Since that day in the blizzard when I had been rescued by some handsome prince boy named Israfel, I had started to come to life once more. It was a shameful thing to realize just hwo remote I had become after my parents death. It was no wonder, I decided, that my three sisters had decided to go on an adventure even while I chose, politely, to stay. Why should they wish to be around me when I was such a staunch, stern sister? Playfulness used to be in my nature, along with shyness and fearfulness. While the latter two had been tempered and changed, the former should have never been lost.

It had been hard to lose my parents and I had begun to understand what true loss was. Mother and father were gone to a place beyond the stars. Often I would look up at night and see the stars twinkling and hope that it was them. Reminding me that they were happy and together. I wish that I had someone like that. It often made my mind jump to the boy, Israfel, and I would blush scarlet beneath my fur and curl up, nose to tail, and try to banish such odd thoughts. Then I would find an aching hole in my soul for my brother. We had been so close as pups and he had always been full of adventure, brimming with energy. It was no surprise when he went on his own journey for mother often talked of her own wanderlust when she was young.

I had been gathering herbs all morning, intent on restocking my supply. I had been neglectful in my duties as an aspiring healer and the loss of so much this winter had made things harder but I was determined. As I crisscrossed a well-used path my nose twitches and a scent burns the back of my throat. I pause, brows furrowing as I lift my nose once more to sniff the air. It is so familiar and yet different. I don't realize that I am following it, my black tipped tail catching on a rose bush and leaving behind traces of my own presence.

It meanders through Glorall and straight towards... my den. My heart begins to beat in staccato rythmn and I start to realize the truth. My paws pick up, my ears pricked forward - save for the one that always remains drooped. I spy him from a distance and my breath catches on a sob of happiness. Then I sprint, a joyous bark ripping from my lungs, and I race right up to him and slam my chest into his, wrapping his neck with mine and whimpering. Licking and pressing up like a puppy, tail wagging a mile a minute. "Zephyr!"