Lost Creek Hollow i could ask you the same thing, but that would make no sense.

"You'll be alright? You promise?" she asked, her voice full of love and concern and trepidation.

"Yes, just get out of here! I love you. You worry too much, but I love you," he responded, planting a kiss upon her frowny face before nudging her away.

Liffey went, although I can't say it was willingly. She paused once to look back at her mate, showing a bit of a pouty face that did nothing to sway him, but did win her quite the affectionate glance. It made her smile, and that apparently was all she needed in order to turn away and trot off into the woods, unshackling herself from Rannoch's side at long, long last.

She was immediately unhappy.

In retrospect, she couldn't fully remember why it was they had left Sunspire. Something about food scarcity and... No, she couldn't remember. The days had been a blur and anxiety and unhappiness, all leading up to the day Rannoch had been attacked. Nothing after that existed in her memory, and everything before it had smeared across her mind. She had neglected it all to care for her mate. And that's not just an excuse for why I haven't read up on what happened while I was PPC, this is real Wolf life, folks!

Now that she was out, the Frostfur didn't exactly know... where to go... or what to do... So, she wandered. Her nose trailed along the trees and rocks and shrubs that lined her winding pathway through the Hollow, inspecting each bit and trying not to be overwhelmed by the massive amount of questions that blistered into her head. Did she even know anyone in this pack anymore? Did she know anything about this place she lived in?

Liffey had been wandering for only ten minutes, but already she felt so small and so weak. All she wanted to do was go back to Rannoch and lose herself in her care of him. She stopped walking and shut her eyes, trembling, and trying to collect herself. She wouldn't go back. At least, not for like.. five more minutes.

"liffey?" 

there was no hiding the surprise in his voice. as terance rounded a rather thicc tree, he spotted the maiden looking rather confused and lost. terance wondered how much time she'd spent navigating the hollow... was she actually lost? 

"liffey, hey," he repeated, a little clearer this time as he began to approach her, "what are you doing? are you okay? is rannoch okay?" because... why else would she be out?

Liffey had literally begun counting the seconds till she would allow herself to go back home when she heard her name being spoken by a familiar voice. She turned to see Terance approaching her, and though there was concern on his face, relief quickly flooded hers. "Hey," she said with a smile, turning to face him. She canted her head at his questions, confused momentarily until he asked about Rannoch and it all made sense. So, it had not gone unnoticed her withdrawal from the pack's day-to-day activities. Noted.

She dipped her head, a little embarassed. "Rannoch is fine," she said reassuringly, "He's really fine, actually. Fine enough that he ah... Well, he wouldn't like if I used the word demanded.. Let's say he firmly suggested I go out and get some fresh air for a while." 

iffey raised her head, smiling. She sucked in a breath and looked around at the trees surrounding them, her smile tightening. "So... here I am..." she added a little anxiously, then laughed softly, "My, what fresh air we have here."

once liffey reassured him that all was okay, terance had this terrible urge to tell her everything she'd miss. but that'd be such information overload, right? he definitely shouldn't... that also just wasn't fair. but liffey had a lot coming to her-- like a lot. maybe another day... maybe today just, wasn't the right day. well, he'd just have to see.

"well, good," terance said with a gentle sigh, and then a small smile towards her following anecdote. "it's not mountain air," he admitted with a shrug, "but it's nice here. maia and the scouts did a good job finding it." despite the fact that it neighbored two packs. and that predators were around every corner. yep. very nice.

Liffey couldn't tell what was going on inside her friend's head, but it was something. She thought of Seabreeze and their kids who had left him and wondered if maybe that was it. It seemed like a lifetime ago now, but she thought of Wisp and she knew that it never really got any better. She offered a weak smile and a nod, trying to recollect who Maia was. It took her a moment, but eventually the girl she'd vomited all over the place in front of came to mind. Oi.

The naturalist let quiet fall for a moment as she studied Terance, sucking in her bottom lip to nibble at it gently. "How are you?" she asked after a beat, her head canting to the right as her ears slipped back. She wondered how long it had been since they'd had a real conversation. A long time. Maybe even before Sunspire, back before she'd confessed her unhappiness to her mate and turned his and everyone else's worlds upside down. Oi again.

terance shrugged. how was he? the surface answer was fine-- honestly. there was a lot of underlying suffering, of course, but terance had surprisingly handled each struggle very well and level headed. believe it or not-- surprising, i know. "hyacinth was killed by a cougar, recently... which you knew," he replied with a gentle sigh, "that was tough, but i'm doing well. the pack is doing well too." i mean, what else was there to say? if the hollow was thriving than, theoretically, terance should be too. 

"i'm taking it easy," he added with a smile, "when it comes to life, i mean. still hard at work, of course." mostly following treason's advice.

Liffey sobered a bit as Terance made mention of Hyacinth. An all too familiar wave of guilt flooded her as she once again found herself unable to place the girl’s face, even though she did know the name. She had been far too absent. She would do better. She would try.

She couldn’t help a small laugh though as he concluded, her eyes rolling up towards the treetops as she considered. ”Taking it easy? Gosh.. I can’t even remember...” Liffey replied, a little (a lot) wistfully, ”How does one go about that? I might like to try it with you sometime.”

cackling bc hyacinth has been taking care of rannoch since the attack and liffey is like 'i dunno her'

"not my favorite thing," terance admitted, lips pressed together tightly, "there's a lot to worry about... but... i'm trying not to-- keep positive, or something." i mean, so far rannoch was healing incredibly well. liffey being out and about was fantastic news as well. "i'm mostly just... not overthinking. or trying to do," he shared, shedding a little light on his tips of the trade. 

magdalyn was unsure how close liffey and terance actually were, so she refrained from making terance tell liffey about how treason thought he needed to bone a few randos. but terance might've mentioned it if liffey asked.

liffey’s drunk ok idek (LOL)

Liffey watched her friend as he struggled to respond. She quirked a single brow at him, not totally getting it. He didn’t like taking it easy? And he was trying not to keep positive? She knew him well enough to know he was speaking in his Terance tongues, which she had yet to fully decipher, but could at least recognize. She pursued her lips, trying not to smile.

”Well it looks to me you’re doing one hell of a job at it,” she said, her face breaking into a cheeky grin.

terance meant he was trying not to worry, and that he was trying to keep positive. but hey, terance tongues are right. the dude couldn't speak right to save his life. liffey glossed over it, and so did terance. 

he dipped his head, "thanks, liff." a small wave of his tail followed, a little smile pressed to his dark features. not quite as silly as hers, but all the same. and then terance didn't speak again because... it was terance.

Terance thanked her, which caused her to smile all the more. It was probably better that he hadn't realized she was teasing him. Their friendship felt different now. It had changed many months ago, and Liffey knew it was mostly due to her own actions. Between Moonspear and her intervention with Redshank and Titmouse at Sunspire, it was no wonder. She didn't really know how to repair the damage. And as the conversation fell and they stood there in silence, smiling a little awkwardly at each other, Liffey realized that Terance probably didn't know either.

"Well, I should get back to Rannoch," she said finally, dismissing herself before this grew any more uncomfortable, "I'll tell him you asked after him." Liffey smiled again and dipped her muzzle before turning and heading back home. Maybe some other day, she'd figured out how to get things back on track. But for today, she was more concerned with making sure Rannoch hadn't been mauled by anything in the twenty minutes she'd been gone from his side.