The change had been building up, slowly but steadily, pressing harder on the male second every day. He had realized a while ago, what was coming, and his heart was full of conflicting feelings. But what had to happen would happen, and for now all he could do was try and prepare himself; If that's even possible... The most important thing was to get himself out of the funk, as much as he still hurt from his loss, he had to get over it, at least enough to function properly. The Bend needed to move on, and if he should be part of that, he needed to move on first.

With a sigh, the dark male shook out his fur, continuing on his route through the territory. Lately he had been pushing himself to step out of the solitude his sorrow had thrust him into; He had tried to reconnect with the pack, to find his way back to what had made this his home in the first place. The restlessness within him had driven him to start moving, but instead of just rushing off the territory every time he felt the need to do something, he had decided to use some of this energy to merge himself back into pack life.

It was no easy task though. Most of Oak Tree Bend was still weighed by grief, and Triell's absence only added to the tense atmosphere. Most of the wolves were keeping as much to themselves as he had, and besides the pups, he had yet to really talk with any of them. Poor kids... The pups had had a rough start on life, with their mother disappearing so early, they probably couldn't even remember her, and not much better from their father; They disserve a proper childhood! No child should grow up surrounded by sorrow and anger and loneliness. He would do his best to rectify that.

But today he was searching for someone else, yet another wolf that he had seen very little of over the past months. It was as much his own fault, he knew that, but now he wanted to change that. Finally deciding that running around the Bend searching would take too long, Drestig Avalon leaned back his head, calling out for the young Donata - a casual summons, telling the boy that he would like to speak with him, if he had the time.

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"Speech" Thoughts

His call was answered almost instantaneously, Serach's voice ringing clear and strong through the oaken trees. It made the dark man happy that the boy reacted so readily, perhaps their relationship had not been as badly damaged by his recent reclusion as he had feared. His tail twitched a little nervously while he waited, eyes scanning over the surrounding trees, ears flicking back and forth, listening for paws moving through the underbrush. As he heard the faint sound of someone approaching, he turned, smiling at the sight of Serach, running towards him. He was surprised when the young man offered a physical greeting, gently returning the light nudge; "Serach." He answered, smiling palely, not really knowing how else to welcome the lad.

The question made his smile shrink further, eyes growing distant for a moment; How am I..? It wasn't exactly an easy question, and many potential answers ran through his mind, before he finally settled his attention back on the younger male. "...Better." He said, voice low; "A little more each day." A reassuring smile was attempted and, he felt, mostly succeeded, then he shrugged lightly, meeting the boy's chartreuse eyes; "I doubt it'll ever stop hurting... But you know all about that." His gaze grew even more sorrowful, smile disappearing as he thought of all that the young Donata had lost in his short life; A father, a mother... Wolves he had known and loved for a long time before they were taken away.

"How about you?" The elder man asked, full attention turned on Serach, ears raised in a show of honest interest. Drestig cared a lot about the boy, feeling closely attached to him after seeing him grow from gangly yearling to full adult, even if they didn't talk overly often. Especially lately they had drifted apart, both caught up in their own quandaries. This let the black wolf to his next question: "Any news about your brother?" His voice was low but steady, expression serious as he looked at the young man. The Bend second felt deeply guilty about Sceral. So many things had been going on around them back in winter when he disappeared; But that's no excuse! Most of the Bend having been caught up in Nayeli's return and the threat she brought with her, way too little had been done to try and locate the second Aesir-Donata brother; Though the ebony scout had made several trips out into the land surrounding them, he had found no trace of the boy, and, he was ashamed to say, he hadn't been the first priority. Then Silver came and... Well, suddenly nothing else mattered..!

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The boy spoke with a wisdom far beyond his years, and the elder wolf felt both proud and sad at the response. It was admirable, that Serach could keep a positive attitude after all he'd been through; But he shouldn't have to... Still the dark man returned his defiant smile, wagging his own tail lightly, he had always tried to enjoy the small pleasures and hearing that same advice from Serach was amusing; And heartwarming. Seeing the surprise on the pale face as the attention was turned on him though, made an ebony eyebrow arch, ears perking attentively. Yet again he was reminded just how little attention had been paid to the boy lately, and he silently scolded himself once more for taking so long to have this conversation. Sitting down before the younger male, Drestig tilted his head slightly, eyes focused on the other as he gave him his undivided attention.

The initial reply was neutral, but no different than what the Avalon had expected, quite similar to his own; One day at a time... Then a short silence fell, and Drestig remained silent, seeing the churning thoughts flash in the boys eyes. Finally he spoke again, and the listener took care to remain open and uncreative until he finished. The words were both surprising and not at all, Oak Tree Bend and Serach seemed eternally tied to each other in the older wolf's mind, it was his mother's pack, his family. And yet, the feelings were such a perfect mirror of his own lately, that he could understand completely; We all seem to be drifting apart..! All of them had been caught up in their own doings, searches, sorrows and heartaches, and now that things were dialing down, they were realizing just how dethatched they had become from one another. The question was if it was too late to turn things around.

Drestig nodded slowly, expression thoughtful as he pondered Serach's words. He didn't have much in the way of answer, but he wanted to show that he understood the boy and could relate. In the end he simply met his eyes and smiled lightly, hoping that they could work on becoming closer once more, to each other and the rest of the pack. He remembered a thought that had been rummaging around the back of his mind lately, but before he had time to ask, Serach spoke again, and he held his own tongue for later. There was no news of the lost brother, causing Drestig's face to warp into a grimace of dejection, a frown on his silver tipped muzzle. The mention of the Plateau wolves brought a grim smile to his lips though; "Yeah I'm not surprised, with that leader of theirs..." There was obvious scorn in his voice, but then he too shrugged his shoulders, he wasn't particularly concerned with their neighbors on the mountain.

