Mysteries Make History

The island just off of the Northern coast had been there as long as he could remember. But this was the first time he decided to visit. The ice bridge that connected the island to the mainland during the winter made it easier to travel, because he sure as hell didn't want to swim the frigid waters at this time of year. His cockatoo flew ahead to scout the area, while his wolverine followed beside him. Neither pair said much as they traveled, and quite frankly Ig wasn't in the mood for small talk. His mind was still quiet, surprisingly enough. It had been since after he took over Winterfell...his tail remained bandaged for the time being after the damage from the fight with his uncle, but it wasn't his main concern for now. He had other plans, but even those were still rotating in his mind as he struggled to figure out what to do next. The pack was his. So that was a start. But what he wanted to do next seemed like a constant battle. He wanted to tell Corvus of his success, no matter how it happened...but then he remembered he couldn't tell him anything anymore. Ig knew at this point that they were no longer friends....no matted how much his heart hurt to think about it.

He stopped where he was, seemingly staring off into space as his thoughts grew alarmingly silent. All he could ask himself was "what now." But no answers came. It wasn't until his attention was drawn to the air when his cockatoo came back around, landing on a nearby tree that Ignis turned his attention to him. "What is it?" "Ignis, I've found a litter of wee pups. Their mother is nowhere in sight, and they look to be too young to be away from her. Perhaps you'd like to take a look eh?" There was concern in the birds voice, and though he'd been in some trying times as of late, he nodded to the black feathered bird. "Take me to them." He followed his companion further onto the island, the cold wind whipping at his fur until they came to a sheltered spot on the side of the mountain. There was barely enough shelter here, and as they got closer to the litter that his companion spoke of, he could already assess the situation.

Five pups lay huddled against themselves in a shallow den that appeared to have been dug with haste. More than likely, the mother of the pups had dug it out to try and shelter herself and her babies before...well...presumably before taking off somewhere. "Go and see if you can find their mother. I'll keep them warm while you search." Aye, I'll be back in a flash," The cockatoo took off and Ignis moved to lie down with the pups to keep them warm. As he got a closer look at them, he couldn't help but notice how they looked. Their coats didn't appear like that of normal colored wolves, but rather...more like his own. Three of them so far had the same crimson red he bore. Though two appeared to perhaps look like twins. One of the girls appeared to have a brighter orange look to her, like embers. And the other seemed quite small, though she resembled the siblings she was born with. Why had they been left here?

"Ignis," He startled a bit when he heard the cockatoos voice before he looked up to acknowledge him. "Did you find her?" "Yes, but..." He could see the grim look in his companions eyes, but he wanted to hear it for himself. "What did you find?" The bird took in a deep breath before answering. "I found her body, along with the body of a mountain cat. Looks like she fought to the death to protect her babies. One or the other looks to have bled out before they died...looks like it happened no more than a day or two ago."

Ig frowned as he glanced at the pups. It was unfortunate news, and although he knew he wasn't always in a stable mindset, right now he was. He carefully stood up before stepping out. "We can't leave them here. You grab the smallest one, Faolan. And you, Jasper, should be able to manage with one. I'll carry the rest. We'll carry them back to the pack and straight to my den where they'll be warm. It's...unfortunate, what happened to their mother. So from now on, I guess I'm a dad." He sighed, unsure how to feel about it, but he had time to think about it on the way back home. Whatever the case, he couldn't leave them here to die. Carefully, he picked up three of the pups by the scruff and waited while his companions grabbed the remaining two. It would be a slow journey back, but luckily the pack wasn't too far once they got back to the mainland...