A soft whine slipped past his lips as he trudged through the snow. It was cold and the wind had been battering him all morning and he was beyond tired. It'd been days since he'd eaten anything worthwhile and it definitely showed. At four months old he wasn't even remotely prepared to be on his own and more than anything the boy missed his family. Between his parents death and his siblings missing... well he'd never felt more alone than now. He wasn't even sure where he was anymore. When he and his sibling had been snatched up they'd had no idea where they were being taken. Now with his siblings missing he'd wandered farther and farther away than ever and he didn't recognize anything. It was still absolutely freezing though, that much hadn't changed, and his breath came out in icy puffs. His paws felt numb and he realized he hated it here. Whatever the place had looked like before Winter, he couldn't tell but he supposed it had to be better than right now. He was tired of walking. Even for a child he knew he had no where to go now and no place to be. Without a set destination in mind he realized it was pointless to keep going. With no shelter in sight he just flopped where he was and lay down in the snow with his head on his paws. With no one in sight he closed his eyes and began to doze off. All he could think of was how tired he felt and at least if he slept he wouldn't have to feel the loneliness until he woke up. Walk, "Talk" Think

Walk | Talk | Think Anais was well and truly pregnant now. There was no way to hide the swell to her stomach, the new waddling motion her walk had developed. Even her temperament had been altered, adding a new sensitivity to the way she saw the world and causing her to be more patient with others. Not that her pack had ever really tried her patience before - if anything, they had intimidated her because of their close relationship as siblings to her mate, but even in that regard she no longer worried as much. One worry that did linger, however, was the pack feeding itself. Before, she had taken on the brunt of the hunting for the pack, seeking out small meals that she could catch on her own rather than inconveniencing anyone by gathering them all together for a proper pack hunt. That had changed recently when she had finally done just that, gathered her brothers and sisters through marriage to hunt and break the news that their family would soon be growing again. They had managed before to take care of themselves without her to do their hunting, but still she wanted to help provide for them. Likely she should have been resting - Glacier was sure to tell her something about it if he found her - but restlessness had driven the active young mother-to-be out of her den beside the shoreline and back to her territory of choice: the Algoma Prairie. She had no intentions of conducting the typical strenuous hunts that she used to, not in her current condition, but winter was a harsh season and took its toll on all. Maybe she would get lucky in finding something easily caught and captured. She padded quietly through the snow, only half hiding the crunch each step made it as it sank through the first layer. Her head was low, her nose scenting, and her yellow-gold eyes alert. Ears perked atop her head, the golden brown hunter searched and sought any sign of potential prey out and about, stopping only when she saw a dark shape amid the snow. It had a fuzzy form to it, differentiating it from the rocks in the area, and it looked a bit scrawny. Was this a new type of fox perhaps? Anais crept closer, at last taking on the silent step of the hunter, watching and scenting and closely listening until recognition dawned on her. A pup... The scrawny shape she had identified was not that of a dark fox, but a young wolf, still a child and all alone and lying unconscious near their home. Lifting her head, standing at her full height, Anais tried to peer around quickly, seeking any sign that the child had others near. No one. Not a sign, not a scent, not anything. She looked at it again, still a short distance away, and worried suddenly whether it was sleeping...or worse. With her own mothering instincts already kicking in, she hastily lowered her head, her tail, and began to close the distance in a few cautious steps, offering a gentle, coaxing whine in the hopes of letting it know she was there before she reached it. OOC: Jumping in ahead of Sea because mama Ani said she needed to.

The sleep idea had been a fairly good one though his choice of a bed wasn't exactly the greatest. He was already freezing and his bed in the snow wasn't exactly helping. Still he was tired and couldn't continue going so it worked. It hadn't taken long for him to fall asleep though the shivering didn't cease. Still sleep was sleep and that mattered for the exhausted youngster. He'd successfully managed to fall asleep hard enough not to hear the footsteps in the snowfall steadily approaching. Lucky for him he wasn't a fox. Unawares that a wolf thought him to be dinner he just slept where he was. It wasn't until he heard the whine of a wolf that he awoke. His eyes fluttered open quickly as the startled pup jerked his head upwards. He took in the large (well large to him) form of the female. She was brown which was a bit surprising to him. He was aware wolves were other colors but all of his family had been darker, though he definitely remembered his father talking about how Vengeance's mate, Felicity, had been brown as well. He then noticed that her eyes were golden yellow as he stared up at her still feeling a bit groggy. He flicked his ears back nervously though. He didn't detect any threatening gestures from her body language, but he was concerned that he hadn't heard her coming. A soft whine left him as he watched her nervously. "Where am I?" He asked softly. Walk, "Talk" Think

He was a little anxious whenever anais wasn't by his side. He didn't have the luxury of remaining by her side and letting each day pass him by. Voltage hadn't participated in pack activities in so long, through he called him his Co-alpha as strongly today as he had on their first day as leaders. He has to give terrae the place as lead healer now that orchid had left them. He had to scout out the pack that had settled in beside them - through he hadn't gone to talk alliances with them yet. He had to do border patrols and increase his hunting with anais as she was now. He tried to encourage his siblings to start hunts and lessons, to play a more active part in the pack.

