Sun Mote Copse I imagine so many things

Wraen had been out hunting muskrats in the Cricket Creek bog for the better part of the day and returned home, covered belly-deep in mud and dirt, smelling like a sewage monster. But this rather unattractive display did not stop her from smiling contentedly to herself. She had got lucky two times out of ten attempts. One rat she had eaten herself and the second she was bringing for Finley. Of the two old generation Blackthorns, she seemed to be afflicted with the old age the most (Wraen would never dare to point it out directly, of course) and deserved some care and nurture. 

She did not find the lady of the house at home, therefore she left the dinner, tucked safely inside their den, and proceeded to go to her resting place, which she shared with Maia. Her sister had not yet returned either, therefore, while waiting, Sovereign settled down on the ground and began to groom her paws and belly, even though she would have much rather fallen asleep then and there.

She felt out of sorts today, for no particular reason, although she could probably blame @Phox and @Niamh for infecting her with all their feelings. She didn't really hold it against them, though. Towhee tirelessly roved the copse. She considered doing a patrol, though she'd just done one. She contemplated looking for some small game, though she wasn't hungry. So she just idly meandered, until she found herself standing in front of a very sloppy, stinky Sovereign.

"Whooooo farted?" Towhee asked by way of greeting.

Wraen was picking out pieces of grass and moss between her toes, when Towhee appeared and by the manner of the greeting, there were no bad news or an immediate business that the Sovereign needed to attend to. They had not spoken to each other since the morning-after-pill  talk, and she had kept her distance for the reminder of her cousin's heat, but was very glad, when it was finally over. She knew, however, that this was not the end of the road. There was a Niamh-, a Maia-, a Chanel- heat to not look forward to and, who knew, Finley might get back in the rodeo arena this season as well. 

"Look, who's feeling confident," Wraen replied. "Fish does not upset your digestion anymore?"

Wraen made a quip referencing Towhee's gaseous gut following their fishy feast and Towhee paused for a beat before replying, "Everything gives me gas, honestly, 'twas probably I who farted." She shrugged, then plopped to a sit, fidgeting ever so slightly.

"What're you up to?" she wondered, eyeballing the patches of slimy wetness on Wraen's pelt.

"Had lunch," Wraen replied, turning to scratch an itchy spot behind her ears and then moving over to the underside of her jaw. Felt really good. "What have you been up to lately?" she asked, when she had finished. "Got in any more adventures or troubles that I should not know about?" she smiled kindly. "And how is mercenary training going? Fennec is singing praises about you and I know that Maia is not all too enthusiastic, but what about the rest?"

"You ate swamp slime for lunch?" Towhee joked with a smirk, before putting on a more serious face as she read Wraen's lips. Ho'man, was her knee-jerk reaction, where do I even start? But should she even bring up the drama between Phox and Niamh? It wasn't actually her business.

"Me? Getting in trouble? Nah, never," she replied with a laugh before her expression grew more thoughtful as she pondered the Sovereign's query about training. "I thought I saw Maia the other day but she ran the other way before I could say anything. I guess that explains that." She huffed. "Otherwise, I've tracked down maybe... a third of the pack? Not every session has gone to plan but we're making progress."

That was actually kind of vague, though there was still plenty more work to be done. Towhee cocked her head, wondering if Wraen would ask for more detail, which she would be happy to provide. Although before she had the chance, the mercenary turned the inquiry back on her and wondered, "What've you been up to lately? Torn any more new assholes?"

Wraen was not surprised and did not judge Towhee for her lack of quick progress. Not everyone was cut for mercenary trade and not all saw the need to learn at least some basic defense skills, in case they run into trouble. Sun Mote Copse was relatively safe and with their numbers even between the old and experienced and the young and still growing, they were better off than they had been throughout summer. She wished that it remained so. 

"Do I have reason to do so?" she arched an eyebrow and then smiled. "Been doing the usual leader stuff. Took Fennec for a hike the other day. And spoke with Nellie. She seemed  to have taken interest in counselling stuff, but I cannot decide, whether it is serious or just another thing she wishes to try out," Wraen recounted. 

"By the way - good news - I spotted a small herd of deer south of here this morning," she added.

Wraen answered her question with a question and Towhee merely snorted. She wondered what "the usual leader stuff" meant to the Sovereign and almost reminded her that she would be happy to take some of it off her shoulders. But Towhee bit her tongue. She did miss leadership and wanted to be part of it again because it suited her. But she wasn't gunning for it and didn't want to pressure Wraen. She only wanted the promotion if Wraen wanted it for her too.

