he knew he was in trouble when he woke up one morning and his throat felt tight, sore, and filled with fluid. hacking, he rose to his feet, his mouth expelling a horrendously-colored glob of phlegm onto the ground. wincing in distaste--and the headache he bore--aditya kicked some dirt and frost over the repulsive sight before padding slowly away, coughing as he went.

he felt terrible. but he knew that he should take his own advice. he had told grayday that going for a walk might make him feel better; perhaps a quick stroll to the borders would warm him, clear his throat? stiff-legged and aching, aditya meandered, going at a much slower clip than usual today.

he was filled with regret soon enough. the icy wind was enough to make him want to turn tail and run back to his den at the rendezvous. feeling overwhelmed, he sat on his haunches suddenly, chest heaving as he coughed. it hurt--the action ripped his throat and burned in his lungs. a thin trail of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth, settling chilly on his chin.

aditya briefly wondered whether he should call for pema. he lifted his muzzle to howl, then lowered it: he felt too exhausted to even care. with a small whine, he laid down, resting his head on his forepaws.

easy would have been pleased to know that she did catch him unawares, his brain so foggy he didn't recognize the tell-tale vibrations of her footfalls, the soft sound of her breathing. it was only when her dark mottled form cannoned into him from above that he realized he was had, and let out a whine of surprise, a strangled sound that disintegrated into dreadful hacking.

"hhrgh-heugh--easy! hrghh," he coughed, heart hammering in his chest. he felt her playful bites on his face and neck and went to roll her off of him, but didn't have the energy. he lay helpless, coughing and sputtering, while a girl half his size pestered him.

was this hell? or was this parenting?

"hey, easy," aditya croaked, craning his neck to glare at her from the corner of his eye. "you shouldn't--hrggh-heugh--be so close. i'm s-s-s--" he turned his head in time to let out a tremendous sneeze that shook his entire body, snuffling back the excess snot. "sick."

despite the heavy sense of yuck that surrounded him like a storm cloud, aditya laughed at her grumbling, a wretched, hoarse sound. he hacked for a second or two, shaking his head as easy asked him a couple of questions.

"i told you, i'm sick," he said, his voice stuffy with fatigue and phlegm. "you shouldn't stay too near me, or else you'll get sick, too." he wondered how much the girl really knew about illness; had she seen it roll through her family before? or was this a new phenomenon for easy, something to really fear rather than simply be wary of?

"thank you, bachchi," aditya sighed, returning her nose touch with a small smile before drawing away. "i don't need help, but if you'll walk with me back to the dens. . .?" his voice trailed off in question, the unvoiced part of it being that if he were to fall again--and not rouse, this time--she would be able to call for a healer. if not pema, then raid.

she managed to rip another laugh from his throat, and he lashed his tail in mock frustration, eyes watering with mirth. "well, if you say so," aditya rumbled, giving her a friendly nudge with his shoulder. maybe at full strength, he could have bowled her over; as it was, his touch was featherlight.

they padded along in silence for a little while, before aditya spoke again. "i've got lots of stories to tell you while we're laid up," he promised in a sparkling tone, feeling better for speaking to the vibrant young girl.

perhaps it was his own childhood that he both reveled in and was leery of interactions with young wolves. he was the sole survivor of his litter, and thus hadn't had any brothers or sisters to grow up with. the wolves he had run with his whole life weren't parents, at least not when he knew them. his experience with pups was slim to none. . .but he was willing to try to improve, at least.

she spoke with some pique in her tone, and he glanced over in surprise to her, letting out a ragged cough as he opened his mouth to speak. "not meant to baby you," he rumbled. "both my family and good friends treasured stories. we'd stay up all night and exchange them, especially when we weren't feeling good."

he felt a small pang at the memories his words brought to the surface. long days and longer evenings curled around each other, murmuring the tales of their pasts. stories of bravery and humor, of love and heartbreak. each word shaping who you were and who you would become. to tell a story was to share your heart; to hear a story was to know someone else's.

aditya did have to grudgingly admit to himself that he treated easy younger than her age suggested. grayday's younger litter had grown up before his eyes, and fast, at that. and after all, hadn't he had to grow up fast, too, being alone as he was? he supposed it would be a wound to his pride if someone had tried to baby him.

"sorry, i didn't mean to offend," he added hoarsely, looking back forward again. "we can talk about whatever you like. it doesn't have to be stories."

he leaned slightly against her, grateful for the support but not wanting to bowl the girl over; he was still quite larger than she was. aditya was glad that the air between them had cleared, if only for now, and smiled, ducking his head away just in time to let out another explosive cough.

"i want to hear about you," adi responded, after he'd expelled whatever mucus had built up in his throat in the past, oh, two minutes or so. "i hardly ever see you. i want to know what sort of adventures you've been on."

there was no way easy hadn't gotten herself into some trouble in the past few moons. hell, she had been out and about since before aditya had arrived on the plateau! he realized, with a small pang, that he didn't know his sister-in-law very well at all.

the den was warm and cozy, despite the fetid smell of sickness. god, he hoped the girl wouldn't catch it! there was no stopping her, he supposed. he hoped she had a good immune system. grayday had bounced back from his own dance with the disease rather quickly, so there was genetic hope, at least.

his ears cupped forward as he listened to her story, his mouth tightening at certain places. my mom got lost. quite different from what dawn had told him about grayday's last wife, but he wasn't surprised that easy didn't know the dirtier details. or perhaps she did, and was suppressing them. his lips moved into a smile as she described her passions, seeing so much of himself at that age in her.

except easy had structure, a family to love and look after. what had aditya had at seven moons? nothing save wanderlust, an urge to keep moving.

"you'll make a good ranger," he said hoarsely, nodding as she finished. "god knows it's a big world; we need good scouts to map it. especially if we move again, which your father has mentioned before." he pondered her question for a long moment, eyes growing blank as he thought back through the many years. so many experiences, yet they all seemed to muddle together like leaves in the fall, colors upon colors. vivid and drab all together.

"i was a few moons younger than you are now," aditya murmured, his voice quiet even in the silence of the den. "my mother. . .got lost, too, and my uncle looked after me for a while, but then he left. . .so i was alone." he shrugged, even that tiny movement causing him to wince with pain. his head felt like it was splitting apart. "aggh. i got bored with the den we were staying in, so one day i walked out and away, and didn't go back.

"i wandered up and down the sea for years, staying with bands of wolves for short periods of time, making a lot of friends and getting into trouble. i was a wanderer, then. . .i wasn't a ranger or a scout, really, until i came here."

he was drifting slowly into sleep, his own eyelids fluttering, but her words kept him at least somewhat anchored to reality, and he smiled, looking at her from the corner of his eye. "i'm very glad, too," aditya murmured. "my mother said that everything is fated to happen--even her leaving me. so i was meant to come here. . .and to stay."

stayed he had. spring was just around the corner, and aditya still resided within morningside's borders. even though he had come here with the idea of resting and recuperating from his adventure with the sea, thinking he'd leave in a couple of moons. he supposed he had dawn to thank. . .but he often wondered if he would have remained here, regardless of her love.

he liked to think he would have.

"have i told you about the great beach race?" aditya asked blearily. without waiting for a response, he forged on, yawning intermittently throughout. "well, every summer, the fastest wolves in all the land gather on the southern coast, on this huge white beach, for a race. whoever wins the race gets the prize--usually a big kill they could take home to their family--and, of course, bragging rights. well, one summer, my friend nando. . ."

and it was good, in that den, the two siblings by marriage, their voices gentle music in the dim light.