she felt the sun shine upon her fur, and she knew it was time for another walk. This time would be different however. She’d discussed this with Bell, her new possum companion, and they both felt ready to try it out. Hopefully it wouldn’t end in their new found friendship ending suddenly when Abby accidentally stepped on the poor marsupial.

Bell led her across pack lands, chirruping orders and warnings. The strategy proved relatively successful, the mottled girl successfully avoided quite a few mounds of sheep dung, but managed to crash into a couple of the scattered trees across the range. “Trees are harder to smell!” She’d exclaim indignantly as the possum laughed at her apparent clumsiness.

It’d been about an hour of limping across the land, Abby halted as a strange scent wafted gently past her. She’d been relying on her nose as much as her ears, especially after her lesson with Allar, and picking up smells and distinguishing between them had become easier naturally due to her lack of sight as well. It still took her a second to be able to recognise who it belonged to. Definitely not a Fireside wolf, but they smelled familiar. A new hope bloomed in her head, and though she tried to quell it, the feeling fastened her pace. Her life had been painfully void of things to look forward to, and just finding a friend again was enough to make her smile, something she was finding increasingly difficult with each passing day of darkness.

She stood at the border, ears swivelling around to pick up any sounds around her, and she’d call out tentatively. “Lachlan?”

Lachlan didn’t really know what to do now that Lirim was completely gone. The new leader moved everything and he’d followed his family towards Valhalla. He spent as much time with them as he could, but the western pack had always felt so stifling that he’d left as soon as he could. He felt bad, honestly, he wanted to be with his family he really did. Valhalla was just not the place for the young Valentine man.

The young explorer was out and about, learning the lands and seeing things and places that he hadn’t before. An oddly familiar yet foreign scent distracted him enough that white paws carried him closer to the borders of the unknown pack. Or mostly unknown. Lachlan was sure he’d never been here before but more than one familiar scent caught his attention. Abilene and… Before he could fully acknowledge Tyrian’s scent he heard his name on the breeze.

The blue eyed wolf looked up to find Abby standing on the borders. She looked different than the last time they’d met. The tip of her ears was gone, her leg was wrapped, and her eyes… looked cloudy? ”Abby?” He asked cautiously as he approached her. ”What happened?” She was a mess. Even more so than he was.

Her excited smile expired quickly on her face and her posture deflated noticeably. Oh. Of course he wasn’t aware of what happened to her, he hadn’t been there. And now Abby was faced with unpleasant burden of explaining. The unpleasant burden of hearing him think lesser of her once he recognised that she was useless and broken once again. Funny enough that her journey to Boreas was to avoid becoming the very thing she was now, dead weight.

“I...” words died on her lips. Couldn’t they just pretend that the swamp never existed? That what happened never did? Live in a happy fantasy where she wasn’t completely dependent on others? But her cloudy eyes and damaged limbs provided no escape from ugly truths. “A lot, all in one night.” She attempted to mask the anxiety with an air of sad acceptance. Maybe if she pretended she was okay with it all it’d hurt less.

Time to change the subject. “How have you been?”

She visibly deflated as soon as she spoke and red tinted ears fell to his ivory skull because he’d reminded her of her misfortune. He tried not to whine softly as he closed the distance between them. They’d been close before and he had no reason to think she would refuse his contact. The young Valentine went to nudge her shoulder gently in support.

Abby hesitated as he asked, but he didn’t press her as the explanation wasn’t impressive. If she wanted to tell him she would, otherwise he wasn’t going to make her anymore uncomfortable than he already had. Maybe he could distract her with his own problems. All the while the scent of Tyrian was trying to distract him. They barely knew each other, and that fact was blaringly obvious as he realized the dominant scent was his paramore from that night. Tyrian was a King and Lachlan hadn’t even realized it. It was better that way though, he would have been much too intimidated to be so vulnerable otherwise. Lachlan shoved away the little shiver that ran down his spine as his mind raced in a different direction from which he intended.

”Been better.” He started as he tried to lean against her shoulder in his silent support and… affection. He couldn’t deny that Abby was his friend, he cared about her. ”My pack is gone.” Lachlan told her quietly as he explained further. ”My family is back together for now but I don’t feel like I fit in Valhalla where they all went.” Except for Aryn, she had an adventurous streak just like he did. ”It’s weird not knowing my place in the world.”

