Whitebark Stream when I was a young warthog

After his impromptu trip back to Round Valley, Valiant was feeling a lot more at ease with himself. All that stuff with Alejandro? Well, it was easy to get confused. He'd just been missing his family, obviously, and looking to form connections no matter how inappropriate.

So he figured the first thing he should do now that he was back was form a more appropriate connection. Or rather, reintroduce himself to one he had left behind. He hoped that his Aunt Dawn would not be too put out with him for disappearing the way he had, or for failing to come and visit when he'd been in the area. Part of it was just being his father's son, and having that wandering spirit in him passed down from Grayday himself — but he knew he should've at least said goodbye before running off after his father.

He stood at the borders and howled for @Dawn, hoping she was in and available to hear his groveling and apologies.

!!!! <3 <3

the hollow, empty place that had been aphrodite's den was a cause for concern — had she decided to go off after surya herself? she'd been hoping for the woman's help in staving away infection (no matter how enthusiastically juniper swore she knew what she was doing, dawn was wary to rely on what little knowledge aphrodite had imparted on the girl. 

the howl that sounded that day was a welcome break in a long string of bad news and disappearances. it was also why, perhaps, any negative feelings at her nephew's sudden departure went unheeded and forgotten. stiffly, with a slight limp on her forelimb, the huntress angles toward the borders, tight expression on her features as she tried and failed to stiffly the twitching of her remaining length of tail, and thus igniting a burning, throbbing pain in the shortened limb. 

she finds him soon enough, and a grin streaks across her muzzle despite the painful furrowing of her brow. "valiant! you're okay; you've grown!" she draws near, intent on pulling him into the wolfy equivalent of a hug, stump of a tail twitching sporadically and very much in the manner of a beached fish.

Despite his worries, his aunt was the first wolf to meet him at the borders — not only without rancor, but with open arms. Relief flooded him as she pulled him to her, and Valiant returned the embrace whole-heartedly, covering her chin in contrite kisses as if he were still small enough to be folded up safe and small underneath her

They had never really had that sort of relationship. From the first moment he'd seen her, Valiant had felt the ache of love and common blood, and some deeper admiration that he could not put a name to. But he'd spent precious little time with the woman, so it was heartening to be greeted with such love, such acceptance.

"You too," he said to her, although after a moment, he could not fathom why he might imply that she'd grown. When he pulled back, however, he saw her injured and battle-scarred, and that feeling welled in his chest for a moment: pride, longing, a love he didn't understand but welcomed eagerly into his heart. "What happened?" he asked her, his voice not absent of worry, but suffused with so much awe that the worry could only just shine through. Aunt Dawn must be the baddest chick he knew.

she withdraws, gaze moving once more over the wolf that stands before her. he's filled out, changed, in a dozen small ways she can't quite name. it's been two seasons since she's seen him last, she thinks; though with all that's happened and the tired cloud that's only begun to clear up within her skull, she can't be certain. nevertheless, while she's learned not to count on family to keep close all the time, she is glad to see her nephew here for however long he might stay, be it months, weeks, of only a few moments. too many have slipped in and out of her life for her to try to clutch any of them close to her for long, and she is no stranger to that itching wanderlust of youth. 

"there's a group living in the mountains, called the saints. they're bad people, and their leader attacked me." she offers, making no effort to make light of the situation. "his name is donovan — he's big, black n' white, with a messed-up tail." the huntress smiles ruefully, adding, "though I guess mine is too, now." 

it was pain to deal with, and she was ever glad for the steady presence of artyom in her life. "how've you been — where've you been?" she prompts, settling back on her haunches. she'd never really known the rest of valiant's siblings; aeryn remained a blank, and minnow had resisted her attempts to connect. she'd never been as close to valiant as she'd have liked, and would not waste the opportunity to learn more about him and his travels now.

Valiant accepted this warning with wide eyes, almost glad that it had been Dawn and not him to run into them. He would've liked to spare her the pain, but knew realistically that he would have fared much worse than she had in a fight. Perhaps it was time to change that.

"I'm glad you made it out of there," he told her, craning his head to check out her tail. Yep, definitely the badest chick he knew. His own tail wagged without him really realizing it, and he said, "I hope I'm as tough as you are, one day."

Then some loaded questions were thrown at him. He couldn't even remember how long it'd been since he'd last seen her, or which of the things he'd done had been in that time frame. "I've been all over," he began choosing to answer the simpler of the two questions first. "Aunt Spot's pack — Round Valley? I don't know if you've been — took me in after I left here, looking for dad. I haven't seen him at all, by the way. And then I was in Aunt Easy's pack for a while — she's got a husband and some kids, now, if you didn't know. And then I was here for a little while, and I went back to the willows, and I got... confused, so I went back h-home to Round Valley, and now I'm here," he explained, looking a bit contrite and a little bit startled, because he'd just realized he was actually taller than her, and wasn't that incredible.

"As for how... I guess I've been better, and I've been worse," he said, his nose dipping and his tail flagging. "I'm gonna go back to the willows, but I was hoping I could stay here for a few days? Maybe we could hunt — or just talk, since you probably need to rest," he explained, glancing bashfully at her injuries once more.

"How have things been here?" he asked her. And then hastily added, "Other than the whole crazy dudes thing."

another rueful smile, a twitch of her haggard-looking tale that was almost worth the throb of pain that followed. "I hope you don't have to be," she admitted, though knew the chances of that were slight. she knew, too, that he could and would be; despite their distance, there is something almost familiar about him that she can not place. 

he mentions round valley; a place she's never been but knows well enough. perhaps she'll visit, one day. the news he offers is surprising; she last seen easy last winter, and hadn't expected the woman to start a family of her own. "I'd no idea — what're they like?" she queries, feeling a small rush of happiness for her sister. "confused isn't always a bad thing to be," she offers, "it just means you're figuring stuff out." 

"you're always welcome here," she confirms with a smile. she doesn't expect him to join their ranks, though there is an unavoidable stab of disappointment when he says he's returning to the willows. "and the court is a good place — they helped my after I had to beat up that donovan guy," smile tugs at her muzzle, even though he'd done considerably worse damage than she'd managed to, and it had been two on one. well, he'd also been a giant. 

"walk with me?" she suggests, motioning toward the heart of the territory. "things have been okay, here," she offers, not quite knowing how to package all the good and the bad that had occurred into a neat few sentences. after a moment she adds, mirth writ across her features, "your neices and nephews are old enough to be interesting, now, if you'd like to meet them." she can't remember if Valiant had still been at the stream when she'd been pregnant; something that bothers her, for surely she should.

Whether or not he had to be, Valiant was quite enamored with the idea of one day being the sort of warrior that Dawn was. Growing up the way he had, surrounded by strong pictures of feminine power and authority, it was impossible that he would not grow up to venerate women — but he still thought Aunt Dawn was in a league of her own.

"Tiny, last I saw," he said dryly, a smile in his voice. "Their names are Dutch and Eldest — a boy and a girl." He did not say anything about the pups' father, who Valiant was not entirely sure would stick around. They hadn't spent much time together, and Aunt Easy hadn't had much to say about him.

Valiant conceded to a walk, and followed Dawn deeper into the territory. It didn't sound to him as if everything was peachy, but since Dawn didn't mention any more troubles, Valiant didn't pry. "I'd love to meet them," he replied, eager to get to know more family. Perhaps it would stop him from feeling so very adrift in the world. "But you know they're my cousins, right?" he asked her, "Unless Minnow had babies without anyone knowing."