King Elk Forest good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter

Lead on by @Delight, Cicero, @Ramsay and @Euron reached the pack territories at last. As he passed the borders Cicero caught a whiff of @Malice's scent there, and a weary though fleeting smile passed across his face. It had been so long; he had last seen her and Burke when they had escaped, when he had helped them, but he knew that they might not see it the same way. There was more that he could have done, should have done, perhaps... But it was all so long ago. Cicero did not think that they would hate him for it now, for it seemed they had built a life for themselves here. His paws were weary, the toes on his front legs purple from the cold but he did not care for it anymore.

Throughout the journey to the pack's territories Cicero's pace had slowed down considerably. He had been driven on by some primal force when he had no idea where Burke was, when he had a destination and a goal in mind, but now the children would be safe. This pack could care for them and even if Burke no longer could, perhaps Malice could do so. He was growing less and less needed by the moment, but wearily carried himself across the borders after a dishearteningly slow journey to the pack's grounds.

"I need to rest," he murmured as they reached the border and with a sigh of relief Cicero lay down beside a tree. A forest, almost like his own dark forest. The forest he knew he would never return to. Eyes closed and his body shook from the cold that his fur was not made for, and that he was no longer very well protected from now that he had been out in the open for so long rather than inside the safety of the dark forest.

His mismatched eyes opened to look 'round for the boys, ignoring any possible cues to get up and continue, for he knew he simply could not. "Euron, Ramsay..." Maegi, he thought, but she was not there. She'd not been there, she'd not joined them in their journey. Hopefully the wolves would not return to tear her face out in the Blackfeather Woods, for they were unsafe for some time to come.