Faite's den, the shared family den, had been so empty lately. Fortune slept alone. Always on her own. On the edge. On the edge of the universe, on the edge of everything. She does that. She puts herself in this situation, where she spends the bulk of her time alone and then feels more lonesome for it. Keep the prey pile stocked, keep the children looked after, keep an eye on the borders. What a grand idea it was, and here she was. On her own. Such is the way, so it goes, and all that other stuff. But anyway. Faite's den had been reasonably empty lately. The brave drifts toward it, looking for her cousin's scent. The training lesson with the pups hadn't been as successful as she intended, the turnout seemingly low, and the screwball having never bothered to show up. Celestial was dying. Still, she tried. She would continue to try. Moving with a hunter's grace (her father's grace), she moves to track her cousin. Or bark for her. That worked too. It was soft, but Fortune figures she can't be far. Company would be nice. fortune shock & awe

Faite had been conflicted with herself as of late. If only running from her problems was a logical solution and yet she knew she couldn't do so. She'd returned from her trip with Baine only to find that she had the itch to leave it once more. For once it wasn't due to wanderlust but to panic. She was nervous for the most part and yet she realized she'd been gone for far too long as it was. She'd lingered to try and let Baine out and about, but with Regulus gone she could do nothing but think of the pack's well-being. It was this thought that kept her here now and yet only barely. Her talk with Kalliope had been ... enlightening so to speak. The information whirling in her head was overwhelming at best so she'd resolved to keeping herself busy. She didn't sleep much as it was so her den was largely unoccupied as she set to wandering. She found herself unable to face her family about it just yet and she was thankful for Regulus' absence. How on earth was she going to tell him? Would they be upset with her? She almost felt like a child and reminding herself she was an adult didn't make her feel any better about it. A soft bark brought her from the tumultuous thoughts swirling through her head and it took her a minute to realize who it was. Oh, it was Fortune! She was eager for the distraction and it meant she'd have someone to talk to. She liked her energetic cousin and smiled softly at the idea of being able to catch up with her. She wanted to see how she was settling into the new position and how the pup's training went. So she padded off towards the sound and before long her cousin's larger gray form came into view. "Hey, Fortune." She greeted lightly. "How are you?" Walk, "Talk" Think

Glad as ever to see her cousin, Fortune's tail beats softly at the dusty ground. There's something comforting about it. About the way their family interactions seem to go. Two strong, smart, independent women that have their shit together. Or at least pretend to have their shit together. In reality, Faite was Fortune's only friend. Best friend, only friend, really all she needed. They got on like a house on fire. They're fantastic in that way. Lovely. Honestly, Fortune was pleased with the way they worked together, and nothing else truly mattered in her mind. Friends. Family. She was safe with Faite. Gentle on her feet, Fortune moves to meet the woman half way. There's something in her step, it's lighter than usual. Something about the autumn breezes and the recent additions to the prey pile (a swan, a pair of ganders) left her feeling bizarrely springy. Must be the change of seasons, the fact she was well fed and well taken care of. That, and the fact she had company now. That was always good. A wry glint in her eye, tail wagging, and a gentle breeze. What more could she ask for? "Faite, finally have a moment to breathe?" A soft toss to Fortune's head, the woman chuckles lightly. "I'm alright, had a decent lesson with the kids yesterday, do we really only have three hanging around?" She'd wait a moment to throw Ritsy under the bus, but she'd still do it. He was supposed to come help, and yet... nope? Alright. "How have you been? How are things?" Right. Specific. Things. Fortune would leave that one as open as her cousin wanted, after all. fortune shock & awe

