The two wolf pups waited in the clearing as the sun slowly rose above them. Libby kept pacing around. Alex tried to hide his impatience, though he still let out a nervous yawn and shook himself nervously once every while.

"Red Spirit and their siblings have been gone awfully long, don't you think?" Libby told Alex after a while.

He let out a grunt and gave her a glance. Libby quickly looked the other way. Apparently her brother was still upset with her.

The rest of the rendezvous site was calm. The Pack's hunters, Diamond and two other wolves whose names Libby didn't know or remember, had gone off to do their jobs. Only Dreven, Onor, Umium, and Maggie remained on the clearing. Dreven sat talking to the Healer near what Libby assumed was the cave of the Leader, below the big rock pile. Umium was chewing on a tree root near the den Libby and Alex had spent the night in, while Maggie was practicing hunting moves on a ragged doll made out of deer skin.

Libby partially wanted to join in with the young she-wolf, but she decided against it. Maggie seemed rather assertive, which came off as unappealing. Plus, Libby thought, she and Alex would be going back home soon, anyways.

Alex rolled onto his back, glaring up into the sky. "The sun's at its highest point by now. Maybe something is wrong..." He wasn't speaking to anyone in particular.

An ominous feeling gripped Libby's stomach. "Why don't we sneak out and see for ourselves?" she suggested without thinking.

Alex rolled over onto his belly again with wide eyes and small pupils, a frown on his face. His voice was quiet but severe. "Are you an idiot? What's the thing that got us in all this trouble to begin with? Well?"

"I just--"

"It was you not behaving and leaving our rendezvous! We never would've been here if you hadn't been so stubborn!" Her brother was nearly snarling by now.

Libby tucked her tail between her legs. "But--"

"We are not sneaking out again! I'll pin you if I have to to keep you here!"

Libby tried to fight the grief rising up. "I don't know what else to do! I need to know if Mom and Dad are alive or not!"

"Well, so do I!"

"Well I—"

"Pups?"

The two siblings hadn't noticed Dreven padding up to them when their fight had gotten more audible. "What's going on?" the older wolf inquired. He looked mildly annoyed, but not angry.

Libby tucked her tail again, ears droopy. "We were just..." She didn't know how to finish the sentence.

"She had another foolish idea!" Alex bayed at the Leader, sticking out his tongue at Libby.

"And what was this 'foolish' idea?"

"To sneak away and find our parents by ourselves!"

Dreven turned to Libby. "Pup, I know that you long to go back to your family, but you'll have to wait. Your brother is correct. With these Army wolves on the loose and invading our territories, things are very dangerous. You cannot just go marching off into the woods at your own accord."

Libby's ears drooped. Even if his words weren't harsh, they still hurt.

Dreven continued. "Snow-white, Red Spirit and Ktea should be back soon. They'll tell us if it's safe to make the trek to Fading Shadows territory. We'll bring you back as soon as possible."

"It's not fast enough..." Libby mumbled to herself.

"I know. I'm sorry." Dreven looked like he wanted to say something else, but then closed his mouth, turned tail, and walked away.

Alex gave Libby another nasty glance before scratching himself behind his ear with a hind leg.

Libby lay down, feeling defeated for a moment. The longer we wait, the more likely it is that Mom and Dad are... She did not dare to finish her own thought.

More time passed, until, at last, the sounds of voices, pawsteps, and swishing of the undergrowth announced the return of the patrol. Libby's ears perked up and she jumped to all four paws, tail in the air. "Are they back?" she barked.

First, Ktea entered the clearing, followed by her mother and finally Red Spirit. Dreven approached the group as soon as he saw them enter the rendezvous site. "You've returned. Red Spirit, please report."

The white-black they-wolf spoke clearly. "We checked the entire part of the forest you’ll have to travel through in order to reach the Plains. Not a sign of Wessels or his Army. I say it's safe to bring the pups and bring them home."

Libby couldn't contain her excitement. She let out a howl of victory and jumped around the patrol wolves and Dreven. "Ahhooooooo! We're going back home! Ahooooooo! We're going to see Mom again! Hooooooooooh!"

"Silence, you insolent pup!" Snow-white snapped, before giving the enthusiastic she-wolf a push with her muzzle, causing her to fall over. Libby landed with a surprised yip.

"Leave Libby alone, Mom!" Red Spirit bayed, ears against their neck.

Snow-white huffed, but walked off.

Libby got to her paws again, her tail wagging. Alex was standing beside Dreven as well. His tag wagged furiously.

The Leader-wolf spoke, "I'll be taking you with me, Red Spirit. That is, if you're not exhausted from your current patrol."

