Naniko looked into the crystal-clear lake, staring at her reflection. She didnt' know who she was looking at any more. She was supposed to be the calm, rational one in she and Conri's relationship, the one who didn't really show how they felt or why they felt a certain way. The one who was always there no matter what. But this time she hadn't been. She'd been stupid and reckless...and it had cost them whatever little happiness they had summed up over the last few difficult months.

It wasn't like sweet Naniko to run away from her problems; usually she faced them head-on. It wasn't like her to act afraid of anything, or to cry for days and days. People moved on, parents died...and she had never cried over them. But those tiny little pups...they hadn't even gotten a chance at life. She couldnt compare them to Physe or to Roman and Kaelyn and say "Yes, they're dead...but they had a full, wonderful life". She had taken it away from them. And no matter what anyone told her, she still felt that way.

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Savina was padding her way around the territory of Twilight Vale. Since her leg was feeling better she had been making her way around the lands to familiarize herself with her new home. She hoped that soon she could start venturing beyond the borders and look at the other territories around here, but not yet. She would have to stop and rest a bit after a while to let her leg rest. The last thing she wanted was the re-injure it again.



She had headed out from the manor in a southwestern direction. She could smell a body of water nearby, probably a lake she had guessed. Though soon her nose picked up another familiar scent. The femme could smell Naniko, and she was not too far off. The ebony wolf’s tail raised and began to wag and she trotted off in the direction of the Andromeda. She hadn’t seen the ivory wolfess since she was first accepted into the pack and she was excited to see her again. Savina also hoped that she could take a look at her leg and tell her how the healing was progressing, maybe she could tell her how soon she’d be able to use it like normal again.



It didn’t take long for the female to find her friend next to sparkling waters of the lake. As soon as she saw her however, Savina could tell that something was wrong. The Naniko she last saw had an aura of happiness around her, but the ebony girl could sense a deep sadness coming from her. Instinctively her tail lowered and she softly padded up next to where her leader was seated. Savina gently nudged Naniko’s arm with her muzzle and sat down beside her. ”Naniko? Is something wrong?” Her emerald eyes looked searchingly at her friend, full of concern.

She hadn't really been paying attention to what was going on around her, and definitely didn't notice that Savina was nearby. Most of the pack was busy with their own day to day activities, so a lot of them didn't stop to say hello or talk or anything. They had their own agendas. But Naniko spent most of her time around the lands, doing tasks...painting, working in the garden..taking care of the little ones.

"Ah...nothing's wrong. I was thinking about fishing...but I don't remember where I put my pole at. You haven't seen it anywhere?"

I’m going on the assumption that Savina will notice that Naniko’s not pregnant anymore. If you want to change that just let me know!



Savina’s brow furrowed at Naniko’s response. ”Naniko, I don’t think that fishing is what is on your mind right now…” It was obvious to her that something was eating at the other female. Something very troubling. Some wolves might have shied away from trying to make another, especially one of the leaders of their pack, face a subject that they didn’t seem to want to. However Savina’s mother had raised her to always try and make people talk about their problems. ”It is always better to talk about the hard things Savina. If you keep them bottled up inside they can eat you alive.” The onyx female had always had a knack for reading people’s emotions, and she could tell that her friend was in fairly bad shape. But what was it? What had caused such a drastic change in the Andromeda’s mood?



That’s when she noticed it. She had absentmindedly been looking over her body when she noticed the lack of the bump in her belly. Savina was so shocked that it seemed her heart had stopped beating for a moment. Her green eyes looked back up at Naniko, unable to hide the shock and sadness that shone in them. “Naniko…I…what…” The words caught in her throat. Her eyes trailed back down to her flat stomach and back up to her face. ”What happened?” It was the only thing she could blurt out, her Italian accent even thicker than usual with the worry and emotion that was washing over her.

