Ever since that big meeting her mother had all she could think about was the fact that her brother wasn't there. She kept thinking about him walking off without her and it bothered her so, so much. She knew that her brother had never really stuck close to home for a while now, but somehow the fact that they all had a pack to live in now and he didn't want to live with them made her so sad. She finally got tired of moping about it and being upset about it and decided to go find him. She wasn't sure what finding him would accomplish, but she at least wanted to see him. She missed her litter mate so much. Báine didn't have much to go on as far as how to find him and as she made her way farther and farther away from home she realized how much of a problem that was going to be. Finally she decided to head toward the last place she had seen him outside of the plains. Out of nowhere maybe a mile from the caves she was looking for a downpour started, instantly drenching her in its heavy water drops. She squealed unhappily and started to run even though that made the raindrops hit her face harder. She squinted to try and see and finally she saw the cave in the distance. She hurried toward it, only slowing down once she was finally to the entrance. She panted hard from her sprint here and blinked the water out of her eyes. After shaking hard to get as much of the water out of her coat as she could, she began to squint through the darkness to try and see if her brother was here. She was going to be very disappointed if she came all the way here and he wasn't even here. Well, at least she would be dry till the storm passed... "Talk" "You" Think

It was purely chance that had Tornach nearby the cave - he'd been spending most of his time lately on the moors, but he had left to resupply the one of the herbs he had been treating Aiden with that the moor couldn't supply. He'd managed to locate a stand of the plant and harvest a few before the sky unexpectedly opened up, drenching both himself and the falcon on his shoulder. If it had just been himself, he might have been indifferent to the wet and continued with his work, but he was concerned for the falcon's still fragile health, so he'd headed swiftly towards the cave he recalled being here. He did hesitate at the entrance, worried about possibly being trapped in the cave by flood waters, but decided that the rain was unlikely to continue long enough for there to be a worry with the tide still in the process of retreating. He was surprised to find the cave not only already occupied, but occupied with his littermate. "Baine? What are you doing so far from your pack?" He blinked at her in confusion, while rainwater dripped from both himself and the falcon. After all, he distinctly remembered his mother's rule about leaving the packlands without permission, packed in among the other rules that he'd been unable to stomach, and the last thing he'd want would be for his tiny littermate to get herself in trouble.

She was disappointed when she realized Tor wasn't here after all. She frowned and turned around to consider going back out into the rain just as a figure suddenly appeared in the cave entrance. Her ears perked up and for a moment she was worried that someone would be mad at her for coming in the cave or something, but then she realized that it was in fact just the wolf she was looking for! She gasped excitedly and bounced in place as he spoke. She would have thrown her forelegs around his neck from all her excitement if she hadn't suddenly noticed the bird on his back. She got completely distracted from his words for a moment, instead peering curiously at the big bird. It was enough to disrupt all the sad thoughts she had on the way here at least. Báine realized she should probably respond, especially since he was her whole reason for being here. "Oh, I was looking for you!" she responded cheerfully, focusing her pale pink gaze back on his face as a huge grin pulled at her lips. "I missed you a lot so I came to find you!" She looked back to the bird and asked, "Who's this?" "Talk" "You" Think

The sight of his littermate's reaction to his presence, gasping and bouncing in place excitedly, drew a smile to the serious yearling's face, until she caught sight of Aiden and stared. The fierce falcon fluffed her feathers in consternation, staring back and gripping his shoulders just short of piercing them. Tornach winced but didn't shift lest the disruption of her balance cause the falcon to grip harder. Baine finally answered him in her bright, innocent manner, and Tornach blinked at her. "You were looking for me?" he repeated, both confused and comforted. He hadn't been actively sought out by any of his family, though whether they were giving him space or simply hadn't made the effort he didn't know and frankly it didn't matter as the end result was the same, giving him privacy. Still, it was nice that Baine had missed him enough to go looking for him. "I've missed you too," he assured her. "You didn't need to come this far to look for me though. Do you remember that moorland with the stone circle close to the plains?" Her attention had already turned back to Aiden, and he smiled gently. He was surprised she was so intent on the falcon, since their mother had Battlesong since before they were born - though privately Tor felt that no one could compete with his new-found friend's beautiful dark coloring and angular lines, not even Battlesong. "This is Aiden," he told Baine. "She was injured hunting so I've been helping her while she heals." ""

