Oldest child of "the panicked stress-fear of a parent who keeps losing track of their child because she's perpetually running off" (Fear) and "the feeling of relief and hope for your future and the future of your family that washes over you as you emerge from your den for the first time after surviving a storm" (Den), "the hope for the future that must run in step with the inevitability of growth and change; all things end, and the heart of survival is preparing still for that next dawn" (Inevitable).
Inevitable showed her competence early in life, and displayed the best of both her parents: Fear's keen senses and quick decision-making, and Den's care and consideration of others. In many ways, she was a leader from birth.
When first her father, and then her mother disappeared suddenly, Inevitable stepped up seamlessly to fill the gap. Unwilling and unsentimental enough to remain in her family's territory after two disappearances, Inevitable renamed her pack 'the Persistent' and moved on. She holds no illusions that she will lead until the sun stops rising, but she is certain her pack will endure.
Rough Timeline:
- Den and Fear, Inevitable's parents, go missing within days of each other. Fear had been heavily pregnant at the time. Inevitable takes leadership of the pack, as she'd been groomed to do. She takes the rest of their small family away since their territory is no longer considered safe.
- Hare falls to a sickness from an infected hunting wound. Everyone does their best to support him for as long as they can, but he and Inevitable speak in quiet and she helps him find peace. The group moves on.
- The Persistent cross paths with a young bachelor named Effort who immediately charms Cautious. He joins their group, and she soon becomes pregnant.
- Owl makes herself known to the pack and demonstrates her prowess at finding prey scents to follow. She agrees to join their travels and find a new home.
- The Persistent eke out a patch of territory in the grasslands of their new home.
- Swan and Crow arrive and are swiftly brought into the fold, as Cautious is about to give birth and winter is just below the horizon.
- A silent wolf, Nadir, attaches herself to the pack. Her single newborn pup needs care, and despite her disinclination to socialize with her new packmates, she is not a particularly offensive presence. Plus, winter has arrived and nobody is willing to cast them into the cold.
- Arrogance negotiates his way into the pack and immediately sets about establishing himself.
White Oak Sapling