Cold. The air was cold. The ground was cold. Everywhere was laced with white stuff on the ground. The brown pup was playing with an old bone he found. Smacking it around the ground. He wasn't sure where he was. What he was doing. But he was having fun. Everything he knew was like nothing in his mind.

Fat and tall he was, waddling around as he would paw the bone towards a tree. All was fine until he smacked it right into a fox den. It was now stuck in a hole he couldn't get to, reaching his paw into the den trying to grab it out. Tail swaying with frustration.

Mauve had an unsettling feeling, her mind running rapid… a sensation to escape from the north and travel to her origin. The female had decided on a whim, giving Marcelyne the reigns to her kingdom. She had trusted her in her previous life… a life that no longer belonged to her. Her memories were sparse, constantly blending with Mauve’s. Everything seemed like a distant dream, she had accepted her reality. Delythena was dead. She had to keep reminding herself that she was Mauve. This was her life, she had built herself up from no memories… not even a name.

A name… how did she come to be Mauve? She pulled herself past the range, the meadow flooded with snow. She felt her heart thrum in her chest, her gaze widening as nostalgia gripped her like a weighted blanket. She had to pause in her steps; she remembered. The world around her turned, snow replaced with elongated grass. Does and fawn occupied the region, their relaxed demeanor as they grazed. She had watched them, guarding their lives as if they were as sacred as hers.

She had pictured a man, he was flustered and nervous… coated in black with painted grey stripes. Niyol. They had met here… she hadn’t seen him in so long. Was he safe? The world dispersed once more into a cloudy hue of white and grey. The afternoon sun was distant as flurries fell from the heavens.

She walked across the meadow, greeted by a familiarity. The trees weren’t as full as when she had left, she was half expecting to be greeted by the others. Henrickson… Selwyn… Lyra… Melrose... Celnes. The queen. The one who had granted her a place to rest and call home, to start a new one with no memories to recall. She gave her a chance to have a new life.

She instinctively walked toward her den, it had been reburied from neglect. The flowers and herbs she had planted around were choked by weeds long ago. Her paws stepped along what once was her whole world.

She paused, looking upward to where Celnes had reigned… to where she had taken her last breath. Where… Warwick was declared king. She felt the air escape from her lungs like she had been hit by a wave of emotions. They were yearlings when they had met… too young to understand their feelings for one another. Too scared to explore what could have happened. Memories of a winter that seemed so long ago; where they chased one another in the snow. He wasn’t the crowned prince to her at the moment, he was Warwick. Just Warwick.

A saddened smile settled on her features, silver and blue orbs drawn to the ground. She didn’t get to say goodbye… She had thought her leaving would give her heart a better chance to heal. To move on from the impossible; to give him a chance to explore his feelings for another. She was just Mauve. She was no one important. I didn’t have a chance.

You didn’t give yourself one.

Mauve couldn’t even face him, only left him flowers as her parting gift. Hoping he would understand their meaning… how much she loved him but had to let him go.

“I miss you.” She said aloud, now having settled by his den. She settled on her rump, curling her tail around herself, “Why didn’t you try and find me?” She questioned, “Maybe I am selfish for wishing you did.” Tears would prick against her eyes, “I should have saved you; I didn’t know how bad you were hurting.” She felt a knot in her throat, “Come back to me; I need you.” Pulling herself on her stomach, she curled herself in his den. His scent no longer lingered here… she was the only evidence that Elkshire ever existed now.

A voice turned him from the toy he was playing with. A soft voice.. A familiar voice. It tugged at his heart. Almost like he could see an invisible blue string tugging him from where the voice came from.

Onto his white tipped toes he went. A swift flick of his chubby tail, ears cupped forward. Following the voice quietly until he found a den. Inside it was another. A brown wolf draped in various other colors. And she smelled of others.

But the voice.

He knew that voice.

Didn't he?

Mama? His voice called softly into the den. Reed hadn't seen a woman named mama in.. ages. Or heard of her, how he chased and chased for that familiar voice. The longing finally was no more.

Mama, is ok. His voice was sharp, uneven. Words were difficult since he had been alone.. for so long. Perhaps he didn't have to be now. He found her. Momma, I know thingies feel hard right now, but you not alone. If she so allowed it, he would move to try and walk towards her. A little chubby thing. But he was determined, this was mama. And hopefully not him picking a random stranger to be his mom.

This trudged back his memories.. A blank slate. How he was left alone for a while, everyone turned an eye to him. No one taught him anything. No one wanted to befriend him. How quickly he learned how things could turn harsh, but that didn't stop him from trying anything.

The brunette curled herself in a ball, her tail covering the tear-stained muzzle as she tried to keep her composure. The last thing she needed was for Riptide to be concerned and think she had been hurt. The silence of her tears continued, falling in the tufts of her tail. She had not realized coming here would bring on an onslaught of emotions. Mauve had thought Elkshire would prosper; she had hoped to be greeted with familiar faces. Instead, the world around her was filled with foreign smells.

She had been too consumed in her grief to realize that she had a visitor in her midst. The whisper of a child had completely been missed the first time. Words echoed more sharply off the cavern walls, her ears swiveled on top of her head. Head emerging from behind the plume of her tail, blinking the remnants of her emotions away. An expression of worry overcame her, he had expressed her to be his mother. Had she looked like her? Was he alone?

A plump form would waddle its way toward her, she would accept the child. He had no intentions of harm, had he? No, his words would be a form of comfort. Her paw pushed herself back, elongating her form so he had room to share her warmth. It was a cold winter… how long had he been by himself?

