`` & I know you have a heavy heart. {open!}

[Pocket Kitsune]

[atrb=border,0,true][cs=7][bg=F4D179] Spring had seized the lands of Dachau like an eagle grips the hapless rabbit in talons both unforgiving and impassive. But instead of talons of bone and rough, uneven cartilage, spring cradled the lands in talons of greener branch and the questing, gold-yellow tendrils of climbing, flowering flora. The rich loam of Farbe was twilit, the vaulting canopies of the trees flashing dizzying crimsons and lushly vibrant orange--the new leaves fanning out delicate shadows like oriental handheld fans. Amaya sought refugee beneath their impossible colors--their shadowplay staining her black pelt in soft, mellow highlights of gold and orange as the sunlight flared through their thin veins. Though the Farbe alphess was relieved to see spring once more return, after such a bitter winter that had left her frame lean with the strain of felling enough of the straggling winter elk, weary to their marrow with age, to feed her children and what remained of her pack. Surprisingly, all four of her children had endured the winter. Not one among them was buried beneath the snows, having succumb to the cold and the unforgiving mannerisms of winter's reign. Her children. How strange it was to think of them as such now. With the springtide, they had grown stronger still--the soft roundness of their stout frames slowly falling from them, giving way instead to the awkward long-limbed stage of adolescence. They were now half her size, and growing larger by the day. And by the day, they continued to surprise her--astonishing her with how quickly they learned, how strong they'd grown. Truly, wolves worthy of Farbe. And she loved the four of them with all her heart, treasuring their quarrelsome differences and subtle quirks. It was only a pity that their father, Aurex, could not share in the joy. That his breast could not also swell with pride at the wonder and magnificence of what they'd created. But Aurex had slipped from them once more when the first of the heavy snows set in--abandoning them again with a damning denial. He would not accept them as his children, and upon hearing this, Amaya had flown into a cold fury. She'd cursed his name, named him an incompetent coward and then turned him away. Denied his throne, the male had no reason to stay. What had befallen him, Amaya wasn't sure. But however angry with him she might have been, she couldn't bring herself to harden her heart against him fully. If only because he had sired the four great joys in her life. Her jaws parted, the ivories of her fangs gleaming like deadly snowdrift in the early morning light, voice trailing into a high whine before they shut once more. With spring came sadness, however. Her muzzle hooked sharply over her left raised knee, sinking into the low and tightly clustered white of the flowering moss. Tiny, star-shaped flowers coated the ground, looking like lingering stray patches of snow. Their sweet scent rose to her nostrils, causing her to sigh quietly. By summer, her children would leave Farbe. These final few weeks were precious to her indeed, for she would not see them again for well over a year--and some she would not see again, if they chose for themselves the life of a Zielle. Normally, her thoughts would be distracted from such sorrow, as the faint stirrings of a next generation would be well underway within her. But with no alpha male for such things, the sorrow was like a thick and woolen blanket, stiff with the personal doubts and fears--however irrational--that only a mother would think of. Amaya was so lost in her thoughts, that the scent that lingered a short distance off almost didn't register. By the time it did, she was well and truly taken by surprise. Her head snapped up sharply, eyes narrowing. The individual it belonged to was still too far off for her to distinguish who they were--only that they were indeed canine in nature, and approaching swiftly. Her ears perked forward. "I'd prefer not to be stalked, if that's what you're doing," she called.

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