the rise had eventually been eaten up by the rolling terrain of the taiga. privately, ancelin shed a few tears. he trusted his father implicitly but he'd never been away so far. what is atreus came back looking for them? it was unlikely that his brother would do that, but a boy hadn't given up the hope.
when aventus said they'd stay here and look for food, ancelin nodded tiredly beneath the formality of his father's voice. ever the dutiful son, he went off at once, applying many of the skills he'd learned along the rise to find the track of several animals.
but his heart wasn't in it, and so he turned back to his dad, to ask that aventus come with him. he didn't want to be alone out here.
the sound of footfalls drew his head up sharply; ancelin stared hard at the limping figure which materialized out of the forest — "mom?!" his voice was haunted and boyish and hopeful; he took a step forward, then another.
"mom!"
his eyes blurred with tears and he was sobbing before he was close enough, and when he was the tall kid with oversized paws shoved his nose into his mother's fur to take in the story of all the places she'd been, and to add his own and the salt on his face and the deep, good, beating of his heart, and the happiness crowing in his throat to see her again and to have some vital mountainrock part of himself relieved and restored.