This love has taken its toll on me

Viorel was slowly becoming more and more confident in the woods, gone was the pressing claustrophobic feeling the trees once brought. It had been a couple of weeks since the Valles had woken up in this strange land and so far nobody except for the four of them had arrived, he was beginning to think that the others were safe back on the coast. That was good, for them he meant. The dark teen was happy to think that his family was safe and not dumped alone somewhere, but he had spent a lot of time the last few days dwelling on the melancholy of it all. It wasn’t the extended family that he was upset about so much as his sister and his mother, it was hard to accept that he may never see them again.

Then there was the excitement of their future plans, and how well everything seemed to be working for them right now. But, even with that excitement came the nerves of what Vayko had said to him about how a pack would expect pups in the spring to make them stronger. He knew that this was true deep down, and he couldn’t blame his cousin for not being ready for something like that. But, Viorel wasn’t sure that he was ready either. And, even if he was, who would he even have pups with? It wasn’t like he had a mate or anything even close to it.

These were the thoughts that propelled the black and grey Valle to explore a little further from their home base. It wasn’t as nice as their little creek but it was certainly a lot more welcoming than the ghastly woods he had found a few days after waking up here. Viorel wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but walking helped clear his head and he wondered if there might be a herd about, or some other landmark it would be best to know about.

She said goodbye too many times before

This love has taken its toll on me

In his wandering Viorel had come upon what appeared to be a giant sinkhole. The teen had been careful when peering over the edge, his blunt claws gripping into the frozen earth below him as he peaked. He wasn’t sure how deep it was and he had no intention of finding out, but way down there it looked like a small frozen lake had developed. This was a strange land that they had been dropped into, he had never seen anything like this before back home. Shuddering a little at the thought of how long you would twist in the air before crashing into the bottom, the Valle stepped back from the edge.

Viorel had turned and was beginning to walk away from the sinkhole when the sound of pawsteps, shortly followed by a chuff and a greeting alerted him to another. Turning in surprise he kept his stance neutral, he had yet to be shown that anyone in this world meant them any explicit harm. The teen softly wagged his tail in a display of friendliness as he took in the wolf in front of him, the woman appeared to be about his age with a pelt that reminded him of Clover. Were all the wolves in this area white? If so, his dark pelt was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Nodding towards the woman, ”Morning,” then followed it up with, ”I’m surprised to see anyone else around this early in the day.” The sun hadn’t even fully risen yet after all.

She said goodbye too many times before

This love has taken its toll on me

The young woman appeared friendly enough so Viorel saw no sense in escalating a peaceful situation or being on the defensive. However, the giant sinkhole behind him did make him a little bit nervous. The last thing he wanted to do was have a little slip in the snow and end up an ornament on the frozen lake below. Travelling all night, interesting, ”Travelling from where may I ask?” Every time he ran into a stranger some small part of his heart hoped that they might be the key to knowing how far the two legs had taken them from the Estuary. Even if he had no plans to return there, it would be an option to visit.

As the stranger moved closer to the sinkhole Viorel took a step away, adding some distance between himself and the swallet behind him. If she wanted to take a look she could be his guest, but the hole made him uneasy, something about it just rendered images of endless falling. Kind of like nightmares you jolt awake from in the middle of the night, gasping for air, where your mind has you convinced you’re one second away from hitting the ground. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought, but the teen did his best to remain looking composed.

Viorel answered her question as nonchalantly as possible, ”I’m new to the area, just trying to to get the lay of the land a bit. Seemed like a peaceful time of day to do it.” He hadn’t expected to run into anyone else while he was out here.

She said goodbye too many times before

This love has taken its toll on me

Dark head swivelled casually to look in the general south east direction, as if he would suddenly see some willow trees appear. Obviously they didn’t, but Viorel stored the information of willow trees, and the name Lichenstone Loch away for future reference. It was interesting, their little band had been hanging out south east of here and he had yet to run into a single willow tree. He would have asked where this Loch was, but it didn’t ring a bell with the teen. If it had been any of the smaller packs around his home he surely would have at least heard of it before. Looking back at the white girl he smiled, ”Originally I’m from a pack called Drowned River Estuary, it’s on the coast.” There, that little drop should be enough to know if she had any clue where the coast was, he could ask more questions later.

Viorel watched closely as she approached the sinkhole, his own muscles tensing cautiously as if that could help her if she slipped. When the woman stepped away he let out a breath he didn’t realize that he had been holding. She looked disappointed, weird. He had felt uneasy, tense, but she seemed unimpressed? What had she thought was going to be at the bottom of a giant hole in the woods? A huge bear made of sunlight? He took another step away from the swallet, remembering the icy lake that was frozen solid down below, not exactly a soft landing if he slipped.

Shrugging at her question, ”Haven’t seen much of anything yet.” That was the truth, although he supposed he hadn’t wandered far from their little base yet. Thinking of that he offered something else, ”There will be a pack south east of here pretty soon though.” He didn’t think it wise to disclose everything he knew just yet, and he watched closely to see the stranger’s reaction.

She said goodbye too many times before

This love has taken its toll on me

Viorel couldn’t hide the disappointment that painted his muzzle into a frown when the stranger informed him the Loch was very far from the coast. Plus, the coast was huge even if her pack had been close to some part of the ocean, it didn’t mean it was anywhere close to where the Estuary is. It was a bit of a hard pill for him to swallow that some stranger wasn’t going to show up and know exactly how to get back to his home. Not that he had any plans on going back anytime soon, especially now with a pack in the works, but, it would have been nice to have options. A chance to visit someday, show all the other Valles what he and Vayko had managed to build without them.

The woman took the bait that he had given, and her interest was met with a cheeky grin. ”Leader of it in fact.” It was clear by the scent in her pelt that she was mostly alone, certainly not nearly as many companions as he had. Looking back towards the sky, where the sun was now beginning to rise now he corrected his answer, ”Mostly east of here I guess, only a little south.” He was tempted to ask if the woman wanted to come back and meet the others, but she had yet to voice any interest, and he certainly wasn’t begging for new wolves. And then he remembered something else, ”I’m Viorel by the way, Viorel Valle.” How had he forgotten to introduce himself?

She said goodbye too many times before