The midmorning sun shone down on the packlands as Nevermore stirred from her spot. Uncurling from a tight ball, she let out a yawn, before she realized she wasn't in her usual spot. Instead she found herself under some bushes. She must've been so tired last night that she had dropped in the first place available. That's what she got for wandering at night... She shook her head to herself, and got up slowly, careful not to hit her sensitive side where an ear had once been. Joints stiff, she stretched a little, looking around. Well, she might as well go find some way to make herself useful. Or at least, some way to make herself look useful. Never padded away, her sparrow following obediently behind her.

The little pup dug at the earth with her large paws. Little that she was, she was still unproportioned like most wolf pups.. a large head with large paws, not matching the small body that was attached.
Her blue eyes gleamed as she yawned, she had been up all night worrying about her family.
They loved her right? She knew they said they did, but words meant nothing.
She supposed that her being alive was testament enough of their love, but she just couldnt be too sure.

She dug herself a nice little hole, until she grew tired of digging and left the hole as suddenly as she had decided to dig it.
Her nose scented someone, someone close, but it was a packmate, and she lost interest rather quickly.

More fun to be on your own anyway.

Nevermore was lazily watching her sparrow as they went when suddenly the bird let out a shriek and darted forward. Confused by that Never followed after it, until she thought she caught a scent. It similiar to Raven's scent, but a little different. Ahh, so one of his new pups must've been nearby. She wasn't that familiar with pups. Since she hadn't exactly been a normal youngster, so Never's knowledge of them was vague at best. And she didn't know much more than her nieces' and nephew's names. But she supposed seeing what the pup was doing couldn't hurt...

There she was. Dove, wasn't it? The pup was kind of dirty and she was near what looked like a freshly dug hole. Never shook her head a little. Some kind of game, digging holes? Might as well ask and find out.

"What are you doing there, Dove?"

Dove was looking at the female as she approached, and she cocked her head. She smelled like her father, and it made her ease in comfort a bit.

"Im..digging." She said, looking at the hole, and back up at Never smiling.
"Seems that Im good at it. See?"
She asked, holding up her two front paws to show how dirty they were.

She knew that her father had siblings in the pack, and she figured this was another of them. He had met Rita, so this must have been Auntie Nevermore.

"Does the hole look okay?"

"Yeah, looks like you are." Nevermore said, glancing at the hole. She did it more just to try and please Dove than anything. Funny, how she was looking for praise for it. "It's... very nice."

She looked back at Dove. "But now you're all dirty. What will your parents think?" She shook her head a little. "Isn't there something better for you to do?"

She pouted, her ears going back. She had done a bad job, she knew it. She was always messing up, just like daddy. She whined a bit, sitting and losing the proud look on her face.

"Momma will clean me.. I hope."
She thought, and her mind wondered if momma would want to clean her. Maybe Never was right.. Maybe she was going to remain dirty as a punishment!

"I have nothing better to do. Im all alone."

Well now it looked like she had upset Dove somehow. Didn't surprise Never at all. Never doing things right Never, at least the first time. That's why she called herself Never. She looked around in an attempt to see if there was anyone else she could leave Dove with but no luck.

"Why don't you go play with your brother and sister? There's other pups too." Or so she thought... Never barely knew who had pups nowadays. Then an idea hit her. This is how she could look busy... she could play babysitter.

"Hey, why don't I take you to the stream? You can wash yourself off. Maybe play a little too. What do you think?" Above them Nevermore ignored the loud chirp of her mind-sparrow, announcing it's agreement with the idea.

It had nothing to do with what Never had said, Dove was just as self-loathing sometimes as her father. She was not confident in herself, and she was always listening to others words over her own. She lived through others..

"My sister and brother are off with momma.." Momma loves them more, she thought quickly. But the thought was fleeting.

"You..You wanna be around me?" She asked, genuine surprise in her eyes and voice as she looked up at Never with hopeful eyes.

Never blinked, looking clearly surprised, and maybe a little confused too. One would think a mother would take all her pups with her, and not leave one behind. But what did Never know about the matter? "Umm..." Truthfully she didn't want to be around anyone, but something told her Dove might misunderstand if she said anything different. "Yeah. Sure I want to be around you."

So while Nevermore had wanted nothing to do with her parents as a pup, this one apparently was lonely and yet... She had to remind herself that she didn't know what was going on. Never found herself feeling a bit sorry for her niece. She nudged Dove gently with her muzzle. "C'mon, a trip to the stream will be fun." I think, she stopped herself from saying.

Dove smiled, the sad look in her eyes going away, though she kept the sad feeling inside. It was never really completely gone, and she wasnt sure why. She didnt really lead a sad life, but her parents had their paws full with the three unexpected deliveries.

"Im glad someone does." She said with a smile and a sigh. Her mother had not left her, she had opted to stay behind. She had no interest in a hunting lesson today.

"Yes! I think it would be fun too." She wagged her tail, and jumped up, letting out the puppylike enthusiasm that she should have always had.

The pup's comment and her sigh didn't go unnoticed by Never, but she didn't comment on it, letting Dove get excited about going to the stream. That's how pups were supposed to be... Nevermore smiled too, pushing away the thoughts of her own puphood that threatened to bubble up in her mind.

"It's this way," she said surely, beginning to lead the way. "It's actually the closest one; there's more around if you look for them." She looked ahead, her single intact ear forward to listen for any sounds. The tassel on her bracelet brushed against her leg with every step. With all the wandering about she did, she could remember a lot of the little things in the landscape that she came across.

She kept her eyes peeled, watching for anything that would seem like a stream. She wasnt too sure what the difference between a stream and river was, but she was excited to go.

"Aunt Never, do you come around often?"
She asked, cocking her head and wondering if her father and his sister were actually close.. Though she was assuming Raven was hardly close to anyone.

"Yeah, I'm around a lot... I just like staying out of the way." It wasn't very often that Nevermore left the packlands for more than a couple of days, at most. She had no where else to go. Sometimes her existance was more nocturnal as well, though lately she had been staying awake in daylight more often. It allowed her to lay low and stay out of trouble most of the time.

Weaving through a few trees, Never found a path that was used by deer that cut through the foliage. She followed it, feeling the hardened earth under her paws. "Not far now."