"Where is he?" the gray pup wondered silently as she padded along the fence that ran down the middle of her pack's territory, weaving in and out of the fence posts just for fun. She sighed, looking down at the ground sadly. She hadn't seen her father since the day he had helped her with her fighting moves. She knew he was off fighting in the war, but wouldn't he be done with that by now? Surely he would. It had been so loooong. She was such a daddy's girl at heart and she missed him a lot since he had left. Her mom hadn't said anything about it and any time she heard her father's name around the pack they would stop talking about him when they saw her. What was going on? Jen stopped and sat down beside one of the wooden posts, leaning against it with a frown, her dark-tipped ears falling back against her head. She wanted to know where he was! And gosh darn it, she was going to find out! But how? Who would know? Speech

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU


TELL ME ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO

Though he was involved in none of the drama that seemed to have been plaguing Seracia lately, it seemed to have bringing the young Progency down considerably. Both of his parents seemed so anxious and downright depressing lately, and his siblings weren't much help in easing the worry that inevitably crept into his normally relaxed stance. His discomfort was apparently even as he lazily traversed across the lands of his home, tail flicking behind his slightly chubby frame periodically.

The scent of another reached his nostrils, and though he hadn't meant to run into anyone on his walk, the girl impinged upon his vision before long. "Yo," he would greet her loudly as he drew closer, not at all characteristic for a child of royalty; and yet he was not at all the epitome of a prince. As he moved even closer he realized she looked quite distraught. And though he was not one to seek out others to aid them, he was not foul enough to watch a pretty girl suffer. Quintus Nero cocked his head quizzically, ears perking. "What's up, short stuff?"

She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the brown and russet pup till he called out his short greeting. She blinked her bright green eyes, looking up at him with surprise. She lifted herself from the fence post to sit upright once more, but her ears remained back against her head and it was impossible to keep the worry and loneliness from her gaze. At his question she sighed, looking down at the ground. Of course he would see that something was wrong, how could he not? "I'm just worried about my dad. I haven't seen him in a long time. Not since he left for that stupid war." She wasn't sure why she was telling him this. It's not like they had ever met. Clearly he was in her pack, but other than that she didn't know anything about him. But she felt like she had to talk to someone and he just so happened to stumble upon her so he was going to be the victim of her worry. Speech

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU


TELL ME ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO

Curiously, the boy padded a few steps closer to the apparently distressed stranger, wondering her reaction. She seemed all-together unphased by his potentially offensive nickname for her, and instead explained quickly why she was so visibly distraught. So her father had gone to war, eh? None of those wolves had been heard from as of yet, and it seemed to be freaking his parents our quite a bit.

"What's your name?" he asked casually, head remaining tilted to the side as his sea-green gaze met her own. "I'm Quintus Nero, son of the King and Queen, " he explained with a chuckle. "And who's your dad?" He couldn't help but feel glad his own father hadn't gone to war - he was not a very emotional boy, but truly loved his father and detested the idea of anyone hurrying him.

The young fea was surprised by the newcomer saying that he was the son of the king and queen. She hadn't really spoken to any of their children at all so it was easy to not know them. It was a big pack after all. He asked a couple of questions in a row: her name and her father's name. "I'm Jendai. I'm Bronze and Silent's daughter." Perhaps it wasn't as prestigious a lineage as being the king's son, but she was proud of her parents anyway and wouldn't trade them for the world. She couldn't figure out why he was asking though. Why would he care who her father was? But maybe... If he was the king and queen's son maybe he had overheard some sort of news from the war? Maybe about her father? Her eyes lit up at the idea and she asked, "You don't know anything about my dad do you? Bronze? Big wolf with goldeny colored fur? He's just been gone a long time, you know, so if you know anything..." Her rambling sentence trailed off into nothing as she looked at him hopefully, wondering if he knew where her dad was or when he'd be coming home. Maybe he'd be home really soon! She really hoped so. Speech

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU


TELL ME ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO

The details of the siege were not particularly interesting to Quintus. In fact, he found everything involving politics and inter-pack relations rather boring, but being the son of the King and Queen made him more apt to hear things that others might not know. And it was obvious they were worried about the few wolves that hadn't returned. It didn't take a genius to realize something was wrong -- it had been some time since they had left to help defend Valhalla, and they should've returned by now if everything had gone well.

"Well hi, Jendai," he said nonchalantly, grinning lopsidedly. His expression was goofy and relaxed, and it only appeared briefly on his features. Quintus Nero watched as she leaned into one of the wooden posts. He'd heard this was a strange feature, made by creatures from years past, but it seemed completely normal to the young boy; it was simply home to him. "I don't know if your dad is coming home," he said with a shrug. He couldn't imagine his own father going to war; but he knew the warriors had gone willingly, and had known they might not return home safely, or at all. Wasn't that how war went, anyway? "I think he was taken as a prisoner by that Glaciem pack. My parents are pretty pissed off," he explained. Quintus was still young, and lacked much empathy -- he didn't quite realize how harsh his words were, or that maybe he shouldn't have divulged this knowledge at all...

