A sickness that won't go away. A sickness that has left her feeble and weak, ribs jutting out and hips stark against her red pelt. An eternal, infuriating exhaustion that drained her energy, mental and physical. No matter what herbs she took, or what she ate, it just kept getting worse. Of course, even the food she ate she had to force down most days; her appetite was non-existent. Sometimes, it would come back up, too. That, thankfully, was not that common.

She hated it. She despised it with every fiber of her being. It seemed to happen so quickly, too. At first, she thought it might be advanced age, but then it progressed rapidly from there. She could no longer do simple things; even walks tired her out. And forget about running - ha! That wasn't happening.

She sighed quietly, head on her paws. Oh, what she'd give to get rid of this.

It had taken him some time to realize it, but Lillie was slowly slipping away from him. Perhaps not in the worst sense of the word - oh god, he couldn't even begin to imagine that - some kind of sickness had grabbed hold of her and refused to let go. At first, it wasn't anything alarming.. a slight cough and a general feeling of being worn down that Lillie couldn't quite seem to shake. But days turned into weeks, and slowly he noticed the way her rib bones protruded in a way he hadn't noticed before, the way short walks seemed far more strenuous than they really should be, even despite their age. Even Lark noticed the subtle signs... the way he seemed stiffer than he remembered upon first waking up, and the way hunting winded him more quickly than he liked. But whatever was happening with Lillie was something else entirely. Something neither of them were sure what to do with, and they could only hide her sickness from their kids for so long... Lark heaved a sigh as he went to find her, padding quietly through the plains. Finding her was easy, as she wasn't at all far from their den, and Lark moved with ease across the familiar terrain. Navigating Abaven's lands came as second nature to him now, more familiar to him than anything else in the world - even his family. At least these lands were one constant in his life, when everything else felt so unstable. He narrowed his eyes, searching for her - and his heart lightened when he finally found her, despite her slumped position on the ground. "Lillie," he greeted her gently, closing the distance between them and nosing her neck tenderly. "Are you feeling alright?" God, if only he could take her sickness away and carry the burden of it himself, he would do so without thinking. And he hadn't even begun to question if it was something that might pass on to him... if it was, he'd face that then, but he wouldn't let her suffer through it on her own.

Truthfully, the idea of her slipping away and any other form other than sickness was absolutely unbelievable and inconceivable to Lillianna. It wouldn't even cross her mind, she didn't think that it ever could. The sickness however, was brutal. she knew Lark had noticed it, and she knew that at the very least Aiden had too. How could they not? things that we're easy just a few weeks ago we're now almost impossible for her to do. It was something she didn't understand, just how she could deteriorate so fast.

Despite her body is deteriorating condition, her ears were still working fine, and a small smile at her face when she heard the paw steps of Lark approaching. Head raised in an easy smile across her face as the male stepped closer, and greeted her affectionately. "Lark," she murmured softly, gently, in return. "I'm feeling as good as I can." Which, in all honesty, was pretty terrible. She knew that larkwood catch on to the hidden meaning behind her words. "How are you feeling?" she questioned. "And what are the three trouble makers up to?" truthfully she couldn't believe that the three troublemakers were actually already a year old. Time had flown, she wasn't quite sure where it had gone. I thought she was complaining too much, because what the three had grown onto were three wolves that she was insanely proud of.

It was growing harder to pretend that Lillie was fine, especially now that their kids must surely be noticing her declining state. It was an unspoken truth these days, because.. why really discuss it when there was nothing they could do? All Lark could do was make sure she was comfortable, and that she had all the necessities she needed. Beyond that, he was beginning to consider going to Sparrow for help, as much as he knew Lillie wouldn't want that. Surely she didn't want to feel like this anymore either, right? He was at a crossroad, though he was beginning to feel desperate. Whatever might help her, he would give a shot at this point. "Good," he murmured a bit too solemnly at her admission that she was feeling alright. Better than horrible, even though he knew that her 'good' now was far different than if she'd given same answer many months ago. Either way, he was grateful that at least she was in relatively good spirits, even if her body had other plans. "I'm not sure," he answered, forcing a soft chuckle. "It feels like they were just kids yesterday and now they wouldn't even ask for our help even if they needed it." Well, he hoped they would regarding something serious, but in general they went off on their own more frequently now, obviously no longer leaning on their parents for anything. "Time's gone by so fast..." Lark sighed wistfully as he moved to lie beside her, nuzzling his nose gently into her neck.