It was summer, and that meant that he was a whole year old now. The boy was no longer that, fully grown and surpassing even his father in height. His paws finally fit his body, his head no longer looking out of proportion. However, he was far more sober than he was only a few seasons ago. Fable didn't know what to think anymore, most of his siblings were gone and both his mother and father were distant. He understood that they had been busy with pack things, and Creed wasn't exactly a spring chicken anymore. So as the days wore on his joyous manners fell as he became far more stoic looking. Sitting on the edge of Wolfpaw lake, he still hadn't been able to find it within himself to leave the pack borders. He was old enough to do so, but it still didn't feel quite right. His Da had spoken about a trip, which had grabbed his interest for a few minutes. But now here he sat, staring down at his reflection in the glass-like surface. With a grumble he lashed out with a front paw, striking at the water to break up his face into a number of small ripples. He was never good enough for them, was he? Glory and Knight were gone, even though he tried his best to do things with them. Valor was quiet and he didn't know where Exodus was. His mother and father too... was he not working hard enough to prove his worth? His growl turned into a whine as he rose to his paws, blue and yellow eyes looking out across the lake. He would show them, he would show them all that he was worth their time and more! With a determined nod he leaped into a sprint, racing his way around the lake. He would keep working until he was bigger and stronger, letting them see just how much he cared for them. Just how much he needed to feel love. "SPEAK"

Things had been rather quiet for quite some time now and he was beginning to feel a bit depressed. His mother had died, his father had seemed to fallen into a pit of depression over his loss, his older siblings were either gone or too busy, and his litter mates had disappeared. He was beginning to feel like the family had fallen apart and even more since he returned from his visit to Lirim. Faite and Zuriel were doing great and he had a bunch of nieces and nephews now, but home was beginning to feel empty and cold and the young male was starting to question what he would do with his life. He never wanted to leave unless he was forced because his family was everything. The young man was a protector and a fighter, but when Faite parted to create her pack, he lost his mentor and who he would have been able to spar with. Now he was unsure who to look towards and he didn't feel that he was ready for the battlefield yet. He had the lay of the pack lands memorized and everyday he patrolled them, but he desired more training and more practice. Huffing the tall and thick muscled boy trudged along, having just finished his patrols he was looking for something else to do. So he decided to wander around and see if anyone was interested in spending some time with him. Hey maybe he would even stumble across something that was worth the effort of hunting. He headed towards the lake hoping to pick up a scent trail there, but when he got there he spotted one of the newly turned yearlings sprinting around the lake. His ears drew forward in interest before he let out a loud bark before he continued to approach. "SPEAK" & 'THINK'

Endlessly he pushed on, striving to reach his maximum speed and see just how long he could keep at it. It was reckless, being this close to the lake he could easily fall in. But he didn't care. It gave him a task to focus on, something to push all the thoughts out of his head. He didn't think about his missing family, or how it was his fault. He didn't think about how bad of a son he was, or a brother. Just running. Just the wind in his fur and the sound of his panting breath in his ears. Everything slowly faded away. Until a bark sounded. Turning his head he noticed that there was a black and white male heading towards him, his blue and yellow eyes opening wide in alarm. He was going pretty fast, and he wasn't sure that he could stop in time. Looking around, Fable looked for a way out of this. It was starting to look more and more like he was going to crash into the smaller male. Digging his paws into the ground he slowed himself down, but it wasn't enough. As he neared the other wolf he bunched his back legs and jumped, soaring over him with room to spare. The boy landed with a loud thud on his other side, stumbling a few steps before he finally stopped. Breathing hard he turned around, ears fully perked as he made sure that his pack member wasn't hurt. Seeing nothing, he dipped his head in greeting and plopped his rump on the ground. He was going to need a second. "SPEAK"

He had not even realized how fast the slighter younger male was going, or that he had stumbled into his path. It didn't really register with Lais until the male jumped, launching himself over Lais and landing on the other side. He was breathing hard and Lais knew he would need a few moments to settle himself down enough to talk. So he settled into a sitting position, facing the male. While he gave him time to relax, Laisren looked around curious to see if anyone else was nearby. It was so eerie since the pack had grown so quiet, it made his heart crack just thinking about it. He then turned back to the male when it sounded like he was calmed down and smiled at him. "Hey sorry about that, I didn't realize I was in your path. I'm Laisren, I've seen you around, but I don't think I've really talked to you at all," he said. He was curious as to what the male had been doing. Was he training? Blowing off steam? he wouldn't really know without asking. If the male had been training maybe he would be interested in some sparring or even fighting lessons. Since Faite left he didn't have a mentor or a training buddy, but maybe this guy would be interested. "Are you training?" he asked. "SPEAK" & 'THINK'

Fable shrugged his shoulders, his panting calmed down a touch. He was still fighting to fill his lungs to their full capacity, but at least now he could speak. "Just... running," he said, not wanting to admit the true reason behind why he was doing it. But it was nice to meet someone new, he had seen this boy at the meeting but not much else besides some glances. He stretched out his front legs, groaning as his muscles stretched. It was painful, but it also felt really good. Standing up he did the same to each of his hind legs, shaking himself before he fully faced the black and white wolf. "I'm Fable! It's nice to meet you, Laisen," His words came out a lot easier now as he caught his breath, his tail giving a few wags behind him. Looking around him at the lake and area around them, his yellow and blue gaze quickly flicking back to the other. "So... what do you do around here anyways?" Fable asked, a bit brashly. Franky, he was bored and there were no adults around to teach him anything. He longed to have something to focus on, someone to teach him new things. His ears perked towards Laisien, a bit of excitement glimmering in his eyes. Was he a fighter? Did he want to train, or maybe even hunt? Anything would be okay right now, and it would help keep his mind off of everything else. Honestly, for a yearling he had a lot going on. "SPEAK"

The younger male was catching his breath and settling himself down. It seemed like he was running a little bit before Lais had come across him. Was the boy training to be a fighter like himself? Lais also did frequent runs, normally early in the morning and late in the evening especially when it was summer. He felt bad if this younger male was looking to be a fighter, with the pack being so quiet he knew it was hard to get any lessons out of anyone. The male introduced himself as Fable and Lais recognized him as one of Creed's kids. He wondered if Creed was training his kids, the older male was getting pretty old and with all the kids he had Lais would assume it would be hard for him to train all of those kids. Fable then asked a question perking Lais' interest more. "Well... Lately it's been hard to do anything," he replied with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He didn't know why he hesitated on asking about fighting or even hunting. He knew these younger wolves had to be suffering the most. They needed mentors so that they could figure out what their adult ranks would be in the pack. He knew how he felt about everything when he was younger. "Although it would be nice to have someone to hunt with and spar with I'm hoping to work myself into Legionary rank," he replied. "SPEAK" & 'THINK'

Fable's heart dropped slightly when Laisien said that there wasn't much to do, pulling his gaze away to look across the territory. It had been so unsettling, just how quiet it had been here. He had hoped to be learning a lot more then he currently was, instead having to rely on wolves outside the pack to spar with. But when the black and white male spoke again he perked back up, turning to look at him with a wag of his tail. Fighting and hunting? Those were the two things that he wanted to learn about the most! Raising to his paws, his tail rose to swing behind him as his yellow and blue eyes grew wide. Would he be up for showing him some things? "I want to do both of those things! What should we do first? I've only had one lesson in fighting and a few in hunting before Fortune left. We can do either, or even both. I dunno whatever you want to do!" Fable's words stumbled out of his mouth quickly, his tongue nearly tripping over itself. It had been so long since he had even had the chance to be with someone who he could learn with, his whole body wiggling at this point. "SPEAK"