Muuuuuuuddddd! Aerndis bounded forward into a muddy puddle, sending the gunk splattering over her brightly colored fur. She'd travelled farther east in her explorations where she'd taken shelter during an evening rainstorm. Autumn was starting to creep its way into Boreas. Deep in her gut she could feel unease beginning to settle in with this change of the seasons. It meant that winter was not that far away. Could she survive on her own? She kept hoping to run back into the other Aeris but she hadn't had much luck picking up the trail. Bounding out of the mud she scrambled sloppily up a large stone and sat atop it, gazing out at the landscape around her. Aerndis shivered as the wind ruffled her fur. It was still a bit chilly from the rain but she hoped it would warm up soon. She eyed the mud puddle, her butt in the air, wriggling for a second as she took a flying leap toward the puddle. "Kiyaaaa!" "Talk" "You" Think

Slick, gloppy sounds alerted him to the presence of...something nearby. His thoughts immediately went to mud monster, but when he whispered that to Amadeus the macaque simply rolled his eyes. He wanted to investigate, but Amadeus was dead set against it. The moment he started moving towards the sound, Amadeus twisted his ears and tried to talk sense into him. What if it was a bear? Or some other big angry predator? ...so what? If it was a bear he'd be on his best behavior - wouldn't even poke at it with a stick - and if it was some other big predator well then...he could promise nothing. He'd try to be good and that had to count for something, right? "Kiyaaaa!" Jupiter's head shot up. "That's Aerndis!" He took off running in her direction - Amadeus clinging to his back for dear life - and in no time at all his sister's mud-coated form came into view. "Aerndis! Boy am I glad to see you!" "Jupiter" "Amadeus" "You"

Watery mud splashed up around her and she laughed as she bounded right into another puddle. This was the best part of rainstorms. Splashing in puddles. She shook the excess from her coat and was about to start again when a familiar voice called out her name. She turned her head to see Jupiter running toward her. At first she couldn't believe it was actually him and she stood staring at him in stunned silence for a split second before she started running toward him. "Jupppppiiiiiiiii!" She couldn't believe it! She reached toward him, not even worrying about the fact that she was still terribly muddy. Her head shot forward as she tried to lick his face, tears starting to fill her eyes as her tail wagged violently back and forth. "I never thought I'd see you guys again! Where have you been? Is mom ok?" "Talk" "You" Think

With no thought for the mud literally coating every inch of his sister, Jupiter moved to throw his forelegs around her neck in a bear hug. He was so happy to see her! Honestly he had been beginning to wonder whether or not he'd ever see any of his family again. His excitement was dashed somewhat by her words. He'd have asked her the same thing if she hadn't beaten him to it. His smile faded a bit as he replied, "I thought everybody was with you." The disappearance had happened so suddenly he'd just assumed they'd decided to move on while he was out adventuring. He'd hung around the den for awhile, but when it became clear no one was coming back he'd started to move around a bit. Jupiter had picked a new den and moved all of his stuff there, but he made sure to visit the old Dauntless lands often in case his family came back. "Jupiter" "Amadeus" "You"

Aerndis embraced her brother, overjoyed to see him again. She pulled away so she could see him better but as she watched the smile fade from his face she felt her heart start to beat faster. Jupiter spoke and stated he thought everyone had been with her. Aerndis looked at her paws. So Jupiter had been all alone to? Then where was Orion and mama? "Oh, no… I've been alone for awhile now. I got separated from mama and I couldn't find my way back. I'd hoped she was with you." She frowned, uncertain what to say. Worry was gnawing at her gut but she didn't want to linger on the feeling. She just couldn't deal with it right now. Donning a broken smile she looked at Jupiter. "Well, we've found each other at least! And, well, we're almost yearlings so we'd have been setting out on our eventually, right? What have you been up to, Jupiter? Did you find any neat places? Learn any neat skills?" She could barely stop the questions from flowing once they started. They offered sweet distraction on top of her curiosity. "Talk" "You" Think