ooc: Suddenly I have a lot of threads to reply to. ^^; aww, so sad!
I've got soul but I'm not a soldier
It had been a sleepless night for him - not uncommon, since he had difficulty sleeping with a schedule, but it left him feeling restless nonetheless. Slay decided to make a run of the borders, since he hadn't wandered in a little while. The day at the beach, the fright with Ril'o, had mostly left his thoughts, now that he knew the youth would be okay. He still wondered why Hanna had been so close, though. Her cabin was further down the beach than they had been - he doubted even his foghorn of a howl could carry into the unclaimed lands. Had she been coming to visit? He had forgotten to ask.
With these musings on his mind, he circled the snow-white fields, watching the pawprint trails of others crossing about. There was the occasional visitor that crossed their borders, and the surprising influx of wolves that had swelled their ranks to the point that Cercelee had forbidden any new joiners, a rare stipulation for the hospitable wolf... his new mate. The thought brought a smile to his face, although things weren't perfect in paradise. With all the new members and the drama they were stirring up between each other, Slay hadn't seen much of his mischievous partner in the past few days. Before, her absences and his laziness hadn't mattered; now he was painfully aware of when they were apart, and how lonely it was.
The arctic wolf approached the decrepit cemetery, his old haunt. The familiar form of the statue was dusted with snow and a few icicles. The last time he had seen the benevolent stone lady had been right after the big argument, when he met up with Hanna. The memory was a pleasant one, since he hadn't realized how much their thoughts ran in common. A second and third time since then their paths had crossed again, but he wasn't expecting the fourth that was about to unfold.
As he passed the first few tombstones, he heard the howl, startlingly close. Still drowsy from his all-nighter, he hadn't been paying much attention to the scents around him, to realize that he was not alone. "...Hanna, is that you under there?" he called, a worried smile on his whiskery muzzle. The bear pelt hid most of her black fur, but he heard the sadness in her cry. "What brings you here?"