She felt stupid to have thought that she could hide it. Of course they would notice--she'd been getting a little bigger. The pups had been small, but there had been many of them..six. An unnaturally large litter for a first-time mother. Somehow, though, she knew that she and Conri would have been able to handle it. They were good together, despite the arguments that they sometimes got in. What relationships didn't have their little problems? It would have been stranger if they'd had a perfect mateship. "How's your leg? Sorry I haven't been around." She'd wanted to check on her more often, but she had been afraid of coming back. She had taken the children to the place where they had come from, to the border of those burned, charred lands, and buried them. "I took them to be buried with my father...but I couldn't navigate through those lands. I only made it a little ways into them before I knew I'd have to turn back. It was frightening..being by myself there after the fire. It's where my adopted sister Dierdre died..in that stupid fire. Her son is running around here...sometimes both of her sons. Sirius and Apollo.

It wasn't just these pups that were on her mind, but Dierdre too. If the female hadn't given birth right then, right during the fire, then both her and her puppies might have made it. Instead, only Sirius and Apollo had come out alive. And even after that they'd had problems and had required constant monitoring.

"I love Conri, but he's going to be so mad at me. I talked to the coyotes behind his back...they hurt him so badly. But I had to do it--or we wouldn't be safe. And then I fell...I just don't know. I want to curl up and sleep forever...I feel so tired. But I can't go back to the house yet."

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Savina couldn't even imagine the pain that the ivory female must be going through right now. The loss of her first litter before they even had a chance to live. She had been around others who had miscarried before, and it was always devastating. Some handled it better than others, but they were usually ones who had had it happen to them before. Her heart broke for Naniko. "Don't worry about my leg now, it can wait. Don't worry about not being around, you've been through something really tough." The fact that even now the Andromeda still thought of her injure really spoke of her empathy. Savina was sure it was also a good way to distract herself from everything else troubling her at the moment, but it still touched her.



The wolfess listened as she talked about her journey back to her old lands, to bury her miscarried pups with the others that she had loved and lost. It made perfect sense to Savina, if it had been her she would've wanted to do the same, though admittedly in her case it would be quite impossible. "I can imagine it was frightening. Not only being there for such a sad purpose, but to relive the entire fear of escaping the fire...and thinking of those you lost in it..." There was a part of the female that was concerned that Naniko had been away for a while. She understood, it wasn't that, she was just starting to be nervous of her taking off because of her grief.



The more the ghost-white female spoke it became more evident the internal struggle she was fighting. The concern never left the charcoal wolf's face. "I have not met your mate, Conri, but if he loves you, which I'm sure he does, he will not be mad at you. He might be upset at first, but he'll understand that you were doing this to protect him and the rest of the pack. He'll be grieving as well...for the loss...it would do you both good to be there for one another. I know it will be hard, but I think you feel better after you do."



"I want to curl up and sleep forever...I feel so tired." Savina gave a great sigh and turned her head from Naniko, looking out across the lake, though at nothing in particular. When she spoke her voice was soft. "I hope...I hope that you don't plan on running off..." She paused for a moment before speaking again. "My sister had a miscarriage on her first litter. She took it really hard, as anyone would. My mother and I tried to help her as much as we could, but she became so distant from us...we didn't know what to do. Then one morning I woke up and she was gone. I looked all over for her, but I could never find a trace of her. I haven't seen her since..." It was painful for the femme to talk of it. It had broken her heart as well as her mother's when Ghita had disappeared, and the memory still stung like a fresh wound. "I don't want to see that happen to you Naniko. I care for you, just as I'm sure everyone else in the pack does. Conri more than anyone else. I think we'd be lost without you." She looked back at her friend, her eyes of emerald full of emotion and pleading. "And if you cannot return to the house yet, I will stay here with you and look after you, if you will let me." Savina hoped that Naniko would let her help her like she had wanted to help Ghita so long ago and failed.

She did have one secret weapon that she could use in a conversation with Conri to make him feel really bad, but she had never brought it out before. She didn't like to even think about making him feel that way...making him feel so horrible and it be her fault. They both had gone through so much together, knew each other so well...they knew exactly what to say to each other...the stuff that would really hurt.

"You're so right. I don't know...it's just so hard sometimes. I know you'd like Conri if you met him...he's exactly like me. We were friends for a really long time before we got together. It just seemed natural that we would, because we already spent so much time together." Naniko nodded. "I'd love to stay with you for a little while. I'll catch up with him eventually, and I haven't thought of what to say to him yet. I won't run away. I won't." She reached out to hug Savina. "You're great. Usually I'm okay...but this was just too much at once, I think. I was excited about having puppies of my own to take care of, after always taking care of everyone elses'...but we can have more pups. It doesn't mean I'll forget about them, but I don't have to be so sad."

