Wild Berry Meadow opened up like a marionette, danced a whimsical pride

It wasn't often she left Moonspear's territory, but with recent dramas having settled and her own heat well and truly over, Lyra was enticed by a bout of uncharacteristic wanderlust. She headed east, straight as an arrow, legs made for climbing mountain trails now carrying her over the grasslands with swift, long legged strides. The sun was but a soft glow, hidden behind the clouds, and rain gently fell upon her dark coat, making it glimmer under the morning light.

Her wild sprint took her right to the edge of the Heartwood, which she passed with little interest; nothing there for her to see other than dead trees and rot. Instead, the Ostrega headed aimlessly onwards, eventually being drawn towards a field with a strangely sweet smell. Grass gave way to thick shrubbery and wildflowers, and she noticed with a start the small fruits hidden within the foliage. Leaning down, Lyra sniffed curiously at one before deftly using her teeth to detach it from the twig it had grown upon.

she was gone.

he'd went to search for her sometime after his encounter with tzila, eager to show her the den he'd prepared. but she wasn't there. a faint trail led to the edge of the island, but any further scent had been washed away by the ocean's waves. so he swam, and swam, and swam until eventually reaching land once more, a desperate howl calling for the expecting mother to return home.

no response. he refused to wait, mind filled with worry and concern for what could happen to her and her children. reckless she was, but so was he. he shouldn't have left her. he shook his head, the thumping of his heart loud enough to echo in his ears. he needed to find her. and so her ran, cries filling the air as he went about his search, pleading for ying to come back home.

night turned to day, and with it came exhaustion. she was nowhere to be found, but that did little to sway him from his search. he continued to press onward until eventually the sight of a figure in the distance caught his attention. sleep deprived and on the verge of collapsing, it was only until close that he realized this stranger was not who he was looking for. too near to walk away now, he let out a friendly chuff, curious if perhaps she'd seen any sight of his elusive friend.

Completely oblivious to the frenzied and exhausted state of her fast approaching would-be company, Lyra continued to nibble cautiously at the fallen berry. Gently, she poked and prodded it, before eventually determining it was safe enough to eat and, with a pinch of her jaws, squished it between her teeth. Immediately, a sweet sensation filled her mouth, earthy and fresh, not at all like the metallic meaty taste of her usual meals. She pondered for a moment, wondering if she liked the flavour or not, before a chuff distracted her.

Coolly, and with a quick swallow of the rest of the berry, the Ostrega turned to face the source of the noise. Her gaze filled with scrutiny as she looked upon a gunmetal boy; he had a friendly enough face, if it weren't for the glint in his dull gold eyes, punctuated with a fresh score beneath one. Still, he didn't seem outright hostile, and Lyra had scarcely interacted with any outside of her own pack for a while now.

"You lost? she asked with a quirk of a brow in a way that wasn't quite judgemental but not entirely warm either.

he stopped a comfortable distance away, taking the opportunity to catch his breath and rest his weary muscles as she turned to ask him a question. "no", came the quick response as he let his shoulders slouch with a brief sigh. he wasn't the one that was lost.

"you would't have happened to see pregnant lady come this way would you? pale, has a stripe down her back, smells of the sea?", he asked with a glimmer of hope shining through otherwise doubtful eyes. where could she have gone?

No, came his reply, as she might have suspected. He did not have the look of one who was lost. No, he was in fact searching, instead. Lyra listened intently as he painted the picture of the one he was searching for - a pallid woman of the sea, bearing the fruits of the season. The mental image he conjured sparked some recognition within the Ostrega, who stared back into the man's expectant gaze.

"I have not seen anyone around here with that description, no," she said at length, leaning down to groom the fur between her toes after noticing she had stepped on one of the berries. An air of indifference radiated from both her words and movements, and she slowly preened herself for a long moment before speaking again, her eyes flicking up to regard the worried stranger. "Though I do know who you are speaking of."

Ying, the one who had caused Moonspear so much trouble. Lyra tilted her head slightly. "She is pregnant?"

one could see the hope flee from his eyes as she revealed what he'd already assumed. he visibly sunk at her words, tail hung low and ears pressed flat against his skull. what would he do if he couldn't find her? he'd already told ying's sister something like this would never happen again, and yet here he was falling short on his promise.

he would have turned to leave, believing her to have nothing else to offer him, if she'd not caught his attention once more with her words. she'd not seen ying, but knew of her?! "she is", he confirmed with a nod of his head. if this woman knew of his friend, then perhaps he'd be able to enlist her help. and if he couldn't persuade her, then maybe bribery would do the trick.

She is. Lyra's eyebrows raised at the affirmation, a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes spreading across her maw. Well, who would have thought. She recalled back to what Hydra had told her, of Ying's own sister ill-advisedly traveling while in heat, and wondered if Ying had done the same and suffered the consequences of that.

"Odd that she is traveling so far from the sea in such a state," she said off-handedly, before regarding him with a critical eye. He was lanky and sharp, with a coat that hung off him like dripping oil. Not one that she really saw Ying being with but perhaps she had misjudged Hydra's own description of the warrior woman. "Are you her mate?" she then asked curiously.

he did not fail to notice the smile across her maw nor the scrutinizing gleam in her eyes. an inky tail gave a twitch as he disregarded her first set of words, purposefully choosing not to share his pale friend's weakened state of mind.

the question however, he saw no harm in answering. "no. just a friend." it was only then as his heart began to settle and his breathing returned to normal did he take the time to properly look her over. her appearance was all too familiar, though where exactly he'd seen her before was lost somewhere in the back of his mind.