Aimless wandering had become a new found habit for Fenris. Gone were the days of trotting dutifully along the borders, marking his scent and ensuring the safety of those who called Helidos home. Gone was the sense of purpose and pride from the large brute. Happiness no longer found its way into his heart at the sight of his beautiful mate, or his romping pups. It was all gone. All taken from him. He had been robbed of any chance of a joyous life. The light that had once filled his life had been snuffed out. Darkness surrounded him, consuming his every waking moment. No longer could he rest peacefully at night, for the nightmares only worsened then. Demons plagued what little sleep he found himself receiving. Flashes of those who held his heart dead before him, their lifeless bodies, torn and bloodied. The air around them still and stagnant, the putrid smell of death lingering above them. Silence consumed their once lively bodies as they lay strewn about in the crimson stained snow. Each night it was the same. The scene playing out in his head never changing. His broken form standing before them, powerless and exhausted as a booming voice cracked through the darkness around them with such tyranny it could only belong to one soul.

Each night the sound of haunting laughter would wake him violently. So much so that he had taken to sleeping out in the frigid, unprotected cold of the lands near their border. Too many nights had his violent awakening woken others around him, so he had slipped away into the night, seeking the comfort of the howling winter winds to keep the monsters that plagued his mind at bay. Days at a time would go by where the newly titled elder would find himself awake to watch both the setting and rising of the sun without sleep. The longer he could keep the vicious nightmares from poisoning his mind the better, though was it truly? Madness was beginning to consume him. His every thought engrossed by the possible ways to go about hunting down and destroying the villain that had taken everything from him. Visions of the tyrant's death were constantly flickering through the back of his mind. Every scene started the same, with Fenris seeking out his foe, challenging him to one final duel, but the outcome always varied. Some ended in his own death, while others found him reigning triumphant, but in the end nothing could change the brokenness that was his own mind and his heart.

Harsh winds whipped and whirred, twisting the snow in its eternal dance with the wind. A layer of the frosted powder coated his broad back though none of the arctic chill penetrated through his thick coat as he broke through the thick snow, pushing onward and upward to the peaks of the Isle De Muerto. How fitting it should be if death would find him there, his life taken from the place he was born to. While it may not have been these mountains in particular, the mountain life was one that would never leave him. Climbing the daunting peaks, braving the fiercest winds and the coldest, darkest winter nights. This night, though similar to the cold harsh nights he endured in his natal pack, well the similarities stopped there. He was far from the hopeful young wolf he had been then. No more did he see the endless possibilities for greatness and triumph. No more was his heart eager for adventure and the great mysteries that the dawn of each day held. A small ledge near the peak of the mountain provided a place to rest for the once Alpha. He found himself perched upon the precarious edge of the ledge, looking out into the perilous whipping winds. One could not hope to see the vast landscape below even if they so wished. The white wash of the snow blowing fiercely was enough to dim even the glow of the moon that hung overhead. Tilting his head back, an eery howl slipped from his lips, filled with heartbreak, sorrow and grief, that melted into the sounds of the wind.

"How all occasions do inform against me
And spur my dull revenge! What is a wolf,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and godlike reason
To fust in us unused. Now, whether it be
Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple
Of thinking too precisely on th' event--
A thought which, quartered, hath but one part wisdom
And ever three parts coward--I do not know
Why yet I live to say, 'This thing's to do,'
Sith I have cause and will and strength and means
To do't. Examples gross as earth exhort me.
Witness this army of such mass and charge,
Led by a delicate and tender prince,
Whose spirit with divine ambition puffed
Makes mouths at the invisible event,
Exposing what is mortal and unsure
To all that fortune, death and danger dare,
Even for an eggshell. Rightly to be great
Is not to stir without great argument,
But greatly to find quarrel in a straw
When honor's at the stake. How stand I then,
That have a father killed, a mother stained,
Excitements of my reason and my blood,
And let all sleep, while to my shame I see
The imminent death of a hundred wolves
That for a fantasy and trick of fame
Go to their graves like beds, fight for a plot
Whereon the numbers cannot try the cause,
Which is not tomb enough and continent
To hide the slain? O, from this time forth,
My thoughts be bloody, or be nothing worth!"

