Chasing the Sun

Totally okay! It's good to have him back!

They'd failed with the coyotes. Somehow, their efforts to protect and secure the borders had been outmaneuvered by those wily things. It was a huge slight to his personal opinion of himself and he knew there were others who also felt unsatisfied with their own efforts. It was evident in the level of tension that riddle through the wolves of the Spire. They'd failed and lost one of their own that day. Between the coyote invasion and a number of other wolves they'd lost in the storm, they were down and out for a count. To make it worse, it was starting to feel like they were losing more faces than they could gain.

He put on a good face for his children, or at least, put on that good face as he attempted to entertain himself with thoughts of life and newness and the future. It did little to ease the present state of things, but he tried. For himself. For the other members of his pack. In solitude, he'd have his own doubts, but it was evident he needed to put more of an effort towards their security and encourage the rest of their number to do the same. As such, he'd made a number of spirals, starting from the entrance of the birthing den and spreading outwards to ensure every nook and cranny of their land was properly explored and that any unwelcome scents or threats were eliminated.

In doing so, a howl rose up on their borders. He turned his ears in the direction of the call. Whoever it was asked specifically for him. Was it a trap? Or simply someone who remembered him. He rolled through his memory. Only the wolves of the Spine, now Spire, called him by that name... Perhaps?

His thoughts drifted as he turned his paws and altered his path to come across the wolf who howled. Approaching, he realized that scent to be familiar. "Aariak," he barked, nearing the wolf who lingered respectfully on their borders. "You survived the storm." The surprise was evident in his voice. Iqniq had circled their inner territories looking for this wolf and others, but had only found a few. Nanuk had done the same as she circled the perimeter of their former lands. In the end, a lot had gone missing, but it pleased him to know this wolf had found them now.

Looking Aariak over, it appeared as though he was a little worse for wear. A few superficial nicks and scratches, but nothing that wouldn't heal on its own given enough time. "It's good to see you got out alive. We searched and howled. Where were you?"