Alone, he had come to the borderlands to practice his patrol a bit and interest waned exceptionally fast today. Everything seemed strange lately. Not only was there a bunch of snow everywhere, but he was simultaneously sad, excited, weirded-out, and even angry sometimes. As uncharacteristic as it were, this was all finally piling up and starting to get to him, or he had simply not rested well enough to not be a little crabby. Either way: everything was happening so fast and so much.

He could glance away and there would be something new to think about. Vela was attacked on their borders, his parents were preoccupied with the neighborhood and home at once, his sisters were fewer in number but even more watchful than before... and these were only the things he knew enough about to put to words. Yet here he was, wanting to one day be a proud warrior or a mighty guardian for this very spire, unable to really grasp what all of this was still--even on the cusp of his entry into the adult ranks officially.

Instead of doing anything useful for now, Jarilo sulked and picked a random spot on a random rock with enough flatness to fit him on and view to satisfy. He gave it a few testing scrapes with his paw, then curled into a pensive ball upon the surface. There, on this small, natural piece of mountainside shelving, he intended to watch the area and all who passed.. and more importantly, stew over this. Whatever this was.

He had let his head sink down to set on his paws, and there he stayed until he noticed Rannoch. Thankfully, unlike all of his shadowy family members, his approach wasn't all that difficult to miss and didn't put him on guard. Jarilo popped up his head, but his mood didn't particularly spring up with it yet. And, now that he'd heated up a little spot here on this rock, he was truthfully a bit reluctant to uncurl himself just yet since he doubted the Frostfur to come at him that intensely anyway. A proper greeting, one more fitting of how the juvenile typically took to others, just may have to wait a minute for the motivation to get all in place... or for the burly gray male to come within range.

Still, he would call out before he could get there, if he was going to. "Hey Rannoch!" he barked from his spot, and fanned back his ears when he wondered what his packmate was doing out here. Although he didn't go well out of his way to show it, he was still glad to see him and beat his tail against the stone. He had been kind of wrapped up in other stuff, so had not seen him a lot lately. It crossed his mind only briefly that maybe a piece of being out of touch like this was contributing to his Mood. It definitely wasn't helping any.

He was apparently quite easily disheartened by his lack of motivation.. usually, it was much the opposite for him after all. The taste of such a contrast didn't suit him much and to go against that, the prospect of shaking this off and away really did sound good. Jarilo fell into stride easily with Rannoch.. feeling more encouraged with two sets of eyes on these borderlands. It'd been a while since he had come down to make an easy round like this with anyone but his parents or sisters.. not since the Galaxy incident. Maybe thinking about that had him on edge too.

Since the pace they set was leisurely, the juvenile had time to take it in. Here, for a start, all seemed.. fine. To Rannoch, he nodded but stuck a squinty stare straight ahead. "Errhh," he grumbled, stepping lightly and kind of feeling bad about it. He had nothing to fuss about with a full belly and cozy bed. Sure his littermate had died but maybe she'd been doomed from the start? Jarilo and Vela weren't dead yet and still healthily here to keep learning (and pestering) so there was that to be thankful for. "I've been okay I guess, but everything does seem kind of weird.. with everything going on, I know. It's.. I dunno." The boy didn't really have the words for it. Tense? Extra hostile? Winter??

He was too young to know whether or not this was just how it was out here. Maybe this was thanks to a growing understanding, and therefore, a slightly better picture of the world. It wasn't much. But it was more than he had ever known before... at least knowing Rannoch was feeling it too did kind of make it feel a little less alien. He still could not say what it was exactly about it that bugged him, either. "It is," he agreed with a thoughtful frown and his ears folded back for a moment.

As for his patrol, the juvenile shook his head. Before everything, yes, there had been more hours spent seeing more.. then everything happening kind of put an abrupt end to that trend. "Not really much lately," he admitted. "Not as much since it's been weird, or since what happened to Ax..." Some of this was contributed to not getting to see his mother as much too and although he still lurked with the cerberus watching over him. Doing so alone these days just seemed like he was sure to invite trouble. He didn't want to

He was baited easily enough, curious about how to help. The offer to patrol with him and Terance perked his whole face, kind of hesitant at once, but easily enthralled by the notion because it was a good way to help him get out, and doing the rounds like the others.. "What, really?" he asked, not sure if he was ready to get to hang out with the boys on patrol. Shiiit. Was he good enough yet? And every morning? Jarilo nodded. "I would like that.. if I could," the young Ostrega's tail wagged at the prospect, strangely thankful of the opportunity and before he could go on any further, the something out there distracted him too.

Rannoch zeroed him in even harder in the next second. Jarilo's eyes narrowed ahead, half hopeful that he could get so lucky as to catch a glimpse already. "Yeah.. I think so," He said as he sniffed too, nose scrunching up as he realized and connected the dots. This was vaguely familiar to him, even. It was something he had a growing experience with too. "I've heard them screaming out in the meadows before," he almost-whispered, having decided to drop his voice so they could hear before going any further. "Do they usually come up to the borders?" he asked hurriedly. If so, he best get to knowing how to deal with them.

He had a lot of good inspirations as for his archetype of strong wolves, and as such, his aspirations were quite lofty. He wanted to be like them in the greatest, broadest sense he could--at least until he could imagine a clearer image for what he wanted to do and be for the pack, besides just some vague description of a protector with a pretty good eye for nature itself. It was what his family shaped him up to be, and the rest of the pack was really helping him keep up with this.

Noting everything Rannoch told him about fox tendencies, Jarilo nodded along. It all aligned with what he understood from before, although in truth, a small part of him did hope to one day catch sight of a too-desperate fox, and get to do something about it. He was simultaneously spooked and excited by the idea.. "Yes, let's.." he agreed readily, and kicked up to a little bit of a faster pace--although not by much. "Do you usually see a whole lot out on your patrols?" Alone, with Terance, or whoever else.. Jarilo was just curious to hear more on his experiences out here.

He blinked. It seemed things had changed lately. Not until recently. The boy wasn't sure what to do with that kind of information yet. Maybe it was just a fluke, not a sign. "Hm," he nodded for a show of his acceptance. As for the foxes, he still wore his best stern-face. "Can do," he said, definitely more than able to voice his issues. "Mama says they're fast," he said, assuming Rannoch would only confirm this anecdote. Obviously, he was far more interested in what Rannoch had to share on the topic, and what the path ahead had in store for them. So far, he still saw nothing. The scent drifted but his guards were up.