Aslan was generally a rather relaxed fellow his father had certainly passed on some of the quiet, peaceful personality to the boy and he was fortunate enough to live a relatively stressless life. Now however he worried. He had seen his father suffering with an illness, his cousin and grandparents as well. The latter two hadn't recovered, the sickness claiming their lives though Frith and Félicien had fortunately retained enough strength to beat the dreaded thing. This was different however. No sickness plagued the pack though something was certainly wrong with his mother. She was far from her usual vibrant self, drained and down barely participating in the lives of Fate and Luck let alone anyone else within the pack. It had delayed his planned trip to the North with his father, though the expedition was hardly the thing he cared about now. He did what he could, hunted for his mother and spent time with his siblings, aided his father with general pack duties and even had offered to help Sorrel with finding any herbs that might help. Most tasks had gone well, the last of course was the one that he had not had any success in, his cousin hadn't exactly been too happy with the idea of his company. After a check upon the borders, the boy had found himself with a moment of spare time. Quietly he left the border behind him, a gentle stroll leading him deeper into the pack lands once more as he considered his next plan of action for the day.

Only when passing by, she would see her little siblings occasionally playing outside either by themselves or under their father's protective eyes. While she left the early puppy teaching for her parents, as they would have this experience from their first litter, over time she noticed something a little odd. She hadn't seen much of her mother while the pups were interacting with themselves rather than participating in familial encounters like she did as a child. It would bring great concern to her mind if it was another illness spreading itself yet again over the pack. Perhaps it would be considerate of her to see how Novella was doing, which would be her only objective for the day. Then there was her planned trip to the north to visit an allied pack. She hadn't discussed the topic with either of her parents, as it was a requirement to travel with a senior member of the pack. Since her father had taken the lead of the pack with her mother avoiding pack duties for a mysterious reason, she temporarily put the thought on hold. Although it seemed ages away, by the time the chance to travel finally opened up, the season would be late autumn or winter, when the north was at its worst weather and deemed dangerous for travel. Was it necessary for her to go? Not really, now that she thought about it. With her destination set for her mother's den, her path entwined with her litter brother's as her multicoloured gaze spotted the unmistakably large form belonging to Aslan. It would be impudent of her to ignore his presence, especially when her alabaster pelt was quite noticeable through the undergrowth. In a smooth and effortless trotting movement, her speed increased to reach her brother's side. Unless there was anything important or dutiful he had been assigned to do, she would tag along his saunter. "How's my favourite brother doing?" A gentle giggle slipped from her lips as she brushed her shoulder against his leg affectionately. "Speech"

It seemed that the chocolate coloured boy wouldn't have to wait too long for something to come his way. He hadn't spent nearly enough time with his siblings as he would have liked, keeping himself perhaps a little too busy as he attempted to help his parents wherever he could and it meant that for all he knew many of the pack were doing the very same thing, his sister included. It had been far too long since they had spent any real time together. Perhaps he could have discovered earlier that she shared his wishes to visit the North only he had gone a step further with the idea, speaking with his parents and at one point having a plan set in motion. It had fallen through though he wouldn't blame his mother or new siblings for that at all. "Favourite brother?" He questioned with a smile as he moved to meet her. Plans or not he certainly wouldn't have gone out of his way to avoid his sister and her company was very much welcomed now. "I'm not sure we're supposed to pick favourites." He added teasingly, lowering his head to nuzzle her lightly in greeting as she reached his side. "I'm well. Just doing what I can to help." No further explanation was likely to be needed. Varda knew just as well as he that something wasn't quite right with their mother at the moment. He hadn't spent long with her though she certainly wasn't herself right now. "How are you?"

