Everything back at home was weird. That Eden lady and her pup had disappeared. All of the adults were being super hush-hush about it. What was even weirder was that Deluge was also missing. Mom and dad weren't back from their scouting trips either which meant several adults were still gone. Sparrow had mentioned that they weren't allowed to leave until everyone returned, but he couldn't just leave his sister out there alone! What if she was injured? What if she was DEAD? The idea scared Scald! He couldn't just leave his sister out there alone to fend for herself! So he went to Rexx in the middle of the night, poking his brother until the tusked boy awoke. Mumbling in Rexx's ear about them sneaking off to go find Deluge, he was glad it didn't take too much convincing. With their other sister safe with Urtur and Erish (dad's companions) to watch over her, Scald slipped out of the pack lands with Rexx toward the west. With his nose to the ground, nearly inhaling sand, he picked up a faint trail that was most definitely his sister. Urging his brother to keep up as he loped in the direction of the west coast, it would be a while before Scald finally lost the scent. Ahead of them, as dawn broke over the horizon, a huddle of lakes lay over flat land. Grass sprung up around each lake edge while mud spread out in every direction. Sinking only slightly in the marshy area as the scent faded into the water, Scald lifted his head with a furrowed brow."I can't smell her anymore Rexx," his voice is frustrated as he continues to glance around the area. This place wasn't familiar to him. Even the birds resting on the water's surface weren't familiar to him either. Their loud quacking made him want to scare them off but they had an important task at hand! word count: 324/1500

Rexx wasn't the type to panic and shrivel when scary things happened. He prided himself on being calm and cool when he needed to be, or at least, acting the part. But like Scald, even he grew concerned. First, there was the incident with Eden and that pup he didn't know. Yeah, he shrugged it off when the rumors arose about their mysterious - and supposedly violent - disappearance, but when Deluge vanished..that sent alarm bells ringing in the tusked boy's mind. He tried to shrug that off too, thinking his sister would reappear on the beach as quickly as she had left. But nothing happened. The concern for their sibling gnawed in his stomach, and he fond it difficult to sleep that night - not so much because of the growing pains that pounded in his jaw and spine, but the lingering worry that his sister was in trouble. So when Scald poked him, the boy stirred, clearly not in a deep slumber. Sparrow mentioned that no pups should leave the beach until the matters were settled and the mystery was solved, but he and Scald knew they couldn't leave Deluge wandering wherever she was by herself. Not in good conscience. Rexx slipped out of the den with his quilled brother, Flurry tucked away in the den with their father's companions. She was safe and sound, at least. As Scald tracked a faint scent on the west coast, Rexx followed, inhaling the sand deeply for any notion of a trail. He loped with Scald, keeping up a strong pace with his top-heavy limbs propelling him, as sand gave way to earth, then grass, and after miles upon miles of wandering, they'd reached a murky region. The dry dirt seeped into marshy wetness that seeped between his large paws, and it was then that Scald worriedly mentioned he'd lost the scent. The tusked boy, normally so confident himself, frowned and his brow furrowed. He stood and scented the air a while, nostrils flaring for any grasp of a scent for their missing sister. He hated to admit, this place felt so far from home. Strange, unfamiliar, and definitely not a place for naive little puppies to be wandering about. But Rexx swallowed back the rising bile of anxiety in his throat, feeling a tinge of hope as he smelled something in the depths of the murky region, and he glanced to Scald. "I think I smell her up this way," He said, his voice lacking the cocky demeanor he always carried. It was flat, tense. He was worried, and he wouldn't admit it, but this place freaked him out a little. The birds were unfamiliar, too, their quacking sharp and grating. He'd chase them off, but he knew they had a mission to follow through on. Find their sister. Get her home safe. word count: 797/1500 "speech"

His body stood rigid along one of the small shores of the multiple lakes. Mud spread out everywhere as it began to dry and crack with the oncoming summer heat. Spring had been a wet one with constant rains that helped keep the paw-shaped lake at full capacity. Now, with reeds as high as his chest, and the local fauna abundant, it was the perfect place to lose your scent if you didn't want to be found. Is that what had happened to their sister? Up until this area, her scent had been alone without another wolf to escort her or keep her company. What was she even doing this far away from home alone anyway? Not that it was his business as he had done some wandering off himself but at least he made it home by the next day. Scald's face was entirely scrunched up with ears flattened against his skull as he squinted at the shadows. It shouldn't have been hard to spot her if this was the area she had fallen since water seemed to help activate the glowiness of her pelt. Yet, nothing still as he stuck his nose closer to the mud. Sniffing as aggressively as he could without directly snorting the goopy mess, the pup continued to move around the lakeside with determination. With no luck, he felt ready to give up. When suddenly Rexx called out that he scented something over near him. Lifting his head quickly, he looked to his burlier brother with wide eyes that had the whites gleaming. "Let's hope you're right," Scald whispered under his breath as he pivoted his body in the direction of where Rexx stood. Seconds later, he was standing beside Rexx with ears pressed forward, tail held like a flag over his back, and every nerve on fire. "You said up this way?" Scald asked with one look to Rexx before tilting his nose up into the air. The scent was faint from what he could tell but there was something there. Lowering his muzzle, he could smell it better closer to the ground. His bi-colored gaze flicked to the strange feathered birds floating along the surface with an accusatory stare. "You don't think she disappeared here, do you? Maybe she moved on somewhere else?" His voice is low, almost a hushed whisper, just in case those honking birds were the culprits. word count: 1195/1500

