nathaniel was, truly, getting tired of this.

it always seemed like the moment he found one of the boys, they were off floating in the wind again. he hardly got to see them anymore, and it chewed his nerves to pieces. for most of their first year of life, they had been within easy reach of him at all times. he could always track them down within glorall’s borders, and when he had taken them into the loner lands, they roamed but were always back to him by the time it got dark. and yet, once they had gotten into their second year, they had gotten it in their heads that they could survive on their own. and they had - so far. he didn’t think either of them were eating well enough and he was constantly plagued with worry over the fact that neither was fully grown and much more susceptible to attack.

he hadn’t seen either of his boys since early winter when he had stumbled across brann hunting in encora. brann hadn’t offered up much about how he’d been and their conversation had been on the shorter side, filled mostly with drivel about the weather and gossip. his boys were feisty though, both ready to fight at a moment’s notice: he could recall that trait from his younger years. it seemed like it was only yesterday, not three years ago, when he had been ready to tear the throat out of the ghostly male who had offered to kill tychon because of his deformed muzzle. however, where nathaniel had the bulk to back up his bite, even in his younger years, he feared that his boys had not filled out enough to hold their own if they offended the wrong wolf.

he rose shortly after mid morning, enjoying the warmth of the spring sunlight as he exited his den. winter had been bitter, carrying with it fierce snow storms and a chill that seeped into your very bones. he relished in the freshness of spring as he set out at a lazy pace, hoping to find one, or both if he was lucky, of his sons. as he began his trek towards the grotto, one of brann’s favored hideouts, his thoughts strayed to the three children he had left in spirane with anemone. he had made peace with their mother, had met them and felt their anger at his abandonment, but the lack of connection with them made guilt hang heavily on his heart. there was no excuse on his part, and it would be up to him to connect with them if he wanted to be a part of their life. he knew that spirane’s longtime alpha daenerys had been usurped seasons ago and that leadership had been passed since then, and he could only hope that the small family was safe.

the rocky edges of the grotto’s caverns came into view and he increased his pace slightly, fireborn eyes peering into the darkness as he searched for his son. he spent hours wandering through the elaborate paths from cavern to cavern and his patience for the grotto was long since worn thin. he was quite ready to leave, and turned to do just that when he noticed a cave he hadn’t yet looked through. hoping that he hadn’t wasted a morning and that brann was there, he made his way to the mouth and peered inside. while he didn’t find brann, it was soon apparent that the cave wasn’t empty. ”i’m quite sorry ma’am, i didn’t realize that someone was in here. i apologize for any intrusion.”