Let go of the past

At Mercury's direction, Artorias continued to scour the site of the attack, searching in a dire attempt to find something—anything—that would help give them a lead or a clue. Alas, his digging turned up no hidden evidence and no trace scents left. Too much time had passed since the attack for the wolf to be able to pick anything up, no matter how keen his senses were. Art glanced up and followed Mercury's directions with his steely gaze when he pointed out which way the trail went. It veered off into the woods, which would have opened up to expansive tundra beyond. The dire wolf frowned. If whoever had attacked Wren had dragged her unconscious or lifeless body away through the woods, there was no telling where they could have gone. The likelihood of finding the once-alpha was now even more dismally low than it had started at.

Artorias breathed a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping as he rose back to his height, listening while Mercury detailed how he had grid search the area and come up empty-handed. "Your method would have been much more effective at the time than my attempts," he conceded, which meant that their best chances of finding Wren had already been exhausted. The dark-furred wolf's following question brought a curious glance from the Aegis, followed by a dubious purse of his lips. "My son is the only one I've ever encountered, but he had to have come from somewhere. I do not know if Zephyrus' biological parents are still around or even if they live, but given that Zeph can only just lift a small prey animal in his current state, I doubt it was a predatory attack that got Wren." Artorias obviously did not know Wren as intimately as Mercury did, but he did know the young woman wasn't a small wolf by any means. He doubted that even at his full size and strength, a bird like Zephyrus would be able to spirit away Wren.

Looking around with disheartened defeat, Artorias drew in a deep breath and heaved another sigh, giving a little shake of his head at the impossibility he was faced with. "Mercury..." Artorias sighed again and took a few steps closer to the other wolf, turning his empathetic gaze back up to meet the Ermis man's stormy blue eyes. "I'm sorry, my friend. I don't think we're going to find anything else out here." Art turned his head out towards the pine woods, staring almost as if through the trees and the very fabric of time to see the scene unfold before him while he tried to hypothesize what happened. "Your account suggests someone or someones ambushed Wren and took her through the woods. Beyond that lies an open tundra where they could have taken her anywhere. I wish I could give you some miracle answer, but I can't lie to you. Finding Wren alive at this point... it likely won't ever happen." Softened amber eyes once more moved to hold the storm blue of his companion. "I'm sorry, I know this isn't what you hoped for."

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Eira" | "Argent"