He was saddened to know that his brother had disappeared yet again...leaving behind his newest brood. What was up with him? He had always liked to think they were close, and in a way they were but...why didn't he tell him what was troubling him? What had caused him to leave yet again? Now that he knew his brother wasn't around, he truly feared that voice in his head would come back. And he wasn't sure if he'd be able to control it as much now. He shook his head as he stepped away from the crowd to get some air and thought about what his uncle had told him. The younger members of the pack weren't getting the training that they needed, and Cloud had a lot of time on his paws. So, he set off in search of his niece, Idalia. He had been assigned as her mentor before he left to aid the band, and he had made a promise to help when he could. So here he was standing in the woods with the festival going on somewhere behind him. He tilted his head back to call for Idalia, unsure if she was still in the pack lands or somewhere among those gathered bodies. "Speak"

art by Risketch

Idalia had been having difficulty striking out on her own since Incendio's antlers had fully come in. The gulf that divided them seemed to widen every day, especially as they were growing older. There would be no more mistaking her for her brother. The thought confused and frustrated her. Without any outlet - and her father missing - she had mostly taken to sulking. It wasn't a good look. Her normal teenage angst had taken a nosedive into spiteful and rude. Everyone was an enemy. When she heard Cloudburst's call at first, Idalia wanted to ignore it. The festival was in full swing and she was almost close to enjoying herself. Why did she have to turn away at someone else's call? Besides, with Tyranis gone and Acere busy tending to his own brood now that his mate had run off (what was up with this place?) Idalia had gotten pleasantly used to not having to work.

After avoiding the call for as long as she felt like she could get away with it, Lia finally headed towards Cloudburst. She arrived fashionably late, trying to hide a sour pout. What had he dragged her away for. "Yeah?" she said abruptly, sitting down and cocking her head to the side.

He felt like he'd been waiting for a while, but he supposed he didn't mind. It felt nice being back, even if it was for a short time. No matter who his allegiance was with, his heart would always be here where his family was. He just had to stick it out until Winter, and then he'd be back home. Taking a deep breath of cool air, a soft ruffle of feathers from above signaled to him that someone was coming, and when his attention was drawn to the fiery striped figure of his niece, he carefully regarded her. He knew it couldn't have been easy since his brother left...he had no idea how their mother was faring so he wasn't sure if she was struggling or not. But the way Idalia approached and answered to his call told him that things had gotten worse than he thought. He internally cursed his brothers stupidity and whatever had taken him away again. He wasn't being fair to his children or his family in general, and all he could think was that this was a repeat of the first time. The only difference between then and now, was he wasn't an alpha this time. "Idalia, it's good to see you. Sorry for pulling you away from the festival, but I've come to do a bit of training with you and assess your skills." This was perhaps the first time he had been tasked with actually training someone, and to be quite honest he wasn't totally sure how to approach it but...straightforward and to the point seemed like the best course. But as he studied her, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something else going on besides his brother leaving them. "You don't look very happy. What's the matter?" She didn't have to tell him if she didn't want to. After all, despite being her uncle, he was still practically a stranger to her. He hoped to fix that as much as he could, and be there for them when they needed it. "Speak"

art by Risketch

She was a little bit taken aback by Cloudburst's kind response. Lia half-expected to be rebuked, which would only add fuel to her fire... but with his kindness, he'd managed to douse her teenage fury to a few glowing coals. "Oh... uh." What was the matter? Her dad had run off. Acere's mate was missing along with some of his kids. She felt pulled in several different directions and Incendio had grown horns and she hadn't. Ugh. Everything was the matter! Idalia grumbled and averted her eyes. Trying to put her thoughts into words was much harder than she'd thought. "Well, I guess..." she trailed off. Why was this so difficult? "Everything sucks," she finished lamely. Idalia sighed. That didn't really sum it up at all. "Dad's fucked off somewhere, Acere's mate is A.W.O.L along with one of his kids and everyone just keeps going like stuff is normal and it's not. Everything is messed up!" That felt a little bit better. Lia stood up and shook the fine new winter snow off of her coat. More than anything else, she felt incredibly lonely.

