Dawnlark Plains heavy-sighed and open-eyed I heard him speak

there was no pride left in the huntress as she woke late in the night; when time held still and dawn lingered near to the horizon. the earliest of birds began waning and timid calls, and she rose stiffly from the barren patch of sun-burnt grasses she'd chosen that night, near to Aviana's den. part of her longed to leave the borders for more than her all-consuming hunts as the caches reached new lows; the knowledge that Sunny, somewhere, walked alone and perhaps just out of her reach was tantalizing, now. 

in the space of a few weeks had her family been ripped from her. some, by her own hand; others, leaving her quietly and suddenly and painfully. and so she found herself aimless, bond only by her loyalty to morningside and her unwillingness to allow the mothers and pups to go hungry. and so she slept and she hunted, and rarely did she pause. rarely did she remain within the borders long after wakefulness came prematurely, and yet today found her slipping soundlessly across the plains in the general direction of the maplewood, with no desire to stray from the plains until exhaustion forced her to endure another few hours of muddled sleep.

When Phoenix arrived at the border of Morningside, he knew almost immediately that his trip had been for naught. She wasn't here -- her scent wasn't draped across the borders with her packmates like he remembered. There was a chance, he supposed, but it wasn't the wolf he remembered: to be so secluded. Since she had arrived and then disappeared from Swiftcurrent so quickly, to return to Morningside had been his only lead, but now he knew that his search for her could very well end here if no one from her natal pack knew where she'd gone. 

He whined, uncertainty and dread consuming him. He'd always thought she'd just gone home, though now that this felt unlikely, he wondered if perhaps he should've began his hunt for her sooner. Troubled and anxious, he sent up a howl, asking with polite worry after the status of Ishara Morningside.

---

the howl went up, polite, searching, a single haunting call across the plains before it faded. she would have ignored it, should the attentive part of her mind listening keenly allowed the name to slip by unnoticed. as such, it took her a delayed moment to realize that a foreign voice inquired after Easy. surely that carried implications, but she did not dwell on those as she turned heel and made haste to the source of the call. 

she paused only when she'd reached a few tail-lengths distance from the male, fiery furred and completely alien. she did not bother with polite greeting, only a hopeful, "you know Easy?" perhaps it was nothing; perhaps, he was simply someone she'd met in the time before she'd gone missing, like that weirdo right around when they'd found the campsite. swallowing, she deflated slightly, already feeling tired after the flash of excitement had roused her from numbness. she'd yet to answer his question, and did so after a beat, mind already falling back from its brief high of excitement and hope.  "she's been missing. it's been - three months, now." ears flicked, thinking back to her sudden departure with the redhawk boy.

Phoenix was sitting when the sterling she-wolf first appeared, but he rose respectfully to his feet once he'd noticed her. Well-mannered and understanding her superior position as a pack wolf, he inclined his head to her and kept his tail low with an uncertain wave. "Easy?" he parroted, having never been introduced to Ishara by her more common moniker. "N-No, I'm looking for Ishara... Ishara Morningside?" He looked over the plains wolf's shoulder, as if he thought he might see her dark figure approaching just then.

But once confusions were set aside, the stranger relayed to him that she'd been gone for a while now. "Missing?" he echoed, his own ears falling as the worst-case scenario for her departure came to past. No one knew where she was, and he couldn't be sure how long a month was, but judging by this girl's expression, three of them had been longer than anyone could want for their family or friend. "Well she came to Swiftcurrent Creek a while back, but -- then she was just gone. I.. I really thought she'd come home to Morningside."

Phoenix took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder, back the way he'd come. An unfortunate feeling overcame him, and he struggled to suppress another whine in his throat. Slowly, he returned his lost-luster eyes to the silver she-wolf solemnly. "I'm sure she'll turn up, but I feel bad now for not looking for her sooner."

---

the male seemed confused; it seemed Easy had begun using the name Khoe had given her. she wondered why, briefly, something vaguely unsettling made it's lodging in the back of her mind; conclusions could be drawn later, however, when she'd thoroughly questioned the male. "I'm her sister. Easy - Ishara is the name her mother gave her." she elaborated no further, gaze turning gradually hawkish as she slid carefully back into an unsteady midpoint between hope and dread. 

"she left with a boy; a blackthorn. it was supposed to be quick."  the boy's story took shape, and it became obvious he was not the little shit her sister had gone with. it was unfair, surely, to blame the unknown boy, but she needed a scapegoat. she was silent after his explanation, mind turning, until he offered his soft-spoken admittance.  "her brother's searching for her now. don't feel bad. my sister's always been wild, always been an explorer." that didn't mean she couldn't be worried - perhaps, now, she was starting to understand her father. 

the thought passed quickly, and she was far to distracted to notice it was the first time she'd thought of him without a blow to the heart. "what was she like, when you saw her last?"