Whitefish River sail

Settling in had taken far longer than Dauntless had expected. He had realized at once that he was putting off tracking down his siblings -- one older and one younger -- but to his frustration, he could not quite find the nerve to actually face them. What if they were angry with him? He'd departed shortly after their father's death, and it seemed as though the pack had been completely dissolved. Was it his fault? And even if it wasn't, would River remember him? Would he know Dauntless only as a distant figure from a painful past? A stranger? And Dawn -- Dauntless felt as though he'd failed her. She'd taken on so much even before their father's death, and Dauntless had disappeared into the aether.

But even with these uncomfortable thoughts and feelings consuming him, Dauntless drew great comfort from being around their familiar scents. It settled him in ways he'd almost forgotten, and drove him to work harder on bringing food in to the caches. Too, the scent of pups in the area filled him with hope and energy; perhaps this was a place and a people he could learn to call his home.

When River called out for them, he finally felt ready. Large, brown paws carried him quickly to the source, where a wolf who could not, under any circumstance, be his little brother already stood. Dauntless gaped at him, feeling off-put and uncertain until he picked out the lean grace of Catori in his figure, the glint of Grayday in his eyes. That felt like a punch to the gut, actually. And his wintry hood was all River, and Dauntless's tail began to wheel in excitement even as he lowered his head and splayed his ears in apology.

"Hey, River," he said lamely, closing some of the distance between them. "It's... it's been a long time."