Moonspear You can feel the light start to tremble

Wraen's concern for Terance was endearing, and Rannoch couldn't the smile that crossed his lips as she inquired further about her brother's being. "The only individual I've seen him try and combat is me. And you better believe that I've put him in his place," he teased with evident mirth in his tone. Although the two occasionally sparred, Rannoch had found that their talents matched when opposed. 

"Maybe the three of us could all patrol soon," he then suggested as the idea crossed his mind. It would be nice to include another, and it would give Wraen and Terance time together. "After all, we'll need your help pinning anybody that tries to oppose us." 

"That is a good thing. Usually Sarah was up for the task and did quite well, until he grew up to be a gentleman and declared that he did not fight with girls," Wraen told her version of why they had stopped play-fighting, though the true reason was that all of them grew up and had different interests. "I say that it is a very clever way of avoiding losing - imagine the humiliation," as usual she stretched the truth a bit too far and Terance would probably have different view on the matter.

"You say that you two, big and burly beasts can't take down a trespasser on your own?" Wraen asked, pretending to be surprised about the news. "Though I can see providing first aid for that poor thing you two would have crushed, by trying to just pin him or her down," she mused out loud. "Call me, when that happens, but otherwise - patrolling is not my kind of thing. Hunts are more interesting."

"It was a brilliant move on his end," Rannoch marveled with twitching whiskers. "I'm sure that Sarah could have put him in his place, too." Although Rannoch never had (and probably never would) made Sarah's acquaintance,  he imagined she was a force to be reckoned with. 

Rannoch nodded at Wraen's reply and said, "That sounds good, too." Rannoch paused for a moment, realizing his misstep. "I mean, the part where you help! Not the part where Terance and I crush an unruly visitor." 

"O-o-oh. but she did. They were tough rivals from the moment they were born and kept competing until they reached adulthood. I think that they kept each other in balance - knowing that there was at least one person in the world, who could beat them," Wraen mused. What she did not say, however, that after Terance had left, Sarah had become quite hard to bear. Wraen had not been a match to her and with no one besides mother and father to confine her sister's big personality, keeping it nice and friendly had become a hard thing to do. 

"I never asked you - but do you have siblings?" it occurred to her that aside from the fact that Rannoch was big, not very fast, when it came to racing, was her brother's friend and was good at listening and advising, she didn't know anything else about him.

Although Rannoch should have anticipated Wraen's inquiry, he was surprised when she asked; he wasn't ready to talk about his siblings. A dull pain ignited in the core of Rannoch's heart as he thought of his missing siblings, and though it hurt to think of them, he wanted to allow Waren to learn more about him. 

Although he had come to terms with his sibling's departures, Rannoch was finding it hard to push the feelings aside since he had been surprised by the inquiry and thus unable to prepare himself mentally. 

"I have one littermate, Cypress," Rannoch began, his expression void of his internal strife. "And then I have two older siblings, Allure and Pasha." He wondered what had happened to them; had they fallen with Neverwinter? Or did they live? "I have no idea where they all are, though. Cypress went missing a while ago, and I haven't seen the other two in over a year." He mustered every ounce of positivity in his being and mustered the best smile that he could. "But, I'm sure they're all out there exploring. My family has a knack for exploring." Rannoch had a knack for twisting a positive light on any topic, no matter how grave the subject matter was.

Until hearing Rannoch's story now, Wraen had never realized that her family situation (with all of them sticking together) was not the norm for every one. That people could go missing, that parents could split up or leave their kids without a word, that kids could be taken to other packs without parents' consent and so on. Though she had no idea, what her birth pack were doing right now, she had some comfort in knowing that they were somewhere, all of them together. 

"Mom says that her side of the family has this "vagabond gene" as well. Though it is a late onset for most of us. She - for example - had never left her birthpack, until she was almost three years old," Wraen shared.

Rannoch's interest piqued as Wraen mentioned the "vagabond gene"; although the terminology was new, Rannoch knew of wolves with this trait. "Interesting," he mused thoughtfully. "It seems as though the gene kicked in pretty young with you, hm?" 

"A-a-ah... not really," if it had been up to Wraen she would be happily living with her parents and being big part of her younger siblings' lives. She missed the long conversation's with Osprey and was sad that circumstances had forced her to abandon the role of being the older sister. Charon's children were all nice and awesome, but they weren't her kin. She would never put so much effort and sincerity in teaching them as she would have done with her brothers and sisters. 

"I could not get along with my sister and, since she was not going to leave, I had to. The pack was too small for both of us, therefore, if you want to be very precise - the gene was kicked into working," she said with a smile, because now that she had got taste of the world, she wanted to be outside Moonspear as much as possible.

"Oh," replied Rannoch, acknowledging the information that he had received. Although he wanted to know more, Rannoch knew better than to do that. 

"But it was all for the better?" he inquired, characteristically spinning the situation to shine in a positive light. "Like, have you discovered more now that you've been out and exploring?" 

"If you want to find out, whether I hate Sarah less - then - yes, definitely," Wraen laughed, indicating that, though she and her sister had had their differences, there was still affection between them. 

"I don't know though, if she is less of a pain in the ass though now that I am not there anymore," she sighed - another exaggeration with a grain of truth in it. "I have seen a lot more than if I had never left home in the first place. But then again - I never really wanted to leave and I can easily see myself being happy and content there," than I am now.

Rannoch chuckled. "Well, I'm glad that good came out of the situation," he rejoined, feeling genuine happiness for his packmate. "And, no, I wasn't trying to pry—, but it is good to know that it worked out." 

When Wraen elaborated, Rannoch nodded. "Do you think you'll ever go back?" he asked with an evident sense of hesitation in his voice; although he cared for her, he did not want her to have to speak to anything that she wasn't comfortable with talking about.

"You never know..." Wraen shrugged. Sometimes the idea of going home was very tempting, but a lot had happened, since she had left. People might have changed, maybe they did not live in the same place anymore and - quite truthfully - she was more attached to the memory of her home and the idea of, what had changed in her absence, was a bit frightening. 

"I don't know about you, but my fingers are freezing," she told Rannoch, getting to her feet and stretching thoroughly. "We have been here for quite some time now - let's go down and see, if we can get something to eat?"

Fade in your next post? And we can have a new thread right away.

Rannoch nodded in reply to Wraen's answer. Although he would support her in whatever decision she'd make, Rannoch wasn't sure how she'd respond to such a strong vow so early in their friendship. 

As Wraen rose, Rannoch rose and shook his pelt clean. Getting something to eat seemed like a good plan to him; it had been a while since he had eaten, and it'd allow the both of them to stretch their legs and warm up. "Great idea— let's do it!" Rannoch said as he looked to Wraen to lead the way. 

The end of their current conversation did not mark the end of their time together. Rannoch and Wraen hunted together and reaped the benefits once they had caught a sufficient meal. They only parted ways once their bellies were full, and Rannoch then retired to his den for a well-deserved sleep.