Cedar

Cedar is an amiable scout with dark brown fur and light green eyes. She was the second wolf to join Mercy's tribe upon its founding and is incredibly close to Rusty and him. She is Mercy's mate as a breeding pair and the mother of Fern and Willow. She is a former scout (with 96 proficiency, the things i do for lore 😭) and is currently a hunter in Nightshade's Shadow.

Cedar suffered a deep gash to her flank on her first attempt of scouting the Tundra.
She also has a hind leg scar from her first hunting expedition after raising Sigil, Aloe, and Crumb. She tripped on scattered rocks in the deciduous forest chasing an elk bull. She also has an x from hunting an elk bull in the x (12/10).

Cedar is defined by her generosity. She would give you the fur off her back and considers herself the nurturer of her pack. At the same time, however, she often does this nurturing on her own terms, somewhat blind to if the other wolf wants it or not. Swift Paws groan when she shoved another unwanted bird feather in their face, or when she dulls pup games by beginning an informative lecture. Her heart is in the right place, but it doesn't equate to everyone loving her back.

As a mother, Cedar found herself absent due to her scouting duties in her pup's development. With Mercy and Cedar both wandering for much of their daily lives, their pups were raised by pupsitters more than them. Cedar tries when she's around and would bring back their favorite foods, but was often too tired from scouting to play or take them out of camp. She's hoping that their relationship will improve after their First Hunt, allowing them to spend more time together.

After Lupo's surprising ascent to scouthood, Cedar got to step down and join her pups—now grown yearlings!—as a hunter. She was over the moon! She could finally have the relationship she had wanted with her babies since she had been separated from them. However, Fern and Willow acted awkward around her, not feeling comfortable with how clingy and affectionate she was. It discouraged her that they felt so distant.

Rinty's arrival to the pack turned the relationship with her pups for the better. With him joining the family to eat and socialize, the sisters opened up and bonded with their parents. Cedar enjoyed many suns with the two, where they caught up on spending time together and grew closer.

Fern and Willow met Snowcloak, another pack's lead wolf, during a winter hunt in the mountains. She had just started a small pack that had little resources, and the sisters felt a calling to use their experience and help them survive. They left the pack (along with glass eye, although cedar didn't know him well).

Cedar's world came crashing down. The pups she had just begun to know left, and she felt horrible the relationship she dreamed of having with them would never come to pass. Mercy seemed to grow cold and left her for days on end at camp, where she only had rusty, cel, and rinty to share company with. She seemed lethargic and demotivated to do anything, hunting poorly and unable to take care of herself.

Eventually, Mercy had a serious talk with Rusty about responsibility for his mate and pups, where he sat down with cedar and faced his fears of being emotionally available to her. He finally felt the pang of grief by her side and mourned their first litter together, cuddled in their nest. Cedar finally found solace in the silence and warmth of her remaining family and began to heal.

Cedar fell pregnant with her second litter in the winter and gave birth on the first day of spring (October 23, 2024). She had three puppies, two males and one female. She named Aloe and Crumb while Mercy named Sigil, some human word she was not familiar with but sounded melodic to her. She insisted Mercy be more present in the pup's upbringing this time around, along with her herself insisting she remain their pupsitters herself until they reached adolescence. She left Nightshade's Shadow to do so.