With the pending war soon to break upon Vahalla and Glaciem like a dark storm cloud, the dark colored female spent her waking hours collecting herbs, never stopping till the end of the day. Her life had become so busy now with prepairing for the winter which had now settled in and training the pack's pups. She had to say that was the best part of her day. They made her long for her own but she was more than content to just be able to be near them and teach them. They were the ones that gave her hope, made her believe Valhalla would win. The pack just had to. Imena had sat that may nights trying to think of an escape plan for the pups and herself should they ever need one. Often times she would voice it to her mate Cael, fear and worry heavy in her voice. But Cael always seemed to chase those worries away, like light shining through the darkness. No matter what happened she would have him and he would have her. But he had to know that those pups would always come first. She would sigh softly as she searched for any herbs still clinging on to life with the bitter cold. She had left the herbs closest to the den untouched, leaving them to ensure they grew back come spring. The den she shared with her mate was already well stocked. She shook her head, seeing that nothing was out here in this brown plains. At least she could gather more bedding to insulate the den more from the cold. She set to carefully ripping up the long grasses, making a pile next to her. Speech Thought Companion Others

The girl was tired, hungry, shivering with cold. Winter was here, and she was on her own. She had yet to find her brother, and she was beginning to feel rather unsure as to whether or not he was even around here. Sighing, she huddled upon the cold ground, a chill settling into her small bony emaciating body. She hadn't had a proper meal since the time she hunted sand crabs with Odette in soulsand cove. But that was weeks ago, and since winter started, she had more of a hard time finding a decent scrapped meal to pick off from. This was the girls first snow season, so she could not understand why it was so cold or why food scraps were harder to find. When the first snow had fallen, she was excited at it. But the more it came, the more she disliked the cold and the wetness that it brought. Her eyes would become teary and streamed, her nose runny and her paws frozen. She had begun to get sick for the past few days, each day bringing on a little more sickness into her body and making way into a fever. She sniffed, wiping her frozen nose with a forepaw. She was far too exhausted and starved to move, and so she had chosen to remain in a bed of grasses in an attempt to keep some warmth within her small frame. Just as she was about to rest her head upon her paws, a rustling just on the otherside of the grasses spooked her. The babe scrambled to small black feet, fur bristling in alarm as she stared in the direction of the sound. A scent would tell her that it was female, and that she smelled strongly of herbs. Her paws would knead the ground, debating whether or not to see who was on the other side...After some moments of thought, she moved forward. If it was a friendly, she hoped that the stranger could help her with food...if it was a bad wolf, then she would flee and try to hide. Carefully, her small head would push out from the safety of the grass. Dual colored eyes came face to face with another wolf, and Skyla would remain silent as she stared at the stranger with apprehension. A sudden sneeze would force its way from her body, causing Skyla to fall halfway to the ground. Even something as simple as a sneeze seemed to be too much for her exhausted body to handle... "Speech"

She had paused for a moment in her gathering of grasses to sigh. She needed to figure out a rigid plan of lessons for the pups. She supposed she could teach them what not to eat, what was safe to investigate, and maybe even tell stories. But she would need to consult their mothers and Chrysanthe on what exactly they had in mind for her to teach. Thoughts got broken as she came face to face with a small pup. At once her sky blue eyes took in the poor state the pup was in. Not only was the tiny thing starving but sickness rolled off of her in a heat wave. Head lifted to see if the child was alone, even checking her scent. Everything spoke that this pup was alone and had been for sometime."Come child...dont be afraid. I'm Imena..im a healer in a pack called Valhalla..i can help you." She spoke in a soft soothing tone. Slowly she would raise to her paws and step by step make her way to the pup. She did not want to frighten her, so she took her time till she was close enough to lay down. She wrapped her body around the little black and white pup to warm her up, tail wrapping fully around so that her body would encircle the pup. This close she could examine the child. It would seem she had a cold with a fever, one she could easily cure but they would need to get back to the den. She thought for a moment on what to do. The pup was to big for her to carry and surely she was to exhausted to walk anywhere. If she could find burnet anywhere around, that might give the pup enough strength to make it back to Valhalla. Even still that was a long shot. If she could get another wolf from her pack, they might be able to carry the weight of the pup across both their backs. That would be their best bet."Whats your name sweetheart? If you would like, i can take you home to me den, where i can care for you. But only if you want." She said softly as she pulled herself in more to defrost the poor thing. Speech Thought Companion Others