She hadn't realized her brother had been so close by! Now she felt silly for walking all the way out here. She had been so determined to see him that she hadn't really thought about looking for him near her home. Ah well, at least she had found him. She listened while he introduced his bird friend and how they came together. She grinned happily, looking back and forth between Tornach and Aiden while he spoke. "Oooooh I see! That's really neat!" She focused her gaze on Aiden for a second, adding, "It's very nice to meet you, Aiden! And you're very pretty!" She brought her pale gaze back down to meet Tornach's blue once again with a smile. Now that the mystery behind his new friend was settled she was able to focus on her litter mate a little better. "So you're living in that moor now then? I'm glad you're so close to the plains still! Can I come and see you there? I don't like that you don't live with us any more." She frowned as she spoke, settling down on her haunches with a soft thump. "Why did you leave, deartháir?" "Talk" "You" Think

Tor could tell Aiden was pleased at Baine's praise, though the falcon did not respond beyond a minuscule dip of her beak to acknowledge the pale young girl's greeting. She was not, he'd noticed, much for speaking to anyone, which made the fact that she willingly conversed with him all the more touching. "Thank you," he said to Baine in Aiden's place. "Yes, we've been staying in the moor. There's plenty of prey there, and a lot of healing herbs that I've needed to help Aiden. We've been comfortable there. You're welcome to come visit whenever you want," he invited politely. It wasn't as though he hadn't been expecting her to ask that question, because really he'd been expecting her to ask it from the very start. He just... didn't know how to answer her. Even expecting it, it took a great deal of effort to keep his reserved expression blank, holding himself back from the wince that wanted to express itself, and only self control kept him from shifting his paws in discomfort. "I am just not suited for a pack, Baine," he told her gently. "I've learned much more on my travels than I did at home, and I am able to help many more people than I could if I was living behind pack boundaries. A lot of wolves don't feel comfortable going to a pack healer for help." It was a truth, if not the full truth. He did not like the idea of lying at all, even by omission, and certainly not to his littermate, but Baine was... not stupid by any means, but very innocent. A little naive, maybe, as he had been. He did not want to tarnish that innocence, not even a little. ""

A smile returned to her lips as her brother explained that he did indeed live in the moor and that she was welcome to visit whenever she liked. That eased her worries a bit. It wasn't quite the same, but it was better. However, as he continued and described his reasoning for not living in the pack with her and their family that frown began to tug at her lips again. His reasons made sense. She supposed that's what she hated about it. There was no way to tell him that he was wrong or point out reasons why it'd be better if he lived with them. She wondered briefly if there was more that he wasn't telling her, but she liked to believe that her brother would be honest with her. "Well... I'm glad you're helping people," she replied reluctantly after a moment of silence. She forced a smile back onto her muzzle, biting back the disappointment that hit her. She really hadn't expected to magically get her litter mate to come live in Celestial with her, but it was hard to see the reality of it right in front of her. "I don't think I'm very good at being in a pack," she added after a moment, her ears flicking back against her skull. "I've been trying really hard and mother said I could be an emissary so I've been training with Creed, but he's been so busy that we haven't really gotten to do much so I haven't gotten to have a real job yet... And we did training spars and mother paired me with Creed and I was really excited because I thought he was my friend and it would be fun, but he didn't want to fight me and I don't know why." She sighed softly, frowning at the words that kept tumbling off her tongue as her pink gaze drifted to the ground. She didn't even know if Tor would even care about her pack related problems, but she still considered him to be her confidant and best friend whether they lived together or not. "Talk" "You" Think