The glen was becoming more of a prison than safe haven. She felt nothing would happen to her as long as she remained in its borders, but she wanted to escape its familiarity. Though she knew she would never find her brother it did not stop her from looking for him. A simple trip to the creek she would have to remind herself there was no one to ask to come with her. A new found sight of a bird with a piece of grass in its mouth for a nest was just something to see alone. No matter how often she walked back to the den he would never be there again. It was agonizing realizing how quiet life was, to be alone. She hadn't been meant to be an only child.

When she didn't run into anyone with a twitch in her paws she crossed the borders, marked by her parents, and followed the winding path of the creek. She did not plan to go very far, just some where she hadn't been. Somewhere she wouldn't feel her pale brother should be. Further she followed the creek, letting its voice sing to her along its only path. The silver and tawny wolf began to be part of the landscape. Cautious in her amble, and alert with her senses,looking for signs of life in case she should cross another villain in disguise.
Hyp discovered something else. Breaking away from the water grey trees thickened, a blue mist swirling round their trunks. What was this place? She stood for who knows how long, staring into the woods when she swore she saw a pale figure suddenly dart on by. "Kyros?" She whispered, her silver mask scrunched in bemusement. Small cream paws swiftly took up the chase. "Kyros, please stop! You can't leave me!" She cried, but was only greeted by an eery silence. Further she ran determined to find something.

Sceral tried to stay out of everyone's way. He was lost in his grief, his heartache, and catharsis often occurred, keeping him tumbling down in a constant spiral of confusion and sorrow. The youngest Aesir often wandered beyond the borders that Triell, his uncle, often marked to protect their home. A leader had to mark their territory, to let strangers know that the lands were not suitable for freely roaming. Corinna had told the pale son that, and many other things that were essential to being a wolf. The Oak Tree Bend prince spent weeks and months learning from his dearest mother with @Serach, desperate for knowledge and maturity. Now what was he to do? He felt as though there was so much more to know still yet had no one to learn from. No one to tutor him. It wasn't the case at all but, as a grieving cub, it was all he could think.

Snapped from his woe and self pity, Sceral bristled as a voice cried out—a girl's voice. Kai-ros? His muzzle wrinkled slightly; who was Kyros? Why weren't they waiting for her? What he heard next brought back a flood of memories. “You can't leave me!” Had he not thought the very same thing when Corinna had faded from life? His ears folded back and a stone settled in his gut. It hurt to be left, even when it wasn't always their fault. Without really thinking the situation through, the Aesir lad quickly loped off in the direction of the girl's wail, arriving only to see tracks. Sucking in a breath, he took off once more, hoping to catch up to the mystery girl. “H-hey!” His voice cracked slightly, underused and out of practice, holding a slight bitter sharpness that was not meant for her. “Wait!”

Awkward gangly, limbs continued to pump up and down, pulling her further into the blue mist. She didn't care where she was going or stop to think she could easily get lost. What did that matter? At this point she was far too gone from the Glen, her parents would already be worried. On a mission, desperately, her eyes searched for that pale form, unconvinced she had seen nothing. With ears craning, she swore she heard someone else moving. Before she could try to decipher if it was a three legged sorta walk, the girl jumped, startled by the sound of a boy's voice that called out for her to wait. Nervously, ears folded back, and her shoulders tightened, orange eyes flicking around. She wasn't sure where the voice had come from, or if it was even attached to a form to find. She did as it asked, and moved no further.

"Kyros?" Again, she spoke uncertain, but forced her voice to remain steady. A light flutter in her heart, she again tried to gauge where this boy was, if it was the one she wanted. Hypatia had never fully let herself grieve over her brother. She was in denial, holding onto that small belief he was only out of her sight, not completely gone from her life. With a small bit of hope, her black nose began seeking out his scent among this foreign place. It was not among the trees, nor the blue carpeted floor. Stiffly she swallowed, but had yet to throw out the silly idea he was simply looking for her. "I'm over here." If only she had really played the calling voice in her head, then she would have been prepared.

She responded, calling out for Kyros once more. He furrowed his brow slightly, a little irritated by her constant bleating for whoever this wolf was. Couldn't she just ask for help? Hypocritical of the Aesir lad, really; he hadn't asked for help when Corinna had passed. He'd locked himself away. Then again, he had no idea who Kyros was and even less of a clue about the fact he was dead. Perhaps a rude awakening lay at the end of their meeting—perhaps even at the beginning—and Sceral would be sent spiralling back into the real world. He wasn't the only person who had lost someone to harsh winter that had swallowed everyone whole.

“I'm over here.”

