She was slowly recovering, her health would return but certainly not as quickly as her grand pups were recovering. Dutiron was helping her every step of the way, he would juggle the pack and making her want for nothing. He would supply her with everything as the winter days continued on. She was doing well to mostly ignore her season, when she was with her mate such a task became more difficult but while she was away from him she hardly noticed.
Now the white she wolf would lay out by her den, enjoying the bright day. The sun would find its way through the thick cloud cover and she could not resist straying from the den to bask in its warmth. Dark eyes would scan the surrounding area as her form emerged from the den. There was an obvious strength returned to her body, but still she was not at full strength. The slowness in her movements as she lay on the earth would make apparent her still recovering body.
Novella hadn't really been too much help throughout the epidemic. She'd done what she could, mainly involving other tasks to actually keep the rest of the pack running such as hunting and border patrols in an attempt to distract herself from all. She had tried visiting her mother once, though Novel hadn't been awake at the time perhaps rather fortunately for the little lookalike. Similar visits had been paid to the others in her family as well, particularly Satu and Iorwerth who lacked the parents to care for them, the latter had shown no recognition at all each time beyond continuously calling her a cloud.
At last though the cure had been found. She had been prepared to go off in search of the necessary plants though it seemed that they already had enough and everyone was now back on the road to recovery. This was especially proven in the case of Iorwerth, her cousin had returned to his normal serious self and no longer called her a cloud, a fact that was somewhat disappointing for she had hoped he would be a little more grateful and accepting towards the family now.
All the same she couldn't complain about it too much, everyone was after all getting better her cousins, nieces and nephews and of course her mother. She hadn't really had the chance to spend any quality time with her parents prior to the illnesses arrival, they had been busy settling into the pack and their new positions before hand and even during. Now though, as she caught sight of her mother resting alone outside of the den, Novella wouldn't hesitate in moving over to rushing over to her.
As she lay herself onto the ground it wouldn't take long for foot steps to be heard approaching. She would swivel her pale head to the source of the sound, pale fur glinting through the bare limbs of the trees above them. A smile would appear on her features as she realized Novella was the one to approach her side. Quickly the girl would be there, her mother making no move to stand. She'd just gotten to the ground she had no intentions of standing so soon. However she would be open for an embrace, and a quick kiss on her daughter's cheek. "Novella! It's so good to see you well," her tail would wag as she looked up into the girl's bicolored gaze, happiness apparent in her chocolatey gaze. "How have you been, while i was.. ill?" she was curious, she had little other than Dutiron's guidance on how the pack was. Besides, Novella would tell her of the events leading up to the mystery plague.
She would soon reach her mother's side and of course meet her embrace, happily returning the affectionate greeting. It of course wasn't news that the sick were recovering but still her joy would certainly increase now as she could clearly see that her mother was getting better. It would be difficult to completely forget the epidemic, there certainly had been a few traumatising moments for Novella, perhaps most notably finding Satu and Iorwerth before they had any idea that the sickness existed. She was certainly ready to move on from it though, she was certain that everyone was.
"I'm definitely well." Novella responded cheerily, she may not have been ill herself though she had certainly been a little down whilst they were ill. "It's good to see you're getting better." She responded, planting herself down to sit next to her mother, the genuine smile still fixed to her muzzle until it faded slightly at her mother's next question. "I was ok." She figure that her mother knew others had been ill, Novella though not amongst them. "Just worried."
Novel was thrilled to see her daughter's face, she hadn't gotten out much recently and to know her baby was doing well would bring her heart strength. She would enjoy their embrace, her eyes closing in a blissful manner as she breathed in the subtle scent of her daughter. A smile was obvious on her features as Novella pulled away slightly. "I'm definitely well." the joy in her voice would cause Novel's tail to wag a bit faster. She hated that her family had endured the sickness. Had she the choice she would have taken it from all of them and put it upon herself. "It's good to see you're getting better." She would nod as the younger girl placed herself next to her form. "I was ok. Just worried." Novel would continue to smile, the worry was over, they were all going to make it. "It'll take a lot more than that to tear your ol' mom down." she would say jokingly. "How's everyone else been doing? I haven't gotten out in a while."
Although a somewhat serious topic, Novel still managed to bring the smile back her daughter's face with her joke. Novella had been worried though, she hadn't actually dared think of the possibility people could die from the illness but perhaps somewhere the fear had existed subconsciously at the back of her mind. The illness had been awful though there was certainly no denying that, she had barely being able to see her mother and the small glimpses she caught were nothing like the typically strong and proud woman that she had always seen her as.
"As I said everyone is getting better now, worries are fading and health is coming back. Life seems a lot more relaxed again even if we do have to get back into some sort of actual routine." Many things had been abandoned during the epidemic lessons included. They would need to be restarted of course but healing had been the priority in everyone's mind just anything to try get the sick better again.
The illness would soon be a memory she would wish to forget. She didn't want to think about the lasting effects, the scars that would be forever with her and their family. She would especially feel a worry for her young grandchildren that had been effected. How would such an illness effect them as they grew? Would there be a lasting nightmare held within them? She was older, she could deal with the awful images that had haunted her during the illness. "As I said everyone is getting better now, worries are fading and health is coming back. Life seems a lot more relaxed again even if we do have to get back into some sort of actual routine." She would find herself smiling at the thought of normalcy returning. She could return to her position of authority and begin to help lead her family once again. "A routine will be good, we need to put this sickness behind us." She would think about life again, about getting back into teaching her grandchildren and providing for the pack. "Novella, have you found an area of study you'd like to peruse? I know when you left your father and I hadn't pushed much training on you. Do you feel like you've learned much since then?"
