Razorback Ridge you gotta start at the beginning

it's the search for her continued MIA father and the tumultuous ( though it was smooth and she is just over-dramatic ) changes that drives mulberry from the safety of the saints. leaving her mother and siblings behind is hard but her resolve is obsidian hard and she would not be swayed. though it only occurs to her as she rests on a jutting of rock not too far from the base of razorback ridge that it hadn't been too smart — derg had been gone for some time and she had no direction as to which to start with.

for now, she puts those thoughts aside and soaks up the warmth of the grey basalt beneath her and the brush of the sun against her back; content to listen to the song of the crickets.

Mulberry is not the only Saint farther from home than they should have been.

Turmeric had picked up her trail leading out of the canyon, and had followed her - though some time had elapsed between her departure and his discovery of her leave. Why was she going, and where was she going? His sister had expressed no intentions to him, and he wondered, now, if maybe this was how wolves got lost.

He had seen nothing of dad even since his conversation with mom, and though mom had taken Thyme out to look for Alduin, they had not found him, either, nor had they ever gone out in search of Derg. Turmeric didn't hold anything against Arlette for staying in the canyon. He knew she had her paws full, with her duty as a healer, and looking after all of them. She was doing her best, and he loved her for it.

Maybe that's why he thought to run after Mulberry without waiting for mom's assent. Sure he'd tossed his head back so @Arlette would know he was leaving, but that was all. And he did feel guilty for it, because mom had enough to worry about without needing to worry about what would happen to him if he, too, got lost. But Turmeric was certain he wouldn't get lost, and neither would his sister.

All these thoughts still swarmed him mind as a persistent drone when he saw his sister perched in the distance. A smile stole his face and he hopped up to meet her, with a call that broke the chorus of crickets. "Mulberry! Hey!" he said, "I finally caught up with you!" and he laughed a little, nervous as he always seemed, and gave a wave of his tail to fully greet her (and to get her attention).

Arlette didn’t agree with her two children just running off like that. Luckily Turmeric had been a good boy and howled for her. But that didn’t mean she agreed with it. So where Turmeric was tracking his sister, Arlette was tracking her son. There had been so many wolves disappearing lately and she just knew that it couldn’t be a coincidence. She didn’t want any of her children to be gone either.

Still she admired them looking for their father. When she kept up with Turmeric’s trail she eventually was glad to hear that he had found his sister. However, the mother didn’t reveal herself to the two of them just yet. She didn’t want to be too controlling because she was worried. So she would keep her distance in case they needed her help or protection.

Cameo. Can skip me!

to say that mulberry had been aware she wasn't the only one searching for daddy dearest ...or that she was also being trailed by one of her siblings ( and by consequence their mother ) would be a lie. she existed in a world that was largely of her own perception. humming softly to herself, she only stops; put on alert by the silhouette that is approaching. oh, heya `meric! she chirrups; brow furrowing at the second half of his statement. i didn't know you were followin' me. she stretches languidly on her perch and thumps her tail against it.

you lookin' for da too? she asks... or just me? it was true she hadn't checked in with arlette before making the decision to venture off in search of derg. instead, she rather spontaneously made the decision with the belief that at almost six months she was old enough to make sure an adventure ( even if that wasn't expressly true ).

for the moment, arlette remaining out of her view, goes unnoticed.

"You didn't?" his sister's confession surprised the child, and boy, did that ever make him glow! Turmeric grinned an even bigger smile than the one he'd been wearing and felt himself stand a little taller, bolstered by Mulberry's words.

He hopped closer and clambered up to join his sister on her rock. Only, they weren't as small as they used to be, and he found this space a little tighter than he'd gauged it to be. After a moment's struggled, the gangly boy gave up and managed, at least, to lean in beside her.

"You're lookin' for dad?" Turmeric blinked. Why did that come as such a surprise? But then, how much had he talked to his siblings about Derg's sudden departure? Maybe he just figured she'd have crumbled like Thyme, who hadn't been the same since losing Alduin. In the early days, Turmeric used to talk about the wolves they had lost, but these days, he hardly brought the matters up with him anymore. Now to hear that his sister was looking!

"Bear! No way!" He could barely contain himself, so Turmeric leaned over and gave her an excited nudge. "I didn't know you were lookin' for him too! This is awesome! This is great!" and what better idea than this? That, "Hey - oh! I know! Maybe we could look for him together!"