The Journey Begins (private, me and Kit)

Rain finished his meat and ran over to the two playing pups. "Hey! Did you think you'd play without me?!" He tackled Rhea.

Rhea whipped round and began to claw playfully at Rain's chest. Seren watched on, his tail wgging proudly as the peice of shredded meat Rhea had failed to snatch from him dangled from his grinning jaws. 

Orion filled his belly with the remainder of the stomach and ripped off a front leg to carry with them. Then, dragging the carcass out of the cave and to the edge of the cliff, he tossed remains over and watched as it tumbled down away from the path. That'll confuse you, Scabious, he thought to himself, Which scent will you follow, our's or the prey's? You have a task to do, but you'll be very hungry.
"Come on everyone," Orion barked, heading once again up the naturally-formed mountain path with the elk leg between his jaws, "The southern scout has probably set off again already."

But Orion was wrong. Down in the snowy clearing near the foot of the mountain where the battle had taken place the previous day, Commander Scabious and his deminished troops sat dismally waiting for the messegers to return. Some of the soldiers, who were physically fit enough to do so, set about traning routines to keep warm and fit for the long, treacherous run that lay ahead. Those who were injured remained inside the cave, tending to their wounds and guarding the pathetically small kill pile the hunters had salvaged from the snowy tundra. 
Scabious, refusing to be seen as an invalid by his pack due to his missing eye, kept watch outside, Luetenant Anuke residing by his side.
"S-sir," Anuke shivered, "How long do you wish to wait for back-up? The soldiers are getting restless and Frostbite and her family might go too far for us to retreive them if we wait much longer. Pehaps we could -"
"We wait here for Houvak to send reinforcements." The Commander put an end to the argument. Anuke fell silent. They sat there for hours, and it was when the sun was begginning it's decent into evening when they at last heard howls in the distance. A sly smile broke across Scabious's muzzle as he recognised the familiar strong, growling howl of another Southern warrior of the same ranking as him; Commander Ital.

Frostbite strode up the path, and pushed her way in front of Orion. Now that she was in the lead her paws went from a stride to a typical walk, her paws searched for sturdy places to put her paws on, on the stone. "I don't know if they have left yet. We need to move quickly though, they may have gotten some stronger and more rested dogs to takeover following us." The Alphess said out loud, her gaze turned to the land behind them.

Rain stumbled behind everyone, he watched his mother walk past Orion. He wondered if Orion would say anything about it.

Orion repressed the urge to say anything to his counterpart, not out of anger, but out of concern, as she pushed past him and take the lead. He didn't want to cause a fuss or get anyone upset over such a little thing, though in secret he did own that his pride was a little hurt by Frostbite's actions. He new the pups had noticed, which only made it worse. He just hoped neither of them would say anything.

Rhea looked on in confusion as her mother took the lead over Orion, as if she was mad with him or something. It was just odd that she would do such a thing; Orion  always took the lead, and her mother usually took up the rear, making sure her and Rain didn't lag behind. 
She shot a confused glance at Rain to see if he had noticed, and then one at Seren. He was looking down, masking his face in shadow and pretending he hadn't noticed a thing. Rhea turned back to Rain for reassurance.

Rain whispered to Rhea, "She is just showing that she is still the Alphess, and knows how to take care of everyone." He purposely said it loud enough for Orion to hear, but not his mother.

Rhea didn't reply. She still got no reply out of Seren, Orion was blatantly ignoring them and his mother hadn't even heard. For a long time the family didn't say anything to each other. The she-dog wished that some prey would wonder into sight, or the path would be blocked so that they would all be forced to speak to one another to come up with a plan. She almost wished the Southern Patrol was nearer by so that the silence would be broken between them. 

The temperature began to drop as the pack trudged in gloomy silence up the slope. They had passed no other cave like the night before, and Orion was beginning to worry that they'd all have to sleep outside in the open. The winds were cold and wet, and the pups' coats weren't at a mature enough stage to withstand sleeping in such conditions for a whole night. He consulted Frostbite of his concerns.

