But somethings you can't undo

The teens had been in this strange area for….a week? Maybe a little bit more? A little bit less? It was getting hard to tell, especially since Viorel had mostly stuck to these woods and the immediately surrounding area. His hope had been that just like @”Sharlee” had shown up, some of the others would start arriving too. It turned out that this strategy would pay off, while out wandering (rather aimlessly) through the woods the familiar scent of salt brine mixed with wolf musk caused his nostrils to flare. That was distinctly Estuary smell, he was sure of it.

Dark paws quickened beneath his body, yellow eyes flashing between the spaces of the trees, searching for whoever it could be. When the familiar voice let out a demand to the woods a smile broke out across his muzzle as his speed picked up to a sprint. Snow flew around them when he skidded into the small clearing that Modesto was standing in. ”Aunt Modesto! Tongue lolled out of his young mouth as Viorel practically skipped towards her, now they were one closer to having a complete set you could say. Nose wrinkled unhappily as he commented, ”You stink like the two legs, did they get you too?” He would be curious to see if his aunt thought she had been bitten like Vayko, or stung like he had assumed.

And one of them's you

But somethings you can't undo

Viorel leaned into his aunt’s embrace with a smile, it reminded him of being a small pup again. Something about being tucked under a family member’s arm and the salty brine smell of the Estuary lingering in her coat eased the homesickness he had been feeling. The teen furrowed his brow at her words, a stab, ”I thought that they stung me, but Vayko was so sure that it had been a bite. But, it’s all so confusing, it’s hard to remember what really happened.” Had it been a sting, a bite, a stab like a bird? And the even more pressing question is why would they do that?

Following her gaze Viorel looked upwards, the branches of the forest had seemed suffocating at first, but now they were slowly beginning to feel like home. Humming slightly he suddenly felt nervous to tell his aunt their future plans, she had always lived in the Estuary and might be disgusted with the thought of staying here. ”We don’t know where we are, or how far from the Estuary we are. So far it’s us, and Vayko, Andrey and Sharlee, no sign of anyone else.” He was rambling, so much had happened since he woke up and it was hard to decide what was most important to say first.

”Oh! And this strange wolf none of us had ever seen before, she was also dumped here and smelled like the Estuary. She claimed that the two legs had rubbed the smell on her, but it all seemed so suspicious.” Modesto was older, had lived through more than any of the teens, maybe she would have some idea of what was going on here.

And one of them's you

But somethings you can't undo

The teen watched his aunt closely as concern played across her salt and pepper muzzle. Well, guess she doesn’t have all the answers after all. His ears pricked forward at her question, and then pressed back against his skull, he didn’t want to deliver the bad news to Aunt Modesto. Shifting a little uncomfortably on his paws he murmured, ”No, we haven’t found Mum, or anyone else either. Just the four of us.” Then his dark face lightened up a bit, ”But, we did meet another loner who has been staying with us, she’s a trained healer and seems pretty cool. And, now we have you too!” That had to mean something didn’t it? Maybe the others would show up soon.

The command was a little annoying, but Viorel didn’t let it show. Instead his chest puffed up a bit proudly that they had made the right decision, ”Yeah, we didn’t let Annaliese - the one who smelled like us - stay. It was all too weird, plus she was being a bitch.” Normally the Viorel teen would have never sworn in front of a member of the council for fear of reprimand, but there was no council here. They were all on an equal playing field here, and perhaps he had the upper paw seeing as he and Vayko had careful plans.

Nuzzling Aunt Modesto back affectionately he growled in content. He was too proud to say it out loud, but it was very comforting after their entire upheaval to have his Aunt here. Perking up with a smile he pulled away. ”Oh, we found a great spot to stay! South-west of here, near a creek so we can fish.” And they were planning on staying there, hopefully for a long time, but he didn’t offer that little tidbit of information up yet. He wasn’t sure how Aunt Modesto would react to hear that they didn’t plan on trying to find their way back to the Estuary.

And one of them's you

But somethings you can't undo

Viorel frowned deeply and his ears pressed harder against the back of his skull when he saw his aunt’s quivering lip. He made no verbal acknowledgement of it as he knew that Modesto was a proud woman and wouldn’t appreciate it. Instead he just gave her a single lick to the chin, he understood that lonely feeling all too well. Waking up here and having some of the family you love but not everyone.

The empathetic sadness didn’t last long, the mention of prince and lack of reprimand did well to bolster his confidence. Salt and pepper chest puffed out out further and a look of pride swept across his face. That’s true, what right had Annaliese had to talk to himself and Vayko that way? It wasn’t their fault she hated pack wolves and had been taken from her home, they all had. Bitch. Viorel grinned, he liked having his aunt around to reassure him that they had been doing the right thing, plus, safety in numbers and all that.

Looking up at the surrounding woods, the very same eerie ones that he had met Clover in, Viorel shivered a little. He hated this place. Standing up and stretching leisurely he gestured with his muzzle, ”Follow me,” then set out at a gentle lope. He remembered how crappy he had felt upon waking up and could only imagine that his aunt must feel the same.

They hadn’t been walking long when a thought whisked through the teen’s mind. As quickly as he had thought of it, it was out of his mouth, ”Hey Aunt Modesto, you know how my dad went missing while on that scouting trip?” That was the story that had always been told to him, that Platon had gone out scouting and had never returned, no hide nor hair of him found by the rescue searches. ”You don’t think that the two-legs took him do you?” I mean, they had taken all five of them, what if this wasn’t the first time?

And one of them's you

But somethings you can't undo

In his excitement of finding his Aunt Modesto the teen had almost forgotten how much he hated these woods. It put him on edge the atmosphere here, as if something, or someone was alway watching them. As spooky as they are though, he couldn’t help but admit that they had given him both his friend Clover and his aunt. Maybe they weren’t all bad afterall? As soon as the thought flit through his mind a skittering sound above caused his eyes to whip upwards. There was nothing there. Nevermind, he definitely hated it here.

Viorel missed his aunt nodding, but smiled brightly at her words. The thought of meeting Platon, the dad he had heard about so much back at the Estuary was thrilling, if naive. Dark tail swayed easily behind him, ”Well, if they did get him I hope we find him here.”How cool would that be? Oh well, there was plenty of time for that later on, for now he just had to get Aunt Modesto back to the others.

And one of them's you