"Aw, c'mon, we both know it'll take more than that to keep him down." Ice paused, mid-step, and barked out a short laughter. While he hadn't been here for the hunt in which the black wolf was injured, he'd heard enough about it since to figure out that it had been bad, but not life-threateningly bad.
And besides.. Triell had been through worse. Much, much worse. Orphaned by a wildfire, then the whole circus with Volkan and Rhysis and Naira, the Aniwayans, Indru leaving, the move, everything—he was made of sturdy stuff, but it didn't stop Ice from worrying. With what he hoped was an encouraging smile he nudged Treyah's shoulder in passing, before slipping off to the side when the two sisters disappeared into the Bend.
Once more alone, his large paws wearing a familiar path around the border of his home, he sighed—a deep, defeated thing, shoulders sagging, tail drooping.
What is to become of us..?
A mountain and a son's wrath between them; Triell's life perhaps threatening to collapse around him, while Ice's body had begun to hint that it was getting old. He cast a silver glance up between the trees, at the sky he could barely see. What if their last meeting would, truly, be their last..? What if that goodbye had been the goodbye? It had been nowhere near enough. Swallowing, Ice pressed his eyes shut.
A while later, he opened them again, and resumed his slow, steady patrol.