She was feeling a little better now that she had a mentor who was taking the time to teach her about what she'd been wanting to learn since she was a pup. Granted, she had tried on her own several times...but it was so hard when she had no clue what the plants around her did. What they could be used for. How to use them...trying to self teach had been a bust. But Storm was a great teacher so far, and she was extremely grateful to have the woman as a mentor. Wandering through the thicket, she wanted to maybe find something to show her appreciation. But what? She was at a loss. She was never good at expressing herself to others, and she had never really interacted with many others unless it was at trainings or meetings. Even then, she always kept a distance if not hiding behind her uncle. Ah Kakashi...what would she do without him? Asides from some in the pack, he had been there for her. Supporting her. Trying to keep her from being so depressed. But how did she even begin to stop feeling that way? Her family straight up abandoned her. Quelt disappeared. Limno disappeared. And Qualm...he had disappeared and then came back, only to leave again. She still wasn't sure if she believed his story about the bird...it sounded way too absurd to her. But more than likely it was her distrust of them that made her think they were all in on some sort of lie. Keeping her in the dark. Torturing her day in and day out. And she hated it. The worst part was...she was stuck with their last name. And she wanted no part of them after all that they did to her. She wanted no reminders of them anymore. She just wanted to be free of their betrayal. The abandonment. The lingering thoughts and dreams she had about them. She couldn't bring herself to talk to her uncle about it...or anyone really. So she kept it inside. And she felt like soon, she would burst at the seams. As her thoughts consumed her, she seemed to just be wandering aimlessly around the thicket. Completely forgetting about the task she had originally set out to do. And with each minute that went by, she felt her heart and mind grow heavier and heavier...what could she do? "SPEAK"

It would seem that there was hardly a day that Bass wasn't on the move anymore. He tried to keep himself busy, not letting the grief hold him down. It was making him go crazy, he could have sworn that he heard Wren howl at the battlefield. But no, she wouldn't be so stupid to return like that, in a place where wolves went to fight and get claimed by pack wolves. A part of him had been too afraid to inspect it, instead he just made his way around his borders as was his usual routine. As he made his way towards the thicket, the scent of Quake reaching him. The aging man paused as he lifted his head to look for the black girl, it was rare now to encounter her scent around pack lands. Ever since Starling had left her the first time, she had fallen into a depression that he hadn't been able to fix. Sighing, he found her path of paw prints and started to follow them, his own swallowing them up. It didn't take too long to find her, making her way across the snowy grasslands with her head down. His heart went out to her, it really did. He knew how hard it was to have family leave you, he knew it very well. Licking his lips, he trotted over to her and leaned down to attempt to bump his nose against her shoulder. "You can't mope here, look around yourself," he said softly, lifting his head to gaze around them. Snow covered the lands in a thin blanket, no more than two inches coating the lands. It made everything seem more quiet, a more serene nature granted to the lands of Abaven. The rain hadn't come yet, streams of sunlight reflecting off the hard outer shell of the frozen snow. The ground gleamed like a million shattered diamonds, almost seeming too bright to look at. He squinted his yellow eyes, a small smile on his face. The bunches of snow that had gathered on the trees started to fall off the laden branches, puffs of flakes flying into the air in their wake. It really was beautiful, when you took the time to look at it. Glancing at Quake, his smile spreading wider across his lips. There were so many things around them to see, as long as you lifted your head up.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Ooc// totally didn't forget about this >.>;

Her world always threatened to choke her. Her thoughts often threatening to consume her mind. She walked quietly, the snow crunching lightly beneath her small frame. Scarlet gaze saw everything and nothing at the same time, though she tended to keep her head down...and this time, she was mainly focused on the path in front of her feet. Leading her in no particular direction...she was focused, and at the same time not. She hardly heard the approach of someone else, if at all, until he touched her shoulder. She startled slightly, head turning quickly to see Bass at her side. "Oh, Bass!" It had been a while since she had talked to him...and to anyone really, save for her uncle. But she found herself growing distant, even from him. She stopped. Ears twitching with uncertainty when he spoke. She did as he said, sad gaze looking around at the scenery. Everything was white. And while it was mostly lacking color, it was still beautiful. Or at least....it should have been. But she just couldn't see it. She remained standing where she was, her gaze finding the ground between her paws. The white contrasted greatly against her midnight coat, and with a heavy heart and quiet voice, whispered "Why did they leave me...?" It was a question she had wondered for so long. She hadn't seen her parents since they disappeared...and even though they did what they did, she always wondered why. Would she ever know? "SPEAK"