Red Spirit nearly sunk down in a playing bow. "Is that a challenge? You that I'm always up for a patrol!"

"Great!" Libby barked before jumping up and down again.

"All right, then it's settled. We'll leave at once." Dreven turned towards Snow-white and Ktea. "You two are in charge at the rendezvous until I or Kotan return." He sounded completely devoid of emotion as he said that.

Snow-white made a tssk noise while Ktea simply nodded with an unamused expression.

Dreven looked at the pups and Red Spirit again. "Let's go."

***

The journey through the forest was harder than Libby thought. She'd expected to have endless amounts of energy to get back to her parents, but after running ahead of the patrol for a while she quickly felt drained.

The forest was large and overwhelming, and Libby quickly realized how much more she preferred to be at the open rendezvous over the middle of the woods. The birdsong and rustling leaves made her feel unnerved. She didn't care for the musky scents, either.

"Might want to save your energy, Libby," Red Spirit said good-naturedly as the sandy-brown wolf pup started to walk with the rest of the wolves again.

"Sorry," Libby panted.

"And stay with the patrol," Dreven commented, "These woods may not be safe quite yet."

Alex was eerily quiet again as they padded through the soft undergrowth. He simply kept looking ahead, barely blinking, with a determined frown on his face.

"Are you all right?" she asked as she started to walk beside him.

"Mhm."

"Pup, why are you so quiet?" Dreven asked. "Aren't you happy that you're going to see your family again?

Alex finally looked at the Leader-wolf. "I'm just focused," he said briskly. "I must make sure I'm not disappointed if there's bad news."

"Everything will be fine!" Libby barked excitedly, her tail wagging, though she could feel the doubts nagging at her from deep down.

"I'm just being careful," Alex told Dreven.

The older wolf nodded. "Okay. I understand."

An awkward silence later Red Spirit finally spoke up. "Well, it sure is a day with lovely weather, isn’t it?"

"You could say that," Dreven muttered, sounding distracted.

Libby, at last having regained some of her energy, started to walk ahead of the other three wolves again. She sniffed the ground, trying to drink all of the unfamiliar scents of the forest. While they and the surrounding forest still felt stifling to an extent, spending the night with the Dark Stones Pack had made her feel the tiniest bit more at home than when she'd first gotten here.

"Not too far ahead, Libby!" Dreven called.

"Just exploring!" the pup responded. Something small shot through the bushes, leaves, and grass.

"A mouse!" she bayed before running after it, ignoring her surroundings completely, including Dreven and Red Spirit calling her back.

The little rodent raced into a burrow. Libby tried to dig it out, but it was too late. She growled in frustration, before turning around and running into an annoyed-looking Dreven.

"What did we tell you?" he grumbled.

"Err..."

"Pup, when I order you to do something, I expect you to follow it! You cannot just go running off! Do you understand?"

Libby bowed her head. "I understand, Dreven..."

"Good. Don't let it happen again."

The rest of the journey went by mostly uneventfully. At last, Dreven brought the patrol to a halt. "Red Spirit, I want you to scout ahead."

The white-black they-wolf nodded and bolted away.

Dreven sat down, Alex following. Libby was impatiently pacing to and fro. She could already see the edge of the forest ahead. Beyond that lay the Brightened Plains. Her home.

It seemed like ages, but Red Spirit returned at last. They seemed nervous as they approached. "Er, Dreven, a word, please?" With a flick of their tail, they motioned a few pawsteps away.

Libby was surprised that Dreven was going to leave her and Alex alone for a while after what she'd done before. Though she'd been scared of him after he'd gotten mad at her, she still felt the urge to sneak away to visit her parents.

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Don't even think about it," he mumbled.

"Hey, I'm only thinking. No actions right here, see?" Libby lifted up both her front paws and sat down on her haunches. She looked to her right where Dreven and Red Spirit were engaged in a hushed conversation. She got an idea.

"Okay, new plan," she yipped, "instead of running off to our parents, I go and see what they're talking about! I'm sure Red Spirit met our family and is telling Dreven how amazing Mom is! Oh, and how dull Willow is."

"I think you're stupid," Alex responded. "Don't do it, Lib."

"You're not the boss of me! I'm older than you!"

"Yeah, by only a tiny bit!"

She blew a raspberry and snuck through the underbrush in the direction of the two adult wolves. She had to walk extra carefully, for there were leaves and twigs covering the ground that made walking silently very hard. Her dull brown coat luckily mixed in decently with the surroundings, however, though it was a bit pale in comparison.

"...cannot let them return."