Just talking through it was helping, and she was nodding to her own words. "I had a sister, too, who left. What was yours' name? Mine was Pontiac. I haven't seen her in over a year...I did spot her in Jaded Shadows, in the old lands, but then she dissapeared again. My parents left us alone when we were really little and we didn't really get along...so she ended up going to Jaded Shadows while I went with my other father in what was Chimera back then."

So Bailey's Irish Creme crushed with ice is amazing. This PSA was brought to you by Erin's Irish Heritage XD
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The jet-black female with the green eyes softly smiled as she heard her friend talk about her mate. She could hear how much she loved them in her voice, and it broke Savina's heart that they had lost their first litter. The wolf was certain about the quality of the parents they would be, and she was blessed to have been accepted into a pack with such great leaders. She could also sense Naniko's mood was improving. Thank the heavens! she thought. The Corvus still couldn't imagine the pain that her Andromeda was going through, but she was relieved to feel her spirits begin to rise.



As Naniko embraced her, Savina used her neck and head to give the lady a hug back. It made the two-year-old feel warm inside to have been able to help her friend. "I'm glad you will let me stay with you. And thank you, but I know you would do the same for me. It's what friends are for." She beamed at the ivory female, her own heart already lighter for their talk. "Of course it was too much. Losing your puppies is a very hard thing. You reacted as well as anyone can be expected to Naniko." Savina put her paw on her friend's shoulder. "And of course you can have more pups. You will be a wonderful mother, and I'm sure Conri will be a great father. And the rest of the pack will be there to love them and protect them as well. You're right, you don't have to forget about them, but I know they would want you to continue living and being the happy person that you are." Savina truly was amazed at how strong Naniko was. There are many wolves who would not have the outlook that she did at this point, who wouldn't be able to take it, but she was.



"My sister's name was Ghita. We would argue and fight at times, but we would always work things out. She always wanted to be the center of attention, and always had an eye for the males." Savina chuckled to herself, thinking of how flirty Ghita had been. "I was pretty much the opposite. But that was just her nature, and in time I came to accept that. I was actually closer to my brother Ehno, but he left before Ghita disappeared. I understood why he left, sometimes I wanted to leave too, but I couldn't leave mother. She was such a great wolf, my mom." Her green eyes looked back out across the lake. She hadn't spoken about her mother to anyone since the accident. The ebony wolf was already feeling the emotion washing over her.

I needed to know :ooo!!!!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS.



Naniko was used to not having a whole lot of blood-related family around. Her entire family had moved away when she had been really young, barely old enough to be out of the den on her own. She did remember them a little bit, and she'd seen her father a few months later...but ever since then she hadn't seen or heard anything about them. Her younger sister Selene had come to stay in Storm for a while, and Naniko had been able to visit her a few times, but it had been pretty weird. They hadn't even felt like siblings.

"Pilot and I were talking about Sirius and Apollo the other day...they don't really get along, either. I guess it's natural, but...well, they've both gone through a lot, with losing their mother before they even really got to know her..I'm glad that Sirius can be happy living with his father. He always seemed really sad." She did care about both boys a lot, and had tried to teach them the important things in life. "You should tell me more about your mother. I grew up with an adopted-mother...so I don't know what it's like to have a real one with me. Iskata was a pretty good mom, though, before she left. Yours was really good too?"

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"Ah yes, the two brothers." She said in her Italian accent. "I met both of them the other day. Yes, I noticed that they do have to seem their problems with each other. I did manage to get them to play a game with me, hide and seek. I think it took their minds off their arguing, for a little while at least." Savina smiled thinking about the two pups. It had been great to be around pups again. Listening to their problems, trying to give them advice, playing games with them. It was as much fun for her as it was for them. "I know we all wish that siblings would get along, but unfortunately sometimes they're just too different. I know that Apollo feels like Sirius was a traitor leaving here, and Sirius doesn't understand why Apollo doesn't want to live with their dad. I tried to explain to them that as they grow older they might split apart, and some wolves want to stay with their parents while others don't. Whether or not they understood or it helped any only time will tell." The Corvus hoped she had helped the pups a little, she was concerned about the anger they seemed to hold for one another.



