The days were starting to get a lot shorter than she would have liked. Winter was in full swing now and honestly she didn't like it. The air was heavy with the threat of either rain or snow, possible ice, which meant making hunting that much more difficult. The sky above was actually clear, save for a few dark clouds that didn't look like they were going to burst, but with the weather how it was, she wouldn't be surprised if they did.
Soon Izipho was going to have to hand down her crown. She was going to have to step down and be retired and live out the rest of her days. She had no more years for pups in her and with the disappearance of her King, it was probably for the better.
Lately Izipho felt the pack getting lack luster. Their numbers were small and were staying that way. No one was having pups. It's as if someone had placed a curse upon the pack to stay barren. Maybe there was just no chemistry between the members. Naturally she thought this her fault. She was their Queen! She was responsible for the well being of the pack.
Green eyes glanced at her daughter, who was hunting a lizard of all things instead of going out there and mingling with the masses and she frowned.
"I've been very lax as Queen," her voice carried the weight she felt on her shoulders. "My subjects are complacent and my daughter doesn't do her duties." She needed help/i]. She needed to figure out what to do to get new members in the pack or to get their numbers up. Sure, they all had food, water, and safety but there was nothing exciting to entertain them. This was the problem with developing a brand new pack, she supposed.
It was a lot harder than she thought it would be.
The brown female laid down on the rock she was sitting on, basking in the sun and just let her brows knit hard.
"Maybe it's time to step down. Maybe Caunedhiel has more ideas for the pack." Maybe what you need is an adviser of younger years to help inspire you.
Well, she knew that. Those green eyes rolled at herself as she shifted, yet again, to get to her paws. Shaking herself off, the Queen moved from her sun soaked rock and down to the dry grasses below of the man pack. The dogs who were out and about turned their heads and greeted her with gentle words and smiles. None of them approached, however and that seemed to worry her even further.
Maybe she was unapproachable? Was she really that stand-offish? Her ears and tail drooped a smidge a she made her way over to the pack watering hole and dropped her head to take a much needed drink from the cool liquid. It soothed the parched feeling in her throat and tongue causing her to shiver with relief.
What's a queen to do when she can't bare more pups to garner competition in her daughter? She's so sure of herself, so sure she's going to be the next ruler. I've groomed her to be just that and now I think it's worked against me. Instead of taking it seriously, she's out doing who knows what at all hours! The guards can't keep up with her anymore, and so they've stopped trying. I can't demote any of them... I have no one to replace them.
Maybe it was the dispersal of the Sacred Games that was another big downfall. It had only been two years since she founded the pack and already she feared it would be deserted. Would they abandon her and leave her to feel like everything she did she failed at? Would they leave her in her misery? She would fade away if that happened. Izipho would fade and be nothing but a distant memory, a whisper on the wind that touched her daughters ear and memory now and then.
It was thoughts like this she'd been having since she was young. Depression, her mother called it before they had split up. Something that was not inherited, but just happened naturally. It had been pushed aside when she found her king and thought she'd spend the rest of her days with someone. The creeping loneliness brought back the feelings that triggered her depression.
Useless, old, antiquated. No one had ever called her these things and still here she was, thinking everyone was saying them behind her back.
Perhaps she should find a friend.That would combat the loneliness she felt deep in her heart.
Izipho hadn't even realized shew as still crouched over the water until something splashed her in the face. It startled her enough to stare at it and then just laughed when she realized it was a fish who was saying 'Hey! Stop blocking my sunlight!' Getting back up and with her paws on the grass again, the elder dog with the fur going gray around her muzzle and down her back stared out at the world she worked so hard to build.
"You'll figure this out," she told herself with a shake of her head. "You always do, Izipho. You've bee figuring out the hard things by yourself for as long as you can remember."
An ambassador might do the trick. She could send one out to find other dog packs, make alliances and cases asking for young members of their packs to come visit, breath some life into hers. Izipho took a deep breath and breathed it out in a huff, stirring up grasses and dust with it.
How to find the right ambassador would be a problem she'd have to think on, but it seemed like the right thing to do. With the depression wave at a low peak, Izipho headed back to her den. This was going to do the trick. She'd find new packs, trade routes, maybe she'd open her borders to more than dogs, if it helped activity.