Seemingly determined to end on a high note, Serach added the discovery of Hearthwood River with a smile, and the black chap grinned back; "Ah yes, I heard they moved up north!" Seeing the young man's excitement was a joy, and Drestig was easily infected by it; "I ran into one of their lieutenants a few days back, I was gonna talk to Triell about making an official alliance." It seemed a bit silly, with the close relation between the two packs, but it had seemed the proper thing to do; Like a good little scout! Ember eyes drifted over the surrounding trees for a moment, ears flicking in the shifting breeze, then he added thoughtfully: "Maybe I'll head up there myself... I could use a little change of scenery."

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Gaze fixed on an unspecific point on the horizon, Drestig did not notice the younger man's immediate reaction to his words. Despite his best wishes, the dark scouts thoughts had begun to wander away from their conversation, and it was only when Serach spoke up again, that the ember-like eyes were turned back on him. The question came as a complete surprise, despite always making himself useful to the pack, the young Donata had never shown particular interest in more specific aspects of its affairs or leaned towards any defined role. With his own scout aspirations, Drestig was immediately piqued by even the smallest sign of curiosity towards that same area. True, Serach's eagerness might simply stem from a wish to see his sister again, but even if that was his major motivation, the older wolf was ready to take it; It would be nice to have some company... Some company that wasn't grey, grim and grumpy.

So the ebony chap smiled at his younger companion, ears waving favorably in response to his words. "I'm sure that can be arranged." He said confidently, not feeling like it was his place to say anything for certain, but feeling quite sure that Triell would not have anything to say against it either. After a short pause, he added, wanting to underline his own appreciation for the suggestion; "It would be nice to have someone along who's close to the leaders and can vouch for me. Not to mention knowing the exact location of the pack." He finished off with a wink, tail waving happily, already looking forwards to this trip. Little did he know that it would be postponed quite a bit.

In the ensuing silence, Drestig's eyes began to drift again, sliding over the densely growing oak trees, innumerable in the uniformity. Finally, he saw the time to ask the question that had been rummaging around the back of his mind for quite some time, tearing his eyes away from the deep green leaves to look into Serach's much lighter eyes; "How attached are you to this place? The land I mean," Silver tipped muzzle made a motion back out towards the woods, gaze not straying though; "I understand the pack was originally formed somewhere else?" It seemed an odd change of subject he realized, but he had been curious about the precise history of his home for quite some time, and Corinna's son seemed the right one to ask. Drestig had originally come upon Oak Tree Bend by accident, Silver having brought him to Pitch Pine Trail further south, only to have the pack disband shortly before winter fell on Relic Lore, leaving the rebellious lad to beg for shelter at the first border he came upon. Since then, he had come to deeply love this home, most of all the wolves though, even if he appreciated the territory; It was rich in both prey, water and shelter, and seemed to have served the pack well for several years, even before his arrival. But with recent happenings, a lot of bad memories had attached themselves to the oaken forest along with the good ones, and he had began to wonder...

But that was less important at the moment, for now he simply wanted to know how those who had lived there longer felt about the land; How important it is... To him personally, Oak Tree Bend had never been anything else, yet he felt quite mixed about the old woods. In any case, he was quite interested to hear Serach's thoughts, as well as maybe learn some deeper history of the pack that was now so dear to him.

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"Speech" Thoughts

He was happy to see the joy on the young man's face, smiling back as his own tail waved in response. Yes, surely there was nothing in the way of Serach coming along, and perhaps the experience might inspire him to take up scouting himself; Regardless it would be wonderful to have him there, for the trip and the meeting with Kisla and her mate. As the conversation moved on though, the boy grew more serious, in tune with the seriousness of the subject his elder had brought up. Drestig watched as the boy turned his own eyes to the woods, speaking slowly and thoughtfully. Ears perked, the man followed along silently, his own brow wrinkled. And understanding noise left him and he nodded at Serach's first sentiment, it was true that these woods had been the birthplace of Corinna's youngest boys; Guess I didn't think that through properly… He hadn't had the good fortune of being able to stay where he was born, and, perhaps because of that, he had never truly grown attached to any place. From the pale lad's words, it was hard to gauge exactly how much the Bend meant to him, but it made sense that it would mean more than any other place.

He went on to speak more of the history of the pack before his birth, probably handed down to him by his mother and older siblings, and Drestig found himself leaning in a little, deeply interested in the story. The mention of Rissa made his eyes widen in surprise, and then more in shock as he heard what had befallen her; I never knew… Of course, something like that wasn't exactly easy to talk about; I know that..! And it wouldn't exactly be the first thing you disclosed to a new member.

Serach's last comment made his lips purse, embers narrowing again as he thought for a moment. When he parted his lips, his voice was soft, but he made an effort not to sound condescending or overly consoling, time for that had passed, and he wanted to make it clear that he was addressing the young man as an equal; "I'm sorry, I didn't know about that." He began, meeting the Donata's golden-green eyes; "…Do you feel that way too? Being close to your mother I mean, is it… Comforting?" It was a bit hard for him to formulate the question, but he hoped the boy understood. He had felt like that at first, having somewhere to go, where he knew she was resting. But at some pint he had realized that it wasn't real, she wasn't actually there. Now her grave seemed more like a ghastly marker, than a place of rest.

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