"Yes...she was really good." Savina paused for a moment, trying to collect her thoughts and trying to keep herself together. She hadn't talked to anyone about her mother since she died. She hardly knew where to start. The female would become emotional, there was no helping it. It still haunted her, the accident. She also wondered if there was something she could've done, something to have prevented what happened. In her head she knew that it was no one's fault, that there wasn't anything anyone could have done. It was just a freak accident. Yet still she wondered. Well, when mom had us, my sister, brother and I, she and Serge, my father though one can barely call him that, they weren't mates. And when she had us he disowned all of us. It was really hard for her, harder than I can imagine, because she really loved him. She raised us all by herself. Of course the pack helped, but she did more than all of them combined. She didn't even tell us that Serge was actually our father until we began asking questions about it. She didn't want to hurt us, but she didn't want to lie to us either. Even after that she never really let it show how much pain she was in with how he had treated her. All that mattered to her was us, and making sure that we had a good life and had everything we needed." Savina was still amazed with her mother. To have the strength to be such a great mom when the wolf she loved had disowned her and their children, and yet still live in the same pack as him.



Once we were grown up, my brother Ehno decided to go out on his own. He hated being around Serge, and he never had any males to look up to. We all understood why he wanted to leave, but it still hurt when he left. We were a very tight-knit little family, and to lose one was a great loss. Mother, Ghita, and I kept on and it was good. Then Ghita found a mate and got pregnant. Mother was so excited, so happy that her daughter was going to have what had been denied to her. But then the miscarriage happened and Ghita disappeared. It tore my mother up. After that all we had were each other. We were still happy and living a good life until a couple of months ago. We were walking around the woods one day and...I still don't understand how it happened...how neither of us smelled the bear..." There it was, replaying in her mind all over again. If the ordeal on the ship had been horrible, this had been one hundred times worse. She could feel her body begin to shake involuntarily. "It attacked me first, but mom...she provoked it towards her...she was running near the side of a cliff, the weight of them both must have been too much and..." The ebony female collapsed, tears running down her face, her eyes shut tight. "I never...I never even got to say goodbye..."

This thread is making me all teary-eyed <33



She worried about so many things...she wasn't sure how she had room to fit everyone and everything in there, but somehow she managed. Naniko was a natural worrier--she was almost always anxious about something that might go wrong with somebody, or how some packmate was doing...sometimes about Sirius and Apollo, other times about Lucifer and Deuce. Occasionally Conri, though he seemed to get into less trouble than the boys. But the trouble that Conri got into was always much more serious.

Naniko listened to Savina's words gravely, her hands clutched together in front of her. It seemed that everyone in the pack had a story like hers, that their family members had either died or ran away...that they'd been left behind somehow. Naniko had always spent so much time worrying about her own family, her own mother Iskata and her real parents, Roman and Kaelyn, that she hadn't ever thought about how Conri might feel about his mother Soran having left...and about him killing his father Hollow after Hollow had raped Soran for the second time.

The girl came nearer to her packmate, wrapping long arms around her, rocking her a little and whispering lightly. "She knew you loved her. Parents know how much their children love them...and how much they care about them. It was in every smile you gave her, every favor you did for her and every kill you brought home for her. You don't need to say goodbye as long as you know that she'll always be there with you, wherever you go. You'll see her physically when you leave this world...but I bet she's watching over you, right now, seeing how much you love her and miss her. And when you do get to see her again you can tell her everything you never got the chance to say...but I think she'll already know. I think she always knew."

Its all so deep, and emotional and squishy. They should make this into a chick flick <3 It worked out really well that Savina could comfort Naniko and now Savina has been able to talk about her mom
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Her breath came out in heaving sobs. The girl had worked hard to try her best not to think about how her mother had died, much less actually saying it out loud. She knew that it was going to effect her, but she had no idea it would be this bad. It was almost as if she had been taken back to the very moment she had seen the ledge crumble and her mom disappear. Savina had cried harder then than she had during her entire life. Right now wasn't quite as bad, but it was definitely a close second. As soon as she felt Naniko's arms wrap around her she nuzzled into her fur, welcoming the comfort. As the Andromeda whispered her words to the distraught Corvus her sobs became less and she began to calm down. What she said made Savina feel much better, along with the fact that she had finally been able to talk about. The jet-black wolfess didn't have any idea what damage having it all bottled-up had done to her until it had finally gotten off her chest. In her heart she knew that what Naniko was saying was true.



