It had been a quiet and lonely existence eking out a living on his own, the latter especially. Soren had done his best to keep the nagging desire to see his brother from affecting him. But in the end he had always been weak, had always wanted to believe the best of his sibling even in the end, even when he had totally abandoned the whole concept of family.

It was the only way he could continue to explain why his paws brought him here, why he found himself back on the edge of the pack lands claimed by the pack Kismet had last been with. (At least as far as Soren knew.) But it was wrong. The scents were different, off. Had his brother disappeared once more?

He had to know, maybe this would be the final push to allow him to truly abandon the naïve concept of family he clung too, just as they had all abandoned him. Shifting nervously from paw to paw he finally tipped his head back to call for a wolf, any wolf who could explain what had changed.

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Walk | Talk | Think Too much change had happened too fast. Firstly, her family had grown. Gale was an aunt once more, and the concept still both made her skin crawl and made her curious where these new additions would fit into the big scheme of their tight-knit group. Second, flooding had driven the whole of them out and away from the beach, the part of their territory that had previously been the heart of all operations. And third, a combination fact, it was Gale's birth season. She was officially five years old, and once more in heat. She could not say what caused the most discomfort, her age or the condition that came with another birthday, but she could hardly stand still. As with the previous seasons, she confined herself to the pack lands - only one of which was accessible to her currently - and busied herself with simple tasks. Border patrols and races across the prairie were her staple activities, ways in which she attempted to burn off as much energy as she could, with the occasional impromptu hunt thrown in whenever her mad dashes through the grassy hills flushed out a frightened target. Because she was eager to have the beach returned to her, she also made regular trips to the border between the two territories, awaiting the moment when she would find the waters receded and their dens exposed. Today was not that day, and though she was disappointed Gale raced with an easy lope back toward where her family had been camping, only for an unknown voice to grip her attention and shift her course toward the border. These might not have been the best conditions under which to meet someone, but it beat wandering around until she found some new way to make herself useful. As she ran into view of the stranger, she noticed immediately the contrast in light and dark that played across the coloration of his coat. It seemed almost as if he had dipped his front half within a dark substance that stuck to his fur, though the marks beneath his eyes seemed to tell otherwise. Likely due to her condition, she noticed too his lean shape that still somehow had an oddly appealing nature. Gods, she was ready for this season to be over. Mustering a half smile that unfortunately did not yet touch her pale, grey-green eyes, Gale slowed, stopped across from the male on her side of the border, and addressed him with a natural, easy casualness. "Hey, Stranger. What brings you to Donostrea?"

The waiting was the hardest part, Soren had no clue where his brother may have gone and the only lead he had depended upon strangers; and more than that, upon them knowing what happened to the pack that once occupied the space they were taking up. It had already crossed his mind that it was possible that these wolves had simply taken up territory that had been vacated by the pack Kismet had joined, maybe his brother had been long gone before these wolves had moved in.

He would not be waiting too long though as a small, lean shape lopped into view. He was immediately aware of her heavy heat scent, though he did his best to ignore it, flicking an ear awkwardly. He couldn’t ignore her though and while Soren was slowly getting used to “oddly” colored wolves it seemed they could still sneak up on him when he wasn’t expecting it. He found himself almost hypnotised by the swirls of purple that danced along her coat.

She slowed, a smile pulled across her features and she spoke. Soren was suddenly, very, very aware he was staring and quickly pulled his gaze away from her, hazel’s focusing on the distance behind her. “I’m- uh- I’m looking for my brother, he used to be part of pack that occupied these lands…”

But he felt he was ignoring her and slowly brought his gaze back to the smaller wolf. Focusing on where her muzzle joined her face to avoid having to hold her gaze but also to keep his eyes from wandering. “Bigger than me, mostly white, orange head?” He wondered if maybe his brother had simply transferred over to this pack instead, he was pretty sure though that the place Kismet had lived had not been named Donostrea.

