Morningside Cuesta Please don't be afraid, we're a little bent

@Dawn! <3 Starting off a lil different this time!

Kieran had spent the majority of his time hunting now. It was becoming a new passion - something he wanted to learn and understand. He wanted to prove himself to the adults, show them he was able to be a skilled hunter and contributer for the pack. The boy had just finished trying to hunt a rabbit, and he had just about succeeded. It was not a large catch, but it was one that he was proud of - he would have given it to his packmates, but he did not. Instead, he had decided to bury it for his lost loved ones. At the top of a small mound, his paws scraped at the ground. He made a few small holes, then tore off chunks of the lifeless prey and put each section into a different hole. A piece for his mother, who was up in the stars, a piece for Sorrel, who might be dead but might also be out alone in the cruel world, a piece for Hawthorn, who he had seemingly lost, and one for the other wolves he had once known. Wolves from his first home, Royal Fire Court, and wolves from the Republic of Auros.

"I hope you enjoy that," he mumbled, "One for mother, one for Sorrel, one for Hawthorn and one for everyone else. Thank you for being a part of my life - I... miss you. And I love you all." He hoped they would enjoy the rabbit he had so carefully split among them. The food would go into the ground as an offering, and Kieran was comforted by the fact that everyone he had known should not look down apon him. He may have done wrong things in the past, but he was working to correct them and instead make himself a better wolf. And in doing so, was he not pleasing them? He must be, for no ill had come across him since he had begun giving offerings. Parts of his meals that he would rather give away to those he loved.

Once he was done, he stepped back and sat down, closing his eyes and allowing the breeze to ruffle his fur. The sunset was beautiful tonight, but he did not need to see it to know what it looked like. He often came out and watched the sun drop low in the sky, the only sound a chirping of distant birds, the night calming in itself. This was his favourite spot.

The girl weaved through a small copse of trees, glancing up almost wistfully at the budding branches. If there was a single thing she really missed about Easthollow, it was the trees. But thinking of Easthollow brought with it thoughts of Sunny and of Steady, now dead, and when that thought crossed her mind, she left the trees.

She wasn't sad. Perhaps, that bothered her. She was supposed to be sad, that Steady was dead, and sometimes felt a grain of the emotion she felt she should feel. But mostly, nothing. That was wrong, wasn't it? She cleared her head of such thoughts, tired of dealing with them, and chose a random path from the trees. It was upon this random trajectory that she found the boy, along with the fresh scent of kill. His optics were closed, a breeze fluttering softly through her fur. "Hey!"  came her voice in greeting, moving closer to the boy.

"Er...Kieran?" came her voice again a moment later, wondering if she had by chance interrupted something. She didn't know quite what he was doing, but her gaze soon traced the scent of fresh kill to the little mounds of fresh kill in the earth. As this wasn't a cache site, she didn't know why he had buried the kill- rabbit, by the scent. Which led to the general feeling that she had interrupted something, and she was all the curious to what it was.

Kieran wallowed in the thoughts and memories bubbling up from the back of his mind. He was so caught up in the old times that he did not notice Dawn approach. It was only when she spoke that the boy opened his eyes, breaking out of the trance he had seemingly fallen into. He smiled at her, turning back to face the sunset. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" He murmered, giving a small flick of his tail as a soft sigh sounded from his maw. He stayed silent for a while, despite Dawn being there. He just needed a moment longer, then he could come back to reality. Just a little longer.

"She used to call me Keeera." he spoke quietly, calm despite the lingering sadness of something he might never have again. Even so, he was happy. Happy that he had had the chance to know his sister, even if it was only for a few months. "Sorrel, I mean. My sister." His eyes remained trained on the horizon, watching as the sun fell slowly through the orange-tinted sky. "Mother called me Addy." Those names were something he held close to his chest - nobody but his family were allowed to use those names. They were his and his alone. Everyone else called him Kieran, with the exception of Hawthorn, who often called him Kier. Or, had, until he had disappeared too. It seemed most wolves left him. Him and his father, they were the only ones left of the family that had once been. Though he was reluctant to tell Dawn at first, he knew that she was perhaps a.... friend...? Maybe. Either way, she was not disliked by the boy at all, so he did not feel like he really needed to hide much. "The food. It's for them. Everyone I've lost." He believed every time a wolf passed away, they became a star, sparkling and beautiful up in the night sky. Watching forever, and one day he would join them. He would see his mother, and everyone else too. "They're watching, even if we can't see them..." His gaze trailed downwards, focusing on his paws, but a small smile remained visible on his face. 

He looked up at Dawn then, hesitating a moment before frowning slightly. "Sorry. I get caught up in the memories sometimes. Every night... I come up here. Bury some food for them." He gestured upwards toward the sky momentarily. "It's nice and quiet here. I like it." Then he shook his head, the remnants of his previous ponderings evaporating for now. "Did you want to do something? I... I'm done here for now." He wanted to stretch his legs, go do something, and then maybe go to the dens. He was not ready to give in the darkness of sleep just yet.