"But I guess training might be okay." It might even be fun. Truthfully, Lia was starved for attention and she didn't want to admit it. Cloudburst's kindness was the kindness she'd been looking for in Tyranis' absence. She just needed a little love.

He sat down as Idalia's initial response seemed to be one of surprise. He couldn't blame her what with everything going on, he was sure. And to no surprise there was more going on then he thought. His brother wasn't the only one missing, though that seemed to be a common thing...hell, when he was a kid the alpha of Abaven had fucked off to look for his siblings but he never came back. He listened attentively to her complaints, nodding in understanding as she disclosed what bothered her. He had gone through that period, too. And it seemed many did. "I'm sorry things happened the way they did. And between you and me, it's not the first time my brother has...fucked off." It was an interesting albeit understanding choice of word that his niece had used. "When he was an alpha, he left. And he didn't just leave behind a pack, but he also left behind two young children. It's a shame he did it again...I had hoped he would stay this time but," He shrugged his shoulders, "Sometimes things don't go the way we hope."

He breathed in a sigh as he wondered if she'd understand that this was just the way the world was sometimes. "Sometimes things happen that are beyond our control, and the best thing to do is to move forward. If we always stay stuck and dwell on the things we can't change or have no control over, then it makes us stand still in a sense. Sure our uncles mate left, and I'm sure he's hurting over it just like you and me and your brother, and even your mom are hurting about Tyranis leaving. Everyone deals with things differently. I can't speak for your mom and brother about how they're handling it, but I can tell you the way I handle it. I get up, and I keep going. I hunt because it's what I'm good at. But I do admit after my mother died, I lost the drive to do it. It took me a while to find myself again because I loved my mother, but nothing I do is going to bring her back. My brother may not be dead, and as much as I wish I'd like to find him, it would be like going on a wild goose chase. I'm sure he misses you, too. And whatever took him away well...we don't know."

He didn't know if he was saying the right things or not. And honestly, this was perhaps the most he had spoken to anyone that wasn't his brother. When did he become this person? It wasn't a bad thing...though perhaps his experiences in life made him wiser to the facts. He would suggest to her to see how her mother and brother were handling it, but he'd let her figure that out herself. For now, the least he could do was help her focus on something else and channel her energy there. He was curious as to what he thought about what he'd said, but he wouldn't press her to answer if she didn't want to. "When you're ready, tell me what you'd like to focus on. What you'd like to learn." He figured the best approach to learning was letting them decide what they wanted to know.

Idalia sighed. It figured that he'd up and left before. Tyranis had been present and loving while he was with his family, but there always seemed to be something else that was lurking behind his eyes. Maybe it finally took him away for good. Lia wouldn't admit she missed her father, but she did. Badly. It felt like a shameful thing to admit and so she'd done her best to keep it to herself. She liked Cloudburst's idea of grief: just keep moving. Maybe that would help her shake this melancholy feeling. Idalia sighed and turned her head up towards her uncle. "Okay. You're right. And it doesn't matter if he misses me or not, he's still gone," she added sourly. She wasn't quite ready to give up on being mad yet. "I want to learn how to fight. Really, really fight," she stressed. "I want to be able to win, like, every time."

He nodded in understanding to her reply. He really did understand where she was coming from because he'd been there, and he was there again. Sure Ty wasn't his dad. No. Cloud never really knew his dad. He had a brief encounter or two with him but nothing close to a father. Tyranis was really the only one he was close to asides from their mother. So he could relate. He didn't blame her for feeling the way she did, but he hoped someday her heart would heal and maybe she wouldn't hold onto that anger for long.

When she stated she wanted to learn how to fight, he grinned. "I can teach you that, no problem. Although I can't guarantee you'll win every fight. You'll win some, you lose some, but I can help you get there," He winked as he stood up. Now was a good time for the basics at least, right? "Alright, show me a defensive stance. If an opponent came up and showed interest in a fight, I want to see how you'd prepare yourself. What are the main basic defenses a wolf has?"