Taikon had returned from checking the northern regions of Aphrodite. There was no trail to follow, and no person he'd run into had seen her. He was beginning to fear the worst, although he knew that if she had been taken captive by the Saints or even killed, they would likely have heard about it by then. Messengers did take a while to move, so the thought was still lingering when he woke that day.
Like every day since her disappearance, Taikon ventured toward the den to check for the healer's return. It had been long enough that his heart knew she wouldn't be there, but that didn't stop his stomach from feeling heavy with anxiety as he approached.
When he saw movement, he gasped, but the scent didn't match. He saw Juniper's small form as he poked his head in. Juniper, he said, breathing out an exasperated sigh. I thought you were her for a minute, scrub, he put on a small smile for her. The white male imagined that the little apprentice was probably taking this as hard as everyone else.

Juniper's usual firecracker self had been diffused by the visit to the healer's den. She was clearly disappointed by Aphrodite's absence. He realized that the youngster had been helping to tidy the herbal cache that had been left behind. As Juniper asked him a very loaded question, he stood there for a minute. He didn't know who most of these people were that she had mentioned, but it was obvious that this was not the first time she had been let down. Surya, Taikon knew, had been an important figure to Aphrodite as well, though he had never met him.
I don't know, he said when she asked why they couldn't stay. At her next question, he looked into her large, brown eyes, and sighed. He laid down in front of the den entrance to prevent straining his neck.
For you, scrub, always, he said, though even he wasn't convinced it was true. I just got here, anyway. Where would I go? The implication of course was that all of the people in Juniper's life had left voluntarily. He had a strong feeling thing was not the case at all.