[html]  Dated February 24
She pushed her hair out of her face a little as she worked, grinding up some of the tree bark that she needed for the next day. Some of the dust came off of her hands as she lifted them and she breathed it in. She coughed a few times, then sneezed, trying to rid her system of it. It wasn't bad to ingest it, but breathing it in wasn't really a good idea.
Naniko looked up at the sun, judging the time to be around mid-day. She still had a lot of time left to work before she'd go back to the den and Conri.
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Soran stretched slowly, sleeping on the cold floor in front of that fire had made her limbs stiff. The ebony fae brushed her long mane back with her fingers as she walked, tying it back with a strip of leather, but not bothering to braid it so the curls were still free to fall down her back as she walked. Jade eyes scanned the ladscape as she walked, the new day had brought the urge to see her family even more strongly, she wanted to see her sons and her daughter, she missed them all, and little Naniko who seemed so able to hold them together as a family. She did want to see them, despite her fears that they would shun her and decide that they didn't want her back, she had abandoned them all twice now and had no real right to ask to come back into thier lives once again.
The ebony lady realised that her feet had moved her far more quickly than she had expected, she was already at the Clouded Tears borders, taking a deep, calming breath she stepped over it and began to pad towards where she had last seen her family. Soon, a scent that caused a smile to cross her dark lips caught in her sensitive nostrils, now having a direction to go in she began to walk much more quickly, her canvas bag banging against her hip with each step she took. Sure enough, she soon arrived upon a sight that made her smile; the younger pale wolf was stood in front of her, with her back to the dark lady, clearly involved with some kind of work. Building up her courage and clearing her throat quickly, the obsidian lady managed to speak.
"Naniko." Her voice was filled with an odd mix of relief and fear, happiness and worry.
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Naniko had considered cutting her hair short, because it was easier to take care of...but she had to admit that she had grown to like it longer. It wasn't in her face at all, usually...today was just a bad day. The ghostly wolf paused in her medicine-mixing and reached back, running her hands through the long tresses to rid them of any debris. She would have to go looking for a comb, or something in the city that she could use to get it untangled easier. She started to braid it, starting at the top and working her way down into smaller and smaller links. When she was finished it reached down past the middle of her back.
Not much escaped the wolfess any more, not in Clouded Tears. She was used to the usual sounds and smells of the area, so when she smelled this new scent...and when the smell got stronger...she figured that it was coming toward her. Nothing to do but wait. She continued to work, to pass the time. Maybe the stranger would go past her. If that happened, she would find them and ask them what business they had on the lands.
But it looked like she wouldn't have to worry about that after all. The sight that came before her eyes was not the visage of a stranger, but one of an old friend...a friend that she hadn't seen in what seemed like ages. It confused her for a moment, to see Soran back in Bleeding Souls. She had asked Conri only a few days prior if he had seen Soran, and he'd said that he hadn't. It was probably just odd coincidence that she was here now. In any case, this was a happy event! She stood up, grinning and rubbing her hands together to get the dust off. "Soran!" As soon as the dust was taken care of she rushed to the matron, her past mother-in-law, her arms open for a hug.
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I apologise in advance in case it doesn't make sense, it has been proof read, but it's late here XD
Soran had assumed that when she came upon her family there would, at best, be awkward greetings, with stiff voices and awkward gestures. At worst the dark lady had expected her family, those she needed most, to turn their backs on her, to tell her outright that she no longer deserved to be around them, she wasn't wanted anymore. She expected that, she felt she deserved it, she had abandoned her brood twice now, and there was no definite proof to stay that she would stick around this time, other than her gut feeling that she needed to be here, but she couldn't show them that... it was after all a feeling. Soran knew that she would be unable to bear it if her family did not want her back, then she would slink away into the shadows, she had come to realise when she had left to "find herself" that the only place that she had ever truly been herself was when she had been here, in Bleeding Souls, with her loved ones around her. She needed these lands, these wolves, her family and friends, without them she was a pointless entity... she was nothing. These were the things that made her whole.
Of all the reactions that Soran had been expecting, the one she received from little Naniko was not one of them. The shouted cheery greeting, the racing towards her, the hug that Soran wasn't ready for, for a moment the ebony lady was sure that she was asleep and dreaming, had it not been for her spate of bizarre nightmares recently she would have, but this was far too happy a dream for it to be one of hers. Suddenly the jade eyed lady found her limbs again and threw her arms around her daughter-in-law, drawing her in for a warm hug, happy to accept and return any affection she got from any member of what she considered to be her family. Finally she let the younger fae go, unable to move the smile from her dark lips, this was much, much better than she had hoped for, to have such a warm greeting.
"My darling girl! How have you been?" Soran said, suddenly desperate to know how Conri, Dhalia and Khaden were as well, but those queries could all be answered in good time, the pale fea before her was her focus at the moment.