Tenseness seemed to take hold of the young girls body as the bigger wolf rose. Skyla's streaming eyes blinked shut as the wolf spoke, and then she would feel the air around her turn warm. With half opened eyes, she would gaze at the woman with blurry eyes, the corners of them crusted with dried sickness as she tried to focus. Winter had caught up to the little girl, and at a price. She had not the energy to walk any further, and figured she would die out here. Her emaciated and sickly body unable to handle anymore travel, much less the will to take another step forward. She didn't even have the will or strength to protest nor summon an apprehensive puppy grown at this stranger, but it would seem she did not need it. The woman was warming her up, her thick fur wrapping around the freezing pup. Skyla's eyes closed in brief relief before opening again to stare at the woman. One ear would twitch slightly atop her downtrodden fur, her pelt an embarrassment as it was in clumps and patches...a result of neglectful upkeeping. "M-my name is Skyla...Skyla Aquawion..." her voice was nothing but a weak murmur. Her "R's still as un-pronounced as ever when she spoke. At the mention of going to a den, the little girl glanced up at the woman, her dull and tired eyes sparking briefly with a an almost desperate plea. With a slow nod, she responded. "Can we go to yoor den? It's cold outside..." Another sneeze would burst its way free from her small frame, forcing the childs head to fly back and then lie on her paws, her breathing labored from the travels and lack of food, sleep, and pure exhaustion. She was a sickly sight, and never before had she been so sick in her life. She felt hot, sick, icky, and everything else. Looking up at the woman, she whispered. "I don't feel good...and my tummy huwts..." "Speech"

Sky blue eyes ran over the body of the pup. Her heart ached for the little one and she was almost angry for someone leaving this child out on her own when she could not fend for herself. She would have started to groom the girl but with the cold it might not be a good idea till they were somewhere warmer. She nodded her head to the pup."Yes Skyla dear we can. I just need to call for my mate to help us. I promise i'll take care of you." She whipered to the pup. Head lifted to look about her, thankful that ermerald valley was close to her home. A deep breath expanded her chest till she let it forth in a howl. She called out to Cael, an emergany call to him. She tried to convay in her howl that she needed help, that this was important. She tuned back to the pup and nuzzled her gently. A list of herbs rang through her mind of what she would need to help this girl. Already she felt drawn to her, protective, as if this was her very own pup. If Skyla wanted, she could very well just be that. She was sure Chyrsanthe would not mind, maybe Syrinx. But the girl would remain in her care, her responsiblity. Sure the pack was facing war, but even still they could not let Galciem stop them from functioning as they normally did. Speech Thought Others

Cael was resting outside his and Imena's den when her familiar voice reached his ears, calling out to him from a distance. A call for help. His eyes flew open and he scrambled to his paws, his heart racing with the sudden rush of adrenaline. What could possibly be wrong? Where was she? He took off at top speed, not even bothering to tell Elva where he was going. He flew across the territory of Valhalla, his swift paws carrying him as fast as he could go. Soon he was racing into the Emerald Valley and within moments Imena's form came into view. He lopped to a halt a few steps from her, panting hard from his run. Relief washed over him when he saw that Imena wasn't injured, but concern soon replaced that relief when he spotted the pup she had with her. It was easy to see that the young one was sick, very sick by the looks of it. He glanced to Imena curiously before turning a kind gaze to the sick pup. He assumed that Imena had called him here to help get her back to the den. Everything they would need to care for her was there and it would be much warmer than here. Without hesitation he crouched down beside the pup, giving her a gentle smile. "I'm Cael, Imena's mate. If you want to, you can climb on my back and I'll carry you to our den, okay? I'll be really careful, I promise." He knew it would be faster for him to carry her than to try and have the pup walk all that way in this condition. He turned his gaze back to his mate, concern deep in his two-toned eyes. Speech Thought Companion Others