Searching for his love

[Kaziph]

Cassiel had backtracked across his land and left the markers, moving out into the unclaimed territory. He was searching, although he hardly admitted it to himself, for Epitaph. Long before, many seasons previous, he had met his mate for the first time in the lands near the lake, and he wondered if she had gone back to wander near the waters again instead of their mountains.

He wandered about, sniffing outcroppings and tuffs of earth which bore paw prints, but none of the scents belonged to the dark alphess of the mountain clan. The pale wolf continued walking, not letting his disappointment show, until his forelegs were in the water and the current gently lapped against his chest.

He stood there, waiting, listening to the earth around him as the water splashed, the winds blew, and the trees in the distance began to shed their leaves. Life was going on all around him, and yet the pale wolf felt utterly alone. Strange, he thought, that things always just go on, no matter what happens to each of us individually.

[Kaziph]

He didn't know how long he stood there, but eventually the sun fell into the lake off in the west, and the winds began to pick up, colder in the darkness. The evening settled around the white wolf, but he stood a little longer, gazing into the dark and wondering whether Epitaph were out there, just beyond his sight, waiting for him.

Finally, though, the alpha sighed and lowered his head. He backed out of the water and padded back onto the dry shore, shaking his pelt to rid it of the weight of the lake's lingering touch. She is gone, I'm afraid. He didn't want to think of it, but he had to continue on... he owed that much to his children.

Cassiel turned back toward the jagged edges of the Kameskai, his head dropped despondently down. He had to go on, but maybe one day she would return. There were so many things to consider if she was really gone - the pack's survival came before his own desires. The brute disappeared into the mist rolling up off the lake, headed back home.