He had been slowly pacing the borders when the call came. He was too tired to hunt—it was getting more and more common. Not every day, not even every other, but every fifth, if he had spent the four previous ones hunting, his body refused to. His muscles were sore. His joints ached. He couldn't cram enough power into his stride to actually take anything down.

So on those fifth days, he patrolled. The blue-tinted fog of his home swirled around him as he moved, a ghost among the oak trees. He still thought Triell and Marsh had picked the best spot. The little clearing in front of the oak tree was usually sun-soaked, and it burned the dreary mists away. Otherwise, he wasn't sure he would stand it. It would be the same, day after day. Summer, autumn, winter, spring—every day coated in a blue veil.

The call was both familiar and unfamiliar. It spoke of having been here, yet was not a voice he recognized—young, he thought from the pitch of it. His own deeper voice cut through the swirling fog, the lower notes mingling with the lighter ones in a ghostly harmony. He didn't know who she was, but he was coming to greet her. Not much more needed to be said.

He didn't think much as he loped towards her. He couldn't sprint, but the dull ache of his worn muscles was bearable, as was the impact rattling up from his paws into his thick legs. He wasn't sure he liked growing old, but he couldn't do much about it.

She materialized out of the fog, dangerously close to the border, but not threatening it. His pale ears swept forward, tail up and proud, lips covering his fangs and silver eyes kind. There were gray hairs on his muzzle, coarser than the white ones, barely visible. Age wasn't obvious on him, unless you had seen him in his youth, when he was bulky and wide. He was still bulky and wide, but his back wasn't as full as it had been.

Ice hadn't spent much time with Triell's children—one and a half month, before they had gone with Naira in the dead of night. She was older now, of course. It had been half a year since he'd seen her, but the kids of your friends.. they stick in your memory. He quickly sampled the air. She was alone. He frowned as he stopped in front of her. "Treyah," he said. She looked ragged and worn, on the brink of exhaustion. "What's wrong?"

"Ice," the rugged girl responded in a gravelly voice, disused and harsh—a strange counterpoint to the (relieved?) wag of her tail. She must've come very far, very fast, and not stopped for idle chitchat along the road. When was the last time she had eaten? Was she in a state to catch anything? Could he get away with feeding her from a cache, if he really put his weight into filling it up once his body had taken its demanded rest day..? She was Triell's daughter, and that made her family, but he wasn't sure Serach would see it that way. He wasn't sure if Serach still nurtured his grudge or not...

A frown threaded its way across his forehead when she recoiled from his words, and without meaning to he took a step towards her, tail faltering and ears going back. What was wrong? Had something happened? Was Triell alright? Naira? She needed a moment, but then the answers spilled from her mouth. "Reiko's missing, dad's sick," and Ice felt his heart go cold. Triell—sick, and said in a way that made it sound like it wasn't just some sneezes. Triell can't be sick he wanted to say, he's younger than me, he can't be ill, but he was forced to shake his head in silence.

”Sahalie left with Spieden the same time you did. Saw her around a couple of weeks ago, said she was making a pack south of here,” an arriving Aponi filled in, smiling. Ice let his tail droop and ducked his head, still not entirely sure what to make of her. "Down in the Copse, I've heard," he added quietly. "I've seen neither her, nor your brother. But what ails Triell..?"

He was biased, and he knew it, but he was pleased nonetheless to see Aponi accept Treyah's presence—welcome it, even. It made him feel less like a traitor, and a tension he hadn't been aware of left his spine. He wasn't entirely relaxed, however; the yearling's state and message saw to that. It ate at his gut until he wanted to shake the news from her forcibly.

A small scowl threaded its way across his pale features? Three pups, and one from the other pair of adults? Part of him thought of course with a kind of irritated sigh, that's what you get for being lax with certain rules, but at the same time—Triell's kindness had always been something he admired, even when it confused him. He couldn't fathom why the black wolf had fallen for Naira, and that was probably why no one had told him about it for a long, long time.

The news of Naira were disturbing, too, though hit less close to home. Ice, simply, did not care as much about her these days. Once a friend, then an enemy, and now—a memory, the loved one of a dear friend. He let out a low, strangled sigh, morbidly glad that Triell was probably only bothered by a bad shoulder and exhaustion while Naira had almost gone off the deep end.

Aponi had the situation well in hand, inviting Treyah in. With a grunt and a swish of his tail, Ice stepped to the side. "You tell Triell to get better," he said, firm but with a hint of a joke around his voice. Clearly, he intended to remain by the border and let the two sisters go find a cache together, and catch up.