Walk | Talk | Think
Tahlia walked behind the children directing their course by word alone as they set an eager pace for the Rio Grande. She let them keep a small lead between them, letting her thoughts keep her company while she kept them on track. It was the first time she and the children were making this journey, though as circumstances would have it it would not be their last. At the end of the path they were wearing into the woods was a den beside the river, the place that Nako had been born, and there they would find the missing piece to their family, the banished husband and father who was no longer allowed within their home of Seracia.
Though she kept her pace reserved and her actions refined, even around her children, Tahlia was honestly just as excited as they were to get where they were going, eager to see and smell and feel her mate and husband right there beside her rather than the memory of him that seemed to haunt her every waking hour. She had known from the beginning that the loss was going to be difficult, that it was not by any means going to be an easy adjustment to make, but neither had she realized the true extent to what she would feel. Barely together for almost two seasons and he was gone. She had not had enough time with him, and he had less time yet with their children. He could not be there to shield them all in warmth in the den, to romp and play with the pups as only he knew how, or teach them daily of all the little pieces of knowledge he possessed. Nor could he reassure her that her part in raising their children was perfectly fine when she had her doubts, that his affection and love for her was not fading, or simply be near when she needed his steady strength beside her.
She blinked upon hearing that they were near the river, drawn suddenly from her thoughts and needing a moment before she realized that they were close. Her heart beat slightly faster as the happy news settled in. Bane was near.
Always the first to bolt and act on impulse, Anais was quick to take charge and lead them on, not even bothering to wait and see what Tahlia had to say. With a sigh, the russet and black she-wolf was after her, hurrying to close the distance and catch her before she led them all too far. "Anais, wait!" Thank goodness the girl listened. Tahlia trotted up to join her with her siblings, eyes and ears searching and scanning their surroundings as if detecting every little detail about them. As much as she was ready for them all to go racing headlong to meet their banished family member, something upon the air had stopped her. His scent was prominent, speaking of his time there along the river already and that it was likely he was still close by. Tilting her muzzle upward, she called to him, her voice filled with longing and the hopes of their reunion.
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