The mention of Nellie made Towhee's teeth gnash for a moment. She didn't dislike Niamh's daughter, though she really resented the positions she'd put Phox and Niamh in. She was just a kid, so Towhee likely wouldn't ever say much about it to her. Still, she found she didn't exactly want to talk about Niamh's little lookalike.

Fortunately, Wraen said something else, which made the mercenary's entire countenance brighten. "Really? I haven't had a good deer steak in ages." She had never been much of a hunter and mostly lived on small game, though Towhee found her blood pumping at the thought of an upcoming pack hunt. "The pups are just about at that age..." she mused aloud.

"To get the first bumps on their heads, first serious kick in the ribs and break their antlers," Wraen took Towhee's train of thought in her paws and finished. She shot her a meaningful look and a sly smile, then rubbed some mud away from her muzzle and sneezed. 

"There are quite a few of us here now, we can both train and do the actual hunting," she said. "I have no doubt that the girls will do well, but I am not so sure, how good Bronco or Penn will be at following orders. They are a bit..." -full of themselves- "...stubborn and too confident." She knew that the first hunt would soon teach them that deer, elk or moose were not in the least bit interested to give up without a fight and that they could be dangerous to predators, who hunted them. 

"I would not want anyone else get hurt or in danger, because of them," she sighed. "Is there any inside gossip that I should know about?" she then changed the subject, knowing that Towhee was far more involved with the rest of the group than the Sovereign had lately been.

Only one side of her mouth turned up at the Sovereign's comments. Come to think of it, the kids were overdue for their first pack hunt, it was just that big game had been so sparse lately. She was pretty sure Fig and Fen, maybe even Sundance, were actually at an age where they were considered adults. Towhee would always think of them as her little ones though.

That made her think of something, which she mentioned in reply to Wraen's latest prompt. "You probably noticed that Dorea went missing. And I haven't seen much of Sundance lately. I wonder if he'll try to go looking for her." Her mouth twisted. "And Crow came by the other night, looking for Sugar. Evidently she went missing right after she arrived there. He didn't stay, though I passed word along to Uncle Elwood and Aunt Finley." Towhee grimaced.

Compared to this news, the subject of her brother's tumultuous love affair seemed a little trite, though she did mention, "Phox and Niamh may or may not be involved; it's complicated." Towhee shrugged. It really was too complex to attempt to explain and, again, it wasn't really her business to tell tales out of school. "You'll have to ask them about it," she concluded.

Towhee turned out to be a true goldmine, when it came to retelling all the recent events of Firebirds. "I noticed that," she replied and for Towhee's sake hoped that the girl was well. Or that she had gone off to Frosthawks or joined another friendly pack. To be honest, her well of sympathy had run dry, when the number of wolves that left without a word had reached a certain number. First she had felt sorry, now she just accepted the facts and tried not to mourn too much or too long. Life went on regardless. 

News about Sugar Glider's disappearance came as an unpleasant surprise, even moreso, because there was nothing she could do about it. "Is there any way we can help Frosthawks to look for her?" she asked Towhee. Phox's and Niamh's romance earned a crooked grin from Wraen: "Well, I will leave them to it, though this might mean I should prepare myself for more than one litter this year."

"That's up to you," Towhee replied slowly, pausing before tossing in her two cents, "although I told Niamh that I think it's probably a waste of time." She winced even as she said it, thinking of Finley, and her orange eyes lowered. "I really hate to say it. But can we afford for our members to risk aimlessly wandering the wilderness, looking for Sugar or any of the others?" Of course, they all wanted to do that, Towhee included, but she was nothing if not pragmatic and it was, simply put, impractical. Experience had showed her that.

Looking up again so she wouldn't miss anything Wraen might have to say on the matter, she caught the mention of litters. She blinked, her face slowly taking on a quizzical expression. If Phox and Niamh could sort out their issues, that was one. Towhee absolutely was not banking on her own (or so she told herself). Who else was there? It slowly dawned on her that Wraen must be thinking of Elwood and Finley. Towhee recalled her intimate conversation with her godmother but said nothing. That was far too personal a discussion to share with anyone else. But particularly given recent events, Towhee sincerely doubted there would be any more litters from the Blackthorn matriarch and patriarch.

Wraen looked away, her brow furrowed. Here it was again - the feeling that Towhee treated some people as things. Once they were out of sight, they ceased to matter. And it was one thing to accidentally screw a friend of hers, but to discard her own niece, who had taken such a good care of her, with whom she had spent so much time together and who had treated her with nothing but kindness, hurt.

