Set August 31st, around noon. Sorry it took me so long. <#
She had taken her optime form once she was away from the den. While she didn't mind the others seeing her shift, she preferred not to shift inside the den. Her intent today was to do some cleaning on a broken patch of old asphalt road she'd found. The intent of the pack was to be as close to their ancestors, and the occasional patch of human refuse needed to be taken care of. It was pretty shattered, and it was a simple task to lift each chunk to a sheet of cloth that she could then drag to the border to drop the strange rock outside the border, then return to where she was working.
It was near noon when she decided to stop and take a break. She nibbled on a strip of smoked beef, a gift from her son, who was up from the D'Arte pack visiting his former mate and their shared offspring, her grandchildren. She hoped he'd have time to visit Cody and Lena while he was up this way. She didn't know though. She nibbled at the jerky as her mind replayed the reason she felt the need to work so hard now. Soran had gone missing again, leaving no clues as to her location or even a reason why she had left. They had both felt joy that they'd been reunited, on Soran's birthday nonetheless. And still, the sable matriarch had vanished without a trace.
The pale woman sighed heavily, drawing her knees up to her chest and crossing her arms across them. She closed her eyes, remembering the special spice that had marked Soran's scent, and wishing it hadn't all but faded from their den. The pale healer had been over every inch of the packland, searching for any trace of her beloved woman. Now, as she lifted each heavy chunk of asphalt she was grieving in her way, erasing Soran from her heart as she erased the mark of the humans from the pack.
Word Count :: 314 OOC: Jiva is in optime. Also let me know if Jiva can't see/sense her unhappiness and i can change it up a bit.
Jiva was taking a walk. Palaydrian was well established in her pregnancy and each day was more exciting than the previous. He couldn’t wait to meet his children. He daydreamed about being a father ever since he heard. He did have a freak out at one point but he was over it. He was determined to be as good of a father as his own and he knew that Palaydrian was to be the best mother ever. They were due in a little over a month now and it just made him more excited just thinking about it so his walk was full of skipping feet. He would have ran on all fours but he was keeping his vow that he would live in the same form as his mate if she were stuck, as he had when she was attacked, now she could not change for fear of her children’s passing. He didn’t want that so he did what he could to make her comfortable and only changed when he was huntin.
He was humming a tuneless tune of no sorts as he moved along when he saw the older healer. He stopped and watched her for a second. She looked worse for wear and it seemed it wasn’t just physically, though he wondered what she was doing to make her look that worn out, but also mentally, he could see it in her face. He moved towards his idol. She taught him one or two things but matters always seemed to cut them off beforehand. He came to her with a smile on his face and waved; “Good day Deuce. I hope I find you well?” Of course it wasn’t but he wanted to be as polite as he could. Which obviously was a statement that he didn’t know she wasn’t as well as she wanted to be.
.: OOC :. Thats good for me! Also, evasive Deuce is evasive, but she'll talk if Jiva pushes. <3 Gah! So distracted by new skin, forgot to change character.
She looked up at the voice, opening her eyes, which had drifted shut at some point. It was Jiva. She gave him a smile, though it wasn't as relaxed as it should have and could have been. Rather, it seemed forced, even a little distant. Perhaps she was still wrapped up in her own mind, her own thoughts. His question made her smile wilt a moment, before she pasted it back on. Was her voice too chipper when she replied?
"I'm doing good. I'm just, you know..." She gestured to the broken chunks of black human rock, asphalt. "Been cleaning up some of the broken stuff from the humans." Her voice trailed off again, seeing something she didn't fathom in his eyes. She tacked on, before he could ask, "To keep busy mostly. And to help make our land more.... natural. Before the humans."
Had she ever lived in a land before the stain of humans? No... even her birth pack, the Lightpaw tribe, had been tainted by the humans. Back then she had been looked down on, for not being a shifter. How long had that been? Nine years ago. And to think, at four she had felt old. At five, she'd had a midlife crisis, getting involved with Haku. She was a grandmother, a great grandmother, and who knew if it went further?
Jiva looked as she moved her hand to the old rubble and he nodded; “It is a good way to keep things off your mind. Is there something bothering you?” He asked moving closer to the woman to show her he was interested in hearing what was wrong; “If you would like some help when you are ready? I wouldn’t mind moving a bit with you. I know how important it is to get rid of this stuff.” Yes he was trying to make it a little easier on the woman. She was older and her beliefs and emotions were different from those his age and he wanted to reach the ideal answer delicately.
He sat quietly near her in silence now, not saying anything more. He was sure she would say something sooner or later. He could see she already did a good chunk of some of the cleaning and he was surprised not because she was an older wolf but because anyone let her go on this long without helping her, but it was a far off and less used part of the pack. He was not always taking out human things but bringing some in, mostly for the making and helping of leatherworking but he tried to keep it all natural stuff unlike this asfalt which would not decompose... ever or it would take a very long time in the least as it already was doing.
She watched the younger male, remembering how she was when she was his age. Back then she'd been quick to anger, quick to spite and fury. He seemed calmer, more relaxed. There was something about him that put her at ease, and she didn't move away as he sat near her. She chewed her jerky quietly, and then she spoke softly. "You can help me with it in a bit, if you'd like." She left her ears down, in a neutral position, in respect for his rank in the pack. She had let her own delta rank slip away while she'd sulked.
"It's no secret by now that Soran is gone. I'm surprised no one came to me to find out where she went, since she was our beta." She paused, then unsure if he had known or not, spoke again. "Soran was my mate. We'd known each other a very long time. It's painful to know she walked away without a word to me, or to anyone. It..." She sighed. "It makes me wonder what I did so wrong, that she left me." She leaned back against the tree, her hands draped gracefully around her knees, as though the snow hued matriarch was holding herself in, holding herself together.
"It hurts... to have been left again." Her gaze was off in the distance now, her memory replaying past scenes of abandonment.
Word Count :: 379 OOC: Blah blah blah Jiva's a guy he isn't good at consoling !!
Jiva got his patience and attitude from his father. Niro rarely angered, and rarely let things get to him. He tended to keep his feelings bottled up most of the time and rarely let anyone see them, but he was a friendly wolf all the same and nothing of a grump that Jiva had seen in say Tharin. He nodded his head in agreement at her. He would let her rest and he would sit there with him.
As he figured she started speaking and he nodded. Adonia was having the same problem as well. Her mate had gone missing a few times and then she broke ties with him. Leaving someone you love was hard he thought, no matter how much they hurt you. He shifted slightly as the woman spoke of another woman as her mate, it wasn’t a concept that Jiva was used to. Homosexuality wasn’t something he saw as relevant, but he would not voice that opinion but he listened to her and could tell she loved Soran. “I am sorry, I did not know her well, I met her once I think. I don’t think she just left you because of you though... I can’t speak for her but I am sure she has a reason to leave.” Jiva was not one to console with words and he scooted closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder; “But you do have your pack and we won’t leave you. Thank you for sharing this with me. I do know someone else who is sharing the same exact pain as you. She has been left by him many times, perhaps you two could talk. Comfort each other. It is hard to lose a loved one I suspect.” He said, showing her the compassion he felt for a sister of his pack, a woman he envied in her healing prowress. and he did not pity her. He never felt pity unless it was deserved. He did give her a hopeful smile; “You are worth far too much to be pushed away and left for something else I am sure of it.” He said trying to be reassuring and speaking from the heart at the same time.
Also, evasive Deuce is evasive, but she'll talk if Jiva pushes. <3 Gah! So distracted by new skin, forgot to change character.
