Noctisardor Bypass poetry, strawberries, strawberries, strawberries, strawberries, strawberry yogurt

There had been too much chaos for him to notice Cicero's absence when the pack was run out of its territory, but Euron was aware of it now and it made him more anxious each day that the patchwork male did not show up. Cicero was not just his mentor and father, he had become one of his pillars, and Euron needed his pillars now more than ever.

"I am going back." He declared as he came upon @Ramsay. "Cicero is not here. I need... we need... to go and find him. Where is @Maegi?" Euron cast his eyes around them both. He could not see his pale coated sister, but the trio had not strayed too far from each other since the war. "Maegi!" He called out to her, wincing as he was lanced by pain in his temple. His headache had subsided but it remained a dull and almost forgettable ache if not for these occasional stabbing reminders that it was still there.

It was too bright out here. Too bright, and too cold. Maegi had gotten used to the darkness of Blackfeather Woods, the relatively comfortable winter temperature the thick foliage provided. But out here. . .she was exposed. She felt as if her skin had been stripped away, leaving bone and muscle bare to the grueling sun.

She hated it.

She was hunkering down in whatever shadows she could find, diligently practicing her Daedric, when Euron's call rang out, sounding desperate and perhaps a bit pained and asking for her. With a small groan, she rose to her feet, and hobbled over to where her brother's holler had sounded from. Her bicolored eyes were tired, sunk deep into her narrow face with a haunted look much older than her four moons, and her snowy pelt was disheveled and unkempt.

"Hi," Maegi said flatly, coming across both Euron and Ramsay a little ways from where she had been resting. Her gaze was dull, almost listless, as she stared at Euron, wondering why he had summoned her. "What is it?" She hoped it was important enough to draw her from the peace and quiet of the dark glade.

Noctisardor Bypass was as unlike Blackfeather Woods as a location could be. Where the dark woods were comprised of small hills and thick tangles of foliage, the bypass was sprawling and sparsely wooded, but the hills rose high and fell far. It proved arduous terrain for the forest-born dwarf, who not only had to contend with the roiling temperament of the earth, but with the challenges it provided his squat body as well. As for exposure, Ramsay hardly noticed the sun on his rounded back. It was much brighter in the bypass, but he didn't think that was a bad thing. It was a nice change of pace, and it bizarrely made him think of Indra.

The boy had been troubled ever since the fight between Iliksis and Vaati without an adequate outlet for it, so it was a relief when Euron ran into him by chance. "Did you hear?" he asked his brother with a frown, but Euron was too quick to share his own news for that topic to go far. Ramsay's rounded ears flared upright when Cicero's name came up, and he indicated more with a flash of his eyes than anything that he was in agreement. There hadn't been any mention of Cicero among the adults, at least not that he'd overheard. Coupled with the jarring understanding that his elder brother was consumed with egomania, it didn't surprise him. It did bother him, almost as much as Vaati's change did. For Ramsay, Cicero was an important figure, and if the pack wasn't willing to look for him, then his offspring would pick up their slack.

"Dunno," he answered honestly. Their sister kept to herself or Kove more and more with each passing day, and the dwarf didn't concern himself as much with it. Maegi was still one of his two supports, but he knew he could count on her to always be there even without seeing her every day. Still, he smiled warmly and his short tail wriggled when she presented herself, even though her tone came across as less-than-enthused, and he shared that they were, "going to find Cicero. Coming?"

Maegi was not far, as he had expected. He greeted her with a small smile and a wag that slowed and stilled as he noticed the despondent and weary expression she wore, and heard the toneless character of her words. Euron had already made up his mind that he was going back for Cicero; seeing the effects these circumstances had on his siblings only convinced him more.

"You look bad." He said to Maegi as his ears splayed to the sides. There was concern writ in the furrows of his brow. Of all of them she seemed to have taken the war and their exile the worst.

Ramsay informed her of their intentions and Euron nodded affirmatively. "Yup. Come on." For him it was not a question. He could not fathom the three of them splitting on such an important matter, and so without a second thought the patchwork pup turned and started heading south, back toward the dark woods that nursed them.

The exchange was incredibly brief. Euron commented on Maegi's appearance and she seemed disgruntled about it, but by then Ramsay was looking elsewhere. The sky overhead was clear, bright, and cold. They had a long journey ahead of them, if the walk from Blackfeather Woods to here was anything to judge by, but he felt certain they would find Cicero along the way. The possibility that they would fail didn't cross his mind.

Euron commanded Maegi to come. With much reluctance, which Ramsay thought was uncharacteristic and he considered it with a frown, she came along. Perhaps she was growing distant from them on purpose. Ramsay didn't spend a lot of time with Maegi anymore, but he hadn't considered that that might be her wish rather than the consequence of growing up. Feeling mildly self conscious, he fell in at the rear of their little troupe, though eventually he would take the lead on following the Blackfeather pack's trail back to the woods with an impeccable tracking nose that hadn't seen much use before now.

Skipping Maegi per Emily's request!