Blacktail Deer Plateau o father (in law) where art thou

backdated to yesterday evening if that's ok @Grayday

life had come full circle. only a few moons ago did he wake up on that beach, soaked through to the bone and limp as a dead fish. he had thought then that it might have been better to die on the isle. he had--so many times in life, but especially then--thought it would be better to die than to carry on.

now, all that had changed. aditya had never been fatalistic nor suicidal, but he had never really had a reason to live before he came here. he had a family of sorts, now, which included a mate, her father and siblings, and some wonderful friends. there was good hunting on the plateau, and the world was big enough to never tire of exploring and it seemed as though it grew every day.

aditya had always been a happy wolf, but lately, the happiness threatened to burst through him at every seam.

he sat one early evening by the catfish pond, occasionally testing his luck with the fishing but otherwise standing as sentry, looking up at their natural border--the impenetrable wall--to the northwest, while lost in these thoughts. he was alert, ready to defend the territory if need be. . .but for the first time in his life, the alertness came from a sense of duty rather than the blind desire to survive.