Shimmering Sands there is a rose within the sky

Staring out at the ocean, and the vast hills of sand, Kaito knew three things, and three things for certain: he missed his family, and he was a very long way from home.

Those things would have been enough to send him trailing back North, where his mother and brother and sisters surely awaited his return. Back to where he had a place (kind of), and a purpose (sort of), and where he at least had friends, and wolves to rely on besides himself. Because, let's face it, the lone life was no life for a wolf. Kaito felt this in every laugh he laughed alone, in every night his company came only in the cool tough of starlight, and in every scrap of carrion he could scavenge from prey left long abandoned to the crows.

But Kaito knew three things for certain, and third was enough to rule out the two, and temper his desire to turn back and run. The One had led him here, and as he set his eyes to the shores again, he knew he was where he was supposed to be. He didn't know why, but he trusted he would discover that in due time. To turn back now would be a mistake.

So the boy made his way along the coast - alone again - and today he plodded closer to the ocean, where his paws could squelch in the sand beneath the lapping waves, and where he could turn his ears and eyes toward the pulsing sea. High above, the seabirds flew, and he wondered what it was like to fly. He wondered if they had the same cares as wolves, or if their lives were different all together. He wondered if they could hear the voice of the One. And he wondered if today he might find himself a step closer to figuring out something of where he was supposed to be.