image by Trynx

Walk | Talk | Think It should not have surprised her that the male seemed to become momentarily distracted by her looks, but it did. Those she had met of late had become accustomed to them fairly quickly, and coming upon someone who openly studied her seemed to be something that was becoming more and more of a rarity. Did it mean her coloration was no longer something like an abnormality, and that these natives were growing used to the presence of the colorful family that had taken up residence here? Or it could be because of your heat, a dark, rational voice concluded. Maybe, considering the way the male quickly looked away and continued to stare at anything but her, that was more correct. A bit of dry amusement caused her smile to pull upward at one edge, turning it into a sly smirk, as the male seemed to remember himself and go about answering her inquiry as to him being there, explaining that he was looking for his brother. Instantly a brow rose over one pale green eye as Gale tried to put together this new puzzle, though without all the necessary pieces. A wolf who used to live here...? The only possible brother that she could think of would have been Spot...and he looked nothing like the dark and light creature before her. She was just about ready to ask if she had the right of it when his gaze finally directed itself toward hers again and went on to describe in more specific details what this brother of his looked like. Tall might have been an understatement for Spot, but he certainly did not have an orange head. None of it made a lick of sense until it dawned on her that the Prairie had once belonged to someone else, another pack that had for long while now been gone. It was a little disappointing not being able to give good news, and Gale's smile turned apologetic. "Sorry. That pack's been gone for a year, maybe two." Had it really been that long? "I'm not sure where any of those wolves went." None of them had tried to seek refuge within Donostrea, and if they remained she either supposed they had taken on lives as loners or joined any number of neighboring packs that dotted the rest of the land. She bit the inside of her lip as she thought for a moment, and then angled her head to the side slightly. "What's your name?" she asked, "And your brother's? I can ask my brothers if they've heard anything. They talked to the leader of that pack before it poofed, they might know more than me." It was a stretch, she knew, and she hated the give false hope, but she had helped in one missing persons case before. Maybe she could help again?

Soren almost immediately picked up on the shift in her demeanor and he breathed an internal sigh and visibly deflated. He nodded almost numbly as she explained that the pack Kismet had most likely been in had been gone nearly two years. Where had his brother gone? It stung him to know that Kismet had left and hadn’t bothered to seek him out for a certainty. He would have been tempted to ask if she had any idea what had happened to the pack when she dashed those hopes before he could begin forming the sentence.

The woman asked his name and it took a moment to snap him back to reality. “Uh Soren- Soren Adravendi.” The last name was more habit than necessity at this point. “My Brother was- is Kismet Adravendi.” Soren paused for a moment unsure what to do now before remembering his manners. “Uh thanks Miss.” He retreated a few steps but didn’t leave quite yet, he had to plan his next move but he didn’t want it to seem like he was lurking too close to an unknown pack.

A part of him wanted more than anything to just disappear again, clearly no one cared if he did right?

image by Trynx

Walk | Talk | Think Aw man, Gale thought, purple-marked ears tilting back as she saw the change in the dark and light wolf on her border. She hated disappointing people, hated being the bearer of bad news, and hated that she could practically feel the loss that this individual surely felt. With two siblings and a few nieces gone too, she knew what it was like to be separated from family, but at least in her case she still had other siblings - and even extra nieces - to fall back on. This wolf, from the looks of it, was not so lucky. He stated his name, left her with his brother's, and looked ready to leave empty-handed. Her brow puckered into a worried frown as she bit at the inside of her lip. She did not like where her train of thought was going. It would be so much simpler if she could only apologize to this lonely wolf, send him on his lonely way, and go right back to life as she knew it. Her family was busy this season, what with everybody moving to the prairie, the beach being flooded, the new kids that were darting just about everywhere, and the eventual party that was to take place in just a few weeks time. It's none of your business, the rational part of her mind warned, you've got enough on your plate to worry about as is. Maybe it was even her season that was causing her to be so much more emotionally receptive, to make her even consider... Aw crap. "Wait," she called after him, before he could get too far and pick a direction to set off in, "wait...here. Somewhere close by." Her tone was resigned, hinting that this was not her first choice of action, but as she continued it became more considerate, softening because of the situation she knew too well. "I'm going to try to find one of my brothers and ask them about that pack and your brother. It shouldn't take that long, and then..." Oh man, was she really doing this? "And then I'll help you find him." Somehow. Between border patrols, party plan assisting, and anything else her family needed her help with. "I might not be able to leave right away, but when I can. That okay?" she asked as her brows rose, needing the confirmation before she committed to this spur-of-the-moment decision that her mind had gone to.