He seemed quite surprised with the term of favourite. Perhaps it was the first time anyone had called him a favourite anything. Oh dear, maybe she needed to display familial love more often. "By whose rule?" The girl responded with an amused chirp, mischief briefly floating in her tone. Usually she adhered to the family's and pack's laws and expectations with regard, but she couldn't recall a rule referring to favouritism. It was a little thing, like having a preferred prey or training field. Besides, what other brother was there besides Aslan? Of course, there was little Fate who was too young for her to call a judgement upon. The younger siblings were probably going to grow closer to each other rather than the older litter, unless something happened to change her prediction. As his reply, he mentioned that he was doing what could to help. By this, she assumed he was providing his assistance towards the pack and its members. Unfortunately, if she had known her aid was required in some way, maybe she could have created a stronger benefit to Threar. Perhaps she had been doing something that would positively impact the pack in the future by consulting her father and practising her skills in the only training field she knew of. It meant in the future there would be more prey to supply in the pack and perhaps another Plot. "Quite fine, in fact. I've been hunting." Her reply didn't sound as helpful as her thoughts deemed it to be, which was why she added extra yet truthful information for him to believe it was important. Surely it was. "Father says I have a bit to improve on, but it's a start." She couldn't help but to ask what her brother had been doing education-wise. Did he have goals like she did? Was there a specific rank he sought? Perhaps he hadn't planned as far as her young mind desired to reach. "What field are you most interested in? Or fields I should say." "Speech"

Varda wasn't convinced that she couldn't have a favourite brother and state the fact out loud. Perhaps she could play favourites though it was probably more appropriate not to voice them. "Well I don't believe there is an official rule." He admitted. "More a courtesy really. I don't suppose you'd be too pleased if our parents said Luck was their favourite daughter." He kept his tone light still, certainly not wishing to cause any offence to his sister at all. He didn't believe his parents played favourites anyway, had he known about the instance his grandparents had once played favourites with his aunt Song and the damage it had done to the rest of the family, maybe he would have been a little more serious as he got his point across, used that as an example rather than the invalid point he put across now. Hunting was useful. No further explanation had been needed. Fate and Luck couldn't hunt for themselves and his mother wasn't really in the right state to do so either. Without the pack helping them the three wouldn't survive. And the honing of her skills was important too, it improved her of course and those lessons she hoped to one day give Fate and Luck would be better with a stronger teacher. In Varda's mind it may not have seemed like much though Aslan wouldn't share the same thoughts there. "I'm sure you will improve." He encouraged her with a smile, he certainly had faith that his sister would do well in whatever she put her mind to. The 'start' as she put it, well Aslan believed she was probably being rather humble about that. It had been a while since the pack had actually had a group hunt though from what he had seen then she seemed to be a quick learner, certainly had done well. What did Aslan want to do? Honestly he hadn't thought that far ahead at all. His ambitions were more for the present than the future, goals simply to help his parents keeping the pack running however he could help. He had picked no set discipline to train and train in until he was skilled, had chosen no rank he wished to one day earn. "I'm not sure." He responded. "I can't say I've really thought about it."

She tried to imagine how she would feel if her parents admitted such a statement if Luck was their favourite daughter. It would cause sibling rivalry as far as her self-centred attitude outstretched. They wouldn't say something like that, would they? Instead they more likely to reply that each daughter was loved equally, which would be quite a useless answer if Varda was the one to ask it. Whether her parents kept the fact a secret or not, she would always strive for success and to always be better than she already was. Family could be seen as healthy competition through her eyes. As much as she wanted to argue over the topic that refused to leave their conversation, it would prove nothing in its wake and only grow to be a petty waste of her time. Although it was facile to anger her emotions, her silver-tongue would have to wait for a later quarrel. "Better not." Her words were spoken in somewhat of a grumble before her tone mimicked his with light optimism. "That's why we have secrets." In a mannerly way, she dipped her head to acknowledge his positive motivation. It was all a matter of practice and creating good habits with her hunting. It would be easier if the pack held more hunts, or training for the other two fields that she was yet to experience. There was uncle Legend who specialised in fight training while the other Plot positions laid untouched. Surely the other two fields were just as important as her father had explained. Would she be able to organise a pack hunt as an inexperienced Prologue? That was another thing she would have to converse with her parents about. Of course he wouldn't have planned as far as she had. If taking on small jobs to help the family like he had described to her was what he wanted to do in the future, she wouldn't argue. "I guess it's something to think about." She responded with a shrug to his previous reply. Perhaps she would have to ask the question at a later date rather than pressuring his mind to make a decision at that moment. "The pack hasn't been training that often anyway." "Speech"

