Stone Circle you and atlas are one in the same

the mid-afternoon is opaque and grey, made colder by the heavy snowfall. newt takes shelter beneath a towering evergreen, ducking beneath the pine needle branches laden with the wet snow that clings to them. some of it drops onto his head as he brushes against the shivering needles of the evergreen and he gives his coat a shake before peering at the silhouettes of the stones through the snow. he's not too far from them, he thinks, but the snow works to distort his depth perception, making things look further away.

though originally he'd hoped to wrangle up something to add the diminishing food caches newt realizes he's going to have to abandon it. tracks were too easily covered up in this heavy snowfall.

another idea struck him then as he peers out from beneath his chosen cover spot. while he hadn't actively been avoiding anyone since he'd came out of self-isolation he hadn't actively been seeking them, either. @West Tyree, newt thinks, is the first of his siblings he must speak with. see if there was still a bridge or foundation to restore it. they'd were close ...or they had been pre-isolation.

thinking that it was worth a shot and not fancying the idea of trekking out in the snowfall to track down his brother with no present idea of where in the territory he was located, newt lets out a howl for him... hoping for an answer.

The woodland boy waltzed through the snow, his large paws making a clear path behind him in the patchy white blotches that covered the forest floor. He was still admittedly getting used to the cold and the sight of bare branches, but it was the least of his worries. Lately West had been practicing his hunting after his mother showed her approval to move out of the stone circle's sight, but his measly catches barely added to the cache.

His ears swiveled in search of any noises, be they from a future meal or a wolf that nears their borders. What he wasn't expecting to hear was the familiar call of his brother. West paused, unsure if he had heard correctly or if he was finally losing it, but after a moments thought it was worth investigating. Newt had been rather closed off since Clay ran away, perhaps now that he was calling he found their missing brother! It was a high hope, but it's what the young boy chose to believe in as he headed for the call, answering with a howl of his own.

As West neared his eyes met the rather large figure of Newt. At first, he thought it was a stranger, but it seemed he was not the only one who had grown. The second thing he noticed was the lack of anyone else. The woodland boy's tail dropped a fraction knowing it would have been too good to be true, but he'd greet Newt all the same as he rushed to meet him. Newt!

newt!

it didn't take west long to find him and the call saves newt from wasting time on the hunt for his brother. though trepidation grips him tight as he wars with himself on whether west will be happy he has came out of self-given exile or mad at him for isolating himself he watches as his brother rushes to greet him. there is nothing aggressive in his posture and hope blossoms in newt's breast bone, warming his heart as it had when speaking with their mother. he cannot explain why isolation was necessary to cope and to grow but it had been and the fact that — so far — his family doesn't appear to hold it against him in reassuring.

it only serves to solidify his decision to turn into provider and protector of hearth and home.

west, newt calls to his brother, tail wagging behind him. hey. lackluster in comparison, as far as greetings go; yet there still lingers that unfair uncertainty. i'm sorry for my ...behavior these past couple months. i am done with isolating myself. he offers as an apology, thinking that the isolation has served its purpose and there was no more need to sequester himself away. he shouldn't have — he's begun to realize too little, too late — in the first place.

So much time had passed and despite how much they both had grown, it was evident that Newt was still the same. Part of him wanted to tackle his brother for a tussle, but he knew how much he hated it...it was best to hold back especially since he was just now coming back around. Mayyyybe later, he grinned at the thought.

The woodland boy tilted his head as Newt apologized for hiding for so long. It sucked to not have him around as often but...surely he had no reason to apologize, right? Valete said everyone copes differently and while he was still hopeful of Clay's return, he knew most of his family had lost hope. At least he assumed Newt hid due to Clay's disappearance. It's alright, Clay will come back and then everything will go back to normal. Hiding doesn't seem very fun though—