to Heartha and Howl. Besides, he wasn't the one who'd been yelled at, and accused of awful things. "Listen, Pema - just ignore what he said. There was nothing you could've done."

There's a curse, he wanted to say, but though he'd accepted the fact, he knew that it would probably just sound crazy to the younger woman.

"He was upset. He should've have said those things to you."

Grayday shugged off his injuried and focused on telling Pema to ignore what Howl had said and that he should of said those things. She though back to what Howl had said. About how she should have been there when Heartha was giving birth. Her eyes began to tear up. Thinking of Heartha's limp body lying in the den. There had been death and the smell of blood in the air, filled with the scent of fear and anger in the air.

"I could have been with them when she first went into labor. Maybe I could have forseen it happening before it got so bad. I could have called you over for help sooner. She might still be here!" She cried not blaming herself, but sad to think that this could have been prevented.

"Oh No." she began. "She had been coughing before as well. I had seen it. I knew she wasn't feeling well, but all I did was give her some stupid lavender for her throat." She cried feeling down on herself for not seeing this sooner, before it all got out of hand and away from them.

"Stop that," said Grayday in a strong voice. "What would you have done, had you gotten there earlier? Can you see inside her body? Can you knit together a broken womb? Childbearing is dangerous business, and she knew that when she concieved. They both did. And this is a terrible tragedy none the less, but don't you dare take credit for what could only be nature's doing."

He moved so that she was looking at his face and spoke in a gentler tone. "She was old, Pema - and no one ever miscarried from a bit of a cough. She died of blood loss, not a cold." Purposefully, the leader left out the part about the blood he'd seen in her salivia. It wasn't relavent to his point. The fact of the matter was that Heartha was old, and that she was just not strong enough to bear healthy young - or to bear young healthily.

"Have I made myself clear?" he asked, his voice gentle but unyielding.

He told her to stop thinking in such a way. Explaining that there was no way her or anyone else could have helped Heartha in the at moment. She had been old and the act of giving birth had been the thing that caused her death. Whatever the cause was Pema was still sorry that she was now gone and that nothing could have been done to help her. She also felt bad for Howl, even if he had tried to attack Pema and bitten Grayday, dispite him saying he didn't. The though of losing someone so close to you was unimaginable to Pema.

Looking up at Grayday she simply nodded in agreement.

"Good," said Grayday, sweeping one last, critical gaze over the younger wolf. She still had some of Heartha's (his) blood across her muzzle. "C'mon. Let's leave him be, and get you cleaned up."

He would not feel the pain of Howl's teeth for hours to come.