Altar of Twilight valacirca

The change in expression had been mimicked, but for another reason. Seeing a troubled look upon Aesop's face had led him to wonder if he'd overstepped, or had asked something that was meant to be kept quiet. He had not felt bad for asking, though, his curiosity making him incapable of feeling such. A search for the other had been carried out, a trip to the sea having even been taken. Yet, the only news he'd ever received was that the older wolf's whereabouts were unknown. It had pained him to learn that a friend was gone, perhaps more so than it should have for someone he believed himself to view as only a friend. What had been worse, though, was when his mind had been invaded back then by thoughts like What if he's dead? or What if he never comes back? Obviously, the former had been disproved, but the latter was still something he wondered. Would he stay?

An answer came and the foreigner listened, noting the smile, though only a partial one had returned to his own face. "Why'd you leave?" he'd asked towards the end. "I looked for you, but no one knew where you'd gone." Who was it he'd met? Floki. The name was distinct enough that he'd remembered it, but whether or not he'd be able to pick the other boy out of a crowd was up for discussion. "Are you sure?" was his next question, presented in regards to the other's notion of settling down. "Can you give up traveling that easily?" It wasn't so much that Alastor had expected him to stay within the Wilds forever, it was more that he'd expected a goodbye, at the very least, before leaving. Yet, there'd been no word sent to him back then. He'd been left to wonder, for his mind to form thoughts and ideas, some being pleasant while most were not.

Towards him, a query had been directed, then. Alastor had paused, thinking his answer over prior to answering. "I just returned to this land," revealed the boy. "My brother was taken from his home just as I had been, and he'd somehow found me after having settled a far ways off from here. I went with him, since I didn't really have anything holding me here at the time." The wolves of Silvertip had been great, but he'd never been able to truly accept them as his family like he'd done with the Bypass. They hadn't been enough to keep him grounded, and so leaving—while difficult at the time—hadn't weighed too heavily on his mind after the fact.