Stone Circle i have often dreamed of a far off place

His mother had sent him home, but Searchlight had defied that. He didn't like the thought of his mother being alone, or at least not knowing she was safe. Not when she was so close to her due date. 

The young wolf wanted to be sure that his mother would be okay. So, he made his way to the area that he thought she'd be in. 

Searchlight lifted his nose to see if he could catch Easy's scent. When he couldn't catch it, he let out a howl, calling out to her.

Adela had been poking around the meadow for the past couple of days. She enjoyed it here. She didn't want to say it, but the valley reminded her of the plains she had once called home.

She heard the howl in the distance. It seemed others liked it here too. She tried to make out whoever howled, but she didn't see anyone. She continued on her path.

After trotting for a few more paces, she saw what appeared to be a very young-looking wolf. He couldn't have been older than a year. She waited back before choosing what she should do next, Adela didn't want to startle the young one who was most definitely still with his parents.

---

he watched.

not because he was holding the auburn woman captive by gaze alone, but because he was curious. as curious as any man could get at his age. he’d been tracking the valley’s quiet, not its wolves, but the boy’s howl split the air clean enough to turn his ear. young. rawvoiced. searching. not calling in fear, but close to it.

it drew him. and her, too. 

they couldn't see smoke. not yet, anyways. he remained hidden. the grass knew him well, the shadows even more, as his pelt blended seamlessly amongst the darkened mist. 

he hadn't made up his mind yet whether or not to step further. he'd offered enough help to the boy before, showin' him the place where his family was done killed. smoke wasn't in the business of charity. no. not without something in return.

---

As Searchlight sniffed the air for his mother's scent, he caught a fresh one and turned his head, searching for where the scent came from. He couldn't see anyone, not yet anyway. For a moment, he considered letting out another howl, but he decided against it.

"Hello?" he called out, curiously. "Is there someone there?" His tail flicked with excitement as he searched. Then, his eyes landed on her.

"Oh, hello," he said when he saw the she-wolf. "Are you from here?"

She had been spotted by the boy. He gave her a simple greeting and asked if she was from here. Adela gave herself time to think about what she would say to him. Does she lie? Would it be better to tell the adolescent the truth?

"No, I'm not from here, just passing through. Are you?" She said gruffly. Her eyes studied the child. He too looks like a regular wolf, but instead of reds and creams, he's made up of grays and blacks,

"You looking for someone?" She decided to ask. Adela then caught scent of something, or someone vaguely familiar. She turned her head, but couldn't see anyone else but her and the younger one.

---

the more he watched, the more bored he'd grown. 

but until her eyes drifted towards the shadows, his ears grew to peaks. she knew he'd been there; watching, looming, like a decadent bodyguard. a shepherd, if one must call him, though his bloodstained muzzle said otherwise from a pacifist sentry. 

betwixt coaldipped paws was a badger. bludgeoned by his own weight, yet smalls cuts marred his muzzle. the bastard was squirrly, to that much he could deduce. 

from the darkened grass he emerged, shifting the blades as he did. rising from the small heap, blood coaxing the darkness of his face, he dropped the bounty before both girl and boy. not a word was spared from his tingling jaw; nothing but a sigh of hot air of a smokestack, before he fell to his belly beside his ginger friend, urging them to carry on with a flick of his tail. nonthreatening, but certainly there.

---

Searchlight shook his head to answer, but before he could speak, another form came from the shadows. His gaze shifted to the wolf who had appeared. 

"I am not from here," he answered. "My mother is here, though, I believe. I am looking for her." He answered her second question. 

"My name is Searchlight Morningside," he introduced himself. "I mean no harm."

The young one said he wasn't from here, but he was looking for his mom that might be here. Adela's initial assumption that the boy wasn't nearly old enough to leave his parents was correct,

"I'm Ade-" her voice was cut off when she heard the rustling in the grass behind her. She turned her head to see that it was the stranger from a few days' prior, Oh, you again, she grumbled to herself. She noticed that he carried in a badger from one of his hunts, some sort of peace offering she supposed,

She turned her attention back to the adolescent named Searchlight, "I'm Adela. I mean no harm either, just passing through," she turned her head toward the stranger again, "I don't know who that is, however."

---

the boy’s name, the girl’s unease, the wind carrying the scent of a mother somewhere close; he took it all in with one long,  breath.

the badger lay between his paws, its blood drying against the dark of his muzzle. he nudged it once with the side of his nose, wordless reminder it was meant for them, not him. then he pushed himself upright, broad shoulders rolling like old thunder coming awake.

he stepped forward just enough that the sun caught the planes of his face  scarred, thin, lichenbone strong. 

smoke, he said, voice carrying low across the grass, nothing else tied to it. no explanation. no comfort. just a name dropped like a stone into still water.

then he settled again beside the ginger female, unmoving, tail giving one slow flick to show he wasn’t there to corner or crowd.

---

Searchlight looked at the other wolf who emerged from the shadows and nodded to them. He was about to speak, and say that he didn’t know who the other wolf was either, when Smoke introduced himself. 

