Wapun Meadow The Joyless Luck Club

he found the line of his gaze broken for a moment as she turned away; stigmata watched the slim curve of piper's shoulders rise and fall, until she turned back to face him with a self-assured retort.

the smokehound licked his chops thoughtfully. "and if he refuses to return - much as you would refuse any effort i make to stop you - what will you do then, piper redleaf?" he queried in a tone that implied this was a question she needed to consider with the utmost care, and he leveled her with a grave expression. "will you return to us, even having failed? or are we to be abandoned as well?" he paused, glancing sideways as a gust stirred the foliage around them, then set the aptly named redleaf youth with a more bemused look.

"that boy has a mind of his own. he either chose to leave or was taken from us, and you must be smart enough to realize that neither option can be overcome by you alone. still, i expect you are simply dissatisfied with the lack of results your aunt and others have put up in an effort to recover him, and because i know nothing will change that feeling except checking for yourself, i will leave you with just a bit of advice, lest you spend the rest of your life living for the account of anyone else:

"you should never chase after a wolf that would dare to leave your side."