The Tech Thieves - On my own

The girls breathing was rigid - the night air filtering over herself as she pushed on. The ground underneath her was an ugly black, cracked beneath in every which way. Her pads could simply feel the cracks pointing upwards in irritation. Her lip raised in alarm as she watched the ground, but when she finally lifted her head there was a ghostly figure out in front of her. It looked like her, but it wasn't her. Heather stood there with her eyes furrowed. She went to call out, but she found her voice stolen - slowly herself turned away. The distance seemed to get farther as if a force was sucking her back. Gasping for air, Heather fell into darkness before her blue eyes shot open.

Heather tried to catch her breath as she saw the sun filtering through the tree's. The sound of the falls caught her ears giving her beating heart some comfort. It took her a minute to realize she had woken up from a nightmare. Leaving her feeling, less than average. No matter, now that it was over she stood and stretched herself. Letting her back leave a satisfied crack as she opened her mouth in a yawn. Luckily enough for her the sun wasn't too far into the sky for once she hadn't slept the day away. Concentrating on the world around her - her head automatically gestured towards finding her father.

While she knew she probably should have been trying to solve the issue of her lase in memory, she wanted to train. She wanted to indulge herself in the princess duties so that she could bury herself in it. Distract her from whatever.... she was. She smiled for a moment, taking in a deep breath she would start on a small walk and casually attempt to find her father without having to ring out a call for him.

"Heather." "You." Think.

Leo's jaws stretched wide in a yawn as he began to make his way around the falls, giving his head a slight shake to wake himself. He had gotten up early that morning to do his patrol as he always did, but his sleep the night before had been uneasy. There was so much on his mind with thoughts of his family, his children, and the future. Soon enough winter would be here and he would be another year older. It was hard to believe that he would be seven with this upcoming season. Time felt so fleeting and and in a way it seemed like time had flown past him in a blur. The older he got the more he worried about the pack and what would come of it. He trusted that Heather would be a good leader for it when the time came, but was he really doing enough to prepare her for it? What if another challenger came to fight for the pack? Would he be as able to fight them off this time? He glanced up from the ground for a moment and saw Heather's form in the distance and he smiled softly. How well perfectly timed. He continued down the slope toward her, giving a quick bark to get her attention. It didn't take more than a few moments for him to get over to her and his smile widened a bit as he reached over to press his nose to her cheek affectionately. "Hello, sweetheart. What uncanny timing. I was just thinking about you." He settled onto his haunches for a moment while his expression grew more curious. "What do you have on your agenda today, hm? How are you feeling?" "Talk" "You" Think

Heather felt instantly better when her father came in contact with her. Fears and worries burried themselves in the back of her confused brain. Her tail swiveled left to right wagging with her delight. As he pulled away and spoke - she truly found it funny how they always seemed to know that they needed each other. Heather nodded her head to him, uncanny timing was right. She would've been satisfied wandering all morning looking for him. Getting that ring of the waterfalls in her ears was nice, she didn't know why she enjoyed the constant humm but she did.

"I'm fine." Heather found herself lying. While happier than she could have been - she worried for herself mainly for her position. She didn't think of the possibility of her father not being around. After all it didn't quiet register with her at all. Not even since they had lost Quelt, Bright Moon or even when Razor had passed away due to sickness. Did she, of all wolves within Fiori, have the capabailities of being a leader. Would wolves actually follow her, even if at times she was not sound of mind. She had to not think of this - after all this was why she was training.

"I was actually hoping to find you for a bit of mentoring. I feel like I'm a bit behind on training believe it or not." Heather said as she hummed softly. She enjoyed quality time with her father to begin with, but she really was brightly eager to learn what she needed to know about running Fiori. How did one go doing meetings, in cases of peace or war how did she need to react. After all she also valued the voices and lives of those within the pack itself.

"Heather." "You." Think.

