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The black wolf looked on in thought as Yuma and Rowtag followed their sisters into the den. "If anything else doesn't happen, she should be fine." he said. "Just tell her she needs to stay off of her feet for a day or two." He suddenly chuckled and gave her a taunting smile. "There was a wolf who stopped by earlier today, asking for you. He said his name was Farren and he'd like to meet with you."

Tosca didn't take her eyes away from the cave until Twilight mentioned the last part.
"Farren? Uh, who's Farren?" Tosca started, not sure whether or not it was a good thing to know him. "But should I scout? Just to make sure he's not some strange wolf planning an attack or something?"
Tosca stepped away, glancing at the cave once more.
"I'll be right back" she said finally, turning tail and heading toward the river.

Twilight watched the younger wolf walk away and laughed quietly to himself. Instead of going back to the cave, he made his way toward the dense forest. He needed some time to himself and he found that he quite enjoyed sitting by that small pool he'd found.

Tosca quietly stalked towards the river, sniffing along it's edge when she got closer. For a second, she froze, thinking that she heard something or someone else moving, but no other noises reached her ears. So the young wolf sat down, staring at the rippling river that reflected the almost crystal clear sky. Now that she noticed, she never remembered the stars being so bright... it always seemed that the sky was cloudy.

Meanwhile, Una was quietly watching her sister. Kai was sound asleep now, but Una knew she'd be more sore in the morning. Until then, she wouldn't leave her sister's side. Not even a thought about any kind of lost leadership slipped into her mind.
"We should probably get some sleep" Una said wisely. "It's not going to do us any good worrying now... we just have to wait until morning"

Twilight still hadn't returned from the Southern forest and Tosca was still out somewhere. Yuma gave Kai one last worried look before he went and laid down near Rowtag and Una. "Ok, sis. Goodnight." he said, yawning widely.

Farren saw Tosca sitting by the river and smiled. he walked up next to her, but she seemed to be transfixed on the reflection of the stars in the water. "It's nice out tonight." he said after a minute. "The stars seem to be shining a little brighter, that's for sure."

Tosca almost jumped, but she recognized Farren's familiar voice.
"They are, aren't they?" she replied, not taking her eyes away from the glistening water. Tosca stood up slowly, tilted her head and smirked. "So I heard you stopped by?"

Farren laughed nervously. "Yeah... I did." he said. "And I have to say, that the black wolf is kinda... creepy." He shivered, remembering the encounter. "Wherever did you dig up 'Vlad the Impaler' anyway?"

Tosca laughed. "Twilight? Yeah, he has that effect on everyone. I could care less... he's been nice to me so far"
The tawny wolf self-conciously glanced back at the den. "We kinda stumbled into him. But I suppose if we hadn't meant him, we wouldn't be here... and I wouldn't have met you"

Farren coughed and shifted his paws, feeling suddenly a little tight in his stomach. "Yeah, well... That's good then." he said, giving her a smile. "I'm glad I met you. I've never met anyone from anywhere outside my pack's territory." He looked up at the stars and sighed. "So, if you just met this Twilight guy, how do you know you can trust him, anyway?"

"I never met anyone outside my own family before I met Twilight" Tosca replied. "And I guess I don't know..."
Tosca thought about it. Una was definitely distrustful of Twilight and although Rowtag seemed to trust Twilight, she could tell Kai and Yuma were creeped out from time to time too.
"I guess I just had a gut feeling about it. He seemed like he needed a pack too and we needed someone who knew what they were doing"

Farren chuckled. "Yeah. You kinda need to know what you're doing to survive out here." he said. He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "Question is, do you know what you're doing?" He turned to her and looked at his feet. "I most certainly don't know what I am doing. If my dad found out I was talking to you... well, let's just say it won't be pretty and leave it at that. But for some reason, I just need to." he said looking up at her. "There's just something about you I just can't figure out."

Tosca smirked and looked at him
"In a good way?" she joked. "And I'm not sure how my siblings would feel. Una would probably be mad but she doesn't really have any power or anything"
Tosca glanced up at the moon which was already starting to lower. Kai was definitely fast asleep. But it really didn't matter... she didn't think any of them would really mind anyway.

Farren smirked right back and said, "Yeah. In a good way." He looked up at the moon with her and sighed. "I just wish my father would listen to me. He never does. not since my mother died a year ago." His head lowered in sadness. "I wish my mother were still here. Then everything would be okay. Just like it always was.

Tosca shifted uncomfortably; she had never been good with handling sad situations, no matter how big or small.
"I'm sorry" she said quietly. "But at least you still have a father. Do you have brothers or sisters?"
Even though Tosca had left her parents, her brothers and sisters had always been something for her to fall back on.

The red and white wolf shook his head. "No. I'm the only one." he said. "It's just me, my father, and my crazy uncle." He laughed a little and shook his head. "Uncle Ben. He may be nuts, but sometimes I wish I could be more like him." Farren looked back up at the stars. "He always takes me out on nights like this to look up at the stars. He says that a true pack should be like them. While each star is separate, they all together make something beautiful. Like a family."