He hated everything. Hated watching that horrid wolf enter the birthing den, hated listening to the insesscent mewling of the cubs, hated his mother even. Had he been replaced? As the only remaining Hervok child - or well, prior to the homewreckers laying at his mother's side, shouldn't he have at least been called upon to see the newest generation? A low growl echoed from his throat as he contemplated the borders. In fact, he wasn't even sure why he'd come back in the first place. With Hollow gone, and nothing left to hold him there, the world outside of the thicket seemed more tempting by the second.

His blood was boiling as he turned for the borders, mossy eyes never leaving the horizon. Once on the other side, he would call for Catori, and she could follow if she chose to. Each step was heavier than the first, filled with rage, and sorrow. Why was it always him?

Moving across a scent he knew all too well, Ashton felt he owed the male at least a goodbye. After all, they had planned on leaving the wasteland they called home, but that was before the blizzard. It seemed like years ago now, and even longer since he'd last seen Hollow.

Catching the boy's form on the horizon, Ashton barked the first greeting he had given Bane since his return. How long had it been now? Weeks, months? It all felt like years to him, and even longer since he'd last spoken to Hollow.

Greeted with a cold stare, Ashton couldn't help but mirror the male's reaction. Wary then, he moved with caution, keeping a few tail lengths between them. "What happened to Hollow?" Ignoring the question, and countering with one of his own, the words left his tongue lifelessly. There would be plenty of time to catch up, but Hollow's fate had burdened him endlessly. Miccah said that he simply disappeared, but Ashton knew it could never be the case. Hollow was strong, resilient; Everything the burly youth had hoped to be. Not to mention loyal. Hollow would have come back, followed the familiar trees into Secret Woodlands. The storm would not have disoriented him the same way it had Ashton.

It was important that he asked Bane, for the male wouldn't sugar coat it. If he even knew at all, of course. Hollow had been important to Bane at some time, hadn't he? A father figure to the almost-yearling as well. Only then did he realize that the disappearance might have effected Bane too, and unlike himself, the male probably had to deal with it alone. After all, he had an insane mother, a nightmare for a father, and even now it seemed Nina had replaced both of them with Mirren. He had nothing, but at least Ashton had Catori. She might have been a little off the wall, but she listened.

The shrug, though seemingly care-free, spoke in volumes to the boy who had once been a prince. He was less than that now, far from it even. How could you be a prince without a mother to call you as such? And, if the nature of things was anything to go by, it seemed Mirren was the new prince. Hell, he might even overthrow Miccah to become the next alpha male of Secret Woodlands. In truth, Ashton could have cared less, having already decided on his course of action. They could all go to hell in a hand basket, and he wouldn't give them a second thought.

A smirk etched it's way into his indifferent mask. Ashton hadn't pegged Bane for wanting to leave, in fact, he thought the younger male's hope of finding a new home had been squashed after their plans fell through. It came as almost a relief to know that he wouldn't rot his life away there in the hellhole they called a thicket. Bane would make it, leave his past behind him, and follow a new adventure. "And you think I'm just going to let leave without me?" There was almost a playful hint to his words. Almost. Too much loss plagued the boy now, far too much to let such an easy tone fall from his tongue. Maybe someday things would return to normal, but it wouldn't happen anytime soon, Ashton was sure.