OOC: ©table code and image to jacoby: backdated to before Haku's dethroning?
Word count: 723. Worth 7 points
The woman and child were fleeing Dahlia de Mai.
True to Haku's word, Hanna had not risen above the rank of Solum her entire stay in the pack, regardless of what she did. She feared each day that he would snap and some harm would befall her young daughter, or even one of the other pups. Desi's well-being concerned her far more than any of her niece's children's did, not from lack of care, but because they were closer family. The thing that saddened Hanna is that such a thing would matter at all. And King's wellbeing was none of her concern; even as a fellow mother, Hanna knew nothing of the family, knew not that King was yet another family member to add to the roster, and therefore left the care of the child to his mother unless she was directly requested to do otherwise.
As the war had been waged, Hanna remained reclusive, either staying with Conor and Alexey or in Mew's old house, and occasionally even shutting herself and Désirée into the hospital rooms. She felt bad; there was not much to keep a younger child entertained, but as much as she could, Hanna wished not to encounter the Rosen. She had not been able to leave - not quite, not if there were some way Mew might be alive - but as the days warmed by whatever fraction, the medic's resolve had grown. Mew was dead. After spending more than a week in the chill, however equipped wolves were to deal with that, and with the damage to her head, Hanna could not justify any reason she could be alive, not with the healer's intuition she had.
The final straw was the fire to Haku's home. She had not been directly involved; she had remained behind so that the children would have a caretaker in case any awoke. But the fact that danger had knocked so closely to home struck a foul chord in her mind. So she had begun making contingency plans. Hanna had not even warned her great-nephews of what she was planning, too afraid that they would come to some harm for knowing something about her departure. Instead, she darkened the white patches of Galilahi's coat, staining them with a combination of mud and ash, wrapped anything and everything that might make noise in gauze or fabric strips torn from the blankets in the hospital, and fled once the night had darkened.
Desi had been concealed in her sling. She was technically too big for it now, but her silvery blue and white coat would stand out like a sore thumb when Hanna preferred to move stealthily. The little girl had complained initially, and did so again as Hanna moved Gali into a trot past the border of Dahlia de Mai into Arachnea's Revenge. She had hoped to conceal her movements initially by going toward Inferni rather than away. On horseback, it would be difficult to detect Desi's scent though a cursory inspection of Hanna's haunts would reveal her to be with her mother. Hopefully by that time, though, the pair would have backtracked, veering near to Phoenix Valley, then home free to AniWaya. Perhaps they would even spend some time investigating past AniWaya, to keep harm from coming to the village. Hanna had wondered what might be past there, this seemed a fine time to find out.
Mommy... the three month old began for what seemed the millionth time with a touch of a whine. Wheh aw we goin'? Home, dear one. We're going back to where we came from. We're just taking a longer way to get there. Shhh, must be quiet, Lovey. She only hoped the longer way did not end in more trouble. After all, the pair were headed directly toward Inferni, the clan with which Dahlia de Mai was in conflict. However, perhaps she could convince whoever she encountered that, despite the scent of the flower pack on her fur, she was not a part of the war. If that did not work.. perhaps she could bargain for her life, and that of her daughter. Maybe Inferni was in need of another medic? It certainly would beat death. Still, she could but hope that if she encountered a coyote, it would be one with which she was already acquainted.
Speak, think, act
Desi talks, Desi thinks