the world has changed

Noir had avoided the eastern lands since he’d made his escape from Abaven those seasons ago. He’d travelled to the northern reaches, he found distant family in the west, but here he was travelling familiar territory once more. He had many reasons to stay away from Abaven, he didn’t want to see his Father again, even more he never wanted to look at Poem, Motif, or Shaye ever again. He hoped the volcano had swallowed all of them, but he was sure his luck didn’t go that far. Noir hated that his thoughts lingered on the ones he’d torn away from and even if he was close he banished them from his thoughts. He recognized the difference between the lake now and when he’d been here before. With the closeness to the volcano the lake wasn’t what it once was.

Blue and lavender gaze took a quick sweep of the land, no longer was this a magical lake with eager fireflies and mass amounts of cattails. The water was murky and filled with ash, the plants were still brown and dead. Not that he was very surprised. The eruption had thrown the land and everyone that lived here, for a complete loop. Nothing seemed the same, but there was still what he would consider water. Not that he would even begin to think about drinking it. Huge dusted paws carried him closer to the edge of the water, even if he didn’t want to touch it Noir was curious about the still surface.

The land was quiet, more quiet than much of the land these days. Slowly life was returning closer to the volcano, but here at the lake it was still completely silent. The yearling Destruction wasn’t going to complain about the silence. Birds annoyed him, especially song birds. Summer was one of the few he could stand, and even she had her moments where Noir debated about sending her away. They had an uneasy partnership, but even if it was fear based Summer was loyal to the blue marked boy. She was in the sky above him, keeping look out. A necessary task when Noir had forced himself into self seclusion. The life of a loner suited him, he did whatever he wanted and went wherever the wind blew him.

However much he enjoyed his freedom he was looking a little thin compared to his size when he’d left Abaven. He was far from a good hunter and he and Summer both were now excellent scavengers. While he wasn’t exploring Noir was looking for his next meal. There didn’t seem to be anything here at the lake to eat. Rightly so, it was a dead disaster. His mammoth paws brought him around the lake, his eyes searching the area around him.

The ground beneath his paws shifted from a coarse brown sand that stuck to his paws, to small round pebbles. They shifted beneath his paws as he tried to stay out of the dirty water. Surrounding the lake were forests that retained a little more of their greenery than the cattails did. Noir had to guess that by the next year the land would return to the green paradise it once was instead of the brown mess it had become. He debated quietly as he walked if he should remain here, despite its proximity to Abaven its silence and solitude attracted the Destruction yearling.

However much the decimated place allured him the lack of food was going to be a big problem. At one point the East was one of the most abundant lands, but with the eruption it had changed nearly completely. Again his thoughts drifted to Abaven and how the pack he was born to fared now that devastation claimed everything. Were they starving like he was? Did they go somewhere that was not the island they intended to evacuate to? Why was he so focused on them now that he was here?

Noir looked into the water again, catching what reflection he could of himself through the ashy water. All he could see was the faces of his family looking back at him. Rhyme, Shaye, Motif, Poem, his littermate Theory.. With a rage building in his chest he took his huge paw and swiped at the surface of the lake and destroyed the serenity. He cried out and turned from the water. Summer called out from the air, she hadn’t seen anything that should have upset her wolf, but she touched base with him to be sure. Noir huffed and shook his head as he continued onward. He didn’t want to stay here and even less he wanted to remain in the eastern lands.

His striped form slipped back into the nearly dead forest and Summer returned to the yearling’s shoulder as he disappeared beneath the canopy. The trees seemed strained and dry, like they hadn’t been given any water in a hundred years. Noir sighed heavily as he kept moving and debating about his next move. His stomach growled deeply and he was reminded again the lifelessness of the land.

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