Desperation

The passage of time had long since blurred for the weary, heartbroken wolf that now trudged dejectedly into the familiar clearing near the lunar pool her father had once guarded. A long whine of relief left her as she padded to the pool and slumped beside the water, nose sinking to drink deeply. Minutes later she lifted her dripping muzzle from the pool and glanced cautiously around. It was very quiet, not even the subtle sounds of nature disturbed the silence. No birdsong. No chirping insects. Silence.

Golden ears twitched this way and that. Snout lifted into the air, drawing it over her scent glands. Nothing. Dropping from the rocks she headed out of the clearing towards home, longing to slink into the cave and see her mother and Naia. But that eagerness was drowned out by the fact that she would face them alone. No Solus. She had failed to save her father and now she had failed to find her brother. The weight on her heart was heavy and transferred directly to her paws, slowing her pace and making her hesitant.  The den and shed looked just as she'd left them, but she still had no idea how long she had been gone.

Realising that there was no sign, no sound, no scent of the other two females she suddenly picked up her feet and trotted quickly towards the den, growling out a call to them. Her massive nose pushed aside the furs and she stepped into the empty, dark, cold cave. No fires or candles burned. Food that had lay prepared was rotting. Naia's stitching equipment lay undisturbed on a stool. With a howled cry she burst back out into the daylight and hurried into the shed, nose snuffling the ground for clues. As she crept back out of the shed having found nothing, she paused and looked down at her paw. Lifting it slowly she tilted her head at what she had stood on. It was dusty and damp, but she recognised it instantly, the twisted leather band still holding its three brown feathers. Delicately she picked it up in her teeth and continued her search. The faintest hint of the two female's scents lingered in corners where the breeze didn't flow so freely, but after hours of searching no discernible trail had been uncovered.

By now Graea was ready to give up. Hungry, tired and mentally exhausted, she slunk into the den and curled up in a dark corner to rest, sinking quickly into the blissful release of a deep, dreamless sleep. When she finally awoke she set about hunting, the day lost to tracking prey and searching once again for any trail that could give her an idea of where her mother and sister had gone. Her only solace lay in the fact that she found nothing to suggest that they had died... no blood, nor scent of drow or death. She knew it was no guarantee that they were still alive, but after recent events she would cling to what she could. She stayed at the den for several days, hunting, resting, searching. She wandered further and further in her searches but always returned to the den come nightfall hoping that somehow Dynae and Naia had returned home.

Eventually her unending persistence began to fail her. Hope faded further and further from her grasp and she realised that nothing good could come of remaining here amongst memories of her family and constant reminders of her own failure to protect them. Weeks of fruitless searching came to an end and packing a bag she set out with no particular destination in mind. All she knew was that she needed to be elsewhere.