Thinking it Over [Taske]

[Nephilm]

Nephilm still hadn't gone home yet; but he had been strong enough to inch closer to the kingdom's heart. He was no longer worried about what would happen should he return. If he disappeared, Alaula would know what was happening. She was a smart girl, although young, he trusted her to accept even the worst of things when they were true. It was a horrible thing; he would rather her not worry at all, he wanted nothing more than for his most important person to live carefree; but the world wouldn't let anyone live that way. Not even children. The dark wolf stopped by the river's edge, looking down at his reflection. There were no laws against him being a part of this kingdom; there was no problem with him honing his abilities and becoming a better istari. So why did it feel like there were at times? Why were some gazes heavy? Why were some higher ranked wolves so arrogant when it came to he and his father? He would have had to be blind not to realize that there was something buried deep within the interactions of the wolves here that... signaled something that even he didn't understand.

Blue eyes hardened at his appearance, but then bristled fur relaxed once more, and he allowed himself to get a drink. He had to go back; he couldn't lurk around the pack's outskirts, he had to go back and find out exactly what had happened to his father. He had to know whether others were disappearing as well. There were so many missing pieces, Nephilm couldn't decide on anything without jumping to conclusions... and that wasn't like him at all. The level headed lupine acted on a whim at times, but when he had times to think. When the problem wasn't something that he could take on by force, he knew that he had to do some digging. He had to think things through. He had to make some sort of plan. And of course, another priority that had nothing to do with the topic at hand; he had to make sure that Alaula was safe.

Sitting beside the river, the lupine sighed. Why did it seem like he had nothing to act on and so much to figure out? It seemed that the only thing that he could do was go back and start over.