Copper eyes opened at the sound of his sister’s voice. What he saw deep in the nights were skulls and death, but he had never seen those here and did not know how to speak it. He knew secrets. They were whispered around them every day. Secrets and pain.He looked over at Adonai. She was the closest thing he knew of family, though even they were distant. Between him and the tree, the bark had a more comforting touch than the cold and intense gaze she looked at him with. But still he cared and knew she cared for him and it did not diminish the comfort he did get from her touch. She was, after all, his sister.

I don’t know… He replied honestly, his brows furrowed while he was trying to think. A white mask. He calls out, asks for help. I can’t help. The poor pup was at a loss for words. His head hung between his shoulders, whip tail limp at his side. He was not expecting much, knowing he could not describe what he saw and it was far beyond his reach to do so. There was something he knew he was missing, something he knew they were missing but he could not put his paw on it. They were surrounded by a pack and by family. Those who cared for them, though distantly, they still loved them in their own strange ways. There was more though, more beyond the world they had grown up in so far. The land around them held a secret, wanted to tell them a story they could not yet hear.

Pagan shifted so he could look back at the forests that would lead into the freelands, the lands of the loners and trails not traveled by them. It was this that beckoned him with answers to questions he had not asked. There was so much to discover and to learn in the wild while the shores kept their lips tightly pressed. He knew he could not step into the world yet. He was too small and there was still too much to learn here. The world was still a mystery and he knew he could find some answers here, even if he did not know where. He let out a sigh and turned back to face his sister, the feelings of being a puppy returning to him. I am sorry I woke you up. He said softly, truthfully. His nightmares should have been his own.