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So many wolves came and left the pack…it was rare for them to come back for a second time. Or a third time. And even if Soran wasn’t coming back for sure to join Clouded Tears and be with her and Conri…that was okay. She was just happy to see her again. Soran didn’t smell like Laruku or the borders, so Naniko guessed that she had only just returned. Or, at the very least, she had been hanging around, but not anywhere long enough to gain the territory’s scent. Soran smelled like a jumble of different things, all foreign. The strange thing to Naniko, though, was the fact that she couldn’t smell the little ones on Soran. Where were Dhalia and Khaden?
”Soran—the children. They aren’t with you?” She had expected that the young ones would have grown quite a bit…but they weren’t anywhere in sight. Had they split up from their mother? ”I thought that they were with you—they disappeared around the same time” She pulled back to look at the mother, worry plain across her features. ”I just assumed…that you’d gone and that you had taken them with you” Maybe this was too much at once. She hugged Soran again, tightly. ”In any case…it’s so good to see you. To know that you’re okay. Conri’s here, too…he just came back”
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I'm a nasty bad person that makes you wait too long for a reply... I'm sorry.
It was nice to see Naniko again, Soran had missed the girl, though the pack lands she did not, the lady had never gotten on with their leader, and although there was so much here for her, so much for her to come back to, she was unsure that Laruku would take her back yet again, which is why she had chosen not to join, and simply come to the lands to see her family, perhaps in time she would come back here. Though the smile fell from her dark lips as her pointed ears caught the sentence that Naniko uttered. The children weren't here? Her youngest babes were not safe and well within the pack lands? They hadn't been seen? They were all alone out there? Panic rose in the obsidian lady's chest as she thought this through, she had lost her chance to make things right with her youngest pups, she may never see them again, she had lost them. Jade eyes closed slowly, just for a second as Naniko told the tale, they had left at the same time as her? Had they gone on a misguided adventure to find her? Had they just decided that if their mother didn't want them then there was no need for them to be around? Now she might never know the answer, she might never know what had gone through the pair's mind, she might not even see them again. The dark pelted lady was not sure that she would be able to bear never seeing them again, already the false hope was rising in her chest, if she could find her way home, perhaps they could too? The dark lady knew that there was a miniscule chance of that happening, but it would be something she would cling to, even a vain hope was some kind of hope. If all else failed she would search for them, even if it meant recruiting all of her new friends in the nearby pack just over the borders to help her search.
And what was this? Conri had only just returned as well from the sound of it, so much had happened, the dark lady did not know if she could cope, she had missed so much that had happened within her babes lives, the ebony lady felt worthless, like the worst mother in existence... a negligent fae who deserved the loss of her children. "Conri's only just back? W... where has he be...where did he go? He... he..." The dark fae asked, but was unable to finish her sentence, her eyes now averted, staring at the floor, not able to face looking Naniko in the eyes, there was too much guilt built up behind her own jade gaze, she couldn't let the pallid female that she was already blaming herself for her children leaving the lands.
"And... and the little ones aren't with me... I haven't seen them since I left, I thought they were still here with you... Oh gods! I hope they're alright!" Soran buried her face in her hands momentarily, despair and worry washing over her, her babes had all gone missing at one point, two of them, her youngest two, barely old enough to fend for themselves were still missing. She doubted they'd be able to hunt, she wondered if Naniko or Conri had taught them, if the little ones had had her skill, if they would be able to survive out there. She lowered her hands, steeling herself, regaining her composure, hiding the guilt, fear and worry deep inside herself, finally able to look at the pale female before her, scanning her eyes for any signs that might reveal what had happened whilst the dark female had been away.
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She would have to update Soran on what had been going on. Gosh--it was hard to try and think about it all over again. "Well...Conri dissapeared, but he left me a note saying that he loved me. I thought that he'd died, because there was blood all over the note. I just...found it outside my den one morning. Naniko started to tell the story, proceeding through what she had been doing the last few months. "I've been keeping pretty busy with my apothecary work, trying to help out the pack as much as I can, but it was hard to keep my mind off of him. I looked for him forever, mother...but I couldn't find him anywhere." She felt completely comfortable calling Soran "mother"...the female was the only mother in her life that she knew, now. Iskata and Kaelyn were long gone.
"I went to Inferni, because I thought that maybe he'd been taken by the coyotes, and they caught me and ripped my leg up. It took a while to heal." She motioned to her mangled leg, taking a step back. "He just showed up the other day, though, and Laruku's accepted him back. I just...oh...I don't know what to do. I love him so much, but I don't know if he wants to get back into it, or not. I'm not sure about myself, either. It hurt when he left...but I know that it wasn't his fault. He was kidnapped."
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