along the way

His apology was met with a small shake of her head. There was nothing for him to apologize for. Just because he was the bearer of this bad news didn't mean that he was the cause or reason for it. Something like a volcano exploding was so beyond any of their control and even though she hated the feeling of helplessness that thought brought she would never allow him to feel a guilt for having to tell her the truth. It felt like a finality that she hadn't quite been ready for. She remembered the fire and remembered how high and hot it had burned. She had already known that the destruction that would have caused would have been deviating to her home. Still, there had been a small hope in the back of her mind that the wolves she had known might have been able to make it to other parts of Illious and rebuild their lives, that at least some of them hadn't tried to flee to the water like she and some others had. Now she knew that hope was almost certainly impossible and that everything she had known—that they had known—was gone.

As he moved closer and reached a paw out to wrap around her, she didn't react at first, still too deep in her shock to move. It wasn't until his other paw found its way around her and he began to pull her into him that she finally gave in, leaning into his embrace and allowing herself to find at least some kind of comfort in his presence and his friendship. She brought a paw up to wrap it around his back as well, hugging him tight while her head leaned into his chest. Even though this was all new information for her and she was just now starting to absorb this terrible truth, she knew that they were both grieving. Maybe he had longer to live with this truth than she did, but she had no doubt that the wounds were still there and she hoped that maybe she could give him some of the same comfort. Now that she knew that they had come from a similar place, the odd familiarity in his scent made sense and it made her hold on to him all the tighter. Her last piece of home.

When he spoke of how they had survived and the hope that even more had managed to make it off of Illious like they had, she nodded against his chest quietly. It was hard to keep a hope like that alive in the grim reality she was slowly coming to terms with, but the evidence was there. If two of them had made it then there was certainly a chance at the very least that others had too and that was something she could hope for. When he brought up another survivor, someone named Wren, she blinked with surprise and leaned back a bit so that she could find his gaze again. "Really?" she questioned as she looked up at him with bewilderment. "But... Why is she your former alpha? Did you not want to stay with her?"

"Anthea Dásos"