As night had rolled over into morning again for the numberless time that lifetime, Shrapnel found himself up early. Well before the so-called heat of the day could creep up, well before the morning fog and dew had rolled and withered away. It made the forestry he found himself in now seem rather slippery, if he could have called it one. The mosses had coated everything it seemed, which while it gave him something cushy and maybe even lush to walk on, it also had a certain feeling about it that he could have done without. It also had a certain musty fragrance to it too, but that he didn't mind too much. It was a bit of a damper on his sense, but he almost felt like he wouldn't need them either. Silly as it were, Shrapnel felt like the forest was completely uninhabitated. Like he had found the one place in all of the Lore that belonged to nothing.
He wasn't counting the other insects or animals, of course.
There were faint traces that wolves had been through, but he didn't bother to test or check how long it was (approximately) since they had been through. Where moss gave away to mud he had seen the prints, as well as some minor game. It was promising, he thought, and it tempted him to hole up for a while. Somewhere away from the once wailing of distant sirens -- which he hadn't heard since his arrival -- and somewhere away from high traffic areas. Somewhere he could always end up going to lick his proverbial wounds and mask his way in and out. A safety net among safety nets.
He laughed to himself then, realizing just how gradiose it all seemed. He had scarcely encountered some wolves on some days and ran into multiple on others. He had learned tiny tidbits about the land around him but never once where to avoid, so to speak. It was as though the packs didn't care too much about interlopers like him, given that there were more of them than there were more settled sorts. Proper sorts, he wanted to believe. Pausing to drink from a murky puddle of sorts, he winced momentarily at the crude taste in his mouth but knew it would do. He knew all of this would do. This place and all about it he knew so far seemed all right, and he intended after a decent exploration of the moss-covered forest he would turn back to less desireable places.
Days had passed, going on and on. It was tedious at times but it was a smooth transition for one who hadn’t been in a decent pack to compare it with. Never had she seen herself as a leader, nor had anyone else until now. As the Trail had been howled a couple days ago she found herself content to lay just outside the borders. Her time spent caring for Karpos and Adsila were long past now, as they were under the watchful eye of Capella—presumably at play. Anastasia was blessed to be where she was. Shade had welcomed trust into her life, hoping that she would put her heart to great use and care for the children who were without a mother. He had certainly chose a very trustful and caring young woman to do such without hesitation.
Even then, she became worried about Lachesis’ place among the pack. It broke her heart to know that he was at the very bottom but he wouldn’t be there for long, she was sure. He might not have known what he was good and capable of doing, but she knew he would find it eventually. If he wanted a place higher up, he would find it when he was ready. When he did, she would be there to listen and attest to his decision. Hopefully that would lead to him discovering more things about himself, but as Shade had mentioned Lachesis was young and had the most to learn.
During the morning hours she had found herself around the Mosses to the southwest, lying atop a rock that she had come across when meeting Jericho. It was just a flat surfaced rock that luckily avoided the rather moist plants that engrossed most of the territory. There was no Jericho there today, unfortunately, and she had never gotten a chance to ask where it was he had set up camp. For all she knew, he had moved on to one of the packs she had listed to him and if so then she could carry on knowing that she helped someone. Though, by the scent of things here now she didn’t think she was alone anymore. Anastasia picked up her head and looked to the left, then the right but nothing moved, nothing spoke. Just silence.