Stone Circle here it goes

maybe @Kristjan @Swift @Astrid or any other Húni’s?!  

Lemmikki dug at the frosted earth, dirt flinging around her. The repetitious activity was soothing, but not without purpose. Soon enough she uncovered plants buried (by herself) and, panting for a moment, she stares at them.

Not a single one of these guys could she name. Her dad had taught her plants of Springtime, and some of Summer—but not of Fall, of Winter. Her parents had gone to explore. And she hadn’t wanted to ask anyone else, because she was waiting—waiting to ask him.

To not wait felt like some sort of betrayal, if she was being honest with herself. It wasn’t like he was dead, she knew now for certain. She could wait. But how could she help the pack if she did? And he would want her to do that—her dad, he was the best. Just like her mom. But she never really could fathom learning from anyone else but him, and now… now she needed to.

Ikki had waited long enough. She grasped the plants in her mouth gently, and then set off to find someone who might know… something. Something more than she did about these plants, anyway.

It had only been a week without her, but those days were enough for Turneric to wonder if someone really had replaced his need to endlessly wander, or if, when he settled down again, he'd grow high strung with that relentless need to feel the free wind on his face, to run until the horizon bled out to mountain or sea, to be unbound again, untethered -- only, of course, to her. But even as he'd curled up in his aunt's camp, the warmth of her children pressed around him, he didn't only think of Inkeri, but the eyes of his own daughters smiling back at him.

What a mistake he'd made.

What kind of father was he?

The one who came back, he decided.

He knew he was welcome here, but he stopped short of running into the heart of the land. And he knew his voice would flow from these borders through Kvarsheim to touch the ears of every wolf there - and perhaps others would come running, too - but he pointed his howl to the ones he had come back for, first and above all.

Hallo, Lemmikki! Kristjan's voice bounced as he hopped towards the girl, bounding like a fawn who'd just found its legs. What you got there?

He came to a halt in front of her, tail high and waving, giving her (and the plants) a good sniff. She'd been digging for this — he could tell by the rumple of her coat and the clods of snow and deep dirt still stuck in her claws — but he wondered what she planned to do with what she'd uncovered. Was it a gift for her newly returned mother?

Before he could dive into more questions, a howl sounded over their heads. Kristjan perked up, then looked to Lemmikki questioningly as the disembodied voice addressed her by name. Who's calling you?

It was Kristjan who came across her, and all at once she felt her conviction in her mission sputter nearly out. It was not that she did not truly want to complete it, no, it was that this particular wolf was one who had earned her admiration that day at the pack meeting—and that was when she hadn't gotten a real good look at him, what with deciding she would linger in the background. H-hrllo, she managed, speaking 'round the stuff in her mouth, tail waving weakly behind her as she smiled in what she hoped was a welcoming way, and not an anxious grimace.

He was so nice and pleasant! Ikki felt unsure of herself, and finally got the unidentified things out of her mouth to answer his second question. Uhm, well— insert summoning call here. Her ears perked, and her eyes grew as wide as saucers to hear the voice that the wind carried. She could not believe it! 

For once, her voice was steady and sure as she answered the next question, My dad! And, looking to Kristjan who was steady and certain and smart... she asked, will you come with me to see him? It had been so long. What if he didn't recognize her? What if she didn't recognize him? She grew suddenly nervous with the thought, but it did not override her happiness to know that her father was here!

Lemmikki howled back, saying, I am coming!

He waited, paws thrumming against the ground in a rat-a-tat way. Some beat he'd made up along his travels, a way to pass the time between the fade of his voice and the rise of another's.

Merry's heart skipped at the young call that met him. Her voice, so much like her mother's! But he couldn't tell if it was Kiki or Fjola who answered him - and the skip in his heart twisted into something deep and painful and unable to be healed by poultice or plants.

Why had he ever left them behind?

I will wait for you! he called back to her, edging out his sadness with a punch of expectation, always. She sounded excited, too - but what if she was angry with him? What if he disappointed her? He couldn't let his own nerves get the better of him. He would find out soon enough.

At least he hadn't never returned.

At least he hadn't become his father.

Kristjan’s brows lifted in surprise. Her father had returned? This is wonderful news! His immediate reaction was to share in her joy. His tail waved like a banner, and he grinned at Lemmikki. Of course, he assured her of his presence. I’ll race you to him! No doubt she would be eager to reach her father quickly.

Laughing, he bounded away towards the source of the howl. Along the way, he began to feel a rush of jealousy, but he kept up a good face for his packmate, for her reunion. He pushed away any thought of himself and focused solely on the girl racing at his side.

Kristjan brought about an eagerness there had not been before. He wiped away doubts and anxieties, by turning it into a great game. Racing! When had she ever raced before? But she had always wanted to—she was born to run, and she was all legs. He got a head start, to which she giggled a hey!!! after him, before she kicked herself into drive. 

And then she was running! Behind him, at first, and she might have stayed that way but her spirit resisted the very idea of that. In all things, Lemmikki might be last—last to eat, last to speak her mind, last to rock the boat, last to love, maybe... but when it came to something like this? That required no thinking, no logic, just spirit and body combined? 

She accelerated. A wild laugh came from her, unbridled joy that had never before been tapped into. All because Kristjan asked her to race, silly as it was. She had almost forgotten who they were racing toward, but Ikki needed that most of all then. Ikki couldn't think, what if he doesn't remember me?, or, what if he can't even recognize me now? 

No, all she could think of were the things that she heard. Her own breathlessness, and the drumming of Kristjan's paws. The wind in her ears, the crunch of the broken snow the two of them sent flying! 

Soon enough, her father would see them.