Like Scald, Rexx didn’t have a clue why their sister wandered so far from home. Was she taken? Kidnapped by some loner? The memory of that one creepy, moldy-looking wolf came to mind, and as he glanced up at the horizon where the lake met solid land again, he grimaced. It was possible..but also not. That evil guy’s scent was nowhere to be found. He had to surmise that Deluge had picked her way over here on her own, but why here of all places? Mud squelched beneath his large toes, and he shifted in place to keep himself from sinking more into the boggy ground as he narrowed his gaze and attempted to catch another whiff of the faintest scent trail he’d captured. He heard Scald say something under his breath - was he really right? There were no guarantees. After all, she could’ve wandered off the trail entirely, and the remainders of her being cluld very well a fluke, and not a direct path to where she was. But he had to take a chance. Better to take some risk than give up entirely. When Scald inquired if his scent trail - faint as it was - lead up further ahead, crossing towards the top of the lakeshore, Rexx nodded. "It’s the only trail I could pick up,” He replied, and like his brother, he lowered his nose to the slippery earth, careful not to inhale the sloppy mud as he inhaled and captured the trail. Still keeping his head lowered, he crept carefully across the shoreline, his head jerking up suddenly as the strange quacking birds floated by on the water’s surface. He narrowed his gaze and as his quilled brother mentioned if she could’ve disappeared here, glancing suspiciously at those weird looking birds, Rexx frowned. He, too, was suspicious about those birds, but he knew Deluge was strong. She could take on a few pesky birds, even at their age. "She might’ve moved up further along the shoreline, since I can still scent where she’s been,” He said softly, as if careful not to startle the birds floating - rather menacingly, he believed - on the lapping waters nearby. "C’mon, let’s keep going. Maybe it’ll get stronger,” He said, glancing towards his lankier brother with a slight, reassuring smile. With that, he turned his attention back to the direction he was headed, lowering his head and tracking the trsil the best he could. He could only hope Scald could follow. They needed to stay safe, too, or else they wouldn’t be able to track their sister. "speech"

Her paws were sore, her legs felt heavy and her tongue was sticking to the roof of her mouth. She was so thirsty she almost imagined she could hear her noisy brothers somewhere in the distance. The crisp scent of fresh (if muddy and duck poopy) water drew her onward, closer and closer to the reedy edge of the lake. As she finally bent down to quench her thirst, the voices continued, closer, and then pulling further away. The girl lifted her heavy head, small horn nubs feeling like they weighed half as much as the world

"Oi…" Her voice was raspy from disuse and quiet from the dryness of her throat even after gulping so much water. So she tried again, this time bounding in the direction her brother’s voices were retreating. "Oi! What’re you two doin’ out ‘ere?" She could swear they were just out of sight.

Scald was about ready to fight the ducks that minded their own business on the lake's surface when a rustling caught his attention. Already on edge from the worry that his sister was gone for good, the boy's quills raised defensively. Pulling up his lips as two-toned eyes peered at the other edge of the lake, he waited until he saw a furry grey and pink blob emerge from the reeds. Her raspy voice was still recognizable which made a wave of relief wash over him. It was Deluge! "Rexx, what a coincidence!" He nearly squeaked, feeling only a tinge of embarrassment from the hitched pitch of his voice. Nudging Rexx's shoulder to make sure their burlier brother caught notice of their sister, Scald loped over to the obviously weary girl. "We're out lookin' for ya," the boy snipped back with a tilt of his nose into the air. "Mama and dad are gonna be so happy we were the ones who found ya!" Scald said as his tail wagged furiously behind him. S C A L D

Relief flooded the burly boy as Scald nudged him to show a familiar sight - the unmistakable, faintly glowing mottled pelt of their sister Deluge. Her voice was raspy from thirst as she emerged from the reeds and caught sight of them, but as the tusked child loped towards her through the mud and muck, he was just happy to see that she seemed okay and in one piece. He and Scald finally reunited with her from where she was on the murky lake, his nub tail wagging about as furiously as it could, which in turn made his whole rump wiggle in excitement. "Deluge! You're okay!" He said, his voice unable to contain his relief and happiness in the form of a squeak. His eyes trained upon their sibling, having found her at last as their brotherly mission was successful, he nodded in agreement to his brother's words. "Yep, they'll be super happy we found you safe! 'Cause that's what good brothers do - find their sisters when they get lost," He added, the grin on his lips wide and curled from the tusks sitting on his jaw. He considered it a combined effort of him and Scald that they'd found Deluge - before any grown-ups could, either. Now that had to be impressive to some capacity. Unless Deluge had anything else she needed to do - but what else would she want to, given that the mud was sinking into his large toes and the strange, messy birds' cries were unbearable - he'd prompt his siblings to start heading back the way they came. It seemed the easiest and most direct route back hom,e and it brought them away from this strange and icky place. No doubt they could find a fresher puddle for Deluge to drink from on the way, as well. "speech"