Now that summer had rolled around, the lands were finally starting to dry out. The river was slowly starting to recede to its normal path, pulling back from the land. At last he could walk around to check on it, renewing his border markers. They had grown weak during spring, the area had been so coated in mud and running water that it was too dangerous for his wolves to walk in. While the ground still sucked at his paws, there were enough dry patches that he could pick his way across with leaps and bounds over the more muddy patches. It didn't leave his coat unmarred though, his usually pale legs now painted brown up to his ankles. Bass sighed and shook his head back and forth, irritation colouring his face. It would be a few weeks still until this land returned to normal. They were still silent, the sounds of animals that usually sounded were still. He wondered how long it would be until prey returned here in full. Humming to himself, he found a completely dry spot and sat down, golden eyes scanning the horizon.

Many thoughts swam around in the man's head. Now that it was summer, his birthday was here. His youngest litter was also a year already. He let out another sigh, he was turning into an old man. Five years old... And his kids, well his youngest litter and some of his older ones were all on the fritz. Sandpiper and Tordo had been distant, running around and growing up. Starling was who knows where, although all the older kids had been more present since Finch was found. And Wren... well he didn't even know where to start with her. For almost a year now she had been pretty much gone. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't really leave and go looking for her. She had wandered off before and returned, something their children seemed to be picking up. But this time... it was the longest she had been gone. Even when Finch had gone missing, he had hardly seen hide nor hair of her. His heart broke, head hanging down. Had he done something wrong? Did she not love him anymore? Maybe she had moved on, a midlife crisis type of thing. Bass couldn't even imagine finding anyone else, his kids would probably hate him if he fell in love with anyone who wasn't their mother. But... could he hold on again and again, each time she left again? He was tired of waiting, of being tugged back and forth like this. He couldn't keep going on, knowing if she was or wasn't here for the family. If she wanted to leave, she needed to do so, and if she wanted to stay then she needed to be present. His heart couldn't take this any longer. He thought of trying to call for her, but bit his tongue. Instead he stood in the silent lands, wrestling with his thoughts.

""

Ever since she came back from her little adventure out of the pack territories she had been kind of sorta avoiding her parents. Not that she didn't want to go see them! No, she definitely wanted to, especially her father. But she didn't want to be in trouble either. She had come back mostly unscathed, with the little scratch on her nose and the few even smaller ones on her cheek from landing in a thorn bush on accident, but she was sure her dad didn't want her running around on her own. Even though she could totally handle it! Kind of. She realized that it was suddenly summer again and that meant that she was a whole year old now. She didn't really feel any different though. But she decided that since she was a year old she had to be a brave and responsible yearling and go and talk to her father. She started looking for him around the Abaven lands and finally she found him near the big river. She had her ears down as she walked up to him, trying to look as appologetic as she could. But, as she got closer, she realized he wasn't even looking at her, he was just looking at the ground and looking very, very sad. Her worries were forgotten for a moment and concern took over her expression. She hurried toward him, her paws making wet, squishy noises in the mud. "Daddy?" she asked as she came up to him. Her ears were still down, but for a much different reason now. She pressed her nose to his cheek and her pale blue eyes found his. "Are you okay?" "Talk" "You" Think

The sound of squishing mud made his ears flicker, head slowly rising to see Piper coming towards him. He tried to smile softly at her, but it faltered. She touched her nose to his cheek, and Bass found himself leaning into her touch. A tender sigh left his lips, tongue flicking out to kiss her on the cheek. That is when he noticed the small scratches, and a single brow rose. Pushing it aside for now, he shrugged his shoulders as his daughter asked how he was doing. "Just missing your mother," he said softly, voice cracking slightly. He didn't want Piper to see him upset, but the emotions were building up within him. Taking a deep, shuttering breath he tried to calm himself. Bass cleared his throat on top of it, lifting his head up and was finally able to offer her a touch of a smile. His gaze turned a bit more firm though, his tail twitching behind him. "Speaking of missing, don't think that you're off the hook young lady. Where did you run off to?" he asked, his vocals turning way more fatherly than before. Just because he was upset didn't mean that she would be able to get away with vanishing for a spell.

