Walking out of the abandoned cabin, Draven was still examining the carving in his hand. It truly was beautiful and so detailed. Carefully, he wrapped it in a cloth before tucking it into his bag, hoping to return it to its owners. Pulling out a map of Nerda, Draven spread it out while trying to figure out where the werewolf might have gone. Starting at his location at Red Peak Mountain, he began searching around it in spirals, working outwards. Finally, his eyes stopped at Dark Moon Mountain. It couldn't be that easy, could it?
Draven sat there, staring at the map, trying to convince himself. Finally, he gave in and stood, refolding the map and looking in the direction of Dark Moon Mountain. What was the harm in checking, right?
As he took off into the setting sun, Draven wasn't sure whether he wanted to be right or wrong.
**********
"What's taking him so long? It's already dusk." Griffin was pacing restlessly.
[Calm down, Griffin. Axel just told me they're almost back,] Kael responded, exasperated at his partner.
Griffin finally paused in his pacing. "How often do you guys actually talk to each other?" He asked, curious.
[A lot, actually. Almost as much as you and Nathan do.]
Before Griffin could respond, Nathan burst through the foliage into the yard. Trotting over to where Griffin was, he shifted when he'd almost reached Griffin. He had a huge grin on his face that instantly sent a wave of relief and contentment through Griffin.
Pulling the wolf into his arms, Griffin breathed in his scent deeply. "Did you enjoy your run?"
"Yeah, it was great!" Nathan replied enthusiastically. "Sorry I was gone for so long but it felt good to stretch out like that."
Griffin pulled back, a smile of his own on his face. "Glad to hear it. Dinner's ready."
As they ate, Nathan gushed over everything he saw while out as Griffin stared at him, smiling gently. After washing the dishes together, Nathan turned to Griffin, "I'm going to start unpacking the trunks."
"Tonight? Why? We could do it together tomorrow."
"But I want to start now."
Griffin suppressed a sigh. It took nearly 20 minutes for him to convince his little mate to wait until the next morning to start unpacking. And then the chaos started.
Shortly after Nathan had started unpacking the first trunk, he started panicking and was throwing things everywhere. "Where is it?" Nathan muttered to himself.
"What are you looking for?" Griffin asked from where he'd been standing.
"The carving."
Griffin was confused. "Carving?"
Nathan looked heartbroken as he looked up, tears in his eyes. "Yeah. The one you made for me. I can't find it anywhere."
Griffin pulled Nathan into a tight hug. After soothing the distressed wolf, he sent him upstairs to take a quick nap. Griffin searched the two trunks himself and still came up empty.
Giving up, he went to start lunch while thinking of something he could make to replace the lost carving. Obviously he couldn't make the exact same one considering how much it meant to Nathan. Maybe he'd make one of a wolf laying under a tree with a dragon perched at the top. It'd be a good replacement without being the same.