The Tangle don't look at me with those judgy little eyes

Maybe @Sebastian? Also the prefix says the Tangle but technically Trajan is here, near the river. Got carried away, no need to match length.

After that encounter with the charcoal male, Trajan hadn't met any other pack wolves. He had, of course, caught the scent of many packs on his journey to the North but he had purposely skirted around the edges, not wanting to encounter another potentially aggressive pack wolf just yet. Wait! Don't get any wrong ideas. Trajan loved aggressiveness; he was aggressive himself and he always loved a good fight. But he knew now wasn't the time. Against a full grown pack wolf, he probably wouldn't die but he wouldn't come out unscathed either. They were better fed, probably older and more experienced and well trained in combat. He hadn't fed for days, his fur needed a good wash and he was tired from the journey.

Trajan knew what he needed to do to survive winter. He needed the safety, warmth and comfort of a pack; he needed to join a pack nearby. The thing was, though, that Traj didn't want to join just any pack. He wanted to join a pack that he knew was compatible with him, at least, for a few months and he wouldn't know that if he didn't know anyone from the pack, would he? Think about it. What if, instead of provoking the charcoal male, he'd been there requesting to join instead. Obviously he wasn't going to fit there and the result would be a few months of complete misery. Trajan didn't want that. Life was too short. He was going to enjoy every minute of it.

His search was futile, he knew that, but that didn't stop him from searching, it didn't make him give up. Someday, his stubbornness to keep going regardless of the consequences was going to be the death of him.

Trajan looked around. He had been following a river for ages and had just managed to cross an extremely dangerous and hazardous territory and made it out alive. A feeling of pride and accomplishment usually crossed him at this moment but right now, he only felt apprehension and a slight touch of nervousness. Where would he go now? He had been following the source of water for ages and now, he'd reached a stop; the river went into the sea and he couldn't follow it into the sea could he?

What made it worst was that Trajan just realised it was his birthday today. He was a year old now, and no longer a child. And where was he on that day? In the middle of nowhere. Hungry. Alone. In need of a pack. He almost regretted leaving Noctem Vagus because he knew that on that day, Shadow would be with him, they would be celebrating and having fun. Perhaps he should've waited until his birthday before making the rash decision of leaving. But there was no turning back now, it was too late, way too late to get cold feet (literally).

So Trajan stood there, watching the river split apart, entirely alone and lost in his nostalgic thoughts.