Ravenwing

The large male was slightly disappointed, but the only visible sign was the slight droop of his tail upon hearing her words. "That's alright." he said, flashing her a charming and kind smile. "I would love to hunt with you tomorrow." He couldn't help but feel a little excited.

With a shake of his head, he turned and trotted back towards camp.

Duskleap

Duskleap watched silently as Autumnstar nodded and gruffly barked a response to Jupiterstorm. "Good. The faster you heal the better." She turned and stalked away, slipping gracefully past the large beta female. Duskleap watched her go, wrinkling her brow slightly.

First morning light, and Autumnstar was already huffing and puffing about, griping. She couldn't remember a time when she'd seen a smile on that wolf's face. "Pay no mind to her," she told Jupitersmoke quietly. "Nothing anyone could ever say or do would make her happy." Both Duskleap and Autumnstar had recently birthed litters of pups, but the mottled female couldn't even remember ever seeing Autumnstar smile at her own kids.

Did she have any emotion at all?

"Come on," she sighed. She walked over to the young injured female and bent down a little, offering her shoulders as support. "Let's get you something to eat."

Jupitersmoke's POV

"I-Is she always like that?" Jupitersmoke asked softly, her tail lashing against the ground in nervous frustration. "So curt and..." She trailed off, unable to even put to words the females attitude and mood. Nevermind how Autumnstar made her feel. Like her skin was crawling with self consciousness.

Shaking her fur out she forced herself to her paws, leaning against Duskleap's shoulder for support as she did so. Slowly the pair of females moved across the camp, Jupitersmoke blinking rapidly in the bright sunlight. She stumbled slightly as they neared the prey pile, her shoulder twinging. She gritted her teeth and let out a soft grunt as her paws dragged against the ground. Her breathing was coming in short pants by the time she had picked out her rabbit and sat down at the entrance to the medicine den. "Thank you Duskleap."

Duskleap

"Unfortunately, yes." The large female gruffed, watching the red alpha stalk away. "I don't understand how Blackstar keeps up with her." Duskleap supported Jupitersmoke to the best of her ability as they stepped out into the sunlight She watched as the young injured wolf picked out her choice of prey, and the two walked back to the medicine den.

"You're welcome," she said, sitting down next to her politely. After a few moments of pause, the large Beta spoke again, more quiet. "Do you miss your family?" she asked. "I can imagine they want you back more than anything."

Duskleap

"I guess I didn't realize that Glassstar was your father," Duskleap commented quietly. She tilted her head, listening. She didn't know much about LichenClan, all she knew was that Autumnstar considered them enemies and tresspassers.

"It's good that he cares so much for you both." she said. "I'm sure your sister misses you just as much as you miss her." Duskleap felt a small wave of sadness overcome her. "I lost my sister a couple years ago, before joining HollyClan. You remind me of her just a little bit." She gave Jupitersmoke a small smile, slightly sheepish. She didn't open up to many wolves about her past or her family.

She felt a little bad for Jupitersmoke. If Glassstar had just let her and her sister hunt alone and this happened...Duskleap wasn't sure if he'd ever let his daughters out of his sight again. As much respect as she had for a father watching over his daughters, it would do no good for them to never be on their own. They deserved freedom, and sometimes freedom came with consequences and lessons learned.

"I hope he continues to let you and your sister hunt on your own after this." Duskleap said. "Accidents happen, but he can't expect you to always be with someone."

She snorted at that, shaking her head in amusement. "Tell that to him. It wouldn't be so bad if he would just realize that we aren't pups anymore. I love him to death, but there times when I just want to swite his ears off." She chuckled. "But I get it, and I think Cinderstep does too. More so than me. She lost her entire litter last year, it took forever for her to get the motivation for anything beyond waking up in the mornings."

She cringed as she remembered that dark time in her sisters life. She had lost so much weight that she was like a shadow of the wolf she used to be. "But when a wolf came into the Clan with her two pups she started waking up. You see, the she-wolf was really sick, and she needed somewhere for her pups to live. Whisperpup and Robinpup is what she named them. Cinderstep became their adoptive mother and raised them into the warriors they are today."

Duskleap listened to Jupitersmoke, suddenly feeling the pang of pain that Cinderstep must have experienced. Duskleap herself had just had a litter of pups not long ago, she couldn't imagine losing them.

"That is a pain no wolf but a mother could ever experience," Duskleap commented. "I'm sorry for your sisters loss. I'm glad she was able to recover. She must be strong. Both of you are." She rose to her feet stretching, the morning light began to flood inside as the sun continued to rise. "Maybe your father will see your strength after this." She told her encouragingly. "A parent will always see their young as pups, no matter how old they get." she chuckled. "But there comes a time when we have to let them go. It's that time for him."

She began to exit the den, looking over her shoulder at Jupitersmoke. "I'm no medicine wolf, but I've been injured more than a time or two by badgers. It will do you good to get up and walk small distances now and then if you start feeling stiff." She dipped her head. "I need to start my patrols, Ravenwing has returned. I'll talk to you later."

Jupitersmoke finished eating and nodded to Duskleap. "Stay safe, and if I were you I would check the border where you found me. Just to make sure the badger didn't come back." She watched as the female walked away, feeling somewhat better after talking with Duskleap. She reminded her of her own Clanmate Leafthorn. She was friendly and sympathetic beyond what expected.

Sighing, Jupitersmoke rested her muzzle on her paws, eyes scanning the camp, watching as wolves began to leave their dens, some talking, some eating together. She was learning just how similar the two packs were. It was surprising really, how many parallels there were between LichenClan and HollyClan. It made her feel just a little less homesick.

Duskleap

The large female nodded at Jupitersmoke's words. "Alright I will," she said. "Thank you."

Eaglewind

The sound of distant voices awoke the muscled warrior, his dark eyes fluttering open. He raised his head to see Duskleap beginning her patrol, and caught a glimpse of Ravenwing heading back into camp. The scent of LichenClan wafted into his nostrils, and he grunted, standing. He'd forgotten about the young LichenClan warrior that was within their camp.

Shaking out his thick cream and tan pelt, he made his way towards the dwindling prey pile. He sniffed the small morsels that were left and snagged a half eaten leg of a deer. It wasn't much, but he would hunt later today. He quickly scarfed down what little meat there was, and turned his head towards the medicine den. He found himself moving before he realized what he was doing, walking over to the young and injured LichenClan warrior.

"Hello," he said, quickly taking in her features. "Jupitersmoke, is it? I'm Eaglewind. I guess I just came to say hi and see what all the fuss was about." He sat down, a decent distance from her as to not make her feel crowded. He couldn't help but notice how pretty she was, even with her injuries. "Badgers are nasty creatures," he remarked, running his eyes over the wounds on her shoulder. "I'm assuming that's what got you, huh?"

Jupitersmoke was debating whether or not she should return to the nest she had slept in last night or take a nap out in the warm sun when the sound of pawsteps reached her ears. Lifting her head she found she had to tilt her neck back to look at the large male that had approached her. Her eyes ran over the cream and tan pelt, her eyes wide. It took her a moment to realize that he was speaking to her and she shook herself mentally.

"Yeah, it was. Typical for me though, I always seem to attract trouble it feels like." An amused laugh laced the words as she shook her head, stretching her back legs out to the side as she got into a more comfortable position. "Its nice to meet you Eaglewind. So, what do you guys like to do for fun around here?" She was curious about the Clan that had taken her in, and was interested to see more of the differences and similarities.