OOC: No immediate family members please.

Gryphon hadn't been exactly avoiding his family, but he'd made it a point to limit his time near any of the dens, and spent much of his time patrolling the lands during the twilight and dawn hours or deep night to keep from running into anyone. A large part of that was fueled by his growing paranoia over the state of the pack - hardly any active adults, no one making the effort to train any of the yearlings, and two big litters of pups that they were expected to provide for. How was he supposed to protect and feed his family's pack without a mentor who would take the time to train him? Was even Lykos being trained in his duties as the heir? What were those duties even? He assumed that there were some but so far Lykos seemed just as cut adrift as he was.

The very existence of one of those litters of pups had come as an extreme shock to the already-edgy yearling Gryphon. There had been no warning, no explanation, just suddenly there had been pups. Oh, in hindsight there had been physical signs, but he wasn't a healer and he'd never had anyone sit down and explain to him the birds and bees. He didn't know what it meant when his mother's scent changed and she seemed to be getting fatter and fatter. He just assumed that she was... well, getting fat. And that wasn't really something that was all that polite to comment on to someone, so he'd never brought it up on the few occasions that he might have had the opportunity to approach her. But never once had she said "Hey kids, Vereux and I are planning on having pups, you're going to be brothers" no, she'd just done... whatever it was that one did... and bam, there were these interlopers, this... competition.

It was clear to Gryphon that he and his brothers were being replaced, and it hurt. After all, these pups had a father, and none of them would ever look like the male who had sired Gryphon's litter and vanished. None of them would remind his mother of what he could only assume were bad memories every time she looked at them. None of them had died or been too sickly to have a childhood. No, they didn't have the bad blood that Gryphon and his brothers did. She could love them more.

Trotting through the odd trees, Gryphon bit viciously at a low-hanging branch, snapping it off in his jaws. It wasn't fair. He'd left Imperium by choice to come here with his mother, to help her start this pack and to protect her, and now he felt like she'd abandoned and betrayed them. Having a litter with a virtual stranger! Putting the pack and the unknown wolves in it over her own family! He may as well have stayed in Imperium for all the good he was doing here. At least down there he wasn't cold all the time, and it wasn't like he wasn't just as thoroughly ignored here as he was there. At least down there he didn't have to smell the new litter all the time, and that Vereux who's sniffing around Avalon had apparently been successful. He snapped off another, thicker branch and this time he moodily flopped down with it to slowly and methodically begin stripping it of all leaves, twigs, and every scrap of bark.

OOC// hope you don't mind Silva popping in! ^_^ if you want someone else let me know.

She'd been on her own since everything had happened. She had been taken in and adopted by Glacier, but when Donostrea had quietly disbanded without a trace, her hope had gone with them. Glacier, Seraphiel...they just...disappeared never to return to her life. Just like when her mom and dad died. She felt like she had lost so much in her short time on earth, and soon she would be two years old. And nothing would change, or so she felt. She would still be alone. She would still be lost. She would still have no parents. Yes, she had her siblings somewhere out there...but she didn't exactly feel like it was her place to look for them. So she simply wandered the lands of Boreas, aimlessly and without purpose. Dual toned eyes scanned the north land, a place she'd not been to before, but she vaguely remembered the north. It was where she was born, right? Somewhere up here in the snow. The memories of her puppy days brought tears to sting her eyes, but she would rapidly blink them away and instead, concentrate on where she was going...wherever that was. The silver yearling walked quietly over the snow, frame not too skinny but not too healthy looking either. She ate just enough to keep her alive and going, but what was the point? Sighing, she flopped down against a snow bank and laid her head on her paws. She was a little hungry, but didn't exactly feel like eating. Dual toned eyes stared at the snow in front of her, and for once since she'd been on her own, she felt at home in this snowy wasteland. Sniffing, she figured she'd take a nap and then continue her aimless journey. Just as she had closed her eyes for no more then a few minutes, she heard the snapping of branches nearby which in turn, caused her to raise her head. Glancing around, she stood up and wondered what it was. Climbing atop the snow bank, she would see a brown form laying in the snow and...eating a stick? Her head tilted as brows furrowed in confusion. Could he maybe not hunt? Or...no, that was a silly thought. Almost hesitantly, she decided that maybe she could converse with him. She hadn't talked to anyone in a long time, and she was craving some sort of social interaction. She felt...shy, a little afraid that he might reject her attempts. And on top of that, she wasn't too sure what to say. It'd been too long since she spoke at all, so her social persona that she once had with all the questions seemed...lost along with the rest of who she used to be. "Um...rabbit taste better then sticks, you know." She stopped a few feet away, a failed attempt at a friendly smile faintly showing. "Speak"

He'd peeled the stick down to the smooth white core almost all around when the voice startled him into dropping it. He whipped his head around with a snarl, hackles bristling, ready to fight the threat - but it wasn't a threat at all, just a pale little female not much older than him. Gryphon settled back down on his belly, still more than a little wary, but he wasn't after all on pack lands and he'd have to expect there to be loners around. He just hadn't been expecting one to sneak up on him was all.

"Do I look like I'm actually eating it?" he grunted with a brow raised towards the strips of bark and twigs that littered the slushy, melting snow around him. He was still inclined to be peevish, though he did feel a little guilty to be taking his foul mood out on a stranger who had nothing to do with family issues. He scowled and pressed the chewed stick into the muck to hide it from view. "I was just chewing on it." Which sounded childish, so he tried again. "Besides, I don't know how to hunt rabbits." Which sounded completely pitiful and whiny, so he snapped his muzzle shut before any more complaints could emerge.