Battle to the death

They had returned. They had returned in the worst way... without Zee. Hazel didn't feel like it was her loss to mourn, but still, it weighed heavily on her heart. Though her bond had been to Sirius, the loss of the queen was... something else. Something that led her shoulders to sag and the thoughts on her mind to hang heavily. Hazel knew that she needed to hang tough, and maybe do what she could to take any additional strain off of Seer in the coming days. Part of that had to do with the latest litter of pups... they were just babies. Did Seer have the energy for this? Right, she should help. She should help with them.

Maybe one of them would be out here in the woods. Hazel would take one on patrol with her or whatever else sounded good. She didn't know how to be an older sister. She didn't know how to be a role model. That would be a lot of pressure, a lot of responsibility, she didn't want that. No, she could be an average influence and maybe help with their training. Something like that. Beneath her paws, there was the distinct crunching of leaves. Well, at least it was still autumn. This was fine. Somewhere just ahead she could hear someone else out here, someone with short enough steps to be a pup.

Jogging lightly, Hazel squinted as the figure came into focus. Kyanite, sure. "Hey," it's as close as she can get to a conversational tone. Hazel slowed as she closed the gap. "Kite, do you want to come on patrol with me or something?" The yearling was doing her best out here.

"Speech"