It seemed that they were on the same wavelength today. He chuckled softly and nodded with a guilty smile. "That's what I was afraid of. I was just wondering if I had done enough training with you. I'm sorry about that. With everything that's been going on lately I think I've let a lot of stuff fall through the cracks." He pulled a more sure smile onto his muzzle and added, "But we can fix that, can't we?" He began trying to think of all of the things that would be helpful for her to know as a leader as he said, "Let's go walk the border while we talk. I've always found it's easier to think while I'm moving." He got to his paws again and made his way around to the border at a leisurely pace. He had no reason to hurry after all. "First of all, what do you have questions about? That's as good a place to start as any." "Talk" "You" Think

It was true it had seemed like everyone had a dark cloud hanging over their heads, but now it was time to move on and get back to work. What was a pack without active members of its community. At least that's what Heather thought, while family and friends were important they couldn't get a free pass just because they were well liked.... could they? Heather nodded her head and went to follow her father, she had realized it had been some time since she patrolled the border. She had been too busy wrapped up in her own problems that she had failed to do her usual rounds. Heather scolded herself in her head - if she were alpha she couldn't just... take time off.

"Hmmm... I guess I just don't know what it actually IS to be a queen. What if I mess up or do something wrong? Will everyone respect me like they do you? What is it that I'm supposed to do as a leader? I don't want to be the one running around telling wolves what they need to be doing and seeming like a tyrant. But I also would not like a pack that find themselves growing lazy." she spoke her thoughts out loud after mulling them into her head. So she basically just wanted a general lecture of what she was supposed to do. While she was afraid of running things differently from her fathers. What if wolves wanted change and they were not given it. She furrowed her brows - all this was confusing.

"Heather." "You." Think.

Leo blinked as he listened to Heather rattle off a series of complicated questions. He chuckled and gave her a grin with a glance as he slowly padded along beside her. "Well, you really have a lot on your mind, don't you?" He mused over an answer to her questions for a moment before he replied. He wanted to give her the most well formed answer he could. She deserved to be as well prepared for this new adventure as she could be. He didn't want her to go into this without some kind of realistic expectations like he had. "First of all, everyone messes up from time to time. No one is perfect. I certainly haven't been a perfect leader. It's not the messing up you need to worry about. The good thing about this pack is that we have members who are generally agreeable and loyal. At least that's how it's always seemed to me. I've always believed that respect is something that is earned, but I believe the wolves here will give you respect as a leader unless proven otherwise. As long as you're doing your best everyone should play nice." He smiled a little and turned his path a bit to follow the edge of the pack lands. "Here is my main piece of advice for you as far as not being a tyrant and keeping everyone engaged. For a long time now I haven't had the higher ranks filled. I have you, Lionel, and Carletta filling several of the spots now, but even during the time when I was trying to look for your mother I was trying to take care of you kids and look for her and take care of the pack all on my own. With the way I structured the pack it's critical to have those higher ranking wolves and I just never got around to really trying to fill them. Of course you can run the pack however you see fit, but I deeply regret trying to do this all on my own. If I had found someone to be my secondary that could help me with the day to day pack stuff I could have spent more time with you and your siblings while you were growing up. And perhaps I wouldn't feel so old already." "Talk" "You" Think

Heather listened to her father completely. All while letting the thoughts sink into her head as she shifted a bit. She didn't know if she was going to be able to run the pack as smoothly or confidentaly as her father. For the most part of her life they'd been in peace with other packs. After all - she'd heard packs came and went and guess what Fiori was still standing. However, still standing meant mundane and stale. Her ears twitched over the thought of creating presence. It was easily screwed up as well - if she did not have the skills to back up words she'd look like a bafoon. That was the least of her worries. A second in command, her heart jumped for a moment. Her father really did have it rough. She'd always thought that and yet somehow he ended up juggling all of these things. Spending time with her and her siblings - mourning over their mother. Heather herself she'd been trying, trying so hard to concentrate on her training and on getting better. At times it was hard to tell who she even was. Was she fit to lead? She didn't know, but did she want to - that was a given. Perhaps with Lionel and the other high ranks she would be just fine. "I've tried getting to know all the pack but it's hard when everyone's doing their own thing. I've seen faces at meetings but haven't connected them to names." she mumbled on as she looked forward. "Lionel is trustworthy, sound as well - he's definitely a wolf who I'd want in the higher ranks to support me. We made a promise to each other besides." she wasn't too happy about her sister leaving. Regardless of her not knowing her very well - the thought made her brain hazy. "I truthfully don't think I'll be able to run the pack like you have. At least in a sense, I've always loved Fiori and what it stands for. It's been a place of peace ever since I was born, maybe with a few hiccups along the way. Me standing as queen I'd only hope that I support its integrity like you have." Her eyes fluttered over her father. She trusted herself, but not to the point where she'd do a perfect job. Because.... where ever she went when she wasn't here - she was certain she hurt people. "Talk"

