Kotori had thoroughly enjoyed the last autumn, roaming with Ochitsuke and with each day being whatever the two would make of it.  The change in weather had been a clear sign about the seasons changing and it being time to return.  Kotori had never much cared for the cold and of course, it appeared this would be an especially cold winter.  

He had howled, letting Asla know of his return, and left Ochi to go meet up with his sister.  What had happened since he’d left?  There was the scent of at least one wolf he didn’t recognize that caught his interest.  Kotori’s mind skated backward to the past, recalling how Mojito had recently joined the pack.  Had that caused any tensions in the family, or maybe it had worked out well and stronger bonds?  Well, he’d be checking in with how everyone was doing over the next few days.

The falls were a frozen sheet of ice, and surely more ice than Kotori saw with snow surely hiding ice beneath it.  It was a time to walk more carefully up and down the path, or just skirt around it.  He made his way up the frozen ground until he reached the top of the falls.

"Kotori Fatalis"

Asla had been storing salted meat, hanging the strips of seasoned flesh from the ceiling of the deeply dug kill den. When a call came requesting her presence, it took her a moment to clean things up before she could make her way towards the falls. The pathway of snow would help cleanse the blood away from her paws and they would be back to their grey and white shine by the time the blonde woman arrived.

A smile curled upon Asla's face as Kotori came into sight. "Hello, little brother," the woman spoke before pulling him into an embrace. Yeah, she'd become a hugger. Blame being a mom or something, okay? After a moment, she released him and seated herself on the snow, tail curling around her hip.

Purple eyes looked behind him, blatantly searching. She didn't see Ochitsuki. Had things not worked out? "Tell me everything," If the koi fae had rejected him, Asla would comfort him. If not, she would congratulate him.

"Aslatiel Indarra"

Kotori smiled at Asla as she came up and while he hadn’t necessarily expected the hug he certainly wasn’t overly surprised and took the hook with a gentle head thump of affection for his sister.  He considered maybe all the Fatalis liked hugging but nah.  Azure certainly never gave up hug vibes.  

“Hello Sis,” Kotori responded after hug-time was finished.  Kotori was able to add up Aslatiel’s gaze going behind him with her query.  “Everything?” Kotori considered that for a moment, “End of the story first.  She’s with me, I just excused myself to come and visit with my sister.”  No reason to have her waiting to see if there was a bitter end to a pleasant story.

Long drawn-out storytelling wasn’t really Kotori’s forte but he could offer a bit more than that surely.  “She’s wonderful.  We traveled through plenty of forests and plains.  In a dryer area, where it was made up more by rocks and dried scrub we killed some type of antelope I don’t have a name for but it was plentiful in an area.  Of course, a few bears happened, and she’s a great fighter, brave, confident and fully capable.”  

Kotori’s muzzle twitched in a hint of a smile, “I’m not a fan of the cold but, that worked out well too.  The end of autumn and the start of winter this year were much better than in the past.  I had company this time to keep warm as I slept.”
Sure, other things happened on the day to day basis and it wasn’t as if he’d mind sharing most things but he doubted any of it would be overly exciting.  He’d probably hit on most of the parts of Asla’s interest.

"How have things been here?  Both officially for the pack but, also for you." Things had gone well for him, hopefully Aslatiel also had been well while they were gone.

"Kotori Fatalis"