I'm not a kid anymore.... I'm not a kid anymore. He had to keep repeating it to himself over and over as he padded farther and farther away from Donostrea's old lands. Everyone was just... gone. They'd left him. It was almost as bad as losing his family to that siege. That felt like ages ago now but the pain felt completely new. What was he supposed to do now? Where was he supposed to go? He missed Ray and Anais and Glacier and Voltage and more than anything he just wanted to go home. It'd been home for him at least and more than anything he wanted to know where everything went wrong. Rather than go back to the beach and sit in his old den and mope about Ray not being there he just ran. He ran and he ran and then he ran some more until he felt like he couldn't go another step. He was already far away from the southern lands after some days of running. He was tired and more than anything he was starving. Sharp pains racked his stomach and the growling wouldn't cease as he finally slowed to a stopping point. Flopping down in a tired heap the yearling laid on his side and panted trying to shove away the painful thoughts of being completely alone. He panted heavily as he laid with his head against the ground with his eyes closed as he finally started to catch his breath. He couldn't stop his mind from wandering anymore. He was supposed to be somewhat of an adult now. He was supposed to be able to fend for himself, or so he believed, and make it on his own. He didn't want to be alone though. It felt exactly like when he'd been found on Dono's borders alone and afraid. It was a repeat of history all over again and he hated it. Finally he sat up and began looking around sniffling and wiping his eyes. This place seemed kind of pathetic really. The trees here were younger. Originally he probably would have felt happy for all the new growth here, but all he could feel was miserable. He still had no earthly idea where he was though and he had no destination in mind so he just decided to sit there in silence, trying to get a hold of himself. He had to eat eventually, right? Walk, "Talk" Think

She found herself wanting to explore more and more, not really wanting to be in the pack lands since everything happened with her mother. She was still pretty wary of going too far out, the fear was still lingering in the back of her mind. With a sigh Finch padded through the new forest, which had been her favorite place for awhile. It was the first land that Starling had brought her to see, trying to pull her out of her shy shell. He was so sweet, always trying to help her even though he had problems of his own to worry about. So it held a rather sentimental factor for her, and she still visited it as much as she could. She still remembered when Star brought her here, the pink and red pedals floating down to tickle her nose. It was so beautiful and new, so exciting and almost... refreshing. She had laughed with him, and explored the growing forest. Now the trees were bigger, just like them. They would be three years old soon, rightfully adults. She didn't feel like a grownup yet, those fond childhood memories holding her back. She missed those days when Starling would drag her out of Abaven lands. She missed him period.

The sound of panting reached her ears, scattering her inner thoughts. Curiosity got the best of her, and she curled around the trunk to see a yearling picking himself off the ground. He looked upset, and right away he tugged at her heart strings. Was something wrong? Her pale blue eyes searched the area, but there didn't seem to be anything, or anyone, around. Stepping out from her cover, she slowly padded up to the boy. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, although she couldn't help but notice just how tall this boy was. He looked more like a man at that height, and she actually had to look up to see him. He probably around the same size as Lark, but that didn't stop her from being shocked. How had she not noticed that before?

"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

Naturally Mortar didn't happen to be paying attention to his surroundings. He didn't hear his company until a voice reached out to him with concern laced into the words. "Are you okay?" His head snapped towards the voice and to his surprise he was met with a somewhat small female. Well small in terms of him and all the other wolves he was used to being around. Seraphiel, despite being younger, had already started to gain on him in height. Aurora had been his size, and then there was Glacier himself who had towered over even him. So after being around larger wolves it was different to see ones shorter than him again. His old pack had been filled with wolves that grew to be around his height. It was a refreshing change. It reminded him that every wolf was different with all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Despite being a bit shorter than him (not that it was a bad thing) she was mostly white he noticed. He was so used to seeing reds and blues and strange colors that a color that was actually normal looked strange to him. Donostrea certainly had been a bit of an adjustment but now all he could do was compare everything to it. She was simple yet pretty at the same time. The asymmetrical markings on her were what intrigued him the most. He almost forgot she'd asked him a question. Sniffling again to try and clear his nose and tried to compose himself a bit more. "Not really..." He said finally after a long deliberate thought process of what he should actually say to her. More than anything he was lonely and despite the fact she was a complete stranger he wanted someone to talk to. She seemed friendly at least and past that he didn't really care. He was much to upset to think about what he should and shouldn't be blurting out into the world. "Everyone in my pack, Donostrea... they all just vanished." Had she seen them? Probably not but it was worth a shot. "You haven't seen any one, have you?" Walk, "Talk" Think

