Only a season had passed, a season since she had torn herself away from her family to figure out where her future truly lied. To this day she wondered if she was finally happy with herself. Was she satisfied? Was this the right life? Had she made the right choice? Only a season and so much had happened. The experience had been interesting, nerve-racking at times and rewarding at others. If only her family could see her now. In some aspects she had completely turned herself around. No longer was she the selfish brat shutting herself away from the outside world, she was now making an effort to involve herself in the pack's happenings and open herself up to her new pack-mates. Was it because of her friend? Had he led her to this change?   It was about time she touched base with her family, and more specifically, with her mother. She didn't want to be that distant Agatsuma that had abandoned the family, because she hadn't. She was just as close as she had been in Borealis, if not more. She wasn't going to let the long distance divide their familial relationship. If they needed her, she was there for them. Besides, she had made a promise, and she wasn't going to break it. That was the careless, senseless Zeph. This Zeph was completely different. For once she was reluctant in her trek over to the gulley. The closer she got to the claimed land the heavier the dark feeling inside of her grew. The atmosphere felt different, almost uncomfortable, unwelcoming. Though it was a humid summer's day, the sky was covered in grey clouds, which didn't ease her irked mood. Why did it feel like she wasn't a part of the family, like she wasn't welcome here anymore? Maybe she shouldn't have moved in the first place. No, she told herself. Everything'll be just fine. Halting by the eerie borders, she hesitantly pulled her head back and let out a strong howl, calling for her mother. Little did she know her mother had long left the pack and her brother had taken over the alpha position. "Speech"

A season. Upon reflection it seemed such a long time. A season everything had changed: his sister left, his mother disappeared, another sister disappeared and two other members of the pack as well. Life as he knew it was falling apart, and despair was threatening to overwhelm. He missed Marina, he missed Zephyra, he missed Kaitlyn... he missed having someone to talk to. The pack was gone, and who was left? No one. No one to really talk to. No one he was close to. Nixie was generally off doing her own thing, so there was... nothing. He did not trust the other members of his pack, not yet.

The suffocation, the silence. The deadening air. Why? He didn't know. Irritably, he rose from atop his den, leaping down smoothly to go prowling near the border. That was always something to do. Perhaps he could find someone nearby... he actually had to go recruit soon, see if anyone would. He almost didn't want to, to just let the pack die, but then what would he do? Go to Donostrea? He knew he had family there - Anais. He knew Voltage and Glacier. But... He didn't really want to.

As if the day could get worse, he heard a strong, familiar call. There was no mistaking that voice, and who it was calling for. Zephyra. With a start, Ren realized that she didn't know about Marina, Kaitlyn, anyone. He was going to tell her at the challenge... but things happened to quickly, she left too quickly. And he forgot. How could he forget? What kind of brother was he?

He had to answer the call. As much as he dreaded it, he had to. Even if every fiber of his being dreaded her response. Slowly, he made his way to the border, tail low. Regret filled him, and when he arrived and saw his larger green he drooped even further, his entire posture one of defeat.

"Oh, Zeph. I'm so sorry," he whispered, voice broken as he bowed his head, stopped about ten feet away. He couldn't face his sister; he couldn't.

"Speech"

