Hope Battles Eternal

She’d ventured out again, heading eastward from the Moor at a trot, accompanied by Loshir and Delle. After much experimentation with the scented oils Paladin had brought home, she’d settled on Vanilla and Peppermint as her preferred scents, with lavender mixed in. It reminded her of her pup-hood, and the mixture soothed her mind, rather than giving her a gods-awful headache. Jasmine was lovely, it really was, but with the levels of scent needed to mask her heat scent, there was such a thing as too much of a good thing.

She needed a break—not from the pack and her duties, but her own family. It seemed that no matter what she tried, her mother and brother refused to come out of their shells. She’d held so much hope when they’d come home, but even her father was at a loss, and under threat of depression himself. They were three pillars she and the pack needed, but right now…

She glanced up as she found herself in a run-down structure with a bizarre… contraption resting in it. The thing held scents of many, some stronger than most, and among them was her Uncle Tornach as a common scent. Loner, but settled.

After several minutes of exploration, she padded out of the barn and gazed out at the surrounding land. In many ways she wanted to rip her fangs into the beasts that had taken her mother and twin. Of course, her father had already wiped out that group with the help of the Nomads at his side. He’d described in confidence and detail the scene, the battle, the rescue, and the journey home. She was glad the slavers had been wiped out but envied her father the satisfaction of having a paw in their destruction.

Her haunches lowered to the ground as she forced her mind to shift to plans for the pack, for winter, and the conversation with Gwen regarding preparations. It’d be interesting to see how the children integrated into responsibilities of hunting and sentry-work. She’d intended to make her changes to the pack upon her first meeting, but thoughts had occurred and she’d realized a few loose ends still needed to be tucked into place.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think