She should have been back by now, shouldn’t she? That question rose up in Florian’s mind for the umpteenth time that day. Ngurulivu had said a few days and it had been a week now since he’d last seen his sister. Worry gnawed at him. What was she doing? Was she in trouble? Had someone attacked her, like before? Had she been enslaved? Killed? The questions bombarded the male’s mind as he paced among the pines. Sure he had gone off for a little while, poking around other Northern lands, but he didn’t think for a moment that Ruu would get into any sort of trouble when they parted ways. His sister was strong, always looking out for him. If something happened to her now… Florian’s expression grew grim. No, no he wouldn’t think like that! Florian let out a soft growl at himself. He was probably just overreacting. Ruu was probably having a good time somewhere out there and here he was stressing about if she was okay. Of course she’d be okay! She had to be. Fighting his own mind, Florian let a soft sigh slip past his lips. They needed a better plan than just simply meeting up in a loose time frame… especially if his sister might not be able to keep it for some reason. He drew in another breath, in and out, and flicked his ears forward. Hmm? A familiar scent, one carried to him on the wind, alerted him to the presence of another. Flo turned, eyes lighting up as he saw his big sister. “There you are! You know what a few days means, right? You had me worried!” He rushed to Ruu’s side and booped her shoulder with his head. “Idiot.” He chuckled. He was just relieved that she was okay. "Talk, 'Think.'

It had taken Ngurulivu more time than she’d originally agreed upon to return back to the Northern reaches of Boreas. All the same, she was sure that Florian would be alright. Though she treated her brother like he was the baby of her family, and technically he was, she knew he could hold his own in a fight. She had seen it firsthand when the trap had been sprung on the four of them. If they hadn’t been so heavily outnumbered everything would have been fine. It wasn’t like slavers crawled all over the world, right? Flo knew better than to jump into a battle he didn’t have to fight anyway. He’d be fine, she told herself again. The monochrome she-wolf came to the pines unhurriedly, catching onto her brother’s scent with ease. Flo was already here, waiting for her, and she half expected him to chew her out for being late. It wasn’t like she didn’t deserve it. A few days vs a week was a bit of a difference when you agreed on the shorter timeframe. It wouldn’t take her long to find him now that she was in the territory, nor very long for him to pick up on her presence. “Heh, sorry Flo.” She smiled sheepishly at him. “I guess I just got a bit preoccupied is all. Time flies when you’re having fun and all that. You know I was never good at keeping track of things once I had something else to distract my mind.” Moving her muzzle over to him she attempted to ruffle the fur on his head. “Don’t tell me you’ve been waiting here this whole time. We were meant to have some sort of fun after all.” "Talk, 'Think.'

Preoccupied huh? Florian dodged the attempted head ruffle as a grin spread across his lips. Same old Ngurulivu. She had always had more of a sense of adventure than he had, willing to go farther and do more things. “Yeah, no kidding, sis.” He was teasing her at this point. She was safe and had a good time. There was no harm done, right? He stuck his tongue out at her. “And if I did? How are you supposed to make me go on adventures if you’re not with me?” He was being a little cheeky now as he spoke, his tail wagging behind him. “Don’t worry though, Ruu. I explored a little bit, I just didn’t leave the North as you did.” He lowered his haunch to the ground and glanced off into the pines. "I met an interesting yearling here not long after we went our separate ways though. His name is Ephemeral. He seems like a pretty good kid. I'm hoping he's still around here somewhere. I appreciated the company." Florian relaxed now, breathing easy. "That does make me wonder what our overall plan is though. I'm a bit… worried about Gargy… do you think he's actually going to follow us to Boreas?" His amber eyes held a hint of sadness and his smile faded as he questioned Ngurulivu about their big brother… and their plans for the future. He didn't want to abandon the hope that Gargoyle would follow them but… what if he didn't? Did they have ideas for their future? "Talk, 'Think.'