The trauma had fortunately faded slightly now though the image of discovering her sick cousins was certainly one that had stuck with her for some time. It certainly hadn't helped her worries and had perhaps been part of the reason of her lack of sleep in the early stages of the illness. She had gotten past it though the images and thoughts were still a little disturbing even now they were all getting better.
She gave a steady nod in agreement to her mother's comment a routine would certainly be a good distraction and a way to get back to normal for them all. Hopefully it wouldn't be long before they could all pretend that this dreaded sickness had never touched them in the first place.
Her mother would soon ask about her training and Novella would drop her gaze down briefly. Her studies had certainly been cast aside throughout all of this but even before the epidemic she certainly wasn't great at anything in particular. Various ideas appealed to her but she couldn't simply commit. Once it had been the fighting for the urge to protect herself and others, that of course still interested her though with the recent epidemic she certainly wished she knew more about healing. "Not exactly." She responded. "I've learnt bits and pieces here in Ludicael but I'm not really good at anything."
She was rather curious about what her children had been up to since they had left the confines of Ahlon. She only wanted them to be happy and to succeed in whatever it was their dreams may have been. She had long put past the hopes of a perfect heir, those dreams had been a product of her father's thought process and so had tore their family apart.
Novella would nod accordingly to her quick thoughts, she herself would need to return to a routine. Once her strength was fully returned she would begin regular patrols once more and maybe even start a few lessons herself. From Novella's words it would become obvious that the pack would need more training. She wondered briefly if the rest of her children were similarly lacking in their training. "I'm sure you're 'good' at whatever you put your mind to." She would smile, her words were the truth. She had utter confidence in all of her children.
Novella had certainly never experienced the pressure from her parents that the eldest litter had. Whilst she had never felt they needed her to be perfect at something for her own good and the good of others the young Destruction simply wanted to be better at things anyway. She certainly never thought she would be as good as her other siblings at various things but she could certainly be better.
Her mother however seemed to have a little more faith in Novella than the girl herself did. She would look back to her mother's gaze and simply return the smile with a small one of her own though to be honest she was still a little doubtful. "I don't think so, I'm pretty basic in all the areas" She would explain again. "You could help me though, couldn't you mum?" She had certainly helped Song, her eldest sister was perhaps the most balanced between the various arias out of them. Of course the training probably wasn't a system that Novel wished to return to now, Novella wanted to learn, she had to get better.
None of the children would have felt pressure to become something great save for Song. Her litter mates however did have to endure practically being ignored by their mother. She had given such intensive training to the girl, she would hardly even look upon the faces of her other children. Still it would make her heart wrench. To be so callous to those she had birthed. She would keep her regret to herself however, doing her best to forget and do the best she could with the time she had now.
Novel would always believe in her children no matter the circumstances, all of them were strong and brilliant in their own way and she loved them more than her own life. "I don't think so, I'm pretty basic in all the areas. You could help me though, couldn't you mum?" Novella doubted herself even with her mother's determination, she knew deep down that she could do whatever she wished. When the girl would ask for help though, Novel would visibly brighten. "Of course! I would love to." Her head would lean in to nuzzle the girl, more than anything she would love to teach her daughter the ways of the world. "I wont be able to show you much until i've recovered, but anything you want I will tell you."
It was obvious that each of Novel and Dutiron's children were different to one and other, even Novella could see that for herself and yet still she couldn't help but compare herself to them. The elder ones of course had more life experience and time to have figured out what they wanted to do and train but still she longed to have skills like theirs. She would keep the fact to herself though, assuming her mother would probably only try find a way to banish such thoughts from her mind. Besides she knew herself that the only way to get better would be to practice, and who better to teach her than her parents?
Novel fortunately would of course agree, albeit it once she had recovered. The big smile would spread over Novella's features once more, pleased with the news and nodding her head in agreement. "Of course, I don't expect us to start right now" She hadn't emphasised that fact though she certainly hadn't planned on lessons actually beginning with her mother until she was better, she didn't want to make Novel feel any more unwell or delay her recovery to full health in any way. "You just concentrate on getting completely better."
It was goo dthat Novella knew that only practice would bring her the skills she so deeply wanted. Novel would happily help her every step of the way, she would easily devote as many hours as it took to help her daughter gain the confidence at life that many of her siblings bore.
As she told her daughter of the acceptance of her proposal Novella's face would also brighten. Her smile encouraging Novel's own, "Of course, I don't expect us to start right now" However lessons needed to start again soon, the pack had been slacking. It was time for everyone to wake up and get back into the swing of things. "You just concentrate on getting completely better." Novel would find herself chuckling light heartedly, obviously her daughter understood the importance of rest. Maybe they would start with healing. It was a low energy lesson after all, a lot of memorization and talking was involved. "Of course, nurse Novella." she would chuckle happily, "Maybe, in a couple of days, we can work on some herb memorization."
Nurse Novella. It was hardly fitting, even that she hadn't exactly been very good at, hadn't she been more tempted to run for help than actually have any ideas on what to do for Satu and Iorwerth when she had found them? She had tried to help a little more once she had more supervision of course, anything she could for those who actually understood the healing though to be honest she still wasn't sure she had been completely helpful.
Starting with healing though. Whatever lesson plans her mother had Novella would be happy to stick with them. She gave a nod of her head, slightly less excitable this time as she controlled herself a little more. "As long as you're well enough." She commented, her words a slight warning to her mother not to try anything if she wasn't quite ready to yet. "But whatever you think is best." There was still a smile upon her face, very happy with the moment, the revelation that she would be able to learn from her mother.