So, what, if she had gone lost? Yes, it was true - it was impossible to comb wilds thoroughly and they did not have the resources to search for someone with no clues, where to start. But doing nothing at all? Accepting that she had disappeared just the same way Dorea and others had? Hope for the best? "We'll have to talk with Finley and Elwood about this. She is their daughter and if they wish for us to do something, we will," she turned to look Towhee in the eyes. 

"The least we can do, is to send scouts to the neighbouring packs and tell them about the missing girl. We can even leave some objects that still have Sugar Glider's scent on it," Wraen suggested. "We can do the same for Dorea as well, if you wish?"

The Sovereign met her gaze and Towhee bobbed her head in acknowledgement. It was Wraen's call, ultimately. If she chose a less pragmatic approach to it, that was her prerogative. Towhee would only think of interfering if she thought Wraen was putting their resources (yes, including their pack mates) at unnecessary risk. Wasting time in and of itself wasn't dangerous.

Oblivious to Wraen's take on her approach, Towhee considered her suggestion. "That's not a bad idea," she assessed. "It makes a lot more sense than just wandering around without any leads. Maybe someone will get word of their whereabouts or some other clue, then we can go from there. That's what scouts are for, right?" She paused, then wondered, "Do we have any scouts?"

"We have Maia, who has done a great deal of travelling back and forth in this valley and the two others," Wraen listed, thought a bit and then added, "there is Chanel, who is Scout in training and, who would benefit from going out in the wilds. There is Nellie, who has not found her field yet, but could do with experience." And there might be other young wolves, who yearned adventures and who were bored with life inside the copse. 

"It would also be a good opportunity for us to find out, what is going on elsewhere. Otherwise news in this corner of the world are a bit sparse," she said and then remembered one last thing. "And I can go to Moonspear myself. I am not a particular friend of Hydra, but I have some acquaintances that like me better," she smiled.

Wraen listed off some names and Towhee nodded, though her head stilled as she thought to herself, Who the fuck is Chanel? She didn't ask that outright though. That wouldn't be a good look.

The Sovereign mentioned that they could exercise some diplomacy while they were at it, even volunteering to go to Moonspear. Towhee cocked her head. She would've jumped at the chance to go in Wraen's stead... before she banged Arcturus. She would love to see her adopted sister again but worried that Hydra knew and had disowned her.

So she stayed mum on that topic except to say, "Sounds like a plan, smelly," and then pausing before adding, "Actually, I may swing by the Frosthawks. I'm long overdue for a social call anyway and I miss my sister." And she hadn't realized how close they were until recently, though Towhee didn't bother mentioning that. "I can gather more intel about Sugar's disappearance."

"That would be for the best," Wraen agreed, glad that both of them had found a compromise without even butting their heads first. This reminded her again that there was always a way out of trouble or disagreements, you just had to talk. 

"I understand you standpoint, Towhee," the Sovereign truly did. She did not like it, but knew it was the right one. "But we lost Nellie earlier this year and knew nothing, until she returned. Dorea has disappeared without a trace. We have lost Elfie and know nothing about him still. It may not be rational or practical - searching with no leads - but doing something, anything... we owe it to the parents," she said. 

"We may feel different about all of this, but their hearts are breaking," she finished.

The Sovereign agreed with her and Towhee was already looking forward, planning out her trip in her head. She even moved as if preparing to leave, when Wraen spoke again, causing the mercenary to freeze. Her orange eyes rested on the leader's lips, reading every word.

What standpoint is that? she wanted to know, though Wraen didn't give her an opportunity to ask. The context became a bit clearer as she continued, listing off all their wayward children. Towhee openly frowned at Wraen, a little insulted that she felt the need to spell it out for her.

"You know I lost both my kids this year, on separate occasions, right?" she said. "I don't feel differently. I know that heartache deeply, just like I know from experience the even more awful futility of searching to no avail. In any case, we can't help how we feel but we can decide how to react." She paused, suddenly conscious that Wraen must take her for some unfeeling asshole. Well, she wasn't entirely wrong, though it wasn't completely fair, either. "I try to find the balance between emotions and practicality, to varying degrees of success." Towhee shrugged.

She paused a little awkwardly there before saying, "I think we've struck a good middle ground here. This plan is a far cry from just wandering around aimlessly, screaming their names." Towhee shrugged again and said, "I'm gonna go find my kids now and talk to them about my upcoming trip."

Wraen had not meant to insult Towhee, but had conveniently forgotten that there had been a time, when her cousin too had lived without a clue, where her childre were. Well, that happens, when you are discussing important matters after an exhausting hunt. Words come out wrong.

"Do so," her reply was swallowed by a yawn. She felt truly exhausted and decided to deal with this after a good nap.