The snow had fallen long ago and yet Az still had refused to come home. What he'd done to Hana - what she'd made him do - had frustrated him, made him hate himself. He'd hated himself enough to waltz into Aerie and nearly Fireside too after he was defeated there, and he likely would have continued on to every pack in Boreas until someone finally broke and killed him for it, at least until he'd heard whispers on the wind of Venom and her pending marriage. He couldn't die until he'd heard it from her and knew it was true, though he couldn't bring himself to move any closer to the lands of Ashen or the Armada. The weeping woods had always been like a second home to him - a place he'd learned to hunt as a child, yelled frustrations into the trees, trained his companions, had deep conversations with Asla. It was fitting that this was the place his paws would take him when he was uncertain about his place in the world. He'd hurt Hana, he'd abandoned Venom and the promise he'd made to her. The Armada likely hadn't missed him, but he didn't miss it much either. Finding friends was rare for the yearling and it was even rarer that he'd find friends in his subordinates in the pack. Unable to move further toward the border, he simply found comfort in the familiar trees and lay with his head upon his paws, peeking through the foliage towards the Tall Grass Plains. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

Hanako spent most of her time zigzagging back and forth across the south-east, not wanting to linger in one spot too long just in cause Sirius caught wind of her. It wasn't as if she'd done anything wrong just yet but she worried he'd sense her discontent, that he'd somehow be able to know she was feeling a pull to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. And then there was the whole thing with Mortis, another mess splatted firmly at her paws. It wasn't as if she'd set out with the intention of ruining every friendship she'd had, she just didn't understand why he was clinging onto her so tight when he had Hikaru. Someone who meshed him with so much better than she could ever dream of. Hanako was clearly an outlier, she didn't belong anywhere with anyone.

Toshi on the other paw seemed pretty insistent on toddling back to the Armada, no doubt wanting to sleep in the comforts of her long disused den. Hanako had told him time and time again, even Ruri had tried to honk an explanation but he was having none of it. And so Hanako found herself in the Willows once more, too close to what used to be home for comfort.

"Get back here." She hissed, stomping along as she tried to overtake the little tanuki. For all his winter fluff and pudge he still managed to be quite swift on his paws. She stood in his way, shoulders stiff and tail flicking in displeasure. But Toshi just passed through her legs and kept on plodding, he was in one of his stubborn moods and nothing Hanako said stuck. Well...whatever. "Fine, leave me. Everyone does. See what I care!" She huffed with a pout, slapping the ground with a fiery paw for emphasis.

She watched him go, only for the tanuki to stop dead in his tracks as he passed a certain tree. As though struck by lighting he arched up, his fur going all poofy as he let out a displeased hissy-bark. Hanako's eyebrows shot up in surprise as she shot Ruri a questioning look, the magpie looked just as confused. Bork bork bork! What was his problem? He rarely got worked up over anything, least of all enough to put him off the idea of heading home to nap. Hanako peeked around the corner, Ruri now perching on the line of her back, curious to see what had gotten the racoon dog all prickly.