Family Ties

Surreal sat half submerged in the stream. It was the only relief she had found to escape the irritation of the heat cycle as it went unscratched. She still patrolled when the restless energy became too much to bear, and still made plans. She had been considering what lands to take apart from the Plains. She had been considering taking the old lands Valhalla had been in charge of under her mother. But she had taken a walk through those lands during one of the more vicious attacks of her feminine woes, and had looked at them through the eyes of an invader rather than one who had lived in them before. If an enemy wanted to sneak around to come in from the south, they could easily do so. So… despite the sentimental value of the land, she had decided to leave them alone. After all, the Plains held the most value. She knew them by heart; they held the dead. The Plains were where Cairo had been buried. She wasn’t leaving it to chance that others might claim the Plains. It would have been an insult to her mother’s memory.

She turned her head, gazing to the southwest. There was a place there. Birds were numerous there; a good prey source. It was defensible, and if she took it, there would be a river running through the territory. She dipped her head, lapping at the water, more of a thoughtful drink than to slake any real thirst. She still had other packs to visit, though she was content to wait until after Celestial was running smoothly and her heat cycle was over with before she approached them. A long sigh hissed through her nose and she sank onto her belly, water coming to her chin and covering her back. The cool water soaked into her fur, sending a pleasurable little shiver down her spine. For now, the heat cycle was dulled by the cool water, and she could ignore it.

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