honored memory

Winter still had its icy grip on the lands. Theory blew out a puff of hot breath that misted immediately on the air and stared up at the grey sky. Everything now was grey, grey, grey. She'd kill for a change of scenery. It was funny - she didn't realize how much she relied on the changing of the seasons until, frighteningly, it just didn't change. She refused to believe the cold would be eternal. Ever the optimist, she knew this too would pass. Today she sought out the company of the pack's newest members: Poem's darling children. From the moment they were born they'd wormed their way into her heart. The love she felt for them was almost overwhelming, as if they were own children. She watched them often from a distance and had spent plenty of time with them all together, but not as much time with each puppy apart. They had spent so much time in her mind as one collective group - it as time to get to know them as the bright little individuals they were becoming.

She heard the soft sound of singing and diverted her path towards the rapids. Shae watched the waters with wide, introspective blue eyes. After hearing their names announced one by one at their birth, she had been unable to stop her throat from clenching. Shae. It was like a small piece of their mother was wandering Abaven again, except her paws were tiny and new. "Hello, Shae," she called out as she approached, her bobbed tail wagging. "What do you think of the water?"