The words stuck in Éponine's throat. She wanted to follow him and help him find his mother, but she knew that it would be tough for the leaders to let one of them go, let alone both of them. Especially now that Ataneq's mother seemed to be gone. She also realized that maybe this was something that he had to do on his own. Chartreuse eyes looked upon him with great sadness, she could not imagine the emotions that were running through his mind at this very moment. Betrayal, hurt, pain... he must have felt abandoned, considering how highly he had talked of her just a few days ago during their conversation.


"Ataneq..." she said with her muzzle slightly parted a small whine building up in her throat, but not escaping. She walked forward, closer to him and pushed her ebony muzzle into the dark furs of his throat. The rabbit at her paws lay forgotten for a moment longer, as she embraced her friend. "Here, at least eat something before you go," she insisted, pushing the freshly caught rabbit towards him because if this had been weighing heavily on his mind she was sure he had not eaten in the last short bit. If it was a big deal she would just go hunting again.


With Ataneq away for the next two days, she guessed she would be doing a lot of hunting and running around on her own until his return, and she intended to be there the moment he stepped back into the pack territories. Her eyes turned back to him with concern, awaiting his response to the offering of a meal.

Nothing mattered in the moment except finding his mother. She had always been the one constant in his life and he had followed her ever since he was just a pup. Truth be told he wasn’t sure he could live without her guidance. He didn’t feel as though his training was complete or that he had completed his own personal goal of being the best for his mother.

Although he would have liked to think that this was his final task—a trial run to see how far he could make it without her near. He simply couldn’t think like that. Right now all he felt was abandonment, the feeling of being let down by the only wolf that had ever mattered to him in the long run.

His closest companion moved towards him, the distant between them decreasing as she reached her muzzle out to him. For once the single touch of hers pained him. His lighter emotions had left him and all he felt was rage and desire to find her, to corner her and ask why. Why had she done this? Ataneq looked at the rabbit that she had offered him and although he wasn’t very hungry because of the ache in his stomach, he knew it’d likely be a long journey.

With a small nod he lowered his head to begin to feast upon the rabbit finding that it was quenching his hunger but not his thirst. He’d have to stop by the Creek before leaving so that he could take a drink and then properly search for the woman who had left their child behind. He was a child that could fend for himself, but one that had never believed his mother would leave him behind without a single word of encouragement.

At first she thought that Ataneq was going to refuse her offer of the meal, because she could only imagine how he felt in this particular moment. The feeling of abandonment would have been so great that she almost felt sick thinking about it. He looked as if he was going to be able to stomach the meal though and he bent down to eat. If he only had two days to look for her then she highly doubted he would even stop to hunt. Who would with only two days to find the person they were looking for?


"She never said a thing to you about leaving?" she asked, concern clouding her expression. She could not understand how someone could just abandon their child so easily, although he was not really a child he was still their family and family she believed did not leave each other behind like that. Her heart ached for Ataneq as she watched the great beast before her with a heavy heart. The thought that he may not return crossed her mind, and she was beginning to feel sick herself. The shame that came up through was even worse than that. She had no right to feel that way, because he was just a friend and this was his mother. Her pained expression was evident even though she tried to hide it.


"I will wait for you, as soon as you are back howl for me and we will go for a hunt," she said, falling back to her haunches as she watched him eat the rabbit. Of course, she had intended to have a meal ready and waiting for when he returned, and hopefully still warm if he came back this time in two days. Either way, it was something they could do together and hopefully get his mind off the disappearance of his mother.

Ataneq could only instill hope in himself that he would find her or find out why she hadn’t returned. The answer would either be from her mouth and from finding a trail that likely could lead to her death. After all, Kilgharrah (his father) had died without a single trace of reason so perhaps his mother had likely died the same way and the only wolf who he felt would go looking for the answer was him. Siku was just a small blip on any stranger’s radar but to him, she was a link to the future and his past. Given the outcome within the next two days, he would be able to see if she would even be in his future at all.

“Not a word,” he answered thickly and with malice. It hurt to know that his mother apparently cared so little that she hadn’t mentioned anything. Siku hadn’t even given him any sort of sign that she was unhappy here or ready to move on. She had simply removed herself from the pack and relinquished her position here, as well as the hold she had always had in his life.

As Eponine spoke of waiting up for him he finally finished off the meal, having relinquished his apparent hunger and was able to focus on the prospect ahead of him with a smidgen more energy than before. He knew that he would be back because he actually had made friends here where his mother hadn’t, so he had a point to return. Nodding in agreement, he would make sure to call for her upon his return.

Well, whatever the outcome would come to be, Éponine hoped that he would find at least an answer of her whereabouts whether she had abandoned him or had been forced to leave. The dove gray girl hoped at least for his sake that he could find something... anything. The thought that she might have died had crossed her mind, but she did not want to burden him with those thoughts. Possibly, they were already in his head, but she would not confirm any of his suspicions or voice them because it felt that that would only make them more real.


