A light but persistent snow had been falling for the past many hours, slipping between naked branches to form a thickening blanket along the forest floor. Even the areas lying in shade of the tightest knit canopy didn’t go free, an icy wind blowing the flakes into every nook and cranny. It made traversing the dense woods even more difficult, especially for an elderly wolf with a bum leg. He’d been half dragging it for a long while now, leaving more of a trench than distinct tracks in the snow behind him, slowly refilling as he went along. He’d hoped it would get better as he got deeper into the forest, but the change had been so subtle, he hardly even noticed - except of course for the increasing number of tree trunks he had to swerve to avoid.

Things weren’t improved by the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure where exactly he was going. Griffin’s directions had been a little lacking, ‘in the middle of the woods’ hardly singling out a specific spot in this area; Evidently the boy had been a bit overwhelmed by all the trees. Drestig did not blame his son though, taking on the journey to search for his sister had been a big responsibility to put on such young shoulders, and he’d carried it out admirably; Even if it was pointless… Or well, not quite so. While Gale could not return to the Fields with news of Sphinx, he had brought his father some other intell, and he had wasted little time in following up. It wasn’t an easy trek, even if he had had better directions, his leg would still have slowed him down. It wasn’t supposed to cause problems anymore, the hunt had been months ago; For heaven's sake! But still it grew stiff in the cold, locked up, and started hurting after only a medium distance. He wasn’t gonna wait any longer on this though!

And finally, he found himself at the clearly marked borders, heavy breaths forming large clouds in front of his snout as he watched the woodland. On the surface, there was nothing special about it, nothing to suggest it any better than the Fields. But yet, this had been their choice, and he had to believe they had made it for a reason. Breathing in deeply, he raised his head and called loudly for his former second, voice strong and even, despite his exhaustion. Then he waited, standing stock still in the spot, back straight and head held high. His leg ached with a slow, persistent throb, trembling slightly under his weight. But he didn’t move to take it off, refused to show any sign of weakness; Not now!

Word Count: 452

Taking slow, deep breaths, his nostrils filled with the scents of this, Askan’s new home. There was a strange mixture of new and familiar along the well defined border, a persistent scent of moisture clinging to the odors of moss and deciduous trees he remembered from Oak Tree Bend, old memories now; So old… Reyes and Askan had left their clear marks of course - leading together, Gale had said; Go figure..! He almost smiled, despite the persistent pounding in his leg, now starting to spread through his shoulders and up the back of his head. Through the mess of mixed feelings in his chest, the old man felt pride rise to the surface, eyes glistening in the frosty breeze. There were many other markers on the borders, they had managed to assemble a good following, and… Is that..? It was hard to discern the individuals, but he thought there was more familiarity along the borders than the two leaders, had they been joined by someone else he knew?

Before he had time to investigate further, a dark figure burst from the trees, seeming to have run all the way there, ready to bark a few choice words at his visitor, though his tongue was apparently tied at the sight of him. Drestig snorted amusedly, shifting ever so slightly in the spot, to try and relieve his leg just a little. Bright yellow eyes swept his body, expression turning from annoyance to surprise. Again the elder wolves mouth twitched, feeling the inkling of a smile, but just than a fresh stab of pain rushed through his shoulder, changing it into a grimace. Askan’s words, though no more unfriendly than his usual jargon, seemed a taunt right then, speaking a truth that the Fields alpha knew very well, but was not at all interested in hearing right then.

He laughed humorlessly, leaning further backwards to rest more weight on his hunches and thrusting the damned leg out to one side, offering a brief rush of relief. “What happened?” He echoed, looking the younger wolf dead in the eye, sneering; “Doing my damn duty, trying to feed my family is what happened!” He spat, turning down his eyes with a grunt as the pain returned, like a strike, admonishing his outburst. It wasn’t fair to blame Askan for his pain, and it wasn’t why he had come. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up, giving his head light shake to throw off the resentfulness. “I just… Bull got the better of me, had to happen sometime.” His voice was lower now, less bitter, but still dry as sand; “I’m… Not as young as I used to be.” And then he managed a smile, small and stiff, but real enough, accompanied by a low huff of laughter.

Ember eyes turned to the trees around them, his body finally starting to relax into a proper seat. His tail swept slowly over the snow behind him, and then back, too lazy to be called a wag, but an amiable sign all the same. When he spoke again, his voice was barely more than a whisper, thick and gruff; “So you’ve chosen to settle? Trying your own paw at taking the lead?” He was smiling lightly to himself; That’ll do him good..! The smile was growing, but just then, a fresh gust of wind brought the scent of the border strongly to him again, that familiar note once again nagging at his brain. The expression on his face stiffened and his eyes widened, voice louder and colder once more when he asked; “Who else have you got here?”

Word Count: 603

His leg protested loudly at this fresh tension in his body, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. Something about that scent, some small note was resonating deep within him, more than just an old memory. Meanwhile, Askan seemed more concerned with his wellbeeing, something that might have touched the old man, had he not been so focused on that fragment of familiarity, playing tricks with his nose. As it was, he simply shrugged his healthy shoulder, smiling stiffly; “I made it here, didn’t I?” He certainly wasn’t about to admit his possible error in judgement. It had felt all important for him to come here, to see the pack his former second had build. And as the dark lad continued to speak, it became increasingly clear how right that instinct had been.

A hint of amusement played on his greyed muzzle at the little joke, but he was still too tense to truly accept the joviality. And then fell the bombshell. The first name received a flick of an ear, as silverred brows knitted together; Remi..? Was that it? But, though it sent a small pang through him, knowing that she hadn’t found the Fields worthy of a second chance, yet had still settled with their former members in the end, it didn’t seem significant enough to nag him like this. However the second name..! It was like an icy wind had suddenly picked up, sending cold flushing all along his body, ruffling his fur and filling his ears with noise, drowning out the rest of Askan’s words; Percy?!

For a moment every part of him was frozen, inside and out, then heat started to rise within, bubbling to the surface to make his skin burn like fire. He stared at the younger wolf in wide-eyed shock, trying to string his muddled thoughts into coherent questions, when suddenly the trees parted, and a new figure appeared. For a moment he was confused, having forgotten entirely where he was, and he simply turned his stare onto Reyes, wrinkling his brows at the seemingly meaningless sentence; Bird magnet..? He shook his head, uncomprehendingly, frowning at the ground as he tried to regain focus an muttering under his breath: “Pe… Percy?”

His mouth was dry, head still spinning, but he was starting to see clearly again, the turmoil of emotion rising in his chest breathing new life into his tired bones. Head snapping back up, bright ember eyes looked again at the burlier man when he spoke ense more. The comment did not exactly serve to lighten the elder wolf’s mood. “We’ve covered that!” He stated, curtly. As to whether he would be seeing a healer on his way home, that was up to him alone, and there were much more important things to talk about; “Percy’s here?” His head swivelled to look back over at Askan, a strange hollowness to his voice, soon replaced by a mounting panic as he asked: “Is she alright? What happened?” And then, with a little more of an edge: “How long has she been here?”

Word Count: 511