[/html]The earth was warming; winter’s hold was easing each day. The female knew that the season’s hold on their lands had been weak since the falling of the tree’s leaves. She was grateful for the fortune, a blessing while they recovered from the war. Their pack had suffered so, and their numbers and dwindling morale spoke for it. But, the second in command would not allow life to stop, she would not end the cycle of their world simply because some lay in hibernation. It was time for the orchard to be tended to, and there was no one more suited for the task then the pack’s horticulturist.
The female sat in her habit, the garb shielding her from the passing wind, and raked the stone across the blade swiftly and methodically. Her eyes watched as she passed it over the sheers again and again. Their bounty would be great, the summer’s harvest one that the whole pack would need to help bring forth. But it began now, at the end of winter and before the buds of future fruit could grow. The female hummed as she sharpened the pruning scissors, and thoughts wandering though her eyes focused.
The pack had not gathered since that meeting of loyalty. She wished for them to celebrate, and thought that once the branches she was to cull dried a great fire and feast would be in order. Anu frowned as she thought of the beast that had left them on that day, Mars. The multi-hued father had chosen his fate, brash and inconsiderate of their leader. Disrespect, it ran deep in his chosen tone and words and Anu was eased knowing that they no longer held bad blood within the veins that were the Dreaming ranks.
The gray woman rose, the long handles held in her paws. The blades were monstrous, but she wielded them masterfully. Shoulders lifted them skyward, arms balancing their weight. Skillfully she began with the first tree and began to prune the excess branches from its limbs.