There seemed constantly to be jobs for an alpha and he was taken from anais's side more often then he would have liked. Sneaking away from his jobs with a flower and some lunch he would make his way to their den only to find that anais wasn't there. He tried not to let that trouble him, she got restless when she had to remain resting and lying down more often then normal and it wasn't too surprising to imagine she had gone on a walk. He followed her trail through the prairie, stopping when he found her leaning forward in the snow, nosing a shape. Had she caught her own meal? He was already shaking his head, amused and resigned as he trotted over to her side. Before he reached his place there the bundle moved and voiced a quation. The alphas ears went back in surprise and he paused to take in the... pup? "What's this? " he asked anais to see if she could enlighten to why a tiny pup was lying alone in the cold at their borders.

Walk | Talk | Think Instantaneous relief flooded through her, easing the tension that had been building within her body as Anais crept closer. It's alive! That was one worry down; she hated to imagine if the child had not responded, if the cold had claimed the lone pup before she had. With that confirmed, she drew her expression into a soft, consoling smile, as the child quickly raised his head and looked toward her with startled, mismatched eyes. He still looked half asleep but at least his reflexes were working. He had reacted timely enough, but she was also glad he had been on this side of the border and not beyond. Had it been someone else to happen upon him, someone less kind... She kept a small distance between them, consciously trying not to frighten the youth, and continued to eye him with a kindly patient smile. He looked nervous, and the whine that he made seemed to reflect that. Her ears perked and Anais felt her heart drawn toward him, tugged upon by that desperate sound, but she stayed put. She did not want to scare him. "It's okay. You're safe. You're in a place called the Algoma Prairie. My name is Anais. I'm part of the pack that lives here," she explained, and as she did so an ear began to turn. Someone else approached. Her attention remained on the child for as long as she dared before she turned her head to peer over and then up into the curious face of her mate as he seemed to take notice of the pup on his arrival. She offered him a smile, just as gentle as the one she had offered their young guest but somewhat brighter around her eyes, and prayed that his overlarge presence would not frighten the poor child more than he already appeared to be. "We have a visitor," she answered him, acting as liaison between her mate and the boy since she had arrived first. Relaxing a little further, Anais seated herself in the snow, and tried again to restart the conversation she had started with the pup. "This is Glacier. He leads the pack I told you about." Was that too much information at once? Overwhelming him was not her intent. "What's your name?" she asked curiously, inclining her head slightly to the side as she continued to stare gently and patiently at the boy.

The woman continued to smile at him which made him feel a little better at least. He still felt anxious as she was the first wolf he'd come across in a while that was friendly (other than his old pack of course). She spoke and his ears remained on her as she told him he was safe. He had no idea where exactly Algoma Prairie was compared to where he'd come from, so the words made no sense to him, but it still felt nice to at least have a name to the place he was at now. He wasn't expecting her to say she was a part of a pack though. He couldn't help but look around after she said that. Was her already in the pack lands? He hadn't meant to trespass... though she didn't seem to angry about it so that felt good. Another pair of footsteps caught his attention and he turned his head to peer at the giant that arrived. The male was an interesting shade of blue (he'd never seen that before) and had even lighter blue markings on him. The size was what intimidated him though. This man surely had to be at least a few inches taller than his father had been. He wasn't aware wolves even got that big. Anais offered him a smile though and Mortar relaxed slightly. If she was friendly with him that would mean he was friendly too, right? His eyes flickered back and forth between Glacier and Anais as he studied them both. Anais had sat down again and Mortar stared at her expectantly and it didn't take her long to introduce the giant. He cocked his head to the side as he stared at the blue man, now known as Glacier, as she explained he led the pack. So he was an Alpha? he didn't know what to think of that. Would he be mad at him for being here? He had trespassed after all... Anais speaking didn't allow him to dwell on it for long. Instead he pondered what to tell her. All his family had two different names to go by after all. "My name's Isaac." He said softly. "But I go by Mortar." Walk, "Talk" Think