The man had gone to her den and called in. He had gone to see if she would like to look for herbs with him, but she had not been there. The last time he had seen her was when she had left their last lesson and he returned to the depths of his den. He had known since they had gotten out of the cramped shelter she had been ready to get away from anyone so he had waited a few days to come ask her.

He would test the scent near the entrance of the den only to find that it was at the very least two or three days old. That worried him because it meant that the young black and grey wolf hadn't been there since the last time he had seen her. Moving a few feet away from the den he would find the newest trail he could. The staleness of the scent would match that of the scent within the dark, empty den.

Worry filled eyes would look in the direction the trail had gone. Oh please be at the end of this trail, he silently begged just before his nose would hover above the ground once more and his large paws and long legs would carry his large black form forward. His ears would perk forward and every sense he had was focused on finding his student and friend.

For every hour that past, the more Maximous' worry would grow. By the time he had gone several miles and reached the cave entrance to which Callisto's scent entered he had thought his worry couldn't get any higher. That was until he found the scent of another male that had come from another direction and also entered the den. The thing that made his worry much worse was that she had been in heat when she went into this cave and the males scent was just as old as hers was.

Without a second thought Max plunged forward into the darkness, not caring about his own safety, but that of the safety of a girl he was terrified to tell he loved. "Calllisto!" he would yell into the darkness of the cave tunnels. He could not see but the cave had amplified his voice and echoed it back to him. He knew that if she was still in here that she would have heard him...but he received no answer and he was at the end of the trail.

Backtracking he would burst back out into the light, or what was left of the light, of day. He had been looking for her almost all day and still he hadn't found her. He hadn't seen any signs of a fight or struggle but where the two scents had met at the end of Callisto's trail then again he couldn't see anything at the end of the trail but blackness and fear...his own fear for her.

"Callisto!" his voice would ring out but there was no tunnel to amplify his voice this time and he could here no answer but he would sit in silence until his mind started swirling with questions. Was she raped, dragged away and he was just too hysterical to see the evidence? Did he already scare her away from him and she seek out another male? Did this strange male kill her? Or did she simply leave Ebony to be with this other male?

He would search every inch of the ground for thirty yards until he was so filled of worry and exhaustion that he couldn't even pick up Callisto's scent anymore. And still he refused to leave the area just yet.

It would be dark out when the man filly collapsed and lay on the ground in defeat. Either his sense of smell was gone from all the dust that he had breathed in fallowing what ever scent he could find or he was so worried about her that no matter what he sniffed at all he could smell was Callisto. Slowly his worry for her and the exhaustion his body felt would be met with anger for himself.

Anger would build up but instead of throwing his weight and strength around, like most males would do, and give anyone and everyone that he came across a beating until getting his own ass kicked. Max would simply give himself an internal lashing. His eyes would tear up but he would close them, he could feel his face get hot and the drops of salty water run down each side of his face as he lay on the ground. His large front paws would move to cover his face and cross over the top of his muzzle.

Self pity would get him no where, but he had failed her. He didn't know what else to do and dark clouds had been moving in just before the sun had gone down. Knowing what time of year it was, those clouds were bond to carry either snow, ice, water or all of the above. If any of it came down the scent would be lost forever and it was already old and hard to follow. He did not know for sure that the girl hadn't left of her own will, but he didn't know that she had either.

Slowly his mind would begin to work to calm him. She left with another man, perhaps by will and even if she had been forced to go there is nothing you could have done to save her even if you had been here.His voice would come out in a cracked whisper "What was I thinking, coming out here on a potential rescue mission. I can't fight worth a damn and I don't have any poisons with me.

Silently his inner voice would answer for him. You weren't thinking, just doing. There hadn't been another scent at her den...just here at the cave. Several moments would pass before Maximous would move. Large black paws would move from his face and he would sit up, though every move he made was almost robotic. His usually cheerful icy blue eyes would look at the cave entrance once more, though all the cheer that may have been within them earlier that day was gone now leaving only the icy color of his eyes.

The voice inside that sounded like a depressed and hateful version of himself would sound out within his head again. Get your but off the ground and go back home. You have a job to do, stop wasting your time on a girl that isn't here and couldn't possibly want you even if she were. On the outside he would wince at the words that had gone through his mind. His head told him one thing but his heart didn't want to let him leave it wanted him to get up yes...but not to go home.

In the end though, Max only had enough energy to make it home. Before he would leave a small "bye" would leave him. Had he not been the one to say it no one would have been able to hear the almost unsaid word. As he would silently make his way home, the large dark man would put on a mask so that upon his arrival, if anyone was around, they would not see how robotic he seemed. Eventually he would seem normal again, he knew but he was not sure that he would be on the inside. He had never lost anyone other than Raisa before. Yet Raisa had left upon her own will there was a witness to it, but with his student there was no one to assure him that she was alive and well.