you're good!
with the situation in the maplewood more or less squared away, aditya felt slightly more at ease, but tension still prickled at his spine with every step he took. dawn's howl in the distance did not alleviate it in the slightest; it grew even more, 'til he was taut as a rope stretched to its limits. a hangman's noose, around his neck. he was strangled, suddenly, and swallowed the bile that threatened to choke him as he trotted over the rise, dawn coming into view.
"well, that was, uhm. . ." he trailed off, unable to find adequate words. "not good," he concluded lamely, winning the prize of the week for understatement. he shifted awkwardly on his large paws, shifting his gaze between dawn and the border, the border and dawn--but never definitively resting on either. his mind was in a million places at once, his focus scattered to the wind.
"i've not scented them before," adi murmured, looking toward the maplewood. "their faces are unfamiliar. they're new. and that male has a mind that doesn't forget," he added, mouth quirking worriedly as he finally met dawn's eyes, or at least tried to, face grave.
"perhaps not all of them, but that male. . ." he trailed off, mouth quirking in a frown as he thought of the brute's tone. aditya, prone to snap judgments himself, was hypocritically disgruntled by others judging him similarly, and to be labeled as callous, heartless, insensitive was a slight he could barely bear. he let out a frustrated breath in a snort, shaking his head.
"i think you're right. we've always been fond of the place." his heart lifted somewhat at the thought of spending the hottest part of the summer in the shade of the maplewood, a forest he'd come to love. it would solidify their rights to the hunting there, and the plains were much bigger--they'd have less territory to worry about protecting, and dawnlark was more easily shared between packs.
leaving that be for now, he moved on to the more pressing matter at hand. "we need to find the boy," he said shortly, stomach clenching in worry. "i'll go, unless you want me to stay and look after things at home, like we planned with pema."
few more words were exchanged until the more pressing matter at hand arose; in her pacing, she had been searching too for a scent trail which would mean the boy hadn't been a total idiot and ran off; her hopes, it seemed, were in vain. her tail twitched in barely contained frustration, auds flickering toward the borderline. "Sunny did the same - ran off, and joined Easthollow. D- Grayday was devastated, but too injured to chase after him." He would surely have felt the same now; she wondered, had he been here, would River run off in the first place.
gaze flickered back to him, settling on his then drifting away like a nervous bird. "you go. you're better with them than me." she did not understand them; of her father's first litter she'd grown closest to Easy. she doubted that she would be able to do the same with the boy that reminded her sharply of Sunny, who'd been insufferable until he'd become a yearling. her maturity, had she had it then, may have had things turn out differently. "I'm capable of leading alone for a while - he can't have gone far." he seemed too small to leave the general area, and Aditya was a good tracker.
he pursed his lips, silently amused by the parallels between sunny and river. both sweet, but with a reckless streak--a bolt of lightning in a sweet summer rainstorm. perhaps he wondered the same--would this have happened, had grayday been here? for a moment, aditya felt wholly incompetent, a sham of a father. he was no substitute for the late leader, and it showed. he couldn't even keep his children in line.
but he brushed the bad feelings aside, trying to focus strictly on the task at hand. "right, then, i'll go and search for him," adi agreed, looking out toward the border. his face was set in an anxious frown. "i just worry about him running into the pale wolves. i don't think they'd hurt a child, but. . ."
but the dark look over the burly male's face was reason enough not to trust them. maybe when tensions had settled, and bad blood had cooled, they would be able to curry favor with the pack whenever they settled in their permanent home. for now, though, they were enemies, no matter how innocent the intentions were on either side.
he nodded, ready to spring off right away, only to pause at her apology. it was. . .hollow-sounding and succinct, but part of him knew it was sincere. aditya swallowed, taking a breath, and was about to say something in acceptance when she turned and began to walk off at a fast clip. the words in his throat died, unsaid.
adi watched her go, a muddle of emotions warring for dominance at the forefront of his mind. finally, they were all dashed to pieces at the remembrance of river's disappearance, and he crossed the border, nose lifted for any signs of the boy. hopefully, this would not take more than a day or two. he just hoped the story ended better for river than it had for. . .
a shudder ran through him as he remembered the tale of burr, and he broke into a lope, panic swelling in his chest.