Leo nodded in understanding when she mentioned how hard it had been to get to know everyone in the pack. He had tried his best the entire time he had lead the pack to at least know a bit of each of his members, but it was difficult. There just wasn't enough hours in the day to socialize with everyone, keep up with his children, do all of the patrols... much less have any kind of personal time. "Don't beat yourself up about it, sweetie. It's hard to know everyone on a close, personal level. The names will come with time, especially once you start to build a pack of wolves that you've accepted. They make more of an impression on you that way." He nodded in agreement when Heather spoke about Lionel. He had always seen Lionel and Heather as the two out of all of his children that could possibly take the pack one day. He loved Roza and Alfred, but he had seen more of that initiative in Heather and Lionel. He hoped that one day Alfred might take an interest in being one of the higher ranks as well, but for the time being he knew he Alfred needed to focus on himself. Roza was off living her own life with Ganta and that was fine with him as well. Honestly if none of them wanted to lead the pack he would be okay with that too. As long as they were happy and healthy. "You can run this pack however you see fit. As long as you keep good intentions and integrity at its core then you will have no complaints from me." He smiled and leaned over to press his nose to her cheek. He knew she had so many worries about taking over the pack and how well she would do, but he had few, if any, worries. He trusted her to do what was right and she wouldn't be alone in this undertaking. He was still here, her siblings were here, pack members that had been here to see her grow up were here. "Just remember how much support you have around you and utilize it. You'll be fine." "Talk" "You" Think

The feeling of her father's nose to her cheek was reassuring. As she let the thoughts fester and his words sink in she let her nerves pass her by. Softly with a smile as she returned the gesture with a rub of her head towards the side of his own orange fur. She still felt like a child despite the time moving by, which in a way she supposed it was a good thing. One day her father wasn't going to be around and that scared her. Hopefully, he would live a long happy life even after she took over. Her blue hued eyes filled with thoughts as she tried to center them all. What would it take for him to be happy, what could she do of all things to do. After all her father had felt a lot of pressure running Fiori and it was a long lasting pack. The least she could do was make sure it stayed around... that one day she'd end up having kids to take it over and the generations to go on. Her ears flicked forward as she hummed a bit. "Well then dad... I'm ready when you are. I think I've collected enough of my thoughts - experienced a lot of the world. While I might be inexperienced and new, I'd really like you to have a good, calm retirement. So... whenever you think I'm ready. I'm ready." she nodded her head. Whenever her father was ready to pass on the baton than she was happy. Heather was already a hard worker and perhaps actually being appointed Queen would make her more than ready to start doing the duties she needed. She still found time for herself even if it was few in between. She mostly just wanted her father and family to be happy. "Talk"

Leo's immediate reaction to Heather's declaration that she was ready to take the pack was to deny it. It wasn't that he didn't agree that he was ready. In fact, he had all the confidence in the world in his daughter. His only problem was the thought that she would have all of this responsibility put on her while she was still so young. He had been pretty young himself when he had taken over Fiori and part of him wished that he had taken more time to enjoy his younger years first. But Heather was an adult now and she had done a lot of work on herself and her abilities in such a short time. He could tell she wanted this and hopefully he would still be around for many years to come to help her with all of these responsibilities. "Okay," he said after a moment of thoughtful silence. He smiled as he glanced toward his daughter. It was so hard to believe that the little balls of fluff that were his children were now full grown adults. "I think the perfect way to kick off a new year is to pass the pack to you. Once spring rolls around we can celebrate you and your siblings' third birthday and you taking over the pack all at once. What do you think?" Of course if she wanted to wait till the summer or longer he wouldn't have any complaints either. He wanted to do what was best for her and what would make her the most comfortable. "Talk" "You" Think

Three years. That felt like forever now, Heather tried to think of what she'd done in her life. Where'd she been and had it been enough? Well for her at this point nothing was ever enough. She was always going to cling to people and try to do everything she could so they wouldn't leave her. She took in a breath and smiled to her father. Now all she was thinking about honestly was presents to get everyone. "Now you've got presents on my brain." she complained to him as she looked at the sky. "But yes! It sounds exciting. Thank you daddy." Heather grinned as she looked at him once more, her tail wagging behind her. She couldn't have asked for a better place to grow up in. She really wanted him to know how much she appreciated him, so she drew closer and aimed to press her head into his chest. To feel his warmth and comfort, it was something she never wanted to forget. "Talk"