The scar his mother had bothered him. His mother wasn't one to fight. So why would anyone do that to her? The middle child was young, and as far as he knew, the rune stones were fine with him. His sister was out, doing who knows what, and Ion sat at the entrance of the den, his fur ruffled as he stared at the sunset. Ion glanced back at his sleeping mother before rising to his paws unsteadily. He didn't want to ask his mother about it; he was afraid that it would hurt her feelings. Ion, being the one that wanted to protect everyone else, was not sleeping as well either. He would sit there by the entrance of the den until he could stay awake no longer. Even then, any little thing woke him. His voice came out hoarse and cracked as he spoke, calling for his older brother. "Mieu?" With that word, the pup would sit and wonder if his brother had heard.

Unlike Ion the more innocent of the two brothers didn’t understand that his mother had gotten into a bad fight. He didn’t understand that wolves were evil. He would open his eyes to the night, to see his brother sitting up. His ears would twitch and Mieu would sit up with a low yawn. “Iooonnn...” The older of the two would come up to his brother and snuggle into him, his eyes still drooping as he tried to fight himself into an awake state. “Nnn... It’s sleepy time Ion. Why are you up? Did you have a weird dream?” The boy would look at the middle child, offering a warm smile.

Mieu walked over to Ion and pressed against him, asking if he had had a weird dream. Ion shook his head in response, pinning his ears. He glanced towards his brother, opening his jaws to speak, only to have a hoarse sound escape him, not close to speaking. After a moment, he managed to speak, his voice soft and barely audible even to his own ears. "Mieu, can you promise....." His voice cracked and broke, not used to being used all that much. "That you won't go around other wolves?" He swallowed, before attempting to explain. "That aren't part of our family?" He would fall silent again, lost in his own thoughts. I couldn't bear seeing you get hurt, Mieu. Or Sora. Or mom or dad.

When Ion spoke Mieu didn't understand. His brother's voice would crack, being quiet to begin with. But the words were something he just couldn't fathom. He would look down, ears lowering some. "Why are you asking me that?" His words almost sounded hurt. "Others can be friends, Ion. Loved ones... if... if we don't meet them then we'll never have any more friends! We'll be all alone!" Mieu would look up at his brother with his blue eyes, a deep frown on his face. "I love you guys a lot but I want other friends too..." He would shuffle his paws. Could Ion understand that?