Protector

It had been a few days but Bane had slept long and hard with all the work he had been doing. He'd gotten his family a home again in Ebony and a pair of den's had been dug out on the hillside overlooking the lake. One for him and Tahlia with their two pups, and one for the eldest offspring. They'd settled into their new home... four days ago? Five? Bane was sleeping hard after that digging was all done. Two days, two dens. His elder children were off exploring and getting acquainted with the packs territory and Bane wouldn't have it any other way as to his offspring meeting new wolves. He just wanted his family comfortable. The pale wolf roused himself with a bowing stretch and a yawn. The sandy soil was darkening with exposure to the sun, and Bane kneaded the loose earth between his paws.

A rock caught between toes and his remaining eye looked down. The large set of tracks trailing off the excavated dirt were accompanied by much smaller prints, and the wolf couldn't help but smile. Kailos and Lior were making their way into the world. A certain tension seized his body and Bane glanced about at the trees. Birds were taking flight and a few minuscule blobs of fur were coming up from their holes in the ground. Ground that was now shaking, Bane widening his stance and looking wildly around at the tumultuous forest. A smattering of trees were being uprooted, their defined tops disappearing from the downslope view he overlooked. It was over as quick as it had began.

Waves of dust wafting up from the fallen pines, Bane sprinting down towards the lake as he desperately sniffed out for Tahlia and the young she had with her. There was a less intense aftershock, a cracking noise causing the elder to instinctively ducked and rolled, the tree at the edge of the forest having partially fallen over into a few weak branches during the initial quake. A splintering impact as it broke over the rock to his left. It was almost like the volcano eruption... the dust... the low visibility. Absolutely choking for days.

Bane stared at the edge of the rock fields, the rusty pelt of a wolf catching his eye amidst the boulders. Bane caught the scent of blood and his heart leapt up into his throat as he sprinted around the rock to get to the wolf. The elder almost lost his balance as he saw who it was. "Tahlia!"