lmk if you mind me hopping in here hehehehe
Hydra had noted the (brief) absence of one of her young. As the thunder rolled, Hydra departed Dirge and the cubs that were accounted for to collect the (lately) more adventurous of them. It was only when the lightning came earthbound that the matriarch increased her pace, concern written on her brow. Had it struck her daughter before she could return home...?
Trailing her daughter was easy enough; her scent was quite particular, as was that of any individual wolf. Honing in on it, Hydra was able to follow Ara's particular thread. It was nearby, and not so hard to distinguish for the tracker. Her features soon returned to impassivity as she drew near to the place the earth smoked and the tree that had stood was splintered. Not fallen, though. Next to it, there was only the ashes left of some type of shrub. Here, the most prominent scent was smoke and ash, and the remnants of electricity. Ara's trail had not led here, and so the matriarch adjusted her course.
When she came upon Ara, it was of no surprise that another was with her, though Arbiter's scent mingled with the wind as she had come from the opposite direction. Her scent was also upon the earth, but not in the way one who had walked this particular route was that aided Hydra in finding who she had been seeking. The nature of children was to wander and roam, but their increased freedom hardly meant no eyes were upon them. Still, Hydra was their mother and would never abandon that role... nor responsibility. Ara was hardly too far, and never broke a set rule, but the matriarch knew thunder this close might spook any young into doing something unordinary. While she would not blame Ara, she would redirect her to where to go and what to do.
Arbiter was near, with Ara; she noted her daughter meandering away, though was not clued in to the previous events. “Ara,” she greeted, nipping an ear gently in greeting rather than reprimand. She was relieved Ara had not fled, nor burnt to a crisp truth be told, and she passed a grateful look toward Arbiter. “Arbiter,” she greeted, moving toward the woman and turning to face her daughter once more once alongside her. In the air, the matriarch could sense the storm and the air pressure alike that indicated it was still nearby. Lightning illuminated the sky, but it did not strike the earth this time.
Hydra's gaze turned back toward her daughter then. “Had that struck you, there might be nothing left of you, Ara,” she informed. Perhaps her bones. Hydra had never seen a cub struck by lightning, and it was a relatively new thing for her to consider. Would there be burnt flesh left, or would that be singed away...? Hm. “The storm is too close. It is no time to adventure,” she informed, tone brooking no room for argument. Another boom of thunder clapped soon after the lightning had come, proof of that much. That Arbiter stood out in it for the sake of her cub only caused Hydra to approve of the woman further. “Shelter is close, if you would wish to join us at our own,” she offered, stepping in that direction then. No time to waste. And while Hydra was aware that Arbiter might not have a heart for the young (as Hydra had not, at her age), if she knew of nowhere else to go then and there the survival instinct might surpass that distaste.
“It is spacious,” she hummed. At the very least, she would not be prisoner to the cubs. Hydra would not be offended if Arbiter went her own way though, either—it was not as though this place lacked other nooks and crannies that were accessible to her. But Hydra cared for her pack, and would be remiss if she had not offered.
the staff team luvs u