Golden eyes stared off into the night. There was nothing to be looking at for any particular reason. He just stared off into silence. He could see the stars twinkling bright in the sky. He stared up, not a care in the world. Everything he had lost, was never coming back. His last long-time friend was dead, and the closest wolf to him in the pack, was captured by a monster. Azul had nothing but time. In this time, he could not just sit around a wallow. Yes, Helidos was different now. He could feel it in the winds, he could smell it in the trees. Nothing would ever be the same. He hoped that one day he would see Juno, alive and well. But deep within his heart, he knew that he would see Quinn, Juno, and the other lost wolves in the other forest when it was his time. The great white wolf stared up to the stars, watching as a few seemed to dim into nothingness. Everything had its time to pass, everything was eventually going to die. The large brute moved from his home, wandering aimlessly in the night. He had no purpose to go anywhere, just wishing to get a better glimpse of the stars above. It was not until the Elder heard the howl of a wolf he knew well. Though he was not the closest to Fenris, he knew the Alpha's call, now Elder, he supposed. But Azul culd understand his reasoning for stepping down. He had done the same, after Lucy had gotten ill and passed away. It was too emotional to handle such an issue and run a pack at the same time. Both males had to bury their mates well before their time. Both males knew what it was like to lose the one thing that made complete sense in your life.

He followed the howl, rushing slightly for fear that Fenris was going to do something drastic. If only there had been a friend for Azul during his time of need in this manner. He rushed as quick as he could, feeling muscles being stretched and tightened that he had honestly not used for a very long time. The aching in his bones commanded the wolf to slow down, but Azul would not obey. His body was not his master. As he approached the neutral lands, he felt his feet stop. His heart beat aggressively within his chest. His heart was racing and memories flashed back to his older mind. He had not visited these lands in a very long time, but it was here that one of his closest friends had almost lost their life. Kenai. It was in this very area that Steele had tried to murder him and flee to create Erenyx all on his own, stealing a good portion of wolves as he did so. Azul did not come back here, not after the incident for facing such a travesty was rough enough already. He closed his eyes and still he could hear the cry of the wolf who needed someone, anybody. Azul forced his paws to move forward, walking towards the sound.

It was a deep and heavy call, one filled with such sorrow. Azul tried to stop whimpers of his own from leaking out, but he couldn't. It was too painful of a song. Ahead of him, he saw the prints in the snow. They were deep, easily weighed down from the weight of the larger wolf. Azul followed them, even with the winds whisking against his body at the hardest pressure they could muster. Resting his ears along his head, he stared the figure before him. There the ex-alpha was, signing out unto the stars, perhaps hoping that his love would hear his calls. He waited quietly until the song had ceased, sitting on the ground. He was a patient old wolf, had learned such a gift from such a young age. After all, it had been a requirement for him to run his pack for the three wonderful years he had. When it was over, Azul stood and moved to place himself to be seated beside Fenris. He looked out to the world and spoke in a somber tone, "Quinn was a lot like my mate, in many ways. She was kind, loving, considerate, and wanted the best for everyone around her. After Lucy's death, I did not do what she would have wanted. I became cold and pushed my duties onto others. I know Quinn would not want that of you, just as Lucy would not of myself... But nobody was there to help me. I, however, promise to help you in anyway that I can, friend. For I too know of the loss you are dealing with, and when Quinn does greet me in the other forest, I would not like to be beaten up by her." He joked as he tried to give a soft smirk to Fenris. It was not a time to mourn and be sorrowful, Quinn would never wish that, not for the wolf that was her entire existence. Fenris deserved better than to feel so low, and Azul knew it.