Lost Creek Hollow wear your silver lining; wear it close to your skin

breath was still fresh in her lungs, the euphoria of the chase settled over her like fine mist. rabbit lay swinging in her jaws as the woman moved at a loose walk, gaze searching the treetops as she sought the nearest cache. the simple rush of the hunt, the purpose that was good and old as time, filled her with something like peace. this place was full of reminders, of trials, but not all the memories invoked were bad, anymore. sunlight broke over the trees, exagerated rays piercing through the conifers and dappling the snow. her pace slowed further, and the huntress paused a moment as a raven moved betwixt the trees, calling in creaking voice as it passed over her head. this was not where she'd ever planned to end up. but in this moment, a simple kind of happiness settled. aditya was gone and not coming back. morningside was scattered, and there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. she was motionless a moment longer, then, and when she realized the sudden though was not intrusive but perhaps that start of something new, she continued on.

Fuzzing timelines a bit here to SAVE ZE THREAD. XD  Unless you wanna move it to present day, in which case Treason would be starting to be visibly pregnant, so pretend that'd be in the narration.

She had things to do as the day dragged on, but at least for now she was wandering towards one of the caches she visited less often, figuring maybe there would be something there that may appeal.  She'd been a little bit pickier with food lately, so if she found something that seemed good, she was going to stash it away at her den for later like a squirrel or something.

So it was perhaps unsurprising that Treason and Dawn would cross paths -- their destination was the same -- but the beta's pace had been a casual stroll.  The other woman cut onto the path in front of her a ways, and though her scent was by now familiar, her appearance was not.  She did seem to have a hare or something with her too.  At the very least if there was nothing amazing buried at the cache, at least that would be fresh.  Treason woofed, hoping she'd stop so she wouldn't have to try too hard to catch up -- it just wasn't that kind of day -- but did speed up her trot a little.

thank you for saving!!! that sounds good to me, just bumped it to present :)

the chuff has her pause and turn on her heel, gaze catching a woman who's face is entirely unfamiliar but who's scent is not. she turns to face her more fully, for she seems intent on catching up with her. the distance between them is closed quickly, and Dawn drops the rabbit carefully between her paws. "are you hungry?" its still warm, and certainly better eaten now than after cooling in the cache for a few hours. she realized that food was more likely to be accepted if it didn't come from a total stranger, so she added after a beat, "I'm Dawn." there was something about the woman that struck her besides her being completely unfamiliar, something she sought to identify in the back of her mind.

Maybe in Treason's case, the hormones took the sharpest of the edge off.  It certainly seemed like she was being slightly more amiable than previously, but whether or not that would last, who knew.  Perhaps it was some instinctual thing to make sure that she built bonds with her packmates before the pups arrived.  I know I will be -- I'd been looking for something for later.  But unless you know of something absolutely amazing up ahead...  She shrugged a shoulder.  It did sound like Dawn was offering her catch, at least.  An opportunist both by nature and nurture, it wasn't like she was going to turn down some food, especially now.  Okay, sure, it would be a few hours earlier than she'd been thinking, but that wasn't the end of the world, she'd be able to make it disappear just fine.  More of an issue was if she actually wasn't and they were just going to have the conversation with the hare just sitting there -- then she'd probably have to keep from drooling after a point.  I'm Treason.  Though she still had to figure out if she wanted to continue to be known under that moniker. 

Treason wasn't the type to draw attention to her pregnancy, if that's what Dawn couldn't quite figure out.  It wasn't like she could hide it now, anyway.  Those who paid attention or cared would notice, those who tended towards obliviousness might not.  It would be a couple of weeks more before it was the equivalent of beating someone upside the head with a two by four, but for now since she didn't see motherhood as the core of her identity, she'd just continue to cross that bridge as she came to it.

she pushed the hare towards the woman, parting easily with the prey. it was better to know it would feed a packmate now rather than languish in the cache for hours. "nothing thrilling. take this - it's thin, but fresh." gaze settled once more on her packmate and realization settled. mona, liffey and now this woman - the pack must certainly be strong, if each woman she'd met so far had been pregnant. she might have felt that twinge that was part lose part jealousy were she not absolutely sick of it, and instead forged ahead with conversation. the name rang a bell, and she asked, "you're one of the leaders?" it was more statement than question, but she was more than certain that she ought to be. she looked it, carried young, and her name was familiar.

Treason of course didn't know what Dawn had been through.  It wasn't like at this point Treason could do much about it.  Life was life, and sometimes would be cruel, other times it would just pass by without too much notice.  That was just the way life was.  Besides, there should have only been two of them.  Mona was a complication.  They'd see how that ended up, but Treason was gonna be pessimistic about the whole thing until proven otherwise.  Thank you, she said, stepping forward to collect the hare.  She backed up a couple of steps again and set it back down at her feet.

She nodded, Yes.  Beta, basically.  Trying to remember -- you haven't been here all that long, right?  Obviously we hadn't crossed paths, but. Shrug.  She should do better about meeting people.  Well, she'd soon have an excuse to avoid everyone, right?  Hm.  Yeah, probably shouldn't think of it that way.  Settled in and everything?  Standard questions, really.

she said nothing to the woman's thanks, merely dipping her head in acknowledgment. she didn't think she entirely deserved it; was it not the task of them all to feed the rest? she was glad it hadn't gone cold on the cache. she confirmed her assumption and moved to question her further. "not long - a month, or two." she hadn't stopped to think of it, but time had sped by more quickly then she'd thought it ought to be allowed to. at her next question, she merely dipped her head in agreement. "it's a good place." 

She nodded in agreement, I think things have gone well since we've settled here.  A good group of wolves and matching neighbors so we haven't had trouble.  Sure, like any pack there were occasional hiccups but for the most part it was fine.  Treason was also probably lying a little in that she was being more positive than she otherwise would.  "Reasonable" would have been a more accurate word in her eyes, but eh.  People responded more to positivity, didn't they?  Even if it was a bit silly.

The three of us are easy enough to find if you need anything.  None of them tended to stray too far -- Treason's bit of voyaging about had ended when she'd been promised her promotion.  And certainly with the whole trio of leaders being attached to one litter of pups or another, it didn't seem likely that they were traveling anywhere any time soon.

she nodded her agreement. things were well. okay, even, though she was tired of existing merely as okay. "thank you," she offered as the woman offered herself and the other two leaders for assistance, should she need it. with a smile and a dip of her head, she said her goodbyes and took her leave. the day's hunt was not done.