Kintla Flatlands sang myself to sleep last night

The nights were getting colder. Valiant circled the encampments on the lookout for Dutch, but it seemed the man had not yet returned. Other familiar scents clogged his nose instead, and, feeling unsettled, the isbjørn wandered further out to spend a few hours in solitude.

The decision to join Moonglow weighed on him, somehow. He'd been traveling all these years in hopes of tracking down his siblings. He knew in his heart that he could not be the last of them left. Finding family in Easy and Dutch had gone a long way toward soothing his loneliness, and the promise of Moonglow felt finally like something solid to anchor himself to —

But his guilt would not ease. How could he possible think of settling down when his siblings were still lost to the wilderness? Even in the best case scenario, where they were living their best lives without him, he never wanted them to think he hadn't looked for them, and that he didn't miss them, and that he didn't still wish with everything he had that they could be back in his life.

The decision weighed on him. He wandered listlessly through the plains, praying to the moonwolves' Sedna for peace and clarity.

@Minnow

It’s been many seasons since she had been in the wilds. A lot had happened to the young she wolf. But she wasn’t young anymore, she had grown. Still plagued with her mental illness though they do not run her life as they had when she was younger. She had grown accustomed to being alone though she longed for her family’s embrace.

It was cold and crisp as the air passed through her fur and the female was hungry and she pressed her nose to the ground to hopefully catch the scent of prey but something else caught the attention of her senses and she decided to follow it.

The winter air was cool and quiet all around him. Valiant sat and absorbed it, feeling more and more at peace despite a growing sense of melancholy. No matter how many excuses he made, he knew he would never forgive himself if he gave up trying to find his siblings. As much as he wanted to settle down, and to try and court Vairë if she would have him, he knew he had to find his siblings first. At least one of them.

The isbjørn stood with a soft little sigh. He would have to tell Kukutux right away. But when he turned, he found himself watching a pale, ghostly figure in the distance. His pulse quickened. Valiant moved forward as if in a dream.

"Minnow," he said, but of course she could not hear him. "Minnow," he repeated, the hoarse word carrying across the cold plains. His steady gait turned into a trot and then a numb-footed jog as he hurried to catch up.

Instead of carching the scent of prey under her nose, her ears perked up at the sound of a steady gait coming closer to her and she quickly turned around to see a wolf heading in her direction. Not hearing the words they spoke if they had said anything at all.

Her posture wasn’t threatening but firm as she watched them approach unsure of what their intentions were. However she was prepared. Though as they grew closer the wolf looked familiar.

It was only when he drew near enough to smell her that he became firmly rooted in reality. A part of him that had been wondering if he'd conjured her into being with his mind suddenly recognized providence. A subtle push from his maker, telling him to get over himself. If being without family stood in the way of his character growth, then here, said the maker, enjoy your family. As if this maker had personally reached out to Minnow's maker over discord with a :waggle-pom: emoji and a link to his profile.

But whatever behind-the-scenes work had been accomplished, it was none of his business. His job was to marvel at the sight of a face so beloved, a soul so very missed. Her stiff posture made his heart ache with nostalgia — she'd always been tougher than him, growing up. Had that continued into adulthood?

"Minnow," he said again, now close enough to converse. He didn't dare draw too close without knowing she recognized him. "It's me. It's Val."

She couldn’t believe her eyes and thought maybe it was another dream. But as he drew closer his scent became stronger and she became filled with immense joy and she came closer and if he allowed it she moved to nudge him. she missed her siblings, she had been without family for so long. “Oh how I’ve missed you.”

There was a part of him that didn't really believe it until she spoke. He tried to answer her and choked on the words: "I've missed, you, too."

She came close to nudge him, but Valiant stepped into the gesture and hooked his chin over her scruff. It hid the twist of his features as he wrestled down the urge to bawl. She smelled like their mother, and it was not until that moment that he realized how deep in his memories that scent had been locked.

"I looked for you," he breathed, not yet ready to speak but forcing the words out anyway. He needed her to know, right now, lest she go a moment longer thinking herself possible to forget. "I been lookin' for years, now — where were you?"

He didn't ask to accuse her. Valiant, in all his years of doubt and dour moods, had never wondered if Minnow might be hiding from him. He just wanted to know what had filled her years in the meantime — he had wondered, after all, for the majority of his life.

She breathed in her brothers scent and she felt at peace now that she had found one of her siblings. “I looked for you too, I only found Aeryn but his memory was lost.” Thinking back to that memory she wanted to cry, her heart shattered that day. “I searched for you for a year, I barely ate I barely slept.” She sighed. “Eventually I left this place travelled north where a pack took me in cared for me untill I got my strength both mentally and physically so I could return.”

The isbjørn sucked in a sharp breath at the news about Aeryn. He felt a swooping sense of loss that shouldn't have been as painful as it was, considering how long they'd all been separated. Through it all, though, Valiant had still had hope.

"I was with our aunt," he said, pulling back enough to see Minnow's face once more. "She helped me search until she started her own family. Lately I've been traveling with her son, but..."

His guilt was apparent in the downward flick of his rose gold eyes.

"There's a pack here I've been thinkin' of settling down in," he admitted. "I wasn't sure — I didn't wanna give up on you'n'him. But now that you're here, I think I could."

Something awful suddenly occurred to him.

"If you'll stay with us," he clarified, searching her face for answer.

Her ears perked up at the sound of a new family member and her tail wagged softly. She wasn’t aware that she had any other family left here and to hear that she had an aunt made her happy. She was very family oriented and she thought maybe she would have more stories about her dad. But if they met she wouldn’t bombard her with all her silly questions or at least she’d try not to.

Her brother brought up a pack and she listened intrigued. “Of course I’ll stay with you. Now that I’ve found you, you're stuck with me.” She said with a small soft smile.

His relief was palpable — and for this reason, so too was the shift to bashfulness that followed.

"And, uh," he began, clearing his throat: "There's this girl. Vairë. I think maybe there's somethin' between us. She's got some kids from last year — it's her momma's pack we'd be joining."

His ears splayed in quiet embarrassment, but there was a degree of pride in his posture, too. To be considered by Vairë at all felt like an incredible compliment, and it did seem as though she was considering him.

"But there's lots of them," he said. "Brothers and sisters. A whole big family across four different packs."

His eyes shone. He thought Minnow would understand the appeal of this. Their own family had crumbled, alone — but how could so strong a family succumb to the same fate? There would always be some kind of family left.

“If they’ll have me I’d be happy to join with you.” She hadn’t been in a pack since that all she wolf pack she’d been in before she came home. So it would all be a newish experience for her, but she was open to it and excited to start this next chapter in her life especially now that her brother was joining her in it. Her mind felt at peace now that everything was falling together nicely. 

He mentioned a girl and she wagged her tail softly. “That’s wonderful.” She was happy that he had potentially found something she wondered too that maybe she would find someone as well. She had always been fond of the idea of a family. Probably had to do with how big hers had been. “Well hopefully I can make a good impression on her mother as well as her.” 

Valiant's smile was just as soft. He felt comfortable promising: "They'll love you, Minnow," because what kind of monster wouldn't? It only made sense that two wolves he held in high esteem would also find that they liked each other.

"C'mon — I'll show you where we're staying," he said, bumping his head against her shoulder. "It's this big gathering right now, so they won't mind if you just settle in for a bit. When you're ready, I can take you to Kukutux."

Shall we fade?

Sounds good :)

His reassurance was enough to ease the girls mind and she really hoped that he was right. He offered to show her and she accepted with a soft nod. “Sounds great let’s go.” She waited patiently to follow him wherever he led her .