an icebound wonder

Harmony rarely wandered far from pack lands, particularly in the winter. She felt the cold more keenly than she rightly should at her age, pained with stiffened joints, and she tired easily in the best of times. But she'd begun to grow concerned about some of her brother's children, and sitting in the pack lands doing nothing had begun to feel stifling. The silence in the pack lands was oppressive. She had to get out and think.

She didn't go terribly far, but the change in scene sufficed to relax her, and she settled into the well of a young tree, staring contemplatively at a crystalline ice droplet that had formed on one of the tree's delicate lower branches. Thinking.

Few in Abaven seemed interested in participating or furthering themselves. The yearlings who had appeared at her behest some time ago had often seemed greatly put-upon, as though meeting with their packmates was a great inconvenience rather than an opportunity. It saddened her to see, and a delicate sliver of resolve hardened within her. She would do whatever was within her power to pull her brother's pack back from the scattered reaches of solitude and reforge them into a cohesive whole. How? She was a healer, not a leader. But there were leaders among them if they chose to step forward - she could encourage them, guide them, into fulfilling their own potential. She had not put herself forward to reclaim her old title as Tagovor when she'd returned to Abaven, thinking that surely someone more suited to the position had stepped forward to fill it. She'd thought surely Starling would find himself suited to it when he came of age... but his self doubts poisoned his leadership and he'd fallen apart under the responsibility when his father had appointed him to lead the healers during the siege. She wanted to give her nephew the chance to prove himself once again, or for Sparrow to mature and settle into the role of healer... but in the meantime there was no one to lead them, and no one in a role to guide them in their journey. If only Rhythm had not stayed in Imperium! Her family needed her.

She sighed softly, her breath causing the ice droplet to quiver upon the branch. She did not like where her thoughts led her, even now. Of course Rhythm should be free to follow her heart. It was selfish of Harmony to have even considered otherwise. And if she had not stayed, Rhys and Rhyme would never have been born - she would not wish them away for the world. Instead of wishing for what was or what could have been, she should concentrate on honing her own skills, on proving herself and perhaps claim the position until one of the younger healers proved capable.

A soft sound caught her attention, and Harmony pricked her ears, head turning to seek what had caused it.