Finally, she came into view and Sceral slowed to a halt. His muted, muddy eyes focused on her, suspicious of her and her strange behaviour. She was about the same age as him, an innocent enough looking cub but the boy couldn't help but hold her with a lack of trust. You couldn't trust a wolf unless they gave you a reason to. He figured that Kyros must be her brother or something and that he'd left her to fend for herself all alone in his neck of the woods. Well, Oak Tree Bends' neck but there was no one else here to ask this stranger what she was doing prancing around. He'd have to do his best Fenru impression to prove he wasn't going to be a pushover, even if she was pretty. “Who are you?” He couldn't hold his tongue, found questions tumbling out that he hadn't even thought about. “Who's Kyros? Where are they? Why are you here?” His voice quivered slightly, his tongue flicking out over his lip as he tried to soothe his nerves. She wasn't even close to the borders! Not yet, at least …

It was all a foolish wish of a child, and it would die like all the other childish things. Wasn't it sad how it was merely the sight of the wrong boy? As much she wanted to mask her disapointment, she couldn't quite muster the strength. When the soon to be yearling revealed himself, everything she held onto shattered. Crestfallen, there was no hope, no spark to her eyes. Everything about her seemed to fall, if in invisible forced had shoved against her chest. Hypatia didn't want to be fragile. She was tired of feeling so hopeless, especially after being taken, and her brother's death. Instinctively, her body swiftly stiffened, her cream chin raising in small defiance beneath his light brown stare. The girl's orange eyes easily betrayed her efforts, because they took quite a few seconds to really look upon the boy. At least now she felt like she had gained a thread of her dignity back.

If only that was all she had to do. Harder yet were all the questions, though his voice though holding true to his age, the way he spoke made her inwardly cringe. Luckily, she only flinched once, at the mention of Kyros. The quake that last rang out could have likely given her a clue if she was on dangerous ground, but it was no easier to decipher than his look. To think she had wanted to leave home, and a wolf, who could be not much older, had her ready to crumble. Would she ever feel like more than a foolish girl?

The flicker of anger she felt for herself was enough to get her tongue moving. She didn't really think she had a great chance of fighting or out running, maybe answering his questions would help. "I'm Hypatia Argyris-Tainn...from the Glen." It seemed she needed to say this aloud to remind herself. Slowly, tawny muzzle stretched, and ears forcefully twisted back. She was trying to stifle the sob that threatened her speech.. "My brother...he's..I.thought..." All she could do was suck in a breath of air, and close her eyes. Dangerously, she gritted her teeth, still unable to look at the boy through coming tears. "Gone. Ghosts...th-they don't live either..not even here." Rapidly blinking, she gestured to the blue misted woods.

Her stiffening was all rather odd, Sceral's ears flicking forwards, partly in curiosity and the other annoyance. Did she have to raise her chin so? He scowled, huffing inwardly as she looked at him. He squared his shoulders a little, lifted his own chin as if to one up her, staring her down. He waited, somewhat impatiently, for her to answer his questions. First she gave her name. Hypatia Argyris-Tainn? Briefly, Sceral's mind fluttered to Fenru before snapping back to this Hypatia girl as she mentioned the Glen. An ugly, black, scarred face popped into the lad's mind and he narrowed his eyes slightly; the face of the man he and @Serach had bumped into when they were younger. Sceral was not a fan of that man in the slightest.

And then the words that would slap him in the face. Her brother was gone. The pale prince took a startled step back, blinking rapidly as all the faux confidence melted from his body, leaving a stunned, scared skeleton in its wake. His paw hovvered in the air, as if he was about to turn tail and run. Ghosts. Ghosts don't live here. No, he agreed with that. If they did then his mother would certainly still linger, right? His jaw fell open, strangled attempts at words forced out as he choked at the thought of Corinna. “I-I … I'm … I'mmm sorry.” His ears folded back, looking to the misty surroundings as if too ashamed to look Hypatia in the eye. “Mmm … my mother. She's …” At a lost with words, Sceral struggled to speak. “G-gone.” As was his father, yet whether the white man had lost his life was unknown to the boy.

If it wasn't for the tumult of emotions she would have met his scowl with one of her own. As it was, the girl felt she was lucky to be standing because the ground beneath her gave little feeling beneath her toes. Suddenly wondered, why had she said all that? It didn't seem to have been of much use. Helplessly, she tried to see past his slitted gaze for something to hold onto. The last of her resilience, and courage threatened to leave her too.

A small voice told her to merely look upon him again. Orange eyes focused through the moisture upon pale brown wrapped in a tawny and silver mask. There was something different. Suddenly Hyp's ears remorsefully flattened. There had been no intention for her words to be a forceful shove. In fact she didn't quite understand how they impacted like that. Why would he care of her lost brother? It only took his own crumpled words for her to understand. The winter had claimed his mother as well. Hypatia did not know the woman, but in her rose the familiar heat of anger and cold, raw sadness. Life was cruel all around, and she didn't like the lack of control it left her with. It made her feel much to small, even though she was on her way to growing up.

