Having found no trace of her uncle or her sister near the river, Junior now wandered the sprawling plains between the Sunspire Mountains and Great Bear Wilderness. She used her nose primarily, though occasionally she stopped to call their names or even howl. So far: zip, zilch, nada.
She knew she shouldn't be worrying about it, yet Junior couldn't help but fret that all this exercise would make her look even bonier. She took the time to make a pit stop and scrounge up some food. Luck was on her side, at least. The young she-wolf managed to catch an overly confident squirrel, which was a decently satisfying meal.
Licking the blood from her chops, she peered into the distance, wondering which direction she should head next.
The young brute was quick on his feet as he chased after a rabbit. Though he'd been going after it for longer than he desired, his smile didn't drop from his face and he continued after it. The rabbit managed to slip past him each time Kove got close, but it would stop a small distance away as if to taunt him. This was just a game to the rabbit, but Kove was more than happy to play. He readied himself to jump once again, then launched into the air. His prey tried once again to bolt, but this time it wasn't quick enough. Before it could move, Kove had securely locked his jaws around the creatures neck, biting down hard to kill it quick.
A howl cut through the air and the playful male's ears perked. Deciding to investigate, he began trotting in the direction it had come from, the rabbit hanging loosely from his maw. Eventually, Kove had spotted the one who had produced the howl. His paws carried him forward, all acts of caution slipping his mind. When he was within speaking distance, he dropped the rabbit at his feet to speak.
"Good evening," Kove said. "Are you searching for someone? Or perhaps something? I heard you howl." A smile lit up his features as he sat down, eagerly awaiting the response of the stranger.
When she heard footfalls approaching, Junior perked to attention, wondering if it was Atticus or Tytonidae responding to her summoning howl. A stranger appeared, however, a rabbit dangling in his mouth. Having just eaten, Junior wasn't the least interested in the meat. Disappointment curdled sourly in her stomach as she eyeballed the totally unfamiliar wolf.
Perhaps he could help, though. "I am," she answered promptly. "I'm looking for Atticus and Tytonidae. They're not necessarily together. The former's a big black male wolf with bright blue eyes. The latter is a dusty female wolf with green eyes. She's my age." She stopped, anxiously trying to read his face, wondering if either of them sounded familiar to him.
Kove tilted his head slightly, trying to remember if he had seen the wolves described by the female. Drawing a blank, he gave her a sad smile.
"I'm sorry to say it, but no," he answered. "I haven't seen any other wolves matching their descriptions."
The light-coated wolf looked at the female, an idea entering his mind. His sad smile faded and was replaced with one of joy, while his tail thumped the ground slowly.
"If you need help finding them, I can help," he stated.
She frowned. His response was unsurprising but discouraging. As before, however, she swallowed the disappointment and seized upon a more hopeful opportunity when it presented itself in an offer to help in the search.
"Yes, I'd love some help. My name's Junior, by the way. What's yours? Atticus is my uncle and Ty's my sister," she explained. "We live at the plateau," she added, even if lived might be a more appropriate word, given the circumstances.
"My name is Kove," he said. "It must be hard not knowing where your family members are..."
His tail seized it's movements at the thought of his own family, or rather his adoptive family, and their whereabouts. Kove knew he wouldn't see his siblings though. They had all agreed to travel their separate ways long ago. He had at least had some sort of closure, a sort of knowledge of his family and where they were going. Imagining what this she-wolf, who he had assumed had not had the pleasure of parting from her family willingly, was going through was something he was unable to do.
"I'm not quite sure where the plateau is, or even where we are now," he admitted, hoping that it wouldn't change her response to his offer to help. "But I do know that we will find them. When someone is searching, they eventually find what, or who, they're looking for when the time is right." His tail wagged again slightly as he spoke.
"Well," she answered, "it wouldn't be hard if the circumstances were better. My uncle has a head injury and he just vanished out of nowhere, so that's unsettling. And Ty..." Junior hesitated. "She ran off after an emotional outburst. No one knows where she might have gone or if she plans on coming back. If they'd said something and told us their plans, it would be a totally different situation, you know?"
"The plateau's right over there," Junior said, motioning toward the mountains. "These are the flatlands. They have a name, I just forget it. Are you from a pack around here somewhere?"
"That's terrible..." Kove responded. Both her relatives could be anywhere, her uncle could not even know where he is if his head injury is severe. "Hopefully we can find them soon."
The brute knew it to be foolish of him to go places without knowing the area, and he was glad that the she-wolf hadn't pointed that out. He nodded his head to show that he had heard her tell him where they were at, but paused at her following question. While he knew not every pack wolf got along with lone wolves so well, he was positive that lying to her wouldn't be right.
"No," he stated simply. "I'm not from a pack around here, or any pack, actually."
He caught himself telling a small lie. Kove had been born into a small pack quite a distance away from this land, but the story of what happened to it, and him, was not something he had the desire to share.
His lone wolf status didn't perturb her in the least. Junior was only six months old but had technically been a part of three packs in her day and had been a loner for some stretches of time in there as well. On that note, she was an Outrider and she couldn't overlook the opportunity to recruit.
"Maybe you should consider joining us at the plateau. We have two empty spaces to fill, after all," she quipped dryly, trying to keep it light. "Too soon?" she thought aloud to herself.
"Come on," she invited Kove the next moment. "Since you're not familiar with their scents, you can't help much in tracking. But if you'll help me call for them... and once we part, if you could ask around..." Junior began to trot again, hoping to cover more ground with Kove by her side.
"Much too soon," Kove stated, though his voice stayed light. "Your family will be found, and those two spots filled once more."
An overly confident grin grew on the brute's face, causing his tongue to loll out the side of his mouth. He quickly drew in back in and followed beside Junior.
"I'll help to call for them each until my throat grow sores," he said, moving beside the she-wolf at a moderate pace. "And even then, I'll call until they're found."
Though Kove had not relations to the wolves they searched for, he felt for Junior and would stop at nothing until her family members were found. At her next span of words, the silvery brute gave a nod of his head. Kove was sure at someone would of had to have spotted the two wolves, even if they had tried to conceal themselves.
I'ma fade this to black. :)
"Thank-you so much, Kove," Junior said, wondering why this stranger was being so helpful. What did he get out of this? Was he just bored? The youth didn't bother wondering for long. There was no time and no need to question her companion's motives.
She said nothing more to him, instead switching over to calling her uncle's and sister's names repeatedly. Her throat grew raw, her voice hoarse, and yet she continued calling. Junior also attempted to track them, though all of it was for naught. Even with Kove's benevolent assistance, she would come up empty-handed for all of her effort.