Jade Fern Grove everybody waddles in the duck parade.
i’ve been the archer, i’ve been the prey
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#1
All Welcome 
There were tears in Eshe's eyes as she slowed to a stop near the edge of the grove--tears that had no right to be there. She'd known it was a long shot that Breccan would be at the Hollow. She'd known he had left their family to find his own path, which would logically suggest he hadn't intended to return to one he'd trodden already. Still, that moment she'd accepted that none of the scents near Lost Creek Hollow were his had been terrible. She'd never felt so scared before. So hopeless. So (ironically) lost.

She had fled. It was stupid to do so. She could've approached the pack and asked about him. She had smelled Tiarnach there. But Eshe hadn't wanted to embarrass herself with how hard she was taking it. Her mother had been so against this whole expedition--so negative, so... So right.

The young Frostfur crumpled into the ferns. Like herself, their edges were rimmed with white from the early morning chill. It would've been surprising to find them still so alive like this had she been less wrapped up in her own misery, but y'know, semi-realism.
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#2
Ever since running into Ibis and learning about her intentions, which the narrator will remain vague about, Sarah had been thinking. And it was not the usual indifferent toying with various scenarios, where she died and wondered idly, whether anyone would care. No. Something during the conversation with her niece had moved, shifted and changed inside her mind. An ember had begun to glow under the cold ashes of her soul's hearth. There was a job before her and it needed to be done.

Yet, out of loyalty and past affection to Terance, Sarah had left the forming pack without giving any promise. She needed time to think things through, but somehow she had a feeling that she knew, what had to be done. The rest was just getting used to that thought. So - when she heard the tears and smelled the misery of someone nearby, she jumped at the chance for a distraction and found it in a form of gray-scale adolescent, sleeping in the ferns.

"If you do not wish to be attacked or eaten by effing bastards, I suggest you get up and begin to move," she told the young wolf, nudging the girl's shoulder to wake her.
i’ve been the archer, i’ve been the prey
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#3
Eshe was too distracted by her own melancholy to notice someone approaching, so when she was alerted by the sound of the woman's voice, she was too startled to really take any of it in. She jumped to attention, her legs stiff and spine rigid with raised hackles as she spun to face her. She didn't recognize the stranger, even though her nose was trying to tell her there was something familiar about her. They had never met (I'm pretty sure) as Eshe's time in the Hollow had preceded Sarah's (I think), but still, she ought to have recognized the scent.

Which is all the say she didn't. "What do you want?" Eshe snapped, not in the mood to be the polite, good-natured youth her mother had raised her to be. She was upset, and she was pretty sure this girl had said something about eating her and she was so not in the mood.
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#4
Sarah had not met Eshe in person, but she had been lurking in the background of Lost Creek Hollow since December 30, 2018. So, she had preceded the young wolf, but had not had any interest in her, her siblings or her nuclear family, when she had lived with Terance and the rest before. To her this cheeky annoying adolescent was just another bratty, useless peep that did not appreciate a wise advice given out of goodness of her heart.

"From you - nothing," Sarah shook her head. "Someone else might, though," she hinted. "Where is your pack? Why are you here on your own?" she asked.
i’ve been the archer, i’ve been the prey
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#5
Eshe was only further confused by the stranger's answer, but she simply gave up trying to understand with a shake of her head and a glance back to her paws. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. At least, she hadn't thought she was until the woman's question drove her to speak without even a beat of hesitation.

"I don't have a pack anymore," she answered pathetically, "I left my parents to find my brother 'cause I was gonna live with him and he wasn't where I thought he'd be and now I don't know what to do or where to go." The tears welled up again as she spoke, her voice cracking into silence as she became overwhelmed by her self-pity.
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#6
Sarah was not moved by the girl's emotional distress or tears. If anything, they mildly annoyed her, because in these situations you were expected to be sympathizing with the poor little girl. When in fact she was the culprit of all her current problems. It was stupid to leave a pack on an impulse with nothing more solid than a vague idea that somewhere her brother was. Though she did not say it, this could be read in her solemn silence and focused, resentful gaze. Why did the world produce such weaklings and cry-babies in abundance, but there were only a pawful of truly useful individuals, was beyond her. There would be far less troubles in the world, if the number of idiots treading that ground would be severely limited or contained at least. With things as they were now... Heh...

So, when she thought that the girl had given the girl to cry her eyes out long enough, Sarah cleared her throat and asked mercilessly: "What are you going to do now? Besides obviously dying sooner, if you do nothing."
i’ve been the archer, i’ve been the prey
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#7
Eshe hadn't really expected anything from the stranger, and soon enough, she was wishing she hadn't gotten anything from her either. The young girl shot the older one a look of angry hurt. She was not used to being treated so poorly. Not for the first time did she wish she could've been home where Rannoch could've scooped her up in his big, strong arms and made everything go away. But she had walked away from him and that whole life. Maybe it had been a mistake, especially if the world was full of assholes like this asshole.

"You don't care," Eshe snapped, lifting her chin with a dignified sniff, "Just go away. I don't want you here." She had no power to make the other woman move, but that didn't occur to her. She just wanted to be left alone. At least, she did if the company she kept wasn't going to console her.
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#8
"I personally don't give a shit about you, that is very true," Sarah responded mercilessly, because it always ticked her off, when little, snivelling children that had made very irresponsible life choices spoke with her, as if they were in a position of power. Deep inside she knew she was not fair to the girl, that she should act better, a bit more compassionate, but, what good would that be in long-term.

"But someone might," she added. "What's your name and who do you know around here?" because it could just happen so that, when she fulfilled the adolescent's wish, she would meet a worried adult around the corner, who would be looking frantically for their wayward offspring.
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#9
The stranger claimed not to care about her, and yet she wouldn't heed Eshe's request to leave. Frustration burned hot in her veins as she was questioned further. Eshe didn't want this woman to know her. She didn't want her to know what it was she sought. What good would it do? Breccan was gone. She'd left her family behind. All she wanted now was to leave everything else behind too.

So, with a flash of her teeth, Eshe stood and bolted off into the ferns. She was young, but she had always been quick. With any luck, it would be quick enough to leave the other female in her dust, and she could find a quiet place to grieve her misfortune in solitude.
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#10
Sarah did not attempt to follow the girl, when she bolted away. She had tried to help (in a rude and callous manner, but still) and the teary, snivelling piece of sorry-looking kid had not appreciated it at all. Well, she better not run into likes of the black-faced hag or a hungry bear. With this final thought, Sarah turned around and made her way back to, where Ibis's group had stationed itself. She had forgotten all about the girl by the time she had reached the boarders.