Hati was in a daze since leaving his mother's side that morning. Ayita had been attacked by some loner the day prior, for no explicable reason. She seemed to be in good spirits this morning, but was obviously in a great deal of pain, which was heartbreaking to see. She would be bedridden for some time, to let her bones knit back together. It was unfair for her to suffer so through no fault of her own, and Hati could not keep the guilt from weighing him down; it would have been better if he was hurt instead of her. Now he found himself wandering aimlessly through the kingdom, too afraid to return home and see his mother's broken body again, too unfocused to work at the stables, too upset to read or look for anything else. Life was confusing for the young adult; things were going wrong for him lately, first his fight with Skoll, and now his mother's injuries. It frightened him to imagine what was next. He found himself near the stream, but he had no recollection of walking that far.
It was then his dark ears perked forward, catching the sound of a faint howl. The cry was muffled, but he recognized the high pitch as Terra's voice. Pale eyes flashed with worry -- she sounded exhausted, had she been hurt as well? He realized he had not seen much of the high-ranking coyote since she had visited to show off her delightful magic tricks; something had drawn her away from their home recently. He tipped back his dark muzzle and sounded a howl in reply, his deep wolf voice carrying strongly over the trickling of the stream. If she was hurt, he could try to help her; Ayita had shown him some basic bandaging and cleaning techniques mere hours ago, and they were still fresh in his memory. He strode along the banks, trying to locate his friend, but she was nowhere in sight. He might have suspected she was trying to draw him into a playful trap, if there had not been such convincing fatigue in the timbre of her voice. "Terra, am I getting closer? It's Hati," he called, frowning as he considered howling again. Please be okay, he added silently, knowing he couldn't handle the sight of another victim.
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