Set the day after the Habari raid. Please wait for Recluse to respond first.

Recluse had had a new batch of gremlins, and Kali disliked them just as much as she had the last. She still went to see her mother, but she preferred to time it when the little things were sleeping so she wouldn’t be bothered. Nobody could ever say Kali had a maternal bone in her body, and if she ever did have pups it would simply to be to continue the Klein lineage when she was leader. As would be her duty.

Luckily, as she arrived at the entrance to the den her mother shared with Erathius, she couldn’t hear the annoying little yips of the kiddos. Poking her head into the opening, she was pleased to find they were out with their ‘dad’. None of them looked like the blue man, so she didn’t imagine any of them came from his loins, but he’d adopted his place with them all the same. What a cuck.

The Cherubim settled in next to the Seraphim, giving her an affectionate kiss to the cheek, asking her how she was doing. It wasn’t a secret that her mother was perhaps the only wolf the woman actually cared about, despite the pack. But the pack was more surface level. There was genuine affection within the eldest Klein’s bi-colored gaze when she looked upon Recluse, the kind of affection that came from true respect. Recluse was the only wolf who deserved her respect, as far as she was concerned.

She was chatting away with her about the state of the pack and the recent raid when her mother began to look at her oddly. A glint of concern flickered within the cherry gaze of the Habari matriarch as she asked if Kali was okay. She responded of course, but her response only seemed to further startle the woman. Unbeknownst to Kali, she had begun to mix up her speech. The words she spoke were different from what she thought she was speaking. Suddenly, a headache hit her like a train and she gasped, slumping over against the matriarch. The pain overwhelmed her, blinding her visually and impeding her hearing. She vaguely registered the high pitch of her mother’s scream as wet blood trickled from her nose and ears.

Kali’s bi-colored gaze looked up at Recluse, fear gripping her heart. Instinctively, she knew she was dying. There was too much not right with what was happening to her, too much pain and too much confusion. She didn’t want to die yet, she didn’t deserve to. She had so much to live for, so much to do. But the Gods had deemed it her time, and there was no stopping it. Kali Klein took a deep, ragged breath, then her eyes rolled back before closing as the life left her body. She was no more in the span of less than 5 minutes from the time her symptoms had started.

Content warning: Death of a child, grief of a parent

Perhaps luckily for Kali the pups had been moved to her old den. She'd been pretty sure that Sparrow wouldn't have wanted her children around. So she and Eraithus moved them shortly after the raid, luckily they'd been asleep at the time. They would soon be out and about on their own but she wasn't eager to tempt them by giving them a taste of the world outside the den just yet. They'd need to be moved soon now as well, Recluse was once more alone in her den when her daughter came to greet her. She'd noticed the young woman's absence from the raid but she would greet the brown and gold girl all the same. Recluse wanted her children to be ambitious only in ways that mattered to them, while she secretly hoped that the upcoming competition between Kali and Ghoul would mold both of them into more worthy leaders she did not harbor any ill will towards any of her children. It was nice, getting to chat with her daughter. They hadn't done so in some time and so getting to hear Kali's thoughts was a treat. The pale woman silently marveled at the grown wolf that sat beside her, it felt like just yesterday that she'd nursed her first litter marveling down at the tiny lives she'd brought into the world all by herself. She could still remember the way it had felt to cradle them, to curl herself around them and feel that maternal love wash over her. They were hers, hers, and no one else's. Recluse was excited to get to try raising her newest litter with Eraithus but her first two would always be hers alone. Which was why it was so alarming when Kali's words began to slur together, becoming less and less coherent. Kali gasped and the her daughter slumped into her and Recluse felt panic rising like bile in her throat. The iron scent of blood reached her and Recluse realized with a start that Kali's nose and ears were bleeding. "Kali? KALI?" Her voice reached a frantic pitch and she desperately released a call for help, for someone, anyone who could help save her daughter. Her mind was a whirlwind of panic, she did not know what was happening, she did not understand what could have happened. Her daughter had been fine mere moments ago and now suddenly she was desperately holding her, clinging to the girl. She felt Kali's body grow heavier and Recluse screamed again, this time wordlessly, she wouldn't let Kali fall though, wouldn't release her. Kali's form would grow cold and still in her embrace. It would take some time for Recluse to come out of the blind panic that enveloped her, in that time she would be blind and deaf to anything around her as she found herself on the floor of her den, holding her still, dead daughter. "Speech" Think

