His mind was buzzing for what felt like the hundredth day in a row. Taikon didn't know how much more of it he could take. Firefly Glen and what he assumed was the rest of the mountain were a disaster. Luna was probably dead. It was all a mess.
Their woods remained untouched, which no doubt Rowan would use to prove that his insane religion was what had caused this. What a ridiculous fantasy.
Taikon was out laying beside the stream, not bothering to do anything at all that day. It took all of his strength to bother eating after what he and @Takiyok had found at the glen. Life felt pointless.
When Puffin found him there, he lifted his head and blinked calmly. Hey, he greeted half-heartedly, and promptly placed his head back on his paws. He had assumed he'd freaked her out somehow the other day, but didn't feel like he needed to apologize. What's up? The question was directed at her, though he was staring at the water.

Don't worry about it, he said calmly. Puffin followed immediately with asking how he was doing, and Taikon just shook his head. Not really, he admitted. Tension in his legs fought him as he stretched his front paws out for a moment and rose to a seated position.
He regarded her passively. The orange on her front blazed as it had before, and she altogether looked the same as she had the day of the star strike. Obviously, she didn't have friends out that way. I went to where the flash was with Taki. It's a mess, he explained, though that was only the half of it. So far he didn't feel like he had done anything of use within the Ivory. Other than dragging in a few lost souls, he had also run off the dog, which though he still thought was a good thing, he knew others didn't see it that way. Taikon licked his mouth anxiously.
And you?

As Puffin described not knowing how to feel about their woods, Taikon frowned, looking back toward the stream. He recalled Eldritch and the way she had seemed so flighty, like she was going to leave at any moment. Then she did. This hardly offended Taikon, but he worried at times about keeping a loyal base.
Taikon's sole priority was ensuring that those who needed the shelter of the pack would be kept safe. In particular, Takiyok and what he hoped were their future young. Zephyr, too, needed the safety of the woods to be maintained by people more physically capable than Taikon himself. Puffin, being fearful and unsure, was not someone that the prince trusted to stick around when shit got tough.
I get that, he offered knowingly. It will only be a home if we can all make it one, I suppose. He felt bound to the forest because Rowan had probably saved his life. Though he worried that the boy leader would not do well in the long run, and that the pack might become more cultish than it already was, he was not going to abandon this place. I could do without these black noisemakers, though. He hazarded a small grin, looking toward her again to see her reaction to his joke.

Maybe it was her softness. Maybe it was her demeanour. Or, maybe it was just because Puffin was the first person to tell him "yeah, I'm not into that either." Whatever it was, she softened him, and he liked her instantly. Me neither, Taikon chuckled, shaking his head at the absurdity.
A while ago, I met a boy out on the other side of the mountains in Seelie Court, he explained, knowing based on talking to others that it was unlikely she knew of their whereabouts. He had this big crow that just sat on him all the time. It was the strangest thing, he raised his brows, grinning at the very idea. He knew that there were many who believes crows and ravens were sacred little beasts, or that they were harbingers or death, or that they were rare delicacies. To him, they were hardly more than pests most of the time. The ones in their woods in particular had never seemed to calm down while he was present, despite his apathy.
A woman here used to do the same, he made a face. Said woman had left not long ago. Good riddance.

"What can a crow offer a wolf?"
Taikon shrugged, grinning sideways with a funny little expression like he'd done something sneaky. He knew very well that the ravens had their uses with hunting. Crows, though, he considered insects among birds in comparison. They were annoying, with calls that were shrill and frequent and didn't seem to adhere to the rules of time. He had never understood why there were those among wolves that enjoyed the close company of feathered beasts. He found the animals unnerving in general, and rarely useful. Definitely, he concurred with a small smile.
What? Puffin is a bird? he asked and once again held his attention firmly on her. She was a strange-looking woman, he knew, but to compare her to a bird seemed rather absurd. There was that strange colour on her chest, a flame-like fur he had never seen before on one of their own.
A flash of the dog he had accidentally forced away came to him. He shoved it down and away.
Why would your parents name you after a bird?