Borlla must have had a lot of faith in him returning, but who wouldn't? He had at least had the respect to come ask for her permission for his leave. Two days. What could he find in two days? She knew she would find out soon enough. Her tail wagged back and forth and a hopeful smile crossed her features trying to up his mood a bit. If there was one thing she could offer it would be that, and maybe put an extra oomph in his step to send him farther than he could go in such a depressed and angry state of mind.


"Well, do not let me hold you up, Ataneq," she commented quickly, taking a step forth now that he was done his meal and pressed her forehead into the space between his throat and shoulder. She nuzzled him lightly as a bid of farewell for now. Her tail wagged back and forth, hopeful of what he would find. Chartreuse eyes looked to the direction of where he would head and back to him. "I'll be waiting. Good luck!" she said, falling back onto her haunches. She would have accompanied him to the border, but she needed to head back out to hunt again to fill the cache since it was a rabbit short again, but she wished to sit there til he was out of sight.

He would find something, he hoped. At least some miniscule piece of detail that might otherwise be hidden but he had to at least have faith in his search. Atuaserk hoped that Borlla understood that even if his mother was gone, he would stay. His mother might not have found the grounds to stay in one spot with wolves that she didn’t lead, but Ataneq had. This place was something so powerful that he didn’t have the will to ever leave them. He had created something here that he felt couldn’t easily be washed away without a trace. His memories here were too strong to be covered up.

Po was quick to encourage him to find whatever he could and that she wouldn’t hold him back from his journey. Ataneq desired to leave now, to find the woman that had given him life but had also taken it away (in a more subtle way though). “See you soon,” he answered plainly as his amber eyed turned to the wind. He would be long gone from here within an hour, traveling forth through the land to find retribution.

Feeling regenerated from her gifted meal and the quick nuzzle, Ataneq set out to find his mother under Borlla’s permission. She would then likely give the information to Phineas so that he would know that the boy would return. Two days from now he would be back but it was a mission that he could only complete while solo. From here, he set out on his own to find the one thing he never thought he would lose.

He answered with a 'see you soon' and she quickly nodded as he turned to leave. She watched as the great beast moved easily through the magnolia trees and quickly disappeared out of sight. He was not holding back and he would get farther than she could even make it with his set determination on find his mother. Éponine only wished that he would find some trace of her disappearance or explanation for it. What was worse than finding her dead would be to have no answer at all. At least he could stop wondering and waiting.


She was not quite sure what to expect when he came back, but the girl was prepared for anything. She hoped she could only ease his pain or maybe he would return with her home. The thought of maybe she was trapped somewhere - hurt and unable to return home - had played in her mind, but she did not want to give her friend any false hope. She rose to her paws once again, turning in the opposite direction to head for some good hunting grounds to keep her mind at ease and away from any negative thoughts. Like, what if he did not return?


All she could do was prepare for it and perhaps he would need time on his own once he returned. She wished to give him any space he needed or if what he needed was a friend she would give him that. Whatever the case, she planned on trying not to think about it over the next two days, and would silently wait for his return. She laughed as she thought about how she would miss his presence in the den beside her at night, but it was only two nights until he would return. Disappearing from the pack den, the Stark child slipped through the magnolia trees, eyes and ears on full alert to bring more prey back home.

- Éponine exits -

After returning from his long trip just a few hours earlier, having howled to alert his leaders of his return, he had come across something very important while on his mission. Perhaps not important information about another pack or any sneaky things happening, but something about himself. Ataneq had already proven to Borlla and Phineas that he was going to be staying here and if he was going to be staying here, he wanted to make more use of his time here. Without his mother, he felt like things were going to be kind of tough. He had the comfort in having Po and Lucero, even Fiora now, but he needed something to keep him active and always busy.

That was why he was adamant to see if Borlla or Phineas would be open to providing him a role. On his journey back he had considered maybe Guardian or a Scout, something that would require him keeping up to his running routine, his usual border patrols, etc. He just needed something to keep him busy but he wanted to run it by Borlla first and maybe she would even give it to him knowing that he already did those just out of habit. He knew not to be over confident about it, didn’t want to expect them to hand it to him without reason, but he hoped that they would see that he was here to stay. Siku might not have had leverage to stay but Teq had made friends and he was beginning to see the Glen as a whole new family.

Upon his return he gazed upon the sky as the sun had begun to set, realizing the irony of the situation. It was as if Siku’s time with him had come to a close and he was seeing it leave him, only to rise on his own time tomorrow. No doubt he would have trouble getting over her disappearance, but he would have to. His time was here now and if Siku wasn’t going to make something of herself here than he would. So when Phineas would come to meet him, which he did somewhat swiftly and with a question that didn’t unsettle him.

“Unfortunately not,” he concluded but he did his best to hide any sadness that was stitched in his tone, “she is long gone; but I am here to stay.” Siku’s scent had faded away all because Ataneq had not questioned her disappearance earlier. Either way, she was gone and that was the end of it. With her disappearance he felt that it was necessary to further himself here instead of bury himself in what was left of his mother’s wing. “I understand that I am still too young to properly hold the title, but I wish to be a Guardian or Scout for the Glen.”

He already did a little bit of traveling here and there, tried his best not to go too far (though sometimes maybe testing his limits too much), but those would be jobs he could definitely excel in. If not one of them, he’d try something else.