Blacktail Deer Plateau i know what it feels like to be empty

I was hoping @Dante might jump into this one.. :D

Saēna was gone.

Pura had never felt anything quite like it. It felt as though a large, sucking chest wound had opened up over his heart, but there was nothing there - he had checked, several times.

She had departed in secret, promising to return 'some day' and in turn forbidding him from sharing details of her departure. If reasons had been given, Pura had forgotten them now - something about Fox and Peregrine and more babies.

The freckled wolf hadn't said a word to anyone, and nursed his grief in private. Since adopting Peregrine's 'kill on sight' approach to border patrol, Pura had more or less lived at the Plateau's eastern edge. He prowled the foot of the mountain like a silvery wraith, practice-murdering any non-wolf wildlife that crossed his path. Rabbits, mostly, and the occasional squirrel - more often than not they managed to outrun him, but he had emerged victorious on several occasions already.

It was evening now, and time for Pura to start his eight trip along the border. Here and there, he stopped to pee on a rock or a shrub, shaking his leg. The world was eerily silent without a sister to run back to at the end of a hard day's work. He missed her fiercely.

Always!!! 8D

Dante knew that many in the pack were upset by first Junior, then Saēna's, recent departures. The plateau did seem a bit more empty now without at least the former's rambunctious presence, and Dante did regret not actually getting to know the latter better. But for him, this was natural. Pups did not always remain in their parents' pack. Sometimes it was healthier and happier for them to form their own place in the world. He ached for their parents as well as the remaining siblings but hoped that the two would find their happiness, wherever that may lie.

He was heading east, away from the fading sun, without a real destination in mind. It was just enjoyable to be walking right now, the dusky light tracing lengthening shadows around him.

He happened upon Pura near the border, the boy appearing before him as he walked. "Pura, hey." He greeted the boy, a smile lighting on his face. He hadn't seen much of the boy recently, it seemed he'd been keeping pretty much to himself since Saēna left. The two seemed close, but Dante understood needing space in such times, so he did not bother him. Now, though, Dante found he personally could use some company. Perhaps Pura would oblige him. "Mind if I join you?"