A wolf of few words, it seems, Searchlight thought to himself. But he could understand that. His gaze shifted back to Adela. 

 “It’s nice to meet you, Adela, and Smoke,” he said. “Are you from here, Smoke?” He added.

---

been here awhile, he answered, voice a rough scrape of gravel. not quite yes, not quite no. his eyes swept the valley—its bends, its wind, its watching quiet. learnin’ the lay of it.

why linger in a place like this? he didn’t say. didn’t need to. the silence filled in the edges: a wolf worn thin by miles, mapping the land the way a man maps trouble—by scent, by scar, by instinct.

he flicked his tail once.

why? you lost? smoke asked, tone low, almost an afterthought.

then he fell quiet again, letting them talk, letting the land breathe, watching both young faces with that steady, unblinking calm of a wolf who’d learned more than the valley meant to give.

---

Smoke, Searchlight, both were very odd names in Adela's opinion. She glanced at the badger near Smoke and wondered if that was for her and Searchlight. She hadn't eaten in a while, and she supposed the young one hadn't either.

The boy had asked Smoke if he was from here. Searchlight seemed desperate to know where his family was. Adela couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him; she couldn't imagine being away from her family that young. She'd only left home last spring when she'd felt capable enough.

Smoke told the boy he had been here for a while and then asked if the young one was lost. Adela gave him look of suspicion, and her muscles were tensed just in case she needed to make a run for it.

apologies for the delay!

Searchlight shook his head. "I am not lost," he said. "I am looking for my mother, she said she would be in this area, but she'd sent me home. I simply couldn't go home without knowing she was okay."

He searched the two's faces, to see if he could see any hint of trouble in them. 

"She's due to have a litter of puppies, soon, you see," he said. "I want to make sure she and my siblings are safe."

---

smoke listened, jaw working once as the boy’s worry spilled out. mother close to whelping. sent him home. kid came anyway. stubborn little thing.

he glanced between them— adela tense as a bowstring, searchlight all nerves and hope.

no one else come through here, he said, voice rough, simple. i’d know.

a beat.

his gaze settled on the boy, steady.

you sure this is the place? what 'else she say?

---

She listened to Searchlight tell Smoke about his mom and how she was due to whelp soon. Poor kid, no wonder he was so intent on asking whether Adela or Smoke were from here. She ignored the part about not listening to parents since Adela had no room to speak on that. 

Smoke told the boy that he knew of no one here, or that he knew of no one similar to what Searchlight described coming through here. It seemed that the adolescent was out of luck when it came to finding his mom.

Adela would only continue to quietly listen. She could offer no help to Searchlight since the only wolves she has met so far have been him and Smoke.

"I'm certain that this is the area that she said she would be in," Searchlight said, confidently. "I mean no harm or ill intent," he said. "I'm simply wanting to make sure she's okay."

He looked between them. "I understand you can't help me, but please let me at least search for her." He asked, turning back toward Smoke. "However, if you wish me to leave, I will."

---

the boy’s stubbornness wasn’t new to him. neither was that tight, worried edge in his voice.

he shook his head once. slow.

’course you can look, he said, gravel low. ain’t nobody owns this valley.

his gaze swept the barren stretch of land— empty dens, wind-scoured stones, nothing living but the three of them and the ghosts the boy hoped not to find. then he flicked his muzzle north.

your best bet’s that way, he added. mountains west’re too steep for a kid your size. she wouldn’t’ve gone that route.

---

She definitely realized now she could offer no help. Smoke had this under control. She slowly rose from her seated position and shook the remaining snow from her pelt.

Now, she had to think about how she would leave the two of them without either of them acknowledging her absence. After figuring for a few moments, she realized that they would notice and that she should just book it.

She gave a curt nod to both wolves, announcing her departure, then she turned the other way and began to trot elsewhere.

attempted adela exit

Searchlight nodded to Smoke when he told him where to check and before he could say anything, Adela nodded to announce her departure. "It was good to meet you," He said as she walked away, though he wasn't sure she heard him.

His gaze shifted back to Smoke. "Thank you for your help. I will check over there," he said.

---

adela, her name was. up and left. probably hungry. maybe he'd find her later. but his concerns were with searchlight.

he began to stand, nudging the badger toward him. eat up.

smoke hoped that the boy'd take his offering. y'need the strength.

he didn't think he was weak, but for how vast this valley was...he was going to need it. and smoke was more than capable of hunting his own food. 

good luck, kid. he breathed, beginning to step away. if 'ya can't find 'em, find me. don't want no pup goin' hungry.

an honest farewell, and he was gone.

---

"Thank you," Searchlight said, taking the badger. He nodded at Smoke before he left and he laid down to eat the meat offered to him.

As he ate, he thought about his mother, and what her plan was. He lifted his head to sniff the air, only smelling the scents of the other wolves who had just left. He'd eat, and then head off to find Easy as soon as he could.