Blacktail Deer Plateau I am no upstart demon, scrabbling in the dirt of the soul.

He felt better once he was moving. Better because he needed to act and because Nieve was with him, fixing his moodiness by giving him a task to focus on and the company of someone much loved to dwarf the alienation that had recently begun to distill inside of him.

Of course he fully believed his mother was one of the most capable wolves of the coast; he wanted to trust in that so desperately that he remained quiet as Nieve spoke her piece, letting the sentinent bolster his faith and wear down some of the doubts and fears nagging at him. Still, he could not help thinking that Rosalyn's absence was his fault; if he had kept better guard of his siblings then Clementine would never have wandered so far, mother would not be out hunting for her.

He broke his silence to say, The ocean is insane right now. That's what frightens me. And he shot his sister a bare look of worry which he swiftly hid, unwilling to be weak for long, even in her company. But it was a small window he offered to her - something few managed to see.