Still nuzzled against her friend's body she finally collected herself enough to talk. "Thank you. For your comfort and your words. Also for listening. I...hadn't talked to anyone about what happened before now. I know now how much it was eating away at me." She took a deep breath, helping to slow her heart rate back to normal. "She did know how much I loved her, and I know how much she loved me. I know that she would be happy that I've found a new life here and new friends, such as yourself. And when my time comes to leave this life, I won't be afraid, because I will be able to be with her again." A soft smile crept its way back onto the femme's muzzle. She could almost see her mother smiling down at her now. The darkness that had been covering and choking her since her mother died had been lifted and the light shone on the wolf once more.



Slowly she pulled away from her friend's embracing arms and looked at Naniko, the happiness once again present in her green eyes. "You are such a great friend Naniko. I will never be able to thank the heavens enough for sending me here to meet you." Savina placed her night-dark paw over Naniko's snow-white hand. "I promise that I will always be here for you as you are always there for me. I will help you and this pack with all my strength and heart." She was making an oath. To Naniko, to Twilight Vale, and to herself. And as long as it was within her control, that oath would never be broken. "I also want you to know her name, my mother's name. Amata. It means "beloved" in Italian. She definitely lived up to that name." It was true. Even if it hadn't been true of Serge, it had been true of all of her children, Savina most of all.

omg you have threads with all of my character at the moment. :ooooo



She had messed things up for she and Conri...she could feel it. But she wasn't going to give up hope. All she could do was throw herself before him and beg him to forgive her. Savina's words have given her the courage to consider that idea...all she'd been doing lately was running away. How childish of her.

"You could let her name live on in your pups--I bet you'd make a great mother. That's what Dierdre did, to give honor to our father's memory...she gave Sirius his last name." She felt a smile coming on now that everything had been said, stretching across her face. "I bet you'd be great with them...little ones. You already do really well with adults"

I iz James thread hog, rawr >D
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The sable lady really liked to idea of passing on the name of her mother to one of her pups, if she was ever to be a mother. She wanted to be a mother, the maternal instinct was strong in her, and as much as she loved caring for and teaching other's children, she would give anything to have some of her own. Though before that she would have to find the right male...and get over her fear of being abandoned by one. The wolfess wanted to give her pups what she had never had: a mother and a father. A father that would love and care for them like one should. Not disown them because he didn't want them. "I would really like to do that, if I ever am blessed with pups of my own. I would love to be a mother, however I have some problems with males and opening myself up to them. Not only that, but I also want to make sure that my pups will have a loving father, something that was taken from me."



As the smile broke across Naniko's face one began to stretch itself across her own ebony muzzle. Savina loved Naniko. As more than just a friend or a leader, but as a sister. The ivory wolfess was what Ghita hadn't been. She still loved Ghita, and accepted her for who she was, but this new friend was what she had imagined a sister would be. The Italian girl laughed at her Andromeda's last comments. "I'm happy that you think I would be apt at that job. I was actually wondering if there was a puppy sitter position within the pack that needs to be filled. Perhaps we can talk about that sometime? Once you have everything sorted out." She nudged her jet shoulder into Naniko's snow one playfully, beaming at her friend.

That's not a bad thing I used to have threads with all of Amber's characters at the same time too XDD



Conri was really a great wolf...Naniko didn't appreciate him enough, really. He was always there for her whenever she needed him, and he really seemed to cherish her. How could she have hurt him so badly? She thought about this, nodding to Savina. She was right...pups deserved both a mother and a father. Maybe Sirius and Apollo should have been raised by their father, with some sort of a milk supplement. But at the time, the pups hadn't been looking so good...so she'd thought that it would be better for them to stay with Deuce and herself.

"Once I get everything sorted out with Conri, if I do, I'll ask him what he thinks. Sounds great to me, though."