Art by Ulfeid3

LOVE ME MORE THAN YOU POSSIBLY CAN

Something was wrong. Voodoo had been haunting the volcano since the sinking feeling began in her stomach. Her pups were due any day now and anxiety wrapped around her heart like thick rose tendrils. The little paws pressed up against her stomach making her shift slightly. Such a strange feeling - and with the eeriely clear sky ahead Voodoo frowned. She felt like there was a bad omen a cold wind ruffling through her monochromed form. She had helped Eraithus with the pups when they moved them. Yet in those few moment she pricked her ears. Was that Recluse's voice? And it screamed the heir's name.

She ran as quickly as her pregnant body would take her. Straining as she reached the den - it hadn't occured to her to bring any herbs. Perhaps because her head had been in a haze the closer these pups came to their lives. Yet she stood and froze as she watched Recluse over her daughter's unmoving body. Voodoo felt a cold wind hit her chest her blood ran cold. She didn't know the heir, but the look on Recluse's face her eyes it frightened her. This was Recluse's daughter she shut her eyes shoving the memories away. "Recluse..." Voodoo approached slowly. Yet when she looked at Kali one more time her breath came out shuddering.

"Poison....?" she breathed the question. She hadn't inspect Kali enough to know that for sure. Yet, she didn't know why such a healthy wolf from the klein bloodline would suddenly just... Kali was most definitely dead and there was nothing Voodoo as a healer could do to revive her. "Recluse let me..... let me see her." she looked at Recluse determined. If she could have a chance she would at least find this. This is what she owed Habari and if they lost a daughter of Habari today then there would some sort of hell to pay for the gods or whoever had dared do this in the back of her mind.

MADE BY MINNIE of BTN

It would be almost expected for the pale boy to show up. While he had been taking extra time outside of the pack boundaries recently, the raid left him sore and bruised. Resting in the shadows of his den with his caimans for company, the shrieking call for help made his head bolt up. Both ears forward and eyes wide, his heart began to flutter as he recognized the tone. Recluse. It couldn't have been anyone else. The pups had recently been born so unless one of them had passed, there had been to be a different reason why she was calling out. Without delaying himself any longer, Ghoul rose to his paws and set out to Recluse's den. Two other scents hit him - Voodoo and Kali. Curious more now as he approached with a slightly furrowed brow, he stepped just inside the den's opening. What he saw was something he couldn't begin to comprehend. Kali lay limp, lifeless, and in Recluse's arms while Voodoo urged his mother to let her see his sister. His throat grew dry with his jaw clamped shut and ears falling back against his crown. What was he supposed to say? Was it fate that Kali's demise had come so soon after his proclamation to become the heir? Or had she been fighting sickness and it was the explanation for her absence? Worried more for his mother's wellbeing, Ghoul approached as quietly as he could. His paws a near silent scuffle against the cold stone beneath them as he went to sit beside Recluse. Lifting his ruby gaze toward Voodoo, he had to hold back from telling her to leave. Obviously, there was nothing left they could and he didn't quite understand why the girl cared to even try. Kali wasn't coming back. "I'm so sorry mother," he whispered. Placing a paw gently on her shoulder, he wished there was more that he could do to help.

Recluse was not aware of her cousin, and didn't even really hear right away, all she could focus on was Kali. "Let me see her." Voodoo's voice reached her as though through stone, she looked up at her cousin with a distant stare, the tracks of her tears visible for the way it cleared some of the gore that marked her cheeks, Kali's blood on her face. She blinked up at Voodoo, and when she processed the words there was a moment of clear and utter distress, she shook her head, holding Kali to herself closer as if her cousin was going to rip her daughter from her. "She- She was fine just a mo-moment ago and then she was falling and there was blood and-" Her words tumbled from her mouth growing and she struggled to breathe. Ghoul's approach was also missed by her and she flinched when his paw reached out to touch her, gaze swinging wildly towards her son and she broke down again. She slowly extricated herself from her daughter and turning, leaned into her bigger son. "She was fine..." She repeated again, though she was unable to get any more words out as she sobbed, the reality of the situation washing over her again and again as if the realization of what had happened couldn't seem to stick quite properly. It wasn't right, it wasn't meant to be like this! "Speech" Think

Art by Ulfeid3