Twig was trying to both hunt and look for her missing nephews. They weren’t the helpless pups they were now that they were nearing a year old, however that didn’t ease Twig’s worry about them any. She wished they told her where they’d gone at least, but she knew the thought of being cursed wasn’t an easy thing to shake.

The young Memoire girl was out hunting mostly to clear her thoughts and try not to hope too much that she would see the boys again. Caramel ears perked at the sound of rustling in the willows branches, there was both prey and wolf on the breeze, and she wanted to get a little closer to see which one this was.

Zee had been recently expanding her patrols, moving outwards from the Armada's territory to ensure that no danger lurked just outside where the pups were allowed to play. She had been on the trail of some foxes, their den somewhere in the weeping woods bordering the tall grass plains. The last thing she needed was for the bastards to cross the river when the pups were playing there, and so she'd hunt them all down and slaughter any predator that dared to make it's home nearby hers.

A new scent interrupted her hunt and Zee reluctantly abandoned the trail to investigate. Though this was not their territory to claim, she still wanted to be sure no wolf with bad intentions was lurking nearby. She came upon the woman, her light coat standing out amidst the woods. "Greetings." She called out, keeping her voice friendly. "Are you lost?" Zee hadn't noticed any loners setting up shop so close, and the closest pack was territories away.

The presence revealed itself and Twig was presented with a woman of small stature, but with intimidating horns perched on her head. The scent of milk and young was heavy on her and Twig was forced to think of the young boys in her care once again. She tried not to but they were impossible to forget and every moment she didn’t find them was one more moment that something could happen to them. ”Hello,” she returned politely, sure that she hadn’t crossed the she wolf’s pack boundaries.

”No, I’m hunting.” She returned, knowing exactly how to get home to Abaven. However, ”I am also searching for my nephews,” Twig wondered if it was wise to ask her if she’d heard any news of foundling pups. Almost yearlings. ”Have you heard of anyone finding a pup or two?” She wasn’t sure if she’d be able to handle hearing they’d found one of them gravely injured or worse. ”I’m sorry,” where were her manners. ”I’m Twig, from Abaven.” Maybe she’d send them or the information her way if she did hear anything.

Zee nodded her head at the other's response, her eyes warming with concern as she mentioned losing some pups. Now that she had children of her own, the possibility was much more frightening that someone could be lurking around and thieving children from their dens. "No, I'm sorry." Her apology was genuine, and she frowned.

"Do they look like you? I live nearby, I can keep an eye out. I'm Zee, one of the alphas of the Ashen Armada. If I find them, I'll surely bring them back Abaven's way." Abaven was one of the few packs she knew of in the world, and so far they all seemed friendly enough. She'd met their alpha Theory more than once, and although the girl was young she seemed to have a good head on her shoulders. Perhaps they would be a good ally to have, the need for good wolves around her was increasing as Zee worried more and more for her pups.

Twig wasn’t expecting much, but her heart still sank when the woman told her that no she had not seen any lost pups. She expressed her condolences, but was kind enough to offer to keep her eye out. Twig nodded as she explained further who she was and the authority she had to do such things. The Memoire girl didn’t doubt Zee at all, even though she could have been lying through her teeth.

”One looks similar to me, Pitch. The other is black and white, Beat.” She offered their descriptions and she crossed her toes that this meeting might bring the boys back home sooner rather than later. ”I don’t think you know how much this means to me.” Twig added, her appreciation obvious, she’d never wanted anything as much as she wanted to see those two back home.

Zee was unable to keep her mind from wandering, faced with the very real situation this other female was handling she wondered if ever her own children would one day vanish. It was a stressful thought, and she hoped desperately to be able to keep them safe and sound forever. "What happened to make you lose them, if I may ask?" She prodded gently, as if she could gather some insight that might in the future help her keep her own litter safer. Twig had said they were not her children, only nephews. Where were the boys parents? Could they be searching elsewhere, perhaps? She was thankful that so many wonderful wolves in her pack cared for their pups, and knew that should they go missing a search party would not be hard to gather.

Twig was living a nightmare, she cared deeply for her uncle’s children. Even if they weren’t really her nephews they were close enough. They were orphans, and Twig was responsible for them. She promised her uncle before he died that she would take care of them and she failed them.

”It started before the eruption.” Twig started, settling back on her haunches as the worried look in her eyes never really left despite how comfortable sh emight get. ”Their parents both passed early on in their lives.” She explained, knowing the boys had one of the most terrible starts to life that she had ever heard of. ”After the eruption they believed themselves cursed, like they were the source of all the tragedy in their short lives.” She sighed softly, wishing again that she could have helped her poor nephews further than she had.

Zee felt very badly for the woman, her eyes scrunching in concern as Twig told the story. The volcano had displaced many wolves, it was not surprising that it had a hand in the boys' disappearance. It was odd though that they'd think themselves cursed, but no more odd than her own child who thought he was becoming a bird. Kids got things in their head and they stuck there, the life of a parent was not an easy one. "Those poor children." She tsked softly, giving the woman an empathetic frown. "I hope they're found safe and sound." Too much could happen to two pups lost in the world, as Zee had already found out in her short period as a mother. Asla nearly drowned herself on her first day outside, Mort walked off a cliff. Were Twig's nephews dead already? Zee hoped for the woman's sake that they had been taken in and looked after.