The younger boy just stared at her for a moment, and Finch blushed slightly under her pale fur. She shuffled on her paws slightly, feeling a bit awkward under his mismatched gaze. Finch cleared her throat, and finally the boy spoke. He sniffled, and after another short pause he finally spoke. He told her that he wasn't okay, and that his pack had vanished. Her ears pulled back as she took a step towards him, a soft whine leaving her throat. She tipped her head down to try and brush her nose against his shoulder, trying to offer him some sort of comfort. He asked if she had seen anyone, and slowly her head shook back and forth. "I'm really sorry, I haven't seen anyone," she whispered. Finch looked up at the boy under her lashes, worry thick in their pale blue depths. He was all alone in this great big world, and he looked so lost. Her heart broke for him, it really did. She wished he was smaller so that he could scoop him up and hold him close to her. But that wasn't possible, so she just tried to wiggle her head under his chin, leaning against his chest if he would allow it. She knew what it was like to feel lost and alone, more than this boy could ever know. "My name is Finch Destruction, and if there is anything I can do for you..." she trailed off, pulling back so that she could look all the way up at him. "I could help you look. Maybe having someone closer to the ground will be good," she said with a small laugh, trying to make him at least smile a little bit. That is all that she could think of for the moment, wanting to cheer him up.

Without warning a tiny little finch dove bomb into the area, landing on the big black male's head. Finch jumped a bit when Civetta hopped on the stranger's head, watching as her companion shuffled around to steady herself. "And that... would be Civetta," Finch added with a chuckle, shaking her head at the bird. "You are a really tall wolf! Super big!" The bird chirped, her little wings fanned out to balance herself. She then hopped down his muzzle, turning around when she reached his nose to look at his pretty eyes. "I like you, you're pretty! You should come and live with us!" Finch let out a small bark, to which the tiny bird looked over at her friend. "What? Your daddy runs the pack, he wouldn't mind!" She chirped. Finch let out a sigh, looking at the stranger with an apologetic look. "Sorry, she has no filter..."

"SPEAK" "SPEAK ITALIAN" "CIVETTA SPEAKS"

Art by KatG6

Mortar wasn't quite sure what he was supposed to do when the girl's ears went back. Muscles tensed for a second as she brushed her nose against his shoulder, but he relaxed slightly realizing she was trying to make him feel better. She kind of reminded him of Ray. Even though he was a complete and total stranger to her she still had no problems invading his personal space. Granted this was probably an exception since he felt completely miserable, but regardless he doubted many other wolves would be so eager to come within his bubble. His face fell when she said she hadn't seen anyone. A sigh fluttered softly past his lips. It seemed he'd just have to keep asking around, although from the looks of it it seemed he wouldn't be finding anyone. He'd tried following a few scents but they were all old and any rain they may have had had washed them away for good. Now the only thing he could do was ask around. He didn't think about it long though as the girl suddenly came closer and shoved her head underneath his chin. She leaned into his chest and a wide eyed Mortar just kind of sat there for a minute quite dumbfounded before he regained his senses. He let his head rest on her as he took a deep breath and somehow he found a bit of humor in the situation. She was clearly older than him but he was bigger than her. It was kinda funny. He made no comment about it though as she pulled away from him introduced herself and even offered to help him look. "I'm Mortar Armistice." He offered her a very faint smile. "Well you are smaller than me. Maybe you'll be able to smell around better than I can." He was just beginning to feel slightly better when the next thing he knew a flash of something small and brown landed on his head. He froze as his eyes trailed upwards as he tried to get a good look at it. Finch called it Civetta and he gave the girl a confused look before looking back up at the bird. "You are a really tall wolf! Super big!" The bird then hopped to his muzzle allowing him a better look at her. It made him go crossed eyed after a minute causing him to blink rapidly trying to get his eyes to right themselves. "I like you, you're pretty! You should come and live with us!" It was his turn to blush as Civetta called him pretty. He glanced over to Finch as she barked at the bird and he laughed softly, chuckling to himself as he listened. "What? Your daddy runs the pack, he wouldn't mind!" Well that caught his attention. He looked back to Finch this time, or tried to since the bird was still on his muzzle, and he studied her for a second. It seemed he had a knack for finding friends that just so happened to be the daughters of Alpha's. "It's alright. My friend Ray had no filter either." He smiled softly. It hurt to think about Ray, but maybe he'd find them with Finch's help. "What's your pack like?" Walk, "Talk" Think