Sore and bedraggled, Satu scrambled up the surface of yet another boulder to try and see where she was. When she'd fallen into the river she'd never expected it's fast flowing waters to bring her so far from home she couldn't recognize anything. And then when she tried to follow the river back, she'd gotten separated from it and horribly lost. Then chased away by that pack, set on by a blue jay that thought she was after her chicks, got stuck in a bramble and got scratched up and her fur got all ragged, had a squirrel throw pinecones at her and bruise her poor nose... and only a billion other things went wrong. She was pretty sure she'd been going the opposite direction she needed to go for a long, long, long time, but she couldn't tell for sure. Was this what adventure was like? Now on top of the boulder, the gray-brown wolf peered around, hoping to see something she recognized from the higher vantage point. But no, the only recognizable landmark was the blue jay's tree. Satu shuddered, then flopped down on the rock with a sigh. She'd been trying to get home for so very long now. Maybe it was time to just give up? She didn't want to go back to the pack, no matter what had gone wrong on her journey. The freedom was absolutely intoxicating, and the idea of going back to being smothered in love was... mildly sickening. But not doing her duty by taking care of her mother was just plain wrong, wasn't it? Loyalty was so complicated. Gah, she was such a mess. Probably best if none of her family could see her right now. No doubt her mother would be horrified and she'd never be allowed to go anywhere without a guard for the rest of her long, boring life. Well, at least she'd have some interesting - if embarrassing - stories to tell when she got stuck on babysitter duty, every single day for the rest of existence. "Speech"

It was just a season of surprises for the woman fist she had stumbled upon her brother, the memory of which still irritated her and then she had saved the life of a young man and now? Cirala had been surprised once again to catch a whiff of one her siblings, this one her sister. Satu had not shown any signs of leaving the pack, so why should she be here of all places? The scent was weak, diluted but there. The woman frowned, almost turning away. She had made the mistake of approaching her brother after happening upon him, but then, he had never been a part of their family really. With a resigned sigh and a shrug the woman padded off to find her sister, the scent was very near to the river, almost overpowered by the scent of the water itself so the going was slow at best. Then stones started to pop up upon the horizon, first one of two then they seemed to be appearing exponentially. That was when the scent grew stronger and the woman picked up her pace, blue/black paws pounding across the ground as she loped towards her sister. There! Resting upon one of the boulders she could make out the figure of her sister. She slowed some as she drew up before her sibling, a slight smile upon her face. The poor girl seemed wet and more than a little confused. "Satu." She spoke softly dipping her head in greeting as she stopped before her. "Speech"

Of course just as she was thinking to herself that it was a good thing none of her family were there to see her, a member of her family appeared. At first when Satu caught sight of the other wolf from her vantage point, she thought she was imagining things. That was clearly Cirala coming in her direction, but that was impossible. There was no way she'd come far enough from her home pack to find the land her siblings and cousins had gone away to. Was there? Not that she didn't want to see her sister. She was happy to see her, she really was. She just didn't want Cirala to see her. Not right now, not when Satu was so obviously neglecting her responsibilities to their home pack. What if she told their brother? What if she told Howl? What if they thought loyalty didn't mean anything to her? Satu would never be able to look any of them in the eye again if they knew that she'd let them down by being so selfish. Despite having watched the whole time as the other wolf approached, Satu still jumped guiltily upon hearing Cirala say her name. "It's not what you think," she blurted out. "I didn't run away or anything, I just wanted... it just... happened," she finished lamely, then hunched down. "I didn't mean to." "Speech"

She watched with a slight frown, shaking her head some as her sister spoke. She had always known that Satu was more devoted to Ahlon than she had been, not to say that she hadn?t done her part for the pack, simply had never done quite so much, neither had it been expected of her. Neither had she understood her sister?s compliance for her mother?s guard. "Relax Satu. " She said with a slight chuckle. "I am hardly one to judge, I left of my own volition remember." She would glance up at her sister again a question forming in her mind. "How?" She faltered some, "How was mother when you saw her last?" She knew that losing her son at a young age had been hard on Arelahn, but even when their brother had returned, their mother had never given up on the idea of her son returning as she remembered him, a young boy. Cirala leaving had been for the best but she had always known that leaving would be hard on her mother. Still the woman had reasoned with herself that it would be easier on the aging woman didn?t see an almost exact copy of the man who ruined her life every time she looked upon her daughter. "Speech"

Cirala's reaction took Satu somewhat aback. Satu had blatantly disregarded her mother's wishes by sneaking off, disobeyed, and because of that was far from home. She'd basically abandoned her duty completely, and Cirala told her to just relax? Satu sat back cautiously, a slight frown furrowing her brow. Her sister did have a point... Cirala herself had left the pack. So had their cousins. Satu had never really blamed them or considered them as less for it. So why was it so much more important for her to do her duty? "Mother was..." How to explain nicely? "Mother... She's been very... Loving." She shook her head once, sharply, almost laughing out loud. "Ok, that's a lie. She's been clingy and overbearing and she's been driving me crazy." It felt good to say it aloud, despite the little needle of guilt. This is Cirala she reasoned to herself. I can tell my sister anything. She sighed. "I've missed you, Cirala." A sudden, almost shy smile lit her face. "It's really good to see you again. I have so many questions for you! How've you been? What's it like here? How are the cousins?"