He felt bad that he had startled her, but they quickly moved on from it. She went to go look around, missing the beauty in her surroundings. He frowned as he glanced down at her, taking in the somber mood and her quiet demenor. This was not the Quake that he knew, not the fun loving child that he had once seen. Shy, sure, but not like this. Letting out a gentle sigh, he leaned down to lick the top of her head as she spoke up. It was a hard question to answer, and once again he just wished he could scoop up all her problems and take them away. It didn't seem to be the best time to bring up her father either, but waiting could perhaps damage her further. His ears slicked back, an uncertainty filling his belly. "I wonder the same thing myself. There's no real way to ever know, I guess. I'd love to hear from my siblings, from my mate and kids, why they just left. Was it me? Did I do something wrong?" He paused, his golden eyes searching her features. "I know exactly how you feel, and how it's the unanswered questions that are the hardest. So it's up to you Quake, to either sit in this place you have created for yourself or rise above it. Sometimes the worst things happen to the best wolves, and it's in your paws to rise up and let it make you stronger." There were times when Bass needed to follow his own advice, but it was a lot easier to say wise words than to follow them.

He sat for a moment in silence, trying to figure out when the best time would be to break the news. He didn't want to build her up just to topple her down, and he felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. But keeping it from her... No. He couldn't do that. His tail tip twitched back and forth as another harder sigh left his lips. It was now or never. "Speaking of your family..." he broke off, looking up to the horizon. He hated bringing bad news, but it was part of his job as alpha. "He... your father... he was killed in Fiori. He had a new mate, new kids I heard. A bear awoke too soon from hibernation and was starving, killing both Quelt and Bright Moon, who I am assuming was his mate. I'm... I'm really sorry Quake." Bass looked back to her, a broken heart clear in his eyes. He was so torn up over the whole thing, after just having lost Hansel as well. Swallowing firmly, he awaited her reaction on baited breath.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Loneliness was her companion. It had been for a long time. And it seemed that Bass was no stranger to it either. She looked up at him as he spoke, and she wondered how he managed to cope with it. He had lost so much more then her, and despite all her abandonment, only two wolves had remained in her life. Her uncle, and Bass. Who when she thought about it, Bass was pretty much more of a father to her then her own father was. It was pretty sad when she thought about it. The fact that she wasn't good enough to her own parents...she felt like she had been dumped off on someone else. But she had been too afraid to voice that thought. What if she was a burden to Bass and her uncle? She could barely get herself out of her den most days, and when she did her time was spent moping around and just wandering around the territory and collecting random plants (even though she had no idea what they were for), all while avoiding her packmates. She had no friends. The one she did have, left. At least...she liked to assume that Starling was her friend as much as he had been her mentor, anyway. She thought about what he said, and she knew he was right. It was just a matter of finding the will to do it. She looked away for a moment, a deep sigh slipping out. "You're right..." He really was. She just didn't know where to start, or when she would actually heed his advice. "Speaking of your family..." She looked up at him, confusion in her eyes. What about her family? Had he found them? No. What he said next was much more then that. She listened in silence as he told her the news. And when he finished and apologized, she continued to look at him for a moment longer before finally looking away. So...Her father was...dead? He had a new family? New kids? A new life? Well, maybe not anymore, but he did. She had no idea how to feel. Her expression was unreadable, her thoughts hard to sort out. She was silent for a long while as she processed what Bass had told her. Her throat tightening several times, but she refused to let anymore tears fall. She knew now...how truly unimportant and unloved she was to her family. That thought made her the saddest. She sighed heavily, brows furrowing. "Don't be sorry...I know now how muchI really didn't matter to him..." She looked up at him, her gaze sad yet struggling to hide it. "I...I don't know how to feel...I always wondered where he was... when I would see him again...and all this time he was in another pack...with a new family...And he never came to see me...he just..." Her shoulders slumped, gaze turning away again. "I'm glad he's dead...he didn't deserve to be a father." She was very surprised by what she had just said, but she wasn't sure how else to feel. He left. Started a new life. And acted as if she never existed. "SPEAK"