Just hanging around

Dorian set out with Copper perched in his usual place on his shoulders and his father's bag around him, entirely unsure of where he was going or what he was looking for. All the knew was that he needed something different and he needed to put distance between himself and family–at least for now. There was still a gnawing guilt for having to choose himself in the battle between the duty he felt to them and his own wellbeing, but he knew that in the end this was what had to be done. He couldn't keep allowing himself to wallow in grief or fall victim to the decisions of those around him. He had done what he could to try and be the support he thought they needed and had voiced his concerns for their actions where he could, but it had done him more harm than good. Now was the time of choosing and protecting himself in all of this.

He wandered through the aspen trees that lined the dam-clogged river, willing himself to go to the bifrost and cross over into Boreas. He felt like he couldn't simply stay in Auster and still feel like he had left home. It felt like the last hurdle to leaving it all behind. Before he could make it there, however, a rustling sound and a voice from up above him made him stop, tipping his head back to look up toward the noise with confusion. To his shock he spotted a small, purple wolf tangled up in a net that was suspended from one of the trees. It looked like maybe a hunting trap intended for one of the beavers that called this place home, but instead of a beaver they had gotten something even less willing to be prey. "Oh! Let me help you down!" he insisted, immediately following the rope that was holding the net aloft to where it was connected to a rock at the base of the tree.

"Copper, you can crew through this, right?" he asked, glancing back at the stoat perched on his shoulders. The little companion immediately scampered down his foreleg to the rope, giving it a couple of experimental chews before he nodded in agreement. Dorian then went and placed himself directly under the net, sitting back on his haunches and holding his forelegs out to catch her. "Don't worry, I'll catch you!" he assured her as Copper began to cut through the rope strand by strand, the trap shaking a bit each time another snapped free. After a few long moments of this the last pop of the rope rang out and quickly she began to tumble toward him and he braced himself, the small girl falling right into his arms. He had to catch himself before he tumbled backward, but he managed and breathed a sigh of relief as he grinned and began to carefully put her back on her feet while untangling her from the net. "Are you okay? How long were you up there?"

"Dorian Kedieo"