There were questions left unanswered in his mind—and they drove him to seek solitude again. After he had returned from the north, his scent had been present on the borders, a comforting line between home and the world beyond, but rarely had he stepped into the heart of the territory and sought the company of his family. He knew enough from the scent crossing in and out of it. Serach, a pregnant Aponi, Lena, Arion, Nalda, Lila, and Tenebrae. They weren't as many as they once had been—as many as they could be—but it was enough for him.

He slipped through the foliage. Winter was relenting, if just a little, but snow still covered the land though the sun was warm enough to melt the top layers when it shone. Nothing at all like the cold, cold night on the shores of a lake. Nothing at all like the empty space next to him in the cold dawn light.

The tense knot in his belly had eased into a sort of constant disquiet. It lay like a shadow across the back of his mind, made his shoulders a bit tense, and haunted his eyes. The unanswered questions burned like bonfires, but no one had the answers for him.

Lena became a welcome distraction; she chased away the darkness, she chased away the cold. He followed her paw prints. She would distract him, for now, maybe they could go hunt something, or just.. play around, laugh, a sound and emotion that had grown alien to him over the weeks since he'd met Kisla.

The cold came rushing back in. The darkness bloomed again, to cover his soul. She, too, was tense. She smelled of anxiety, its scent barely faded from himself—the tightness returned and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Lena," he said as he came out of the bare bushes, a white ghost in a white world, his breath curling from his mouth. "What's wrong?"

Well—that wasn't what he had expected. She flinched at his voice, ears flat, looked at him as if.. what? He didn't know, and it fled from her face, as fleet-footed as it had been when it came. Then again, when she smelled as she did, what did he expect? Roses and sunshine, the bouncing grand-daughter they had come to know? He smiled, defeated, at her. What's wrong, indeed. The world, he suspected, was what was wrong, with everyone and everything. Death, distance—the things which shattered families, broke bonds, and drove wolves into madness. Family, the thing which splintered them further, as pairs formed, shifted, and moved away.

The reason so much of his years here were gone, blown away by the wind, snowflakes spinning in the sunlight.. he heaved a soft, soft sigh. So, what now? Call her out on whatever it was she was feeling? He could still smell it, almost put his paws on the false cheeriness, but.. maybe he had no business poking his nose into whatever it was. "Oh, Lena," he said, weariness battling with fondness in his voice. He was tired, to his bones, to his core, but the little light touching his eyes and smile was genuine. "I can still smell it on you."

He moved forward, decided it was probably for the better to not ask more questions—she knew that he knew, and that he knew that she knew, and that would have to be enough. If she wanted to tell him, she would, and he would listen, but if she did not want to talk about it.. well. He chuffed and touched his nose to her muzzle, before stepping forward to brush his shoulder against hers as he contemplated the whole thing. Did he need her..? He sort of did, he had wanted a distraction, somebody to chase the shadows away, but had found that the sun had been hidden behind clouds—and he was loathe to change the subject before giving her a real chance to consider his words. Then again.. if he just let it be, as if it wasn't worth pinning her and dragging from the depths of her soul, maybe she'd start spilling it of her own accord..?

Bah. Social interactions had been easier when it was just Triell or Fenru, who he nudge to get them to talk, or Marsh, who hadn't talked at all. "Just wanted to spend some time with you," he finally said, drifting away from her side a little. "Y'know, quality time or whatever they call it."