The brute stood at the edge of the river, mist on his snout and chest, rippling water wetting his paw pads. He breathed out of his nose loudly, almost a snort, more of an exhausted sigh. He'd been walking around for days, searching for small prey, and any signs of his family. But instead, he found a 'stupid' river as he thought of it.

"This is it," he whined, "I'm dying here!"

He sat down, staring at the rapidly coursing water. He knew there were fish here, somewhere. And he knew that somewhere, a deer was waiting for his leave to get themselves water. But that didn't matter at the moment. No hunger could combat the delirious sense of loneliness in his whole body. A low whine whistled from his nostrils, Nokori began to whine open mouthed to his paws, to the river, to the sky.

"Mom? Dad? Otome, Seion......Bukimina?" He called out hopelessly, realizing the likelihood of a response coming to him was slim.

He stood, and turned, head low and lolling, large paws stubbornly slapping the moist terrain. He surpassed the tree line and stopped walking among a group of blossoming dogwood trees. As long as he was going to mope, he would do it somewhere pleasant.

I just don't understand why I can't find them, it's like I forget my own family's scent. He was troubled, indeed. It was no use in trying to find them for the time being, considering he'd been searching for the healthier part of year and a half.

Around October, Nokori can't remember, he recollects one hunting trip with his whole family pack, Musei no Umi, where they were in a surplus period of rabbit. Between all 6 of them, they each had three or four kills. Not that Nokori was much of a hunter, it was always his sisters, Otome and Seion who excelled at hunting for the family. Nokori and his brother Bukimina on the other hand, not so much. Bukimina always fought with his father and Nokori, attempting to grow stronger and one day surpass his father and become their Alpha.

"Buki," as they called him, had a 'Grand Plan' to pick up lone female wolves and strong brutes from other packs to create a legacy.. Not too successful, Buki was much too selfish of a leader and not a very kind guy anyway. Nokori always found more interest in communication, and dabbled with healing. He never won a fight against Buki, which is why he cowered so much in his presence.

"I need to join a pack, this isn't healthy, sitting around for months on end trying to find wolves that probably cease to exist!" Nokori croaked aloud. He lay beneath a Dogwood, aiming to find some solace in a nap...

Nokori's vermilion colored eyes flipped back and forth between the two wolves; he scanned the scene carefully. Now in the presence of an Alpha, he made himself look more comfortable, not so freaked out. He waited a very long time before he spoke, willing his stutter to bid him goodbye for the time being.

"My name is Nokori...I am, was in M-Musei no Umi...my family pack. I...I've lost them, about a...a year ago. S-sitri told me I was close to your territ-t-tory, I don't mean to be..." he managed to say with some confidence.

Though he was able to speak, he was still in shock, no moving a muscle other than his lips and eyelids. His claws had sunk noticeably into the soft dirt he stood on, as well as his paws. Nokori breathed quietly, but was obviously shuttering.

To once again be in the presence of wolves was something nearly foreign to him. He didn't know how to behave anymore. Not to mention that he couldn't smell them very well. Even when the female brushed upside the male, no burst of smell, no smell at all really.

It worried him, over the year it had done nothing but gotten worse, he wondered if it was something to do with his family disappearing. That, and the fact that he had no familiarity with the land here, nor did he know the names of places he'd been roaming.

"I assume this is the part you tell me to leave...ban me off y-your land."