With each word the prince spoke her hope plummeted. Prisoner?! Why would they want her father as a prisoner? Her ears folded back against her head and she had to struggle to keep the tears out of her eyes. Would she ever see her dad again? What would happen to their family without him? What would she do without him? Who was gonna teach her how to fight and hunt and all that stuff? She guessed her mom could, but her dad was always the one she went to when she wanted to know stuff. He was her go to for everything. Jendai looked down at her forepaws as she tried to hide the frustrated, angry tears that were forming in her vibrant green gaze, a single tear rolling down the bridge of her muzzle. "Thanks," she muttered bluntly, her voice thick with tears and anger. She wasn't angry at him, no he was just the messenger. She was angry at the situation and her inability to do anything about it. She was just a pup, she couldn't go fight for her father and she wasn't anyone important so she could send someone to do it for her. All she could do was sit here and feel the anger bubble up in her. She stood up and turned away from him toward the fence post beside her. She hit the old piece of wood with her right paw in her frustration, leaving little claw marks in it from the swipe. She yelped, looking down at her paw as she realized she had gotten a splinter stuck in the pad of her paw. "Of course!" she grumbled angrily, her tears finally rolling down her cheeks and darkening her fur. What else could go wrong? Speech

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU


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He was clearly quite immature for his age, and had yet to comprehend just how awful it was that her father was being held as a prisoner. Quintus knew wolves got hurt during war, that they could be claimed and fought for -- so what was the big deal? He had no reference point to understand what it might be like to be in her position, and couldn't quite empathize with her. "You're welcome," he said just as bluntly, though his stance had slackened a bit.

She seemed pretty upset, and he saw the tears forming in her eyes. A sigh left his lips -- were all girls so emotional, he wondered? Quintus watched as she turned to lash out at the piece of wood that stuck out from the ground, catching her paw on the rough surface. "Hey," he started a bit awkwardly, padding forward slowly. It wasn't that nice to see her cry; Jendai seemed kinda cool, even if he didn't know her well. "Don't get so upset. My parents can do anything. They'll get him back eventually." It was said rather matter-of-factly, that there could be no doubt he was certain of his words. He didn't know whether he should comfort her, or try to help her paw, so instead he stood poised awkwardly on the balls of his paws, waiting.

The gray pup flopped down onto her haunches, her eyes still wet with tears and a splinter of wood in her paw. She stared down at the tiny piece of wood, wondering how such a little thing could be so painful. One ear flicked up toward Quintus as he spoke, her green gaze lifting to look at him with shallow hope. She didn't completely believe him... but his words did giver her a little hope. Anything was possible, right? Maybe he was right... maybe the king and queen could bring her father home. She really, really hoped he was right. She sighed softly, peering down at her hurt paw once more. She carefully lapped at it, but the splinter seemed to be stuck in there and she didn't know how else to get it out. She whined softly, her ears flattening against her skull once more. She looked up to the tan and red pup again, asking, "Do you know how to get it out?" Speech

HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH WITH YOU


TELL ME ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO

He really wasn't a mean boy, but he also had yet to develop the ability to relate well to others, especially ones he didn't know yet. So he was quiet for a moment, considering the weight of his words -- and hoping he hadn't said something he wasn't supposed to. The last thing he wanted was to get yelled at by his parents.

he rambled on, not sure if more information would help or make her really cry. He hoped he'd made the right decision. "But I think everyone is pretty scared so they don't want to send anyone for information yet. But I'll ask them to make sure your dad comes home." Maybe that would help? He shrugged, and crept closer to her, glancing at her paw.

"I dunno," he replied honestly. "but I can try." It felt like he'd caused the small injury anyway, so shouldn't he try to fix it? A sigh left the young boy's mouth as he nudged her paw to turn it over and stare at it. The piece of wood stuck in the pad of her foot was visible, but too small to simply push out. He leaned to nip at it, trying to avoid biting her but also wanting to grasp the splinter enough to pull it out. "S'gonna hurt," he explained simply before yanking his head back, hoping he had taken the wood out successfully.

Jendai watched as the boy came closer to her and she willingly turned her paw over for him when he nudged it. Maybe he wasn't the most qualified wolf to help her out, but he was here and he seemed willing to help so who was she to turn him away. She nodded silently at his warning, bracing herself for the pain he spoke of. His teeth caught the piece of wood as he jerked back, along with a tiny piece of the pad of her paw that got hung on his teeth, making her yelp. Her ears pinned back against her head and she lapped at the tiny stream of blood that was flowing from her paw. "T-thanks," she said softly, looking up from her paw with her teary, bright green gaze to his face once again. She was sure she looked like a mess right now, all teary eyed, bleeding, emotional... She sighed, placing her paw back on the ground with a wince. In front of a prince of the pack of all wolves... She looked back down at the ground, mumbling, "Thank you, Quintus, for everything... I think I'm gonna go find my mom now though. So... I'll see you later I guess." Speech Thought Others