Phoenix Maplewood Here weary traveler, rest your wand

It had been lush....once. This land had a deep history, he could tell, reading it from the few burned husks of trees hidden in the underbrush, and now the rich land falling apart again, prey to the swarm. He'd paid no heed originally to the hoards of insects invading the land, except to find them an annoyance, but as the onslaught continued and the land suffered, he cursed the winged beasts and the empty stomach they'd left in their wake.

Raeth was a fighter, a warrior, born and bred. He'd be damned if hunger was to be his end. He'd done well enough, subsisting on squirrels, rabbits, mice...hell, he'd even tried eating one of the locusts. How his siblings would have loved to see him in THAT moment. He smiled every so softly at the thought. He missed them, wondered how they were faring. After he'd been ousted from the pack by his own father, and after vowing to himself he'd never return to the ungrateful man, the only times he'd seen his sister and brother were in memories.

In fact, his sister had been the real reason he was out here, treading the broken land with tired paws. He'd heard varied stories, some possibly true, that her whereabouts could be out here. All he really craved was to know she still lived. His father and the rest of the pack, well..he was too stubborn an old man to die or let his pack suffer. But as for Laer, Raeth knew she'd left home, and ever the overprotective older brother, he had to know she was surviving in this mess. Had to find her. Would give up his kill for her just to know she was fed...