The Circle of Life

"Well, I'm alive." Of course he was! It wasn't a death match, and for that she was thankful. Though she didn't know who would want to challenge him to a death match anyway, she didn't think he had the kind of enemies that his mother has made...at his next comment though, she looked down at her paws. She felt bad that she wasn't here for him when she should be, but she supposed she didn't have the time to come way out here when she was the only one that kept the pack in check. It wasn't easy, but she was doing it. "I'm...sorry, that I can't be around more. Ivalice has taken alot of my time, and with a young litter, I've not had as much time to leave the north lately..." She felt bad, she truly did. And it hurt her to see him like this.

He explained that some of his family at least, decided to stay around. What about his father? Did Cypress ever come back? Or did he decide to up and abandon his kids just like Arian had? "I know it's hard, Riv." She sat down, Okami sitting against her belly as the girl sat quietly. "Things like this happen, and no matter how much we wish they didn't, it's just another stepping stone." She could feel a speech of sorts coming on, but she didn't want him to think she was going to lecture him. She wasn't. She wanted to tell him that things would be okay, that life went on. But she'd wait for a sign that it was okay to proceed. She didn't want him to feel that she was trying to be the parents he didn't have, not unless he asked her for the advice. She supposed, she learned this from her own kids..they always seemed to think she was lecturing them..