Rise.

"What happened to him?"
The Doctor sighed, shook his head.
"Overexposure. Burns from a Lout weapon. Confusing, because we rarely see weaponry so primitive, even from them..." the Doctor cut himself off, realizing that Blaszni was likely very uninterested in this part of the story. The young human was looking pensively through the glass.
"Your wolfe will heal, but..." he templed his fingers, somber, "It will take time."
Blaszni was so still he seemed almost unresponsive.
"I will take care of him. I will heal him."
The Doctor looked at the little human with interest. He'd never heard him speak in this tone of voice before. Blaszni inclined his head slightly.
"Thank you, Doctor. But I would like to take him home now."
The Doctor nodded.
"Of course. Go and see your mate, human. He will be wanting you."

In the opposite room, Dorano was waiting.


Colwinter, PreYear Nine (1st Moon)


There were six more attacks over the winter, and now BlackForest seemed to be waiting for another. Róan spent the morning sitting in front of the TV, not watching cooking shows and wondering if this life really was any different than the one he would have led in the clan. Euan came by in the afternoons, when his stamina was up and the litter he now carried heavily did not drain so much of his energy. Róan still found it strange to see his brother's belly swollen, but he had somewhat forgotten about it in the last week, as his own body had begun to rebel against him, and he was a bit more tired and far more irritable than usual. Today was the first day he'd been sick and so now he felt sure he knew what the problem was. He glanced at the chrono. Four hours until Marik would be home. He missed Blaszni. His friend had been gone four months now with no message, no notes or images or even distant whispers. He was just gone. It reminded him of his father. It hurt.

Medin was in morning classes, and would probably spend his afternoon wandering the middle levels of the compound with his friends. They were young, and the possibility of attacks did not seem to so deeply terrify them.

In the meantime, Marik was on council for what to do about the attacks. The general consensus was that the best initial response would be an alliance - a reformation of two packs as one. SweetWater, their neighbors to the south, had recently undergone a famine and were in dire need of better cropping times. With BlackForest seeking to increase their population and fighting spread, perhaps now was the time for change. A banquet of both had been scheduled for the next moon, at the Festival of the Breaking Day. Marik had been enlisted to help prepare, and so indirectly, Róan had also become involved, and he was meant to be meeting Melbourne and Avion after noonmeal to discuss.

He looked outside again, at the falling snow. Falling snow always reminded him of home.

~:~

Roan was right, and Marik was ecstatic.

~:~