All grown up

He wasn't certain he believed Marshal. But the bird had never led him astray, but the news was so unexpected, so HOPEFUL, that he couldn't believe it. Nonetheless, he dropped everything he was working on, leaving his tools in the grass as he shot to his paws and raced through the Col. He pushed his ageing body as he dashed past the wolf on patrol at the border between the Col and Woods. He weaved through the crooked grown trees, following Marshals flight in the sky ahead of him. 


He found the scent of her before he found her form, and for a moment he was left blinking, confused. Where was she? But her pale body and crystalline markings stood out against the grass. As his eyes found her curled form, he was shot immediately back to the past. To a wolf that had been about as old as Vanta was now. Cowering in the bushes as lightning sparked in the sky ahead. His heart squeezed painfully and he couldn't breath. Zee, Zee…. Zee.


But it wasn't his wife before them, but their daughter. One lost, and now returned to him. He'd forgotten just how much she looked like her mother. Catching his breath, he trotted slowly forward, and knelt down beside her with clicking in his old knees. He drew his arms around her and pulled her close. “Vanta, Vanta, my love, are you injured? Who did this to you?” He would kill them.