Stone Circle shadows all around you as you surface from the dark

He heard his mother’s quiet breath and wondered what relieved her more - that his father’s absence might still be ascribed to death, or that his absence might ensure he would not return and throw what she had found without him into a state of chaos again. 

His Mother seemed to read his thoughts, and her answer satisfied the questions he considered. His father might be dead, or he might still be alive, but whichever the case, Merrit would not dwell there, for he would not continue to compromise his present joy with a past and a future he could neither change nor predict.

He did not expect her praise, or the look of pride he caught in her eyes. He did not deserve them, but he dipped his nose with a grateful tip and offered her a boyish smile, a look he had sometimes given her as a pup, and that he now reserved for her alone. “Thank you, Mother. When I have questions, I will find you first.”

Sentiment gave way to duty, and he regained a stoic air about him, serious and intense as he considered all he could learn from Mother - and all he would need to look elsewhere to study. “Hm,” he thought aloud, “I will travel to each of our allies and see if they have competent healers who would be willing to pass their knowledge to me, if I have your blessing, of course.” But that was all they could teach him. “In the meanwhile, I would like if we practiced our history together. You are the one who knows it all. And there is no other wolf I would rather learn to lead from than you,” and though he tried to remain straight faced, he couldn’t help but share in the smile she offered him, though his cane far more reserved, and shyer, than hers, “One day, yes. If you find me worthy to step into your place, or alongside you. Easthollow is my family; it is here my heart stands. And if I could one day emulate the strength and kindness I have seen in you, then I will be satisfied to say I have done well to honour our name and to carry on your legacy within the wolves who will come to call this Hollow home.”