Back down in the valley at the foot of the misty mountain, Scabious and Anuke stood in the centre after collecting some of the officers from their group. When they had first returned to the cave, the nurse, a middle-aged female beagle, had informed them that one of their injured soldiers had died from his wounds earlier that morning. Scabious ordered two soldiers to take the body into the woods and bury it, and allowed those who wished to go and pay their respects to their lost comrade. He then had the entire cave cleared out before odering all but those of a higher status in the pack to continue training. It was important they seemed less dented than they actually were by the the battle for when Commander Ital arrived.
At last the reinforcements, led by the whipet messengers Scabious had sent, arrived into the clearing. Every dog there bowed and wagged their tail in greeting at the other group. 
"Commander Ital," said Scabious in an eruption of booming laughter, "Am I glad they sent you!" 
"It's a good thing I came by the sounds of it!" replied Ital. The two commanders greeted each other joyously before the tibetan mastiff turned to the two messengers who stood, panting, waiting for orders. 
"You two go into the cave and eat and rest until your strength has returned. Then make your ways back to base camp. The mountains will be cold and treacherous, too dangerous for whippets. Go on."
Sasha tried to hide her disappointment, but Tafari couldn't be more relieved. The two retreated into the cave.

Ooc: Do you think they should meet up with Splinter and Blackavar soon?:3

Ooc: yes!

Rain broke the silence and said, "We need to find shelter. I say we should take a break, for a little bit and them walk through the night."

Splinter muscular body leaped up the steep hill, his thickly grown fur was matted with snow and ice. It was sure that he had adapted to the harsh snow and rugged terrain. "Blackavar. Do you smell that? I smell dogs."

Ooc: I'm super excited for this! XD

"Yes Rain, but we can't stop until we actually find shelter," Orion said patiently, "It's far too cold. I dog would've had to grown up on these mountains if they were to be able to bare this cold for long, let alone when the sun is down."

Blackavar sniffed the bitter air. He was shivering with cold under his matted and scarred coat. The enormous hound had changed a lot over the past year. He looked rough in the first place, but now he looked down right horrendous. The whole right-side of his face looked terrible; he had lot sight in his right eye (which, over time, had clouded over and turned into a white, expressionless orb), his ear had been ripped clean off by a bear when Splinter had been a pup, and his lips and muzzle were terribley scarred. His front right paw, too, had been torn and mutilated by the same bear so he could do nothing but limp lopsidedly along, twisted paw levered up off the ground.
Blackavar sniffed again. "Yes, I smell it," he said at length in his hoarse, aging voice, "Their a little way off. I say we avoid them and go find some food."

As much as he wanted to, he didn't argue with Orion. "I'll keep a look out for shelter." He murmured.

Splinter shook his head and said, "I am going to track them down. Come of you want, or keep going the way you are." He pushed through pine trees, his nose twitching every second. Then he made a mistake, frozen leaves crackled loudly under his paws as he sensed himself nearing the dogs. "Dang it.@ he muttered to himself.

Orion snapped round at the sound coming from somewhere in the small wood the the right of him. A deep, threatening growl emitted from deep inside of his throat, "Who's there?" he demanded. He sensed that Rhea and Seren had rushed to his side in defense.

"Splinter, wait!" Blackavar howled after the pup with no reaction. Over the past year since the old warrior had found the pup still alive and foolishly not taken him back to his family, Blackavar had done his best to raise him well. When they had reached the mountain, he made the decision to skirt around the foothills, as opposed to trying to scale it with a young pup. 
On their journey, Blackavar soon found he couldn't find another way through the mountains in order to get to the new territory. So instead they both made a new home in the mountain, and hunted the animals that came down from the heaights at night. Now that Splinter was a lot older, the two of them had began the trek up the mountain to try and make their way to the new land. 
"That pup's going to get us both killed one day," Blackavar mumbled as he trudged grimly after him.

Splinter moaned, and he slowly made his way towards the group. "I won't hurt you." He mumbled before leaving. Suddenly his eyes lot up, "Orion, Rhea, Rain, and Frostbite! You guys are safe!" It took all his energy to stay still, they thought he was dead, they must be freaking out.

Frostbite growled, "How do you know our names?" She shooed away the thought of how much he looked like Splinter, but it couldn't be him, he was dead.

Rhea suddenly felt a protective ferocity grip her and she leapt at the stranger, aiming to pin him to the ground. "Who are you?" She spat in his face, "We've never met you so how do you know our names?"

"It's me... Splinter. Blackavar is just back there. I know you think I'm dead, but obviously I'm right here." He said, feeling now as if he wanted to cry.

Frostbite shivered, and slowly approached him. She lifted his paw with her muzzle, a tiny scar could be seen. Tears streamed down her muzzle and she murmured, "It is you!"

Rain stuttered, "It can't be!" He growled, his eyes went grey, he should be happy, but he wasn't. "Don't you know how much grief you caused us! Especially mom!" He snapped.

