Stone Circle the away mission

Merrit chose to be alone more often now, at home in the silence and quiet contemplation ever since Stark had left. He felt the weight of his father's departure seep through the length of every step, and he found himself restless, agitated - and this is why he withdrew. The pack would notice the change, and they would tell Valette, and mother had enough to worry about without needing to worry about him as well.

So the boy often kept to the maze of the clone forest, where he could lose himself until the shadows crawled out. Yet the tower of a man at the far, far bottom of Stone Circle pulled the boy from the edge of his cover today. This was a foreigner if he had ever seen one, and Merrit leaned forward to catch a better look. He was lean, spindly, and swathed in a canvas of silver and earth. He knew it was the place of his elders to intercept strangers, but with his father gone, he felt the compulsion to draw near - yet for now, he remained planted, his breath a cloud in the cold autumn air, and simply watched and waited for the man to make a move.