Dawnlark Plains Where to now?

Steph's emotions had been all over the place since Sunny's passing. They had planned to build a pack together, but now everything was blown around in the wind, scattered like flower petals across the plains. She hadn't had any interaction with the wolves that were pledged to them. Would they even follow her? Could she make a pack on her own? 

She sighed as she walked across the plains, her tail limp by her hocks. She was a sad sight of a wolf, for sure. Ears and head lowered with the weight of her mournung. She hardly picked up her paws to take the next step. She didn't even know where she was going. Heading west, maybe. 

She paused, lifting her head long enough to look about her. There was nothing. A vast sea of summer grass and mountains in the distance. Sunny was gone and so was her reason for being here. She had never been attached to this place, just to Sunny and their future. Her eyes paused in th direction of Easthollow. Should she return to there?

Sorry for the delay! Vague thread is vague. I am assuming Valiant fled from Sunny's body.

Valiant was exhausted on Steph's trail, and guilty and sorrowful and horrified. He was doing his best not to think about his father. He had to move on, like the faeries had told him.

He caught sight of her sad, dejected form ahead of him and picked up the pace, recalling when they had met and wondering if she was going to be his new mother. It'd never happened that way, though; so much time had passed, and the burgeoning hope seemed ridiculous now that he was so big and strong. She seemed barely older than him, and certainly not big enough for him to curl up and hide underneath.

"Steph?" he called as he drew nearer, still wondering at what might've happened if he'd been able to spend just a little more time with the woman.

No worries!

A voice carried on the wind, and Steph's ears perked as he head turned in the direction from which it came. Her eyes settled on Valiant and she gave him a small smile. Hey, Valiant, she said softly and moved towards him. While they weren't like Mother and Son, Steph considered him family. How are you holding up? she asked him. She didn't expect him to be doing any better than she. 

She hadn't been upset when he fled from Sunny's body. She felt empathy for him, knowing how much he had been hurting, how he still may be hurting now.

The male did not stop until he was standing there with Steph on the plains, the wind whispering all around them. He considered Steph family as well — all of Easthollow were his family, just like Whitebark Stream and White Spine and Round Valley. He hadn't been to Easthollow as recently, and he didn't know most of those wolves, but he'd erroneously assumed they shared blood somewhere down the line.

Steph was set apart from them as someone that he knew and cared for, and as someone who had done a great deal of good for himself and his father. He was trying to be strong, but in the face of her sympathy, he was powerless against the high tide of his grief.

Not at all, he admitted in a reedy voice. I'm sorry I ran away. I'm staying right now at the Hushed Willows, with a pack that's settled there. Aunt Dawn is close by. He hadn't yet gone to visit her; he wanted to make sure and give Artyom plenty of time to give her the news before arriving to share the burden of his own grief. With Steph, there was no such fear.

I know you probably have better places to heal — but you could come back with me, if you wanted, he said softly, thinking that she would likely want to be back with her mother, in Easthollow. Valiant sure wished he could go home to his mother, right then. How are you doing? he asked, because this was the question he'd had on his mind when he'd decided to track her down.

She gave him a soft look as she shook her head side to side. There is no need to apologize, she encouraged. In mourning, it is wise to do what is good for your soul, regardless of others, she explained. She just wished she knew what was good for her own soul. How is Dawn? I assume you let her know? she asked gently. 

Valiant offered her a place with the pack he was recovering with. Steph was silent a few moments, and then he asked how she was doing. She took a moment to try and put it into words. I am lost, she admitted to him. Sunny and I... had a whole adventure ahead of us, and now it's gone, she said honestly. I fear if I went back to Easthollow, I would feel like a failure. Moreso, I fear I would never leave again. She simply wasn't sure what to do, or where to go. 

She looked at him carefully before asking, Do you need me? She hoped he would understand her question. Did he need her in this time of mourning? If he said yes, she would go with him, and be there for him. Steph wasn't sure what it was she herself needed. So, if Valiant needed her, she would give herself.