Lachlan moved closer and she tensed intinctively at the contact, but it was nothing but a momentary surprise and she settled, sitting on her haunches. She sighed, eyes half lidded, as she'd try to rest her head on his shoulder or neck. If he was offering his support, she wasn't about to turn it down.

"Yeah, it is." She responded softly to his last statement. She'd been in relatively similar situations, but it had always been her choice. Abby had a habit of running away from her problems, but her problems had a habit of catching up. She didn't know how to deal with them any other way, no one had ever told her to confront them so she never did. A bad habit. "Maybe you could treat this like a clean slate?" Of course, it wasn't like Lachlan had moved to another continent. He still had people to care for, responsibilities. Abby only had experience with clean splits. Still, regardless of circumstance it was a large change in his life, and changes could provide advantages. "Like an opportunity to aim for something different."

Abby stiffened lightly at the unexpected contact but she was also quick to settle in beside him. With little more coaxing she lowered herself to her haunches and leaned against him. Her head rested on his neck and he put his chin over her supportively. She spoke softly in answer, but he wasn’t sure if she was talking about himself or her at first. He wasn’t sure if he was running or trying to face his own problems. His family was safe but he didn’t know his own place. He felt like he’d leapt off a cliff and now he was hanging in limbo. Lachlan felt like his purpose or destiny whatever he was searching for was right on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t quite make it out.

”Maybe you’re right.” He told her softly, ”I have nothing standing in my way, and I can do whatever it is my heart desires. But.. what is that?” He questioned as he leaned further against her, giving as much as he was taking comfort. ”What… What about you, Abby?” He didn’t want to press her too hard, but she was sweet to give him what advice she could. He wanted to do the same for her. ”Did someone do this to you?” He wasn’t usually a fighter, but he felt his hackles raise at the thought of one wolf committing so much damage.

Her head found his neck and she settled within the embrace as he did the same. She'd spent so much of her time running, and quiet moments like this were rarely untainted by restlessness. But the comfort of the familiar (though not too familiar given that this was their third interaction and second sober) drew her in and she reveled in it like she was sinking into deep waters, and this was the last time she'd be able to fill her lungs with oxygen. The last chance for simplicity.

She laughed sadly at his last question. "No one you can bite." She responded vaguely. It wasn't like she could make it any clearer, she had no idea what resided in that swamp and she frankly didn't want to know anymore. "I guess it's difficult, to find something new. Overwhelming." She said, gently unraveling herself from the hug. She tried to guess where his face would be, so she could attempt to look him in the eyes."Start with the basics. What do you like to do?"

He smiled softly as Abby leaned against him and accepted his supportive affection. Lachlan felt like he could be so much more honest with her than his family even. Had he ever uttered those words to his father or mother? What would they say if he made such confessions to his mother, father, his sister? Lachlan wondered where Aryn was and where she might end up. He had the closest connection to her, especially in their feelings of Valhalla and where their family were now.

Rust ears perked as she giggled at his words and told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn’t be able to enact any revenge on her behalf. He kind of felt a bit of relief, he wasn’t a fighter. By any means. However he knew when he needed to stand his ground, thankfully now would not be that time.

Abby pulled back lightly as she spoke more on his own problems, they seemed miniscule compared to her own, but maybe it was a good distraction for the girl. ”Hunting and providing gives me the most fulfillment, but that’s kind of hard when I’m the only one to provide for.” Lachlan chuckled lightly, he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to join another pack if it didn’t include his family. And where they were he didn’t fit. ”I suppose for now I’ll enjoy my second love, exploring.” Lach explained further but sighed softly, still back at square one.

Some problems are too big to properly address, at least not in a casual setting. Abilene’s issues were those kinds of problems. Too colossal, too overwhelming, too many layers to unravel. They seemed impossible to fix or decipher, so she was much more content in losing herself in Lachlan’s, which were easy to manage in comparison. There was something comforting in playing the therapist, it made her feel less like a complete loser.

“Well, now’s your chance to explore all four corners of the world. See the sights. Meet the people.” She said, with a hint of wistfulness. She really wanted to do that right now, and she was admittedly a bit jealous that Lachlan had the opportunity to do so. But this conversation wasn’t about her. “You don’t have to wait for anyone now, and I’m sure you’ll find people to provide for, even if they aren’t your family.”