Haunted Wood it’s a blue world without you (alone)

famine shoulders drooped lower with each step. he was on his way to the border again, hoping desperately that his playmate might reappear. vengeance had other children but none of them met his expectations the way that connie had. he sighed and plopped down near the territory's end, then tilted back his head and released several small calls for her attention.

Clarence had been on a patrol, checking the borders thoroughly for the pup that was still missing, when he heard the little puppy yips. At first, he was excited, thinking that he'd perhaps come across the girl, but when he approached he realized that he'd come across little Famine once more. 

Why weren't these kids being watched?

The boy waved his curled tail as he approached the child, crouching down to more his level and letting out a soft woof for his attention as well.

clarence's soft greeting came during famine's final call. this adult was familiar; they'd met on several occasions, so famine felt comfortable approaching. he walked to his friend's side and sat down with a sigh much too large for his tiny body.

the amount of stress which famine held might have been comical, were it not weighing so heavily on his heart. he fell forward a breath and rested his head on clarence's side, then opened his mouth to wail.

Clarence hadn't spent much time around children, but he had firmly decided that he liked them. They were small and cute and usually smelled like milk, and this one he'd had the chance to around a lot more than average, so that meant that he automatically liked him more. So the boy was pleased when the baby approached him and sat down, but startled at the sound that escaped the little one when he pressed up against Clarence's side. 

It hit him suddenly that the pup was crying, and the spotted boy let out an instinctive croon and buried his nose into soft gray fur, nuzzling behind his ears. "What's the matter?" he asked, voice low and calm, even if he was mildly freaking out.

famine's comprehension of their shared languages spanned much farther than his ability to actually communicate. he listened to clarence's question and searched his mind for the proper response, but was only able to force a desperate whine. he continued sobbing for several moments, no more comforted by the adult's touch.

finally, after catching his breath, famine looked at clarence and asked: connie? why hadn't she come home yet? his adventure had only lasted a few days, but she'd been gone forever! he wiped some of the tears from his cheek, then huffed his frustration.

Connie? Conquest, Clarence realized - the boy was asking for his sister. His chest clenched in sympathy and he nuzzled the child's cheek with a soft chuff, wiping away some of the tears himself. 

"Connie will come home soon," he soothed, rasping his tongue over the child's ear. "Until then, how about we play, hm? Wanna play with me?" he offered, tilting his head to the side with an encouraging smile.

famine's ears perked at the mention of play. play some? he asked, hoping to verify clarence's offer. the child backed away from his companion's side and began thinking about the different games which they might play.

but none of the options sounded fun without his connie. famine's paw (which had been lifted to stroke his chin) fell down to the ground as he released a heavy sigh.  

missin' my connie, famine whispered. why wasn't she back yet? he'd been talking to clarence for like, an entire day. but then he had an idea, and this one was better than any of the other ones he'd ever, ever had. finin' her? he asked. maybe they could make a game out of that!

he didn't wait for permission before dashing beyond territory lines. if someone had to find her, it ought to be him, right?

The boy seemed to be deep in thought at Clarence's offer, then broke his heart with the mention of Conquest again. But it would seem that the little boy wasn't too torn up about it, instead turning to run toward the border.

As Clarence got up to run after him - long, lithe body catching up rather swiftly to the little wolf - he thought about why Famine might be doing this. The only thing he could think of was that the boy wanted to look for his littermate.

"Slow down," he urged the baby, moving to stop in front of him with a light laugh. "Look. Watch me." Clarence lowered his head and started to sniff the ground, making sure he was as noisy as possible so Famine could copy him.

luckily, clarence didn't try stopping him. instead, his older friend joined the effort to find any lingering trace of the missing conquest. famine looked at clarence and tilted his head, curious about why his friend was sniffing so loudly. did that make it work better?

well, there was no harm in trying. he put his nose onto the ground and sniffed with all of the might he had, sucking up half of an ant in the process. famine choked and coughed it back up, then went right back to the search.

Clarence smiled as the kid copied him, tail waving in a high arc above his back. He padded along, trying to catch any scent of Conquest in the process, but failing. It had been so long since the pup had gone missing. 

A bit after starting the search, Clarence caught wind of something interesting. Not the pup, but the smell of a rodent. A weasel, though Clarence had no idea what it was called. The little creature was crawling through the grass up ahead, clearly trying to hunt, and Clarence nudged Famine. "Look," he whispered, angling his ears toward the creature.

huh? the child looked up from his non-existent trail with a slightly bothered frown. there was obviously something ahead of where they stood, but it was still moving and therefore uninteresting to the hunger-minded famine.

clarence seemed pretty focused on the weird thing's movements. famine wished that they could continue with their search, but knew that there wouldn't be any changing the grown-up's mind now. weird, these adults.

maybe clarence was hungry...? well, normally the adults would bring famine food when he started to feel funny. maybe it would make clarence happy to have someone bring him the food!

without thinking any further, famine started stepping forward until he'd fallen into a slow sprint, his eyes locked on the thing's bottom.

Aw, that was adorable, watching the gray pup chase the long rat. Clarence watched him for a moment before realizing that hey, that might actually be dangerous. The piebald boy watched as the weasel spotted its pursuer and sprinted off, far faster than he had expected.

Clarence darted forward and tried to catch up with the creature, but it found its hole in the ground before he could catch up to it. 

"Aw," he panted, tipping his head to the side. "That thing was fast, huh?" A smile was turned to the boy, sheepish.

famine stomped his foot with a toddler's rage and turned away from the escaped thing. he didn't know what it was, but it probably would've tasted good...had he been able to catch it. the worst part about all of this was that clarence watched the entire thing! how much more humiliating could this get?

without conquest and without a meal, famine was ready to turn in for the day. he'd wake up again tomorrow and look for her, but for now: eat?