Apparently he'd made a rather touchy point judging from his sister's momentary change in tone. He felt both a little bad and amused by the sudden shift from playful to grumpy though hid both emotions well and the mood soon shifted back to a lighter one. "We have secrets?" He enquired curiously. He of course knew what a secret was though never had he kept any, was there something now that he was meant to keep secret or was it merely the topic of favourite brother. Had she continued to pressure him on the matter of chosen fields, Aslan honestly couldn't have really delved any deeper into the topic. He couldn't make such a decision right there on the spot and truly wasn't sure how to begin even choosing which he wished to focus on. Couldn't he simply work on them all evenly and see what naturally developed the most, let his skill pick for him rather than forcing anything? That right there was the problem with that plan however, they hadn't had many training sessions lately. With only one Plot he could understand why but his Uncle Legend hadn't even gathered them for any sort of training. How were they supposed to learn, to choose a field to specialise in if they had no guidance in any of them? There had been tough and busy times for the pack though, he wouldn't grow too annoyed by the lack of teaching. "I guess everyone has got other things to worry about right now."

As much as she hated to be dishonest towards her family, her mind interpreted this secret to be almost harmless. If the point he was trying to send across earlier was to keep such things to herself, then secrets were the most suitable way to store them now that he was aware of this information. Perhaps he didn't approve of secrets altogether. Hopefully that was not the case. "Of course." She reminded with soft friendly nudge and a wink. In a hushed whisper she added on to help him catch on to her drift. "Favourite brother. Remember?" He didn't seem too bothered with the lack of teaching going on within the pack, unlike her. If there was a legit reason to support why there wasn't, she might reconsider the fuss her thoughts were making out of it. Some days she preferred exercising her skills on an individual basis while other days she found herself in the mood for quality teamwork where she could learn from others. After spending many hunts with herself, it was only natural for her to desire a change of pace. Was she improving by carrying out her practices solitarily? Perhaps not as much compared to learning from many other educated minds. "Like...." Her words trailed off to a mumble as her mind searched for an example of Threar's current eventful lifestyle. That was another thing she had to make an improvement on and that was keeping herself up to date with what was happening around the pack. Although this was the sole purpose of pack meetings, many things could happen in between. She wasn't nosy or anything along those lines, just curious as to why the pack was busy. "Like mother would be busy with Fate and Luck, but I haven't seen much of her recently." With her previous mention, she hoped to extract additional information from her brother. Did he know of the reason behind their mother's occasional disappearance? She would only receive a reply if he knew or wished to speak of it. "Speech"

So now Aslan had a secret. A completely harmless one really and one he wouldn't mind keeping at all. He knew of course that Varda did love Herne and Fate as well, this wasn't her choosing only Aslan as a brother. He'd view it more as a playful, inside-joke of sorts. Her own light demeanour and playful actions certainly helped reach that conclusion. He'd give a single nod of understanding and if wolves were able to do so or even knew what zips were he would have mimicked zipping his lips closed then. He of course would have loved it if lessons could have continued, that they could still be learning new things. Though he hadn't chosen a particular path like Varda, Aslan still wished to learn and improve his skills. He simply understood the reason behind some of the lack of lessons whereas it seemed that Varda only knew the half of the situation. Had she really not noticed? "She's not well, Varda." He admitted, tone serious again now. "She's not ill like father was last year, but something isn't right with her." He was honestly shocked, had the news been kept so well hidden that even her own daughter hadn't managed to work it out?

