Sparrow was elated that Shaye was back. It gave her some hope and life to know that other family members still lived. Hope that somewhere, out there, maybe there were more family members. Maybe she could go to them, appeal to them, and bring them back. Maybe Abaven could begin to feel like home again.

Instead of whatever this was.

Sparrow tried to shake the empty feeling. She tried to shrug off the feeling that something was wrong. It was hard and getting worse every day. The anxiety she felt as a pup never really went away and the cloud of depression seemed to swallow her whole most days.

She felt like she had fallen into a tar pit and emotions stuck to her until she became unable to move and eventually lost all feeling.

Seeing Shaye again was like being pulled from the pit. She was still covered, sure, and more than a little numb, but there was hope. She could almost move again.

Shaye was a beacon of hope.

It was so strange to be back with Abaven’s borders, to see the familiarity of the pack lands, and the difference wolves made to what she saw. The quiet got to her, creeping in whenever she wasn’t looking. Abaven had been a lot of things in her time, but quiet wasn’t one of them. It needed life, pups, running amok about her feet, healers humming in their dens, hunters dragging prey across the soft soil. Most of all, it needed Bass, the man she had once looked up to, who had taught her much. When she crossed the scent of Sparrow, she grinned with joy. She wasn’t the only one here - she had known that, but it was hard to remember, with the quiet of the pack, and the empty dens that faced her. She bounded forward, reminded of days as a puppy, leaping across the rapids, finding feathers in the grass. Hunting Salmonders with Rhythm and Finch. Nudging Sparrow from her den when she didn’t want to face the world. Teamwork, and family. She didn’t know how Sparrow had survived this long, virtually alone amongst the Abaven borders, but Shaye had only the deepest respect for the woman for hanging on. She found Sparrow, and gave the much shorter woman a nuzzled greeting. “Cousin” she murmured warmly. “I was so happy to find you where still here. Through i’m curious, tell me, how did the mantle of leadership fall to you, old friend?” "Talk" "You" Think

Sparrow was glad to have some family coming back to Abaven. Her cousin asked her about how she gained leadership and Sparrow's expression fell.

"A blind woman, Storm Wreckage, came to the pack. She was already pregnant and had pups without a named sire. My dad sort of took them in, but they started to disappear. My father went somewhat crazy trying to find them all. Suddenly, he and Finch left the pack without telling me or Lark. Bass left the pack to Vali and I asked her for leadership as my father's heir."

Sparrow gave the girl a bitter smile.

"The pack was somewhat quiet before, but since then, everyone has been more or less depressed. The color left Abaven with him. I've never been able to gather everyone like he had. We've been at a loss for training and I fear for the yearlings' futures."

Now Sparrow looked at her cousin, her smile becoming a little brighter.

"But, everything's not so bad. I mean, look, you're back."

She realised she wasn’t opening with the easiest question when her cousin's face fell. Shaye settled down beside her and listened loyally as Sparrow explained how she had come to leadership. Shaye had never heard of this Storm woman, knew nothing of her past. But she understood a little of how Bass felt in his loyalty to the pack. If he had taken those pups under his wing, then they were as important as his own. Yet, he had left his own in search of them.

Shaye rested her head on Sparrow’s paw, looking up into the face of family with compassion. It must have been difficult, Bass leaving as he did. Leaving his family behind.
“It can’t have been easy. But you’ve managed to hang on this long. We’ll figure it out - together, yeah?” she asked softly, smile for smile as Sparrow’s face lit up once more.

She had found Sparrow once more, after so long, and well she wanted so many faces more of family to be here beside them, she would never think that Sparrow ‘wasn’t enough’ she was here, when everyone else had left.