He dodged her, but that was alright. He was in a good mood, even a little cheeky and playful. Heh, the nerve! Ngurulivu stuck her own tongue out in response. If he wanted her to be around and make him go on adventures she was sure that could be arranged. Her tail flicked thoughtfully as he continued to speak. He did adventure it seemed, just didn’t leave the North. Meanwhile, she had been all over Boreas, meeting others… at least he’d met some kid named Ephemeral though. With any luck at all the youth would cross paths with her brother again. Florian always enjoyed the sort of long-lasting company that came with friendship. “If you want me to be honest with you, Flo, I don’t really know what our overall plan is yet.” Ngurulivu frowned. “I’m worried about Gargoyle too. He took the loss harder than you or I did… I hope he makes it here but if he didn’t… well…” She sighed and shook her head. “We are all adults after all. It’s not uncommon for siblings to drift onto different paths. It doesn’t mean we don’t love each other.” Her look became thoughtful. “I’m not giving up hope that he’ll find us though. For now, we stick to the North… if and when Gargoyle does come searching for us he’d look in the Northern reaches of Boreas before anywhere else.” Ngurulivu looked around. “Although… I don’t think we should come back to the pines. I love this place and miss it, but staying here feels like reaching for a time we won’t have ever again. We should pick a new base of operations, you know?” She glanced back at her brother. “...and then we go from there. I still want to find Claire too. Maybe… things will work out and the path will reveal itself in time.” "Talk, 'Think.'

Florian was quiet as Ngurulivu answered him. She wasn’t wrong, Gargy had been really downcast by Faolan’s loss… almost guilty. Not that any of them had been able to do anything about it. He frowned thoughtfully at her words. She was right even though he didn’t want to admit it. It’d be strange not living with his siblings… though a pack or something might make them feel a little more separated from one another. Still, he was hopeful that Gargoyle would come to find them as well. They’d stick to the North, where their brother would be likely to find them again. “I guess it is a little hard to be in the Pines…” Florian admitted. “It’s hard not to think of Winterfell… and mom and dad.” He looked around sadly. Gods knew he had been thinking more about them… it was hard not to when he was alone most of the time. “There is another forest, here in the North though. The one with all the redwood trees. We could use that as a new base.” He furrowed his brow. “With Winterfell gone… where do you think she went?” He asked. "Talk, 'Think.'

Florian agreed with her, also admitting to thinking of their birth pack, and their parents. She gave a quiet nod at this. It was exactly why she didn’t want to be here. They had to look toward the future; they couldn’t cling to the past. He did bring up a viable new base though, mentioning the Redwood Forest that they had passed through before. “That could work,” Nuru hummed thoughtfully. “There might be better cover there, too. There are old dens here, sure, but they just feel… I don’t know.” She furrowed her brow. Then he brought up Claire and Ngurulivu shook her head. “I don’t know. I have no idea how to even go about looking for her, if I’m being honest.” She wrinkled her nose a little. “I’ll figure it out though. It’s important she knows what has happened to Fao… and maybe it’d do us all good to see each other again, you know? Catch up and all that.” She turned away from him. “We should head to the Redwood Forest." She said softly. “I want you to pick out somewhere for a den, so I know where I can come find you instead of wandering willy nilly.” She flicked her tail and motioned for him to follow, setting off at once for the other land. / Exit "Talk, 'Think.'

At least Ruu seemed willing to head to the forest to check it out and see what they could find there. She was definitely uncomfortable with the idea of staying here though, that much was for certain. She wasn’t sure how they were going to find Claire either or had any inkling of where she might be now. She wasn’t wrong though, he thought. Claire deserved to know what happened to their brother, and he did want to see her again. It had been far too long since they were just able to talk with one another. Did she miss them as much as they missed her? Surely she did? Florian flicked his ears thoughtfully before he moved after Ngurulivu. They needed to move to the new locale and find somewhere to den down. It wasn’t very efficient just hoping they’d cross paths in a bigger land like this. He trailed after her but as he moved along he cast a last look towards the pines, his ears falling. “Goodbye mom… dad…” He muttered to the pines. He knew they weren’t actually here, that their spirits were elsewhere, but it still felt… fitting. With a shake of his head, he turned back to Ruu, quickening his step to catch up with his sister. /End "Talk, 'Think.'