Ruiko had kept himself scarce since the accident. He spent his time in solitude, trailing parts of Relic Lore he had never visited before. He avoided company – any scents that he came across were quickly avoided as he would switch the direction of his creamy paws. However, there was one scent that lingered in many places they shouldn’t; places far away from the safety of home.. and that was Borlla’s. He knew his younger sister to be an adventurous youth, but with her scent straying from the mountain to the creek, he knew she was also being careless.


As the large male was about to return home, a hare hanging between his jaws, he had once more scented the little rascal where she should not be. Hesitating for only a moment, a small frown marring his stoical mask, Ruiko moved to a small rock, his hefty paws digging a small hole in which to place the meal he had caught for the pups. Gingerly dropping the prize, he quickly pushed the dirt on top of the rabbit, hiding it from the view of any stray hunter.


No sooner than he had discarded himself of the extra weight, the regal wolf quickly prowled in the direction his nose pointed him to. Sure enough, Borlla’s little paws had carried her to the Wildwood, and while he loathed to enter once more in to the destroyed land of memories, he only quickened his pace. At least she was not near their previous home.. she had enough sense to stay away from there.


He found her swinging on vines; something that caused his bright eyes to glance twice. Before he could give his muzzle a small shake of mild annoyance, his paw landed heavily upon a twig, crunching the fallen material in half. His eyes lifted to catch his baby sister move to hiding.. at least she had some sense about her. “Borlla,” he called, his deep timbre tone clearly unimpressed. “It’s me. You don’t have to hide.” Ducking his muzzle to miss a lower branch, the large brother emerged from the foliage, his eyes gazing levelly at the brazen whelp. “What are you doing out here?”

The immense figure of the brown tawny male shifted impatiently as his tiny sister began to sliver from her hiding spot. He could sense her hesitation from her, and his eyes remained drawn levelly upon her. She knew she was in the wrong for being so far from the pack land, and as the little wolf shuffled her paws, blinking her baby blue eyes at him, Ruiko held back a sigh. His little siblings tugged at his heartstrings much more now that his parents were not around, but he did not allow his assertive facade to fade because of this.


Her small smile only drew a blink from him, and at the finality of her answer, the large male erupted a snort of disbelief. “You know you shouldn’t be so far from Swift River. Don’t make me box your ears for lying,” he replied with deep sharpness, though his shoulders relaxed slightly. There was a small pause before the regal wolf gave a slight shake of his muzzle. “It’s dangerous to be so far from home, Borlla.” Wondering if this information would sink in, the male padded forward now, his muscles flexing beneath his tawny fur. “Come on, small teeth. Let’s get you home.”

His own eyes darkened slightly as a scowl clouded her features, though he said nothing just yet of this. She was a brazen girl – one that could be quite disrespectful at times. Eventually, the regal wolf could only hope she would grow out of it, but only time would tell.. and, he mused, the time she spent with Junai and Ioni would probably greatly affect her morals and ideals in life once she entered the adult ranks. It would be a shame for such a young girl to become so bitter and power-ridden like her two older sisters so soon, but it would seem the Tainn family was unraveling very slowly since the death of their parents.


Borlla followed him obediently – but her tongue and attitude got the better of her. ‘I’ve never seen anything scary out there,’ she chimed, causing Ruiko to send a darkened glance her way, a low growl seeping past his lips dangerously at her attitude. “That’s just as well. A small sass-box like yourself wouldn’t stand a chance if you came across anything dangerous. It would gobble you up without a second thought,” he warned lowly, knowing that if Indru or Niija heard him telling her such tales they would likely smack him upside the head. He cared little though, Borlla was teetering on dangerous acts, and sooner than later, a creature would find the three-month old pup and see her a fit dinner. The family just couldn’t lose anyone else. He wouldn’t let it happen.


The large wolf began to lead them back the direction he had come, his eyes scanning for the rock he had buried the rabbit in. It was, after all, meant to feed three hungry little mouths, and it also allowed him to ignore the childish whining of his little sister as she complained about how bored she was.

Borlla finally let the new law he had just laid down to her settle without further comment, and his eyes trailed down to her momentarily to see if she was simply biting her tongue from any other sardonic comments, or if she was truly considering the warning he had bestowed upon her. Just to reiterate his meaning, Ruiko gave a gentle chuff. “I mean it, Borlla. Stay in the pack lands from now on. I swear, if I find out that you’ve been outside of them again you’ll wish something had eaten you by the time I’m done with you,” he warned lowly, his eyes shifting from her now and back to the path they were on. Only with these final words (he assumed she would certainly take his meaning to heart) did he let the subject completely drop.


She then padded up beside him, her natural puppy attention span clearly as short as a blade of grass, and the tawny male hid a smile at her sudden interest. Grunting in reply, his eyes continued to sweep the area they were back tracking now, his nose to the ground every so often to catch the scent. “I caught you and the kids dinner. Rabbit. I put it in a small cache.” There was a small pause, and drawing back, Ruiko withheld a sigh. Here came a situation where he knew he should teach her. “Think you can use that nose of yours to help me find it?” Tracking was a key skill for a wolf, and Borlla would need to learn eventually.

The youngster was eager to help (if only in an attempt to distract him from the trouble she was in) and the larger tawny wolf slowed his pace down, allowing the whelp to test her nose for the scent. Knowing it was still further up just because of the land marks about them, Ruiko kept this knowledge to himself, curious to see if Borlla would at least lead them closer to the direction they needed to travel.


She did good thus far – though it became quite apparent to him right then and there that the pack would soon need to further train the young ones, for in only a few months they would be expected to know more about hunting and tracking. It seemed only yesterday that the recent litter had been born, and yet here was the last daughter of Rihael and Lani, already three months old and knowing a little more sass than she perhaps should have. Growing to adulthood would perhaps be more confusing for her now more than ever, as she had many stand-in parents, but Ruiko was sure he was going to be a more strict gerant than the rest.


She was determined, though it did not take long for her frustration to seep in and stir the whelp to move back to him, her face glancing up to him, partially covered in dirt. “After awhile it does,” he responded without much thought. “But this is a fresh kill, so it will not smell so different than most, though that won’t always be the case Borlla.” There was a small pause, and Ruiko decided not to elaborate on that response. After all, if it had been a mangle kill, she would have smelled its blood too. With patience he had never had before the fire, the older wolf gave a nod to the trail he had come down earlier. “Perhaps our best bet would be to track my old steps as we go. What do you think?”