She knew many things had happened over the past season, making it feel like eternity. Her move to Fiori had been a bit nerve-racking, especially after she had gotten off on the wrong paw with one of her new pack-mates. New to the pack and she was already going around being an absolute brat. Well, that was his problem. Trying to settle into the pack and figuring out if anyone actually liked her (not that she expected them to) was another one of her problems, on top of the recent challenge. That had been exhausting, and she hadn't even fought. Mentally draining, she meant, and she still wasn't all that bright. After all, what would she have done if Leo had lost? Just move back to Borealis after all that effort she had gone through to persuade her mother out of the pack? Hah. No way had she planned to do that. The gulley remained quiet, too quiet. Had it been this eerie when she had been around? The pack had been alive with wolves, bustling with activity, if she recalled correctly. Most of her former pack-mates had been the remnants of Sonticus - adults and pups alike. Were they still here? It didn't feel like it. It felt like she was visiting a different pack. This didn't feel like Borealis, not like she remembered. Cold drafts swept her vivid fur around as she awaited the arrival of her mother. For a moment she fretted the woman wouldn't wish to speak with her. Yes, she had left the pack though she wasn't abandoning the family. Never would she leave her kin. What more was she to do? Visit every day? No, she assured herself with a shake of her head. She'll come. She'll love to see me...won't she? Ears perked at the long-anticipated sound of paw-steps. She studied the soft noises carefully. Those didn't sound like her mother's paw-steps. She recognised them. They were... "Oh Zeph. I'm so sorry." Ren. It was Ren who answered the call. Her scarlet eyes met his azure gaze, instantly noticing the sunken look in his features and the defeated, deflated posture. Oh, he looked awful, like he had gone through many sleepless nights. Something had happened, she knew it. Surely it had nothing to do with her mother's unusual absence, or that strange emptiness she felt in the pit of her stomach. Surely not. "Ren," she began shakily, feeling her voice crack. She craned her neck to see through the ferns, praying a familiar rainbow pelt would emerge through the flora. "Where's mum?" "Speech"

Her voice. It rang out around him, and his ears flattened against his head. Zephyra was not one to get emotional - she never had been. And yet, here, her voice cracked. Shakily, she asked about their mother, and he felt tears pool in his eyes. he had never cried - not once, not when she disappeared. Not when he found out she was sick. But now, Mama was gone. Kaitlyn was missing. Mama had been gone for a season now, Kaitlyn only a few days - but it more than broke the boy. He choked on a sob, looking up at his sister with tear-filled eyes. "G-gone." He shuddered, swallowing, trying to regain control - he couldn't break down, he couldn't. Tears in his eyes, he looked back up to his younger sister.

"She - her illness - it broke her. She ran. She didn't even recognize me as her son." He had held all the pain when announcing it, but now the pain in his voice was audible. The fact he was not recognized... that hurt more than anything. "I couldn't stop her, she ran from me... I haven't seen her since. And... I tried to take over the pack, and now even that's failing." He knew it was the illness, but a part of him couldn't help but feel it was his fault for failing to take care of the pack that she hadn't returned, as irrational as it was. And yet, it lingered in his body. His fault for failing the pack that Kaitlyn had left, though that too he knew was irrational.

"Kaitlyn... she's gone too. She disappeared three days ago. I had hoped... that she had just wandered off as she was prone to do, but I don't think so anymore. Two other wolves of the pack also left. There's so few of us - I don't know what to do." He had to go to the other packs, and see if she was there. Maybe they had seen her, maybe they would know where she was. He'd start with Donostrea, even though he knew they likely would bring her back had they seen her, with her Borealis scent. But still.

"Speech"

She knew the answer long before he spoke that one, chilling word. The word that continued to echo against the walls of her screaming mind. Gone. Her mother gone. She waited a few moments to let the realisation sink in her. Her mother was gone. Her mother was gone. No, that couldn't be true. She had to be hearing things. Her mother couldn't have left the pack - she couldn't even bring herself to accept that. "No no no," she whispered inaudibly to herself, shaking her head in disbelief. Her throat tightened as tears pricked in the corner of her eyes. This couldn't be happening. How could she turn her back on her family for a few moments and turn around to find them gone? She should have stayed. She could have saved her mother from her illness, but no, she had to leave at the worst possible time. Now the woman was too sick to remain sane, too sick to remember who her family were, too sick to remember her own daughter was coming home to visit. No! Why couldn't she have held on until she had visited? She would have made everything better, cured her mother's illness and ensured she stayed. Why hadn't she visited sooner? She could have stopped this. Everything could be fine, just the way she felt it, but it wasn't. It was the opposite. And then Kait had left. Oh, gods, no. Not Kaitlyn, the very sister she had always despised as a pup, the little girl she had always trampled with her green paws, the young adult she had played a silly game of tag with before her leave. This just got worse and worse. "This is all my fault," she wept, her body trembling and shuddering. Turning away from him, she added in a hoarse yet hurt voice. "I don't deserve to be here. I don't deserve to be an Agatsuma at all." And then she ran. She ran as far and fast as her limbs could carry her. She just ran, away from her fear and terror. -exit Zeph unless stopped- "Speech"