His sudden change of tone almost surprised her, but she wouldn't allow that particular emotion to be printed on her expression. It was a stern matter, hearing that her mother was unwell. Of course, she figured that part out and so it was the cause she wished to uncover. If she wasn't sick with a disease, then what was the reason behind it? Colds and coughs were completely ruled out from the picture at this point, leaving practically no reasonable explanation open for to discover. Was she still feeling the exhausting effects from the birth of her newest litter? Was it a mood swing? Varda herself had experienced frustrating moments known as mood swings but they had never lasted long nor were they noticed by anyone around her. Honestly, she was no healer (yet another field she desired to experience) and engaging in this particular subject where her brother was most sombre, she felt almost unintelligent. Was the reason behind her mother's illness so obvious that even she couldn't interpret? After a few moments of silence as her mind processed the information being thrown at her, her thoughts expressed themselves aloud in the hopes her thinking was correct. It would have been an excellent help if someone had notified her of this earlier instead of leaving her to suggest half educated guesses. More preferably, perhaps the reason was unknown. "So if it's not the disease kind, is she suffering from a mood swing?"   "Speech"

It was the mystery of it all that had Aslan so sombre. Novella certainly wasn't herself as of late and the boy missed his mother, wished for her swift recovery and yet with no idea what was causing her problems it seemed that they were at a loss on how to fix it. Sorrel had tried from what he'd heard, the boy had ventured out on searches for herbs more and more regularly and Aslan only wished he knew what he might be looking for to offer his cousin a hand. Sorrel didn't divulge the details much at all though, quietly got on with his work and left the rest of the pack rather clueless. Varda sat in silence now as the news sunk in though finally a speculation would arise as to what could be wrong with their mother. He shrugged weakly in response, he had no idea. Seemed to be more serious than a mood swing, and he hadn't seen her mood swing back to her usual self. He was no healer though he had always assumed that the mood swings were more of a brief passing throughout the day than something that would trouble you for weeks on end before you became yourself once more. "I don't know." He answered. "Her mood is pretty low, it seems to be most of the time." Aslan hadn't spent as much time around her as his father, didn't know the full signs and symptoms behind it all there was little he could offer not that the two of them would really find the reasons anyway.

Varda had also dedicated majority of her time to be spent with her father rather than equally dividing it between each parent. The only family she truly spent time with was her parents and siblings, as opposed to her brother who seemed to be helping out with their cousin in his healing. Not at one moment during her casual solitary practices had the thought of visiting her mother ever formed in her mind. The last time she clearly recalled being around her mother was when she was allowed to see her younger siblings after they had been brought to the world. Ever since that day, she hadn't much until now, with Novella currently unwell with the reason unknown. Who knew how long the mood drop would continue to plague her? Just as she expected, he had no answer to provide. It left her at a weak position. There was nothing much she could do to speed up her mother's recovery, as much as she wished to do so. With no knowledge in healing (if herbs were able to "cure" mood drops), the only thing she could do was pay her a visit, even if it held little purpose. Feeling useless was indeed frustrating. If she could at least lighten her mother's mood for a moment or bring a smile to her face, it may be the first step towards her path to full health. "I dearly hope she returns to her normal self." Was all she could say over the matter with most of the energy and colour drained from her voice. "Is there anything we can do to help her recover?" "Speech"

To be fair to Varda, it wasn't typical for a pack to spend every moment with an ill member even if it was the Author or your mother. They'd paid visits to their father during his illness though certainly not as frequently as either would have liked, both parents fearing the children would get ill too. Not to mention it hadn't been apparent how badly Novella was affected. She had simply seemed tired, busy with her newest children and Varda had graciously given her the space to bond with them in the same manner she'd had nothing but time for them when they had been born and first started exploring the world. This useless feeling was one that Aslan could sympathise with. Of course they wished to see their mother return to her normal self, and neither of them had any idea of what they could do to help her at all. For Aslan he did what he could, helping to support the rest of the pack, take some burden from his parent's shoulders to give his father rest and his mother time to recover. It was all he could think to to for even Sorrel was having difficulty from a healer's viewpoint, what hope did he have of finding a miraculous cure? "I don't know." He wasn't really great at offering information, though they didn't have much in the first place. "I guess we just have to do whatever we can to help whilst she's recovering, try keep her from worrying and stressing herself out more." Kept him busy too, and he liked that. Sad around bored and worrying for his mother certainly wouldn't have done him any good.

