Northstar Vale ii. rescue

He heard the call, but scarcely believed it at first; Alarian was frozen for several beats before he could find the will to move. When he did, it was immediately painful. The boy shifted to his feet, ignoring the intense burning in his healing wounds— Lanawyn had come for him, and he would not leave her waiting for long.
The Governor quickly found that moving fast was pretty much impossible. He managed a steady pace, though, eventually picking up on Delight's scent— fresh. Oh, hell, of course he was going to see what was up. Ali tried only once to take a more rapid step forward; that was a bad idea. Tears stung his eyes and he paused, unable to hold in a sigh. This kind of sucked— screw Runion and his apparent Oedipus complex, anyway.
Alarian tucked that thought away for later. It spurred him to action once again, though, and this time he didn't pause; he arrived after Delight, just far enough behind to have missed his words. Lanawyn! He called, limping past the other boy a bit more hurriedly. For the moment, he almost forgot his wounds, tail wagging behind him. Few words came to mind— wasn't it all self-explanatory?
He slowed when he came nearer to her, but did not move to touch her. Instead, he lowered himself to the ground directly in front of her, ears pinned back and tail still swishing. I'm sorry, Ali murmured, quiet so only she could hear him. I meant to come back, but— something happened. Something you need to know about. He remembered Delight, then, and cast him a slightly apologetic glance.
Oh, um— Delight, this is my sister.