Delythena had remembered being pregnant before her death, the only soul to know was Marcelyne… Mauve’s motherly instincts instantly kicked in, having remembered that this had happened before. Maeve… she had disappeared as quickly as she came. Waiting for the child to situate himself, she would curl around him, “You must be cold.” She expressed, “You're safe now, we can look for your mother once you’ve warmed up.” If there was no mother… Mauve would take the child as her own.

N/A

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She moved for him to curl with her. Immediately he wasted no time to huddle into her fur.  Brown fur entangled with her warmth. His head rubbed against her chest, almost cat-like. And he snuggled up close to her. His chubby body pressed to hold the warmth he so desperately craved.

Otay He heard her but didn't process every bit she said. Reed knew, knew that this had to be mama. Even if she didn't know it, one day he'd tell her. Or she'd find out. Right now he wanted snuggles. Snuggles with the person he's missed for so long.

Content Warning: Child death

Riptide

He had taken to her rather quickly, unsure if his mother ever explained the importance of strangers and what could happen in such situations. The child's innocence had ceased her desire to chastise him. A smaller frame would seek comfort in her abdomen as she curled around him, protecting him from the bitter winter that dared to steal his warmth. A familiar scent of her past, one she could not quite place. Placing her tear-stained cheek against his own, her eyes growing heavy. She had not realized how much emotional energy she had spent and it seemed she wasn’t the only one exhausted.

The nameless child’s breath had grown deeper, soft snores drawing from his opened maw. A smile drew against her maw, she would not fail him as she did Maeve… as she did Vendetta. No, this time it should be different. The world could not be so cold as to…

It was.

It seemed as though the world was unfit to house such an innocent soul within its grasp and Mauve was the last to comfort him in his final hours. Through the ticking hours of little sunlight left, his time had come to set.

She hadn’t known what caused her to stir, perhaps the stiffening of his body as the child had grown colder against her chest… maybe it was the eerie silence that now engulfed her. Silver-blue orbs blinked the exhaustion away, looking down at the pile of dark browns that lay beside her.

She pressed her nose to the tip of his head, trying to coax him to stir from his slumber. He hadn’t. Exhaustion had slipped into alarm, moving herself to all fours to shake him awake. The only movement he made was from her own doing.

“Wake up.” She pleaded, “This is not funny.” She felt her heart begin to beat faster in her chest, trying to keep herself calm in this situation. Her paw would move, placed along his ribcage. No life answered, he was but a hallowed shell.

They had little knowledge of each other, she could not help but mourn for such a young soul. She would press her paws in his chest, trying to provoke his heart to once again come back, “Riptide!” She screamed, “Riptide please!” All while continuing to perform CPR.

Skill: Heartbroken

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The built man trotted back towards the place where they'd been last and he smiled around the blooms in his mouth, proud of himself for such a thoughtful gift would surely make the queen smile.

He smelled it before he heard her...

That ever looming scent of death...

He knew it well from his past, the way they'd sent the bodies to the sea on a raft covered in flowers and trinkets...

Stopping in his tracks icy blue eyes flung open wide and he had to do everything in his power not to drop the flowers to his alabaster paws. Thats when he heard her, his queen, his name, and he went running as fast as his limbs could carry him to the origin of the sound.

When he arrived he found Mauve pressing on a tiny brown puppies chest... He felt tears spring to his eyes... It was a child...

Riptide walked over to the scene and looked from Mauve to the puppy and back to Mauve, he placed the flowers next to the woman preforming CPR and a solemn look crossed his face as he spoke softly to her. Mauve... He's gone... Riptide whispered, his eyes tearing up, the sting of hot wet forming along the edges as he fought to hold them back by biting his lip.

I'm so sorry.... He continued as the man pressed his nose to the boys crown passionately and filled with compassion for the life that once was... The life he never knew...

A woman who had always painted a smile on her face, who had been encaptured, tormented, manipulated… left alone. Left to pick up the pieces of herself over and over again. To look at the world through rose-colored glasses. To keep herself from slipping into the darkness that wished for her to cross the line. Mauve’s life had not been easy, she had thrown herself into the depths of destruction and continued to pull through with a smile on her face. Yet… how much more could she possibly take? How could anyone continue?

Warwick, Maeve, Vendetta, Nikolai, Melchior, Alaric… now this child whose name had never crossed his lips. She would press into his chest, tears now blinding her vision as faces and names continued to cross her mind. Had the High Elk sought only punishment for her? She was tangled in a spiderweb and no matter how much she tried to break free she only entangled herself further.

She felt his ribs crack beneath her force, unable to stop until she heard a voice creep into her ears. Her name… it came out soft, broken… he would confirm her fears. She smelt the sweet scent of flowers accompanying death. Her paws would falter, pushing herself from the cavern’s depth. She needed to breathe… she felt suffocated.

Her breath was hard to catch, her lungs squeezing… a gut-wrenching scream drew from her lips. One that was so full of agony of pent-up sadness that she had refused to show in front of others. She screamed over and over again, “Why?” She called out, she wanted to know, “Why me?” She pressed her paw to her heart, “I can't.” The brunette couldn’t catch her breath, every wheeze and cry continued to onslaught her form and she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t stop, make it stop, hurting.

Skill: Heartbroken

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Riptide heard the crack of broken ribs and he winced away from them. The sound echoing throughout the area and he felt it rattle in his brain, his eyes shut tight as Mauve let out a scream that twisted his insides like a freaking knot. He shied away momentarily until she began speaking broken bits and pieces that he felt draw towards and the male, full of compassion and warm light, took a few steps towards her.

The slightly larger male, and only a tad bit larger due to gender, suddenly pressed himself to her. Hoping the closeness would help he closed his eyes and pressed his chin to her crown. Breathe... Breathe... You have to Breathe Mauve... The heartbroken male whispered into her ears as he tried to soothe her with the comfort of his body. When he was like she was all he wanted was a hug... Maybe this would help her too...