While her younger siblings were currently growing up without much of their mother leading them through childhood, a way to create a loving bond between her siblings and fill in the role of a motherly figure would be to spend time with them more often. Really, she should be visiting them every day, not just when a parent was ill such as the ongoing situation. So if she could play with the pups or teach them basic hunting skills like she had always wanted to, supply her mother with food when the opportunity arose and have a reassuring discussion with Novella just as he had suggested, perhaps finding something useful to do wouldn't be such a struggle after all. Like Aslan, it would keep her occupied with practical jobs as opposed to being bored and doing nothing that contributes towards the pack. "Then I'll do my best." She securely promised with a dip of her head, the thought of forgetting to complete her promise almost frightening her. Her skull shook for a brief moment as if the depressing thoughts of how her mother was feeling were crawling over her like spiders. Mud and spiders were things she loathed with a passion. "We shouldn't worry. I heard it's not healthy to do so." A sufficient amount of knowledge had been gained in that particular subject and so for a brighter change of pace, she smoothly made a transit towards the next topic. It was spoken rather out of the blue, however, she was desperate to engage in a positive conversation. "I know this was announced some time ago and almost impossible to be completed now, but I'm interested in this trip to the North." "Speech"

Varda made her promise and Aslan certainly believed she would do her best to keep it and of course that her best would be rather brilliant. His sister definitely seemed to have a sense of determination to her and if this was her goal now he was sure she would get it. Without worrying might prove to be a little difficult if their parents kept insisting on getting ill every time pups came into the world but they'd try their best there too. "I believe we're seeing proof to back up that statement." He responded. A change of subject was to come next. One that was perhaps needed to lighten the mood between the two siblings again, for their mother would definitely get better, she just had to. Varda would provide the starting point for that shift, an announcement of a trip, one that took him by surprise. He had no idea that his sister had wanted to go North but then they had never spoken of it until today. "I do to." He informed her."I spoke to our father about it after the meeting. He was going to come with me, we would have left shortly after Fate and Luck were born but of course the plan had to change." And there he was threatening to pull the conversation back to their mother. He didn't blame her for it, he'd postpone the trip to the North forever if it could make Novella better. "I'd still like to go." Now of course still wasn't a good time, they had to help their mother and their father wouldn't be able to take them. "I'm sure you can join us whenever we get around to it." Though it would have been nice to spend time with his father on such a trip, he would happily share it with Varda as well.

While he was rather surprised with the interest she displayed in the trip, she half expected him to think the same. However, he was the one who had taken it a step further by discussing it with their father and arranging a more experienced adult to travel with him. Even a departure date had been organised, but for now it was delayed. Most of the work had been completed for her, which left her feeling quite guilty for not carrying out the task herself and using her initiative. Now it didn't seem so much of a big deal as the planned expedition had been temporarily put on hold for a clueless length of time. Perhaps not clueless as she was certain her mother would overcome the depression she happened to be facing not because she selflessly wished to take part in this trip but because her mother was family and all family were closely loved. Family and pack always came first, with educative experiences coming behind in her list of priorities. The trip was just a bonus, not a sole reason. If it was to happen (which she feared not), she'd scrap the whole trip if this illness never faded. She was delighted to hear her brother kindly allowing her to join him and Frith. Really, the opposite could have played out if three participants were too many or simply because he didn't want her to come. Fortunately, none of those cases existed which was why she would thank him. After all, what else would she have done if the opportunity had been turned down? Complain to her unwell mother? Highly unlikely. "Thanks. I merely haven't planned as far as you have." "Speech"

Whether large or small in size, the families of Novella and Frith had been the most important things in their lives. It was no surprise that the two parents had encouraged these strong family values in their children as, it was perhaps only expected that both would have cancelled the trip entirely than leave their mother alone and unwell. Equally however these strong family ties meant that Aslan had no problems allowing Varda to jump in at what seemed more like the last moment. Yes he had planned ahead, spoken to their father not long after the meeting that had inspired these ideas but that didn't matter to him. Had he known Varda felt guilty for her lack of participation in the planning process he would have certainly tried to banish such feelings, not wanting her to feel bad at all. "You're welcome." He responded with a smile, confident that she would have done the same for him had the roles been reversed. "Well, there'll be more planning ahead whenever we can get the trip reorganised." He pointed out she could help them out then.