Resolute Chamomile

[ era I - sunlight ]

when chamomile had first set out of her former pack, she had collected a last-second companion with her. harpy, an energetic yet well-rounded wolf-dog dame that was eager to leave her family and accompany her new buddy. time passed, and more wolves had gathered themselves inside of their group, and the pair had taken each other's hearts into their own, marking the start of a new era. the weather pack had finally taken shape, with chamomile as their leader, and harpy following close behind as her significant other, and second in command. 

harpy was one of her most trusted wolves, alongside with an experienced, scrawny sire named carmel, who had taken the place to learn from a very odd-spoken bear, herbert. carmel had learned swiftly, and stayed by her side as her second best and best friend ever since. he even helped surrogate and sire her and harpy's first litter of pups. 

[ era II -- happy-go-lucky me ]

though not all stories have a happy ending, as winter swiftly approached and signals of prey vanished. this wasn't the weather pack's first year in the rugged grasslands, though, since the pups that the other members had weaned were now strong and steady-built. this winter in particular was the most bitter one they've had all decade, sweeping sleet and negative chills down into their territory, drowning the pack in an intense wave of famine and death. goldfish was one of the first wolves to die of hunger, following close behind several of her offspring who were all taken too quickly by ever growing starvation. 

when chamomile fell under sickness, harpy was in charge of operations. rations of food were all mainly fed to chamomile until she had the strength to open her eyes, and that's when things got extremely disastrous. the pack was weak. harpy was falling into a spiral of exhaustion, and chamomile made carmel give her every strength boosting herb he had for her to go out and make sure they didn't all die. efforts were proven useless, and harpy was touching noses with death. rib touching the edge of skin, cheeks hollowed out to reveal tired, dim eyes. harpy had passed away in the hold of her lover. her last words to chamomile was to love herself if there is no more love to give to another wolf. 

[ era III - remembrance ] 

harpy's death encouraged her to keep going, and after several more painful weeks of frostbite, the pack was down to two. only chamomile and carmel survived to keep the pack going, and they were slowly rebuilding. carmel fixed up the dens while chamomile collected as much food her paws could carry. she made tons of effort and joined groups where other pack leaders gifted others, even if she barely had anything to give. cones were traded, feathers, food, until she had gathered up enough cones to bring home the newest member of the new era, elis.

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[ links/mentions ]

fostered pup [ harpy lookalike ] - harper

best friend [ herbalist ] - carmel

eyes of bright futures [ first new member of remembrance era ] - elis