Fortune seemed as glad as ever to see her and Faite found it easier to relax in her presence. They had an easy going relationship and so far Faite found that she thought of her cousin like a sister. They worked well together and already she trusted her with her life. There was nothing she disliked about the other girl. She was strong, able, she proved herself and then went beyond expectations. So far she was the only one Faite hadn't had to truly push to do things, she just did them. For that she was grateful. "Yeah, finally." She grinned. "I didn't realize running a pack without Regulus around would be so time consuming." She was glad for a moment to breathe. She felt so stressed out, worried, anxious, nervous - well she knew all of those were the same thing, but all her emotions were heightened. It was like there was a large lead ball sitting in the pit of her stomach and it wouldn't remove itself. She knew it was dread for the future and yet she couldn't get it to go away. Everything was so uncertain now. "Creed and Kavdaya had five pups. I'm surprised all of them didn't show up, and I'm a little disappointed Laisren didn't show up either, although he's not so much a puppy anymore." It was amazing how big he'd gotten. She could still remember training him when he was still smaller than her. Now that she paid him close attention she realized he'd already almost reached his full height. He towered over her like Regulus did, though maybe he was off by a few inches. In less than a year he'd be two, which reminded her she still had more training to do with him. She felt guilty that she hadn't been able to find the time to do any more sparring sessions. Regulus leaving had unbalanced everything. A soft sigh left her as Fortune asked her how she was doing. She wasn't sure how to answer it fully, but she was comfortable with confiding in Fortune. "Stressed out, anxious, tired, and I'm hungry all the time to top it off. On top of all that border patrols and running around is getting tiring. I keep scouting past the borders to see if I can find any sign of Regulus, but so far there's nothing. I'm worried they won't come back." Walk, "Talk" Think

They relax within each other. Fortune is able to let her guard down, bask in the presence of someone who gets her. There's something about the way they work together, the way they stand together. It's easier this way. It's easier to be standing together than standing apart. Being around Faite is easy. They're upfront with each other. It's easier that way. It's way easier. "Ritsy didn't show either, unfortunately." The brave's eyes roll slightly, as she finds the flighty, squirrely thing rather hard to deal with. The mind of a child, the body of a man. It really was quite difficult to place the thing. Fortune couldn't really think that one through. It was far more difficult than she really registered. "It was a tracking lesson, the sheep left plenty of prints when they left." Her tail wags, grinning softly. The brave is really quite proud of herself in that she'd timed it just right. As Faite vents, Fortune nods gently. She worried about how hard it had been without Regulus around. Fortune only wanted to do what was best for the family. "Doing my best to keep prey stocked and fresh, you're always welcome to grab what you need, you know that." The brave smiles softly, reaching up to nudge at her cousin's cheek. Her tail is wagging gently, familial. Comfortable. This is where she needs to be. "What can I do to support you? Anything. At all." In earnest, she looks to Faite. Always in earnest. This is what family is for. fortune shock & awe

Faite frowned at the mention of Ritsy. She hadn't expected too much of him - he'd pretty much shown he was missing some marbles, but she had expected him to step up. He'd seemed to excited at the meeting that she'd even trusted him to help Fortune teach the pups how to hunt. Was she relieved or upset that he hadn't shown up. Maybe it was both? Either way she rolled her eyes with Fortune. There wasn't much she could do about it right now anyways. She was here to spend some time with Fortune, not go look for her crazy ... friend, thing, acquaintance? "Well thank you for teaching them how to track. I'm glad you were able to get a few of them away from Creed for a little while. They seem like a handful." She chuckled. That comment made her pause. Oh god, were her kids gonna be a handful? That was scary. She was grateful when Fortune's words brought her out of her own head. She was glad Fortune hadn't disappeared like Varda had. She'd stepped up to the plate as Master Hunter which was a relief. It also meant that when she started getting fat she'd have a backup plan for when she couldn't hunt on her own anymore. She was grateful for her cousin's support so she smiled softly and leaned into the nudge. She could talk to Fortune, right? Yeah she could. They were friends - practically sisters. "I appreciate it Fortune. I uh .... well I recently found out from Kalliope that I'm ... well I'm pregnant." Yep, this was as awkward as she pictured it. Walk, "Talk" Think