Sniffling, she made an effort to move closer, but ended up shuffling her paws with her head cast down because what could she say? She didn't like when others tried to smooth it over. The tawny girl wasn't afraid any more, at least not of him, and once she realized this, the almost yearling managed to walk over to the boy. With her tail low, a soft whine brushed her throat. "I'm sorry...what..what was her name?"

The uncomfortable silence was suffocating, Sceral finding himself squinting through wet eyes. Damn it, he wasn't a child any more! He shouldn't have to shove down tears and swallow the sadness that washed over him every time he spoke of Corinna. Yet, here he stood with a lump in his throat that he was desperately trying to clear. He watched her shuffle awkwardly, as unsure of what to say as Sceral, before closing the distance between them slightly. She was sorry, too. Strange, how they were apologising for having nothing to do with the passing. Perhaps it was the guilt of having brought it up in the first place that left the youngsters trying to grabble for a response.

What was her name? His jaw tensed. He hadn't said Corinna's name aloud ever. She'd always just been Ma. Perhaps this would help him to move on, though. He hadn't spoken about his most treasured's departure from life to anyone. Maybe this would help him let his grief go. Sceral's jaw trembled ever so slightly as his mouth opened, her name falling as a hushed whine from his lips. “Corinna.” Swallowing thickly, the pale youngster wriggled his toes uncomfortably in the dirt, feeling the soil squish up between them. His Ma was part of the Earth now, wasn't she? She'd always be around him … she would always, always be a part of him. “Your brother … when … how did … ?” He stumbled over the words, deciding each time that they just weren't right. It wasn't something he'd want to openly discuss, the hows and whens of death. Yet morbid curiosity had gripped him as he wondered if it had been a similar circumstance.

Was winter going to take more and more with every passing year?

The young lady thought nothing less of the young man's own tears, his own grief. She would have been more upset had he falsely pretended he and everything else was just fine. He was more real, some how less of a stranger with watered, pale brown eyes.

As she had fumbled for the right thing to say, the right thing to do, she did not know if it was. Hyp did not have the thought to do more than quietly look upon him wondering if he may even share the answer she sought. When the high pitch brushed long with the departed name, she only realized how hard it must have been to say. It was like being cut all over again, admitting they were gone. Faintly she whispered, "Corinna." Trying to do her part of keeping what was left safe, and in her memory.

Orange eyes flashed upward, and then to the side. Once more she could not look directly upon him. Hypatia had not been there, she had just been told of her brother's passing. The cold, the lack of food, how Kyros had gone too far. It had made the most sense, just coming to realize what death was. Who was going to say it could have been because of his missing paw? A reason that would make it harder for him to come back home.

The girl tried to put Kyros' image aside, but couldn't. "Not....long." Though it did not feel like that. It felt like each day took forever to pass, that they may as well have merged together."Winter stole his breath," slowly she added, as plainly as she could speak. That was how she had understood it at the time. "Your mom..was it.." She tried to inquire back without putting much thought if she should have as her mind wasn't entirely there.

Then Hyp let the silence come, swallowing the emotions clogging her throat. She wouldn't say she felt better, but least she did not feel worse. Suddenly, she began to think what the loss of a mother meant. "You..you're not alone here? Are you?"

He heard the faintest whisper and he hung his head, trying his best to smile, though his pale, wet eyes were still full of sorrow and grief. Sceral felt her presence lingering, now and then. In the wind and the trees, as if she were never really gone. Just … different; ethereal. From her body, new life would grow and her soul would thrive and live on. Or, so the others told him. Perhaps the lad needed to take faith in that.

Not long, she said. The winter stole him away from her, much like it had greedily taken Sceral's mother. The pale boy nodded, understandingly. The cause of death was shared between Kyros and Corinna. For that, the Aesir-Donata felt nothing but compassion and empathy for the girl from the Glen. “Yeah. The same. She was gettin' weaker and weaker … I can't help but think, could I have … y'know,” He looked up at her, almost imploringly, as if she felt the same, too. “Helped.” Could Hypatia have stopped Kyros' demise? What if they had noticed something was wrong sooner? Why did Sceral harbour guilt about his mother's passing? It wasn't his fault, he hadn't killed her! But he hadn't saved her, either. It was a double-edged sword.

Was he alone? In some ways, yes. In others, no. He had isolated himself, brought the loneliness to his front door and welcomed it in. He felt alone without his mother's warmth and comfort. But then, his pack was here; his home. Sceral's brother lived within the territory their mother and father had claimed. They were probably wondering where the younger twin disappeared off to when he skulked away. He felt guilt over that, too. “No,” he decided. “My brother. Our home—Oak Tree Bend. It's not far.”

“I'm Sceral, by the way. Sceral Aesir-Donata.”