Phoenix Maplewood gold and seide

Druid sighed as she returned from yet another venture to the western creek. The sound was muffled by the fish she carried in her mouth. It was a rather meager catch, though she was surprised she’d managed to succeed at all. For whatever reason, she couldn’t stop thinking of @Mahler today and it was driving her to distraction. She felt so angry and betrayed, yet she missed him bitterly.

She dropped the catch of the day in a central cache, then drew in a deep breath as she pondered what to do with herself. Druid supposed a patrol was in order. She turned and began making her way back toward the outskirts of the bypass, the former Graf still lurking in her thoughts as she walked in the ghost of his footsteps along the familiar route.

When she found herself on the far side of the territory, Druid absently pressed northward toward the neighboring forest. She peered at the abandoned glacier in the distance, then shifted her gaze westward. She could not see the coast from here, yet she thought of Mireille and suddenly wished she could spend some time with her friend. But she was needed here, so Mireille would have to wait.

waited to see if anybody else would pop in but also didn't want to wait too long!

jorunn's eyes turned to the coast today too.

a pull in her bones, in her heart, but she had promised herself here. there was work to be done still, the children had not returned home yet. she had a timeline for herself and had not reached the end of it yet.

so she too patrolled, ignored the beckoning call of her emotions.

it would be druid that she stumbled upon today. just beyond the reaches of Rivenwood.

how are you? she asked softly into the cold air.

Thank you so much for scooping this!

She turned at the sound of footsteps, her gray tail giving a slight twitch as Jorunn moved toward her with a question on her lips. Druid’s own lips parted, though they pressed together again as she gave the pleasantry some sincere consideration.

Truthfully, she began, I’m struggling today. She didn’t elaborate, instead making an attempt to lift her own spirits by asking, Do you know Mireille?

jorunn always preferred the truth.

it was so easy to get lost in muddled words and shrouded feelings. to be greeted with bare bones was for the best. even if the bones were worn and ragged despite the young that carried them.

but a question was returned before jorunn could pick at the bones.

i do. i help look for her when she was lost. a soft pause. it had felt like forever ago.

you are friends?

open, to hear more of druid's thoughts and relations.

Me too, the yearling said quietly, ears tilting backward at the unpleasant memory. She stared at the ground for a beat, then lifted her mismatched gaze to Jorunn’s pale features as she added, Yes, she’s my best friend aside from my sisters.

Mentioning them made her think of Heda too. Druid’s chest tightened. Suddenly, she pivoted to peer at the bypass over Jorunn’s shoulder. She had pledged herself to Rivenwood, declaring that she would never leave. But in the end, it was only soil. She missed the wolves who had once peopled it, even those she hadn’t thought she would, like Wylla.

Druid took a deep breath, held it, released it. I want to go visit her—or my sister who lives to the west—but… She swallowed. She suddenly felt bolted down to Rivenwood. And she had driven the stakes through her very own feet.

For a moment or two, she let the rest of her thoughts go unspoken. And when her lips moved again, they said something entirely different. It hurts so much, when they leave you. I didn’t know it would feel like this. It almost makes me want to… Again, she trailed off, one of her black forepaws curling into a clenched fist.

best friend, and jorunn perhaps understood just why she had even been allowed to come on this mission. the relation of sapphique and rivenwood via their young seemed strong.

and druid wished to go to them.

them being either mirelle or a sister to the west.

for a moment, the encouragement to go lingered on her tongue. but she bit it down. already aware of how focused in on rivenwood even the young seemed. such a shame that they had to face this type of damage so young. the youngest women should be free to explore the world.

but jorunn had learned early that these lands were not like her homelands.

this too showed in the twisted words and emotions of the young hunter before her.

you want to what, druid? your words are safe here,

jorunn was not one to indulge others in the secrets of those who trusted her with their emotions.

Jorunn prompted her to finish her sentence. The muscles in Druid’s jaw jumped as she clenched her teeth. She always kept her darkest thoughts to herself. Why would she unburden them now, on someone she barely knew, must less trusted?

Nonetheless, she found her fist loosening as she sighed the words, I just want to run away and be alone. If I don’t have anyone, I can’t lose anyone. Nobody can leave me, if I leave them first. But, Druid was hasty to add, I wouldn’t do it, I…

She huffed, eyes dropping to the forest floor. If she was stapled to Rivenwood, Druid was utterly interwoven with Sequoia and Witch. She could leave the former. It would hurt, but she could. But to leave those two, it would unravel the very fibers of her being and destroy them all.

Druid lapsed into pensive silence, her thoughts eventually wandering down other paths. She caught herself thinking of Laurel and her children and murmured, To care about others is to suffer. They can be taken, like Abel and Indra, or leave, like Mahler et al. I wish I could stop caring, she whispered.

jorunn thought her heart would have become stone after sour experiences, or hardened even the slightest. instead it remained soft. so easily broken in the face of sadness and tragedy.

it was no different here, listening to druid's desire to simply not care anymore.

it is suffering, but it is also love, she reminded softly.

perhaps you need to be reminded of love — to see sisters, to see mirelle. you are young, strong woman. do not let your heart close so soon.

And? Druid questioned. Why should she want love, if it only led to heartbreak? The more she thought about it, the more she began to realize it was only a matter of time before Sequoia and Witch left her too. She couldn’t imagine it would happen willingly, but it would happen.

Why shouldn’t I close my heart? she pressed. I would rather live all on my own than have it broken again and again, Druid insisted, truly meaning it, if only in the heat of the moment. I don’t want a mate or children, she continued, picking up steam, and mama’s going to die of old age. Witch probably wants a family of her own, so she’ll leave me too.

Tears welled. Abruptly, the wrought Druid turned and fled into the woods.