The thicket was empty, okay not literally empty, obviously, the pack was still evident in the milling of wolves or the occasional sign of other smaller life but it wasn't that that drew Psalm's attention. Rather it was the conspicuous lack of a certain fauna, while she hadn't known much of the world before her birth, before the long winter she had seen some from time to time in the thicket but now... well now they seemed all gone, but did they migrate with the turning of the season? She did not know. But it did make her a little concerned. Psalm had to work hard, harder than ever before. This much she knew. Her father had abandoned them and Psalm was desperate to avoid further rejection and was certain the best or maybe even only way to do that was to prove how hard a worker she was.

She had plans to hunt as much as time would allow and had been hoping to target some of the plumper birds that often made the thicket their home but while they hadn't ever been plentiful in her time they were notably absent now... which of course only made everything already swirling in her mind worse. The anxiety that pulled at Psalm was ramped up. The girl was snuffling around desperately at tree roots, her head whipping around between digging around in the leaves and dirt and scanning the now meager canopy above her, her trail clear in the moving of the grasses that dwarfed her.

WC: 255 (/1500)

Today was a better day for her physically, but everything else still felt wrong. Even after their father had gone, she kept up with her daily routine of walking at least down to the stream near their shared den and back again, forcing herself to get up and walk despite her body's reluctance to do so. Every day she could tell she was getting stronger and she was able to leave the den for more than a few minutes at a time now. She wanted to be happy about that small victory, but it was hard knowing that one of the wolves she had been trying so hard for was now gone. She kept going purely because she knew her siblings would worry about her otherwise, especially Balthier, but each day that their father was gone only solidified the fact that he wasn't coming back and that made it that much harder each and every day.

She sat around near their den for a while, but just sitting here on her own was only making things worse so she finally pulled herself to her paws and went off in a direction she hadn't really been before. She hadn't gone farther than the area immediately around their den so moving into the dense grasses and bushes of the thicket was a completely new experience. She pushed her way through the grasses, feeling as if she completely disappeared into them with her small frame and stature. She thought about how she had barely been able to even make it down to the river that snaked through the plains even a few months ago and now she could at least manage to walk for a decent distance and make her way through this thicket without too much trouble. It was exciting and she wanted to be hopeful because of it, but it was difficult to even allow herself that. She went looking for someone - anyone, really - to help keep her mind off of things, but for a little while she was slow moving and couldn't find anyone in this mess of plant life.

The sound of rustling and and movement caught her attention and she turned toward it, pushing her way through a patch of grass and finding her sister on the other wise. While she hadn't spent as much time with Psalm or Solo as she had with Balthier, she didn't hold it against her siblings. She never expected any of them to be in her den with her when she was sick and there were most certainly times where they had visited that she couldn't remember thanks to the fever and haze she had lived in for so long. Now that she was feeling a little better she wanted to take every advantage she could of any time she had with them, wondering to herself if there was any way to make up for lost time. She walked over to where Psalm seemed to be searching for something, giving her a smile. "Hi, Psalm. What are you doing? Can I help?"

WC: 512
Total: 767/2500 (gotta have 2500 for the bonus prompt)

"Azzurra"