At first, it had seemed like some kind of fun adventure; but that feeling had quickly faded away when the small child felt the tension of his father's grasp on his nape. There was an urgency to the pace he set, and despite the way he instinctively curled his hindquarters up and under, Forrest's tiny body bounced with the loping stride of his father. Wide yellow eyes looked over to see his mother keeping pace, and she looked at him as she always had - with so much love, but there was something else. Something different. He didn't understand the worry that had settled into her gaze, but he could see it.

They kept running, on and on, until the sun faded from the sky and the moon rose to illuminate their path. Forrest was tired, and he could hardly keep his legs tucked up any more. Hushed words passed between his parents, the reverberations of his father's deep voice through his skin lulling him into an even sleepier state. At long last, the constant running came to an end and Forrest happily had his fill of mother's milk and curled up to sleep between the bodies of his parents. This was safety. This was home, even more so than the den that they had left far behind.

He was jolted awake some hours later, the pale light on the horizon only hinting at the coming sunrise. Howls filled the air, and he recognized a couple of the voices. Forrest hazily recalled times when his father's voice had been part of that chorus - but not today. Blearily blinking the sleep from his eyes, he looked up at his father, wondering why he wasn't joining the call to hunt. He was easily distracted by hunger, though, and turned towards his mother's teats to have a drink. Before he could latch on, she grabbed him by the scruff and picked him up. Startled, he whined his discontent. He was hungry! His father's nose pressed into his belly momentarily, the same yellow and amber eyes that he had staring down at him. I love you, son, his deep voice said, and just as Forrest licked at his father's nose, the large male turned away, running off into the woods.

All at once they were running again, but this time it was just him and his mother. They ran with the sun as it rose, and as the heat of the late spring day began to beat down upon them they did not slow. Forrest's body bounced with his mother's every stride. The land buzzed past him in a blur, and he thought that any time now his father would be there again running with them. But as midday faded into afternoon, so too did his mother's energy begin to fade. Her pace slowed, and her breaths came in pants around the precious cargo she carried. Finally, she slowed to a walk, winding among the tall trees that had grown more frequent over the past hour. Finding a hollow log, she crawled inside and placed her son at her abdomen before she let the exhaustion and knowledge of what had likely happened to her mate pull her into unconsciousness. Once more, Forrest had his fill of what little milk his mother had been able to produce under such circumstance before he, too, faded into sleep.

No, no, no - they shouldn't have been able to track us here! There are too many scents! Too many wolves! His mother's panicked voice roused Forrest more so than the distant howls, and he yawned widely as he looked up at her. What was going on? Why did she sound so different than normal? And...."Where's daddy?" he asked, innocently curious. Suddenly seeming to remember her duty to her child, the shewolf stooped down to her son's level. Stay here, Forrest. Do you hear me? Stay here, and wait for me. I will come back for you. Nodding sleepily, Forrest sat up and nodded once more, affirming that he'd heard and understood her instructions. She licked him tenderly, and then she was gone.

For a while, Forrest sat at attention, watching the open end of the hollow log and waiting for his mother to come back. Seeing as how it was the middle of the night, however, eventually his tired little body slumped and he fell back asleep. When he woke again, the golden light of morning filtered into the log through old knots as well as the far end of the log. Stretching and yawning, Forrest looked around expectantly for his mother, but found he was still alone. His tummy rumbled when the realization that there was no teat to suck on became apparent. A soft whine escaped his muzzle. Stay here, his mother had said. She was coming back. His mother would return soon - she'd probably gone to get his father - and then he could have breakfast and they could explore this new rendezvous site they'd come to. That's what was happening!

Excited at the prospect, Forrest stood up and toddled down to the end of the log, peering out into the beautifully backlit woodland. His head rolled back and forth, taking in all the wonderful things around him. After a little while, the excitement wore off and his growling stomach reminded him that he hadn't had breakfast yet. Sitting down, he pouted and yipped once. "Mother!" he called. "Mother!" again. Nothing. He looked off into the trees, picking a random spot and fixating on it, sure that was where his parents would reappear from. She'd told him to wait, so he would - but for how long?