"I don't b-believe you!" Rhea growled, holding back tears of her own as she pressed her paws harder onto the male's chest, "My brother died a long time ago! You're nothing but another enemy to our family. Stand back mum, you too Rain."

Seren and Orion stood side-by-side, silent with shock. Eventually, the Alsatian stepped forward and stood next to Frostbite. "It can't be..." he muttered.

Frostbite growled, "DONT YOU THINK A MOTHER WOULD KNOW WHO HER SON IS!" She nudged Rhea off of Splinter and pressed her muzzle in his fur.

Splinter cried, somebody believed him, it seemed like a miracle. "Mom, I missed you. I love you, and never intended to hurt you."

Tears were streaming down Rhea's face as she was pushed away. She shook them away angrily and glared at her mother and the dog claiming to be her brother, hurt and confusion blazing in her glazey eyes.  "You... You're lying!" she screamed, before backing away onto the path and loping further along so she was out of sight. She slumped down at the edge of the cliff, sniffing and shaking, her head unclear.

Seren was the last to step up and see Splinter. Like Rain and Rhea had a special brother-sister relationship, Seren had always looked out for his timid younger brother. He had hidden his deamons from his family all this time since Splinter had been lost. But now he was back, Seren couldn't help but touch his forehead to Splinter's, whimpering softly as his tail wagged feebly.

Splinter cried out, "Seren! I didn't see you! I shouldn't have done this to you, any of you."

Frostbite chased after Rhea and said, "Honey, I know this is a bit much, I can't believe it either. That is your brother though. I know it is him." She licked her cheek and stood up.

Rain couldn't stay mad, he just couldn't. He placed his muzzle on his shoulder.

"I just don't understand," Orion choked as the noise died down, "I found you when you ran away. It was raining, no pup could... I found you... you were... dead..."

"You don't understand, mum," Rhea sniffed quietly, "My whole life I had blamed myself for Splinter's death. If I hadn't caused such a fuss about him scratching me, he would have never run away. You would have been able to watch him grow up, like me and Rain and Seren. And now he's back... I just don't think I can look him in the eye ever again."

"Splinter!" Blackavar gasped as he saw the pup's family crowded around him. The enormous black dog began to tremble as he stood there, afraid to move. "Orion? Orion, is that you?"

"Oh, Rhea, it wasn't your fault. He chose to run off, on his own. I'm sure he doesn't care about the past much now, he is probably happy that he is here now. You should talk to him, I know he misses you." She said softly, and began to head back to Splinter.

Splinter hung his head a little bit as Orion spoke. "I-I kind of faked it. I was so foolish! I was pale and cold because of the freezing weather, and I held in my breath until you left. Then I ran away, I wanted to see Father so badly. Blackavar followed me, and we got lost in a blizzard. So there was no chance of going back. I'm sorry." He whimpered.

Rhea watched her mother leave, but didn't follow her. She stayed when she was on the edge of the cliff, deep in thought. She wanted to see her lost brother so much, but she just couldn't. Not yet.

Orion stared back at Blackavar, who remained in the shadows of the trees. "You've been living with Blackavar all this time?" Orion addressed Splinter, not looking away from his former army friend.

Splinter nodded, "Yes, he isn't the best person to talk to, but he knows how to take care of me. Blackavar makes a great friend to." Slowly though, he padded towards Rhea. Even though he had been the runt, he was now much bigger than is siblings, but much of his size was muscle. "Rhea!" He smiled, and sat next to her. "I know you are probably mad at me or something, but I missed you so much. I faked death because I wanted to run away, to our Father. It wasn't smart of me, I didn't think of the cosequences." The large male sighed.

"I was never mad at you, Splinter," Rhea chocked, "I was always mad at myself. I just can't believe you're really alive."
The pale dog relaxed and rested her head lovingly on her brother's shoulders.

"Don't be mad at yourself. I don't want you to hurt." Splinter said softly. He licked her forehead softly, a tear rolled down his cheek. "I missed you guys so much. Part of me was hoping to see Dad, the other half was hoping to run into you." He said.

"Well then, half of you is happy," Rhea said, smiling, "And soon, we'll all see dad. I know we'll make it, especially now you and Blackavar are here. How was it, by the way? Living with Blackavar this whole time?" 
The she-cub gave a trademark cheeky wink and nudged her brother playfully with her shoulder.

"Ugh, he farts in his sleep. He mumbles in his sleep. He isn't great company traveling. It was great!" He chuckled. Splinter smiled, "I'm kidding."