""

She watched him worriedly as he leaned his head toward her and kissed her cheek. She wasn't used to seeing her father like this, she only really knew his playful and fatherly sides. This was the first time she had really seen him upset that she could remember. When he told her the reason she understood better. Now that she didn't think she had seen her mother since that one time she had been cleaning rocks out of the den... Where was she anyway? She started to wonder if maybe she should go look for her mother. Maybe if she found her then her dad would be happier! But before she could finish making her internal plans for her search and rescue mission he spoke again, interrupting her thoughts. She blinked as she remembered her whole reason for coming to find him in the first place. A guilty smile stretched across her muzzle. "I went on a little exploring adventure. I went a little farther than I meant to so it took me longer to get back than I thought it would. And I might have fallen in a thorn bush trying to hunt a rabbit on the way back... But it's okay! Just a couple little scratches!" She smiled and looked to her father hopefully. She didn't want him to be too mad for her wandering off. She knew she should have told him where she was going before hand but it was kind of a spur of the moment thing. So hopefully he'd understand! "Talk" "You" Think

Bass watched his daughter as she explained herself, trying to focus on the more positive side of things. He could deal with the thought of Wren later, maybe take one of the kids with him to go and look for her. But he was not distracted enough to let Piper get off the hook. She grinned at him as she explained herself, and it nearly melted his heart. Darn kids and their puppy eyes. "You still need to tell me before you go wandering off like that. What if you had gotten lost or trapped somewhere, and I had no idea where you were?" After everything that had happened with Finch, he didn't want to risk it happening to another child getting hurt like that. He fixed her with his most stern stare, his tail flicking behind him "As a punishment, you have to stay within pack lands for three weeks, okay? No leaving at all. And then after that you need to tell me where you're going." Was he being too strict? Maybe, but he was a lot more paranoid since Finch went missing.

Letting out a soft sigh, he leaned forward and tried to nuzzle her cheek. "I am only doing this because I love you, okay? I just can't stand to see anything happen to you. Even if it's only a few small scratches." Bass said softly. He didn't want to hold her back from doing what she loved to do, but she had to realize just how dangerous this world could be.

""

Sandpiper's grin quickly changed to a frown and her shoulders slumped when Bass informed her that she would be grounded to the pack lands for three whole weeks. Three whole weeks sounded like a lifetime! That was so looooooong! But he nuzzled her cheek and said that it was only because he loved her and that softened the blow a little bit. Besides, he had already looked so sad before. She didn't want to make him more sad by being mad at him. "Okaaaaay," she grumbled grumpily with a over dramatic sigh. She reached over and nudged his cheek with her nose, putting a little smile back on her muzzle. "You'll have to keep me entertained then. I've already explored all the Abaven lands. What else can I do around here?" She hoped maybe she could help get his mind off of her mother for a second if nothing else. Maybe they could do something together! She'd like that. She hadn't gotten to do anything one-on-one with her father in a while. Who knew, maybe they could kill two birds with one stone: her boredom and his loneliness.   "Talk" "You" Think

He hummed thoughtfully as Piper asked what else they could do, gazing around at the lands around them. If she had indeed explored all the lands, he would have to come up with something good. "We could always go snake hunting, if you think you're brave enough." he said with a smile, turning back to his daughter. Having been raised in Abaven, she would already know the difference between the poisonous and harmless ones. It was a lesson that all young ones had to learn, considering that one of their lands were overrun with the creatures for half the year. Pale tail flickered behind him as he awaited his daughters answer. He had no doubt that she would take him on, Sandpiper had already proved to be quite the adventurer. Bass still remembered the adventures that him and Wren had gone on, which made his ears flicker back towards his skull once more. It was rather impossible to not think about the woman, he had been with her for more than half his life. They had been best of friends before they had been mates, and she was the mother of his wonderful children. Hopefully Piper would help change his mind.

""

Her father surprised her with his suggestion, but it was one that she was immediately excited about. It was something interesting and exciting and challenging all in one! She gasped excitedly and puffed out her chest as she grinned. "Yeah! I'm totally brave enough!" She gave an excited little hop at the idea and bounced in a circle from the rush of energy. "Come on, dad! Lets go! We have snakes to hunt!" All her worries over being grounded were immediately swept away by the promise of a hunting adventure with her father. Her tail wagged a mile a minute behind her and she bounced in a circle around him while she waited for him to lead the way to their hunting ground of the day. She knew which snakes to avoid of course, but she had never tried to hunt one of them. She tried to imagine what a snake would feel like to bite and she honestly couldn't. How different did scales feel than fur? "Talk" "You" Think

Bass let out a chuckle, bending down to nuzzle the top of her head. "Bet you can't beat me there," he teased. He took one look at her before he bolted away from her, kicking up dirt as he ran. He quickly left the rapids, taking a turn towards the plains where the snake hunt would be held. He looked over his shoulder once, letting out a chuckle before he turned to look where he was running again. If Piper was going to beat him, she was going to have to be pretty fast. He had no intentions of just letting her win, she was really going to have to fight for it. A toothy grin was flashed at nothing, feeling his worries slip away. This was good for him, Sandpiper was providing him with just the type of therapy that he needed.

ooc; // Thread has been continued in the plains! I am going to make it now. ^^
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