The rain was incessant.

Down the water fell, washing away parts of the land. Causing the water to rise in streams and rivers. Minori was alert....and grateful to Hua for bringing them to safety. Her children were instructed not to wander too much until the rain slowed, Takara was told to keep an eye out for them because children rarely listened perfectly. Minori patrolled and hunted, resuming her duties and keeping an eye on the two combined packs as was her job. Through the bent bows of the evergreen she caught a glimpse of piebald and froze immediately switching her path to follow, body pressing between trees of the closest range as she tracked the trespasser from behind. When she got too close she paused and let him slip ahead, eyes wide with a wild edge as she caught the slightest whiff of his musk through the rain and was struck dumb by memory.

It was storming. Lightning illuminating the world outside their den. Their parents were away, Minori was left to run the pack and tend to her little brother. Tadashi was curled into her hip shivering and she turned pressing her head over him telling a tale about how the thunder and lightning were the powerful displays from their ancestors to remind them they still lived and that they didn't mean to be scary or sometimes cause the fires that happened when a tree was struck. It wasn't the best comfort in the world but he'd seemed to understand and she'd gotten him to sleep while she remained awake through the night, alert and on guard despite the allure of sleep. 

"You're trespassing" the words came out choked. If it was him he'd understand. Her ears pressed back to her head breath frozen in her lungs, the rain soaking her fur as it streamed down even through the evergreen. This male was so much bigger than the yearling she'd been torn away from but the markings...Tadashi had been the one blessed with the beautiful splotches of white, so much smaller and fainter as a youth but she supposed it could be.