Evain padded silently over to the outpost from the den and nudged Altair awake; the two guardians had been trading off watch hours through the night, as they always did. It was Evain's turn for the night watch, so Altair had been allowed a night of full rest. Now ready to take up his spot in the guardian's outpost for sleep, Evain yawned fitfully and moved his gargantuan body to the ground. Though he'd lost the ability to curl into a ball eons ago (his staggering size made this impossible) Evain enjoyed simply flopping onto his side for a rest. He rolled over to his side and watched Altair trot off to check on the den, where he was stopped by Willow, who began to speak to him. Deciding that he wasn't interested in whatever she was telling Altair (the wolf would tell him later, no doubt) Evain shut his eyes.
No sooner did he do this than did Willow trot over, an excited look plastered onto her features, and nuzzle him awake. Evain reluctantly opened his olive eyes and met his alphess' gaze. "Mmbf." He grunted through his exhaustion, then sat up at attention to recover from his disrespectful gesture. "Come on Evain, I'm rousing the pack for a hunting trip!" Willow had a sense of utter restlessness about her, and Evain knew this mood well enough to realize that she was going to get her way, whether or not he wanted to bend to her whims.
Though Evain was quite tired after pulling an all-nighter and thought he'd like nothing more than to sleep, there was a bloodlust that resided within all wolves; A bloodlust that needed to be sated once roused. He grumbled more loudly this time, and got to his feet. I sincerely wish she had not come to wake me. Once the alphess' back was turned, Evain stretched his front paws and curled his tail towards his back, then quickly trotted after her to assist in waking his packmates. Rather then nuzzle them awake sweetly as Willow was beginning to do, Evain coughed loudly, then let loose a single, sudden bark that was as loud as it was deep. Instantly, the wolves ears perked and they sat up, bewildered from their dreams. "Good morning, sweethearts!" Evain's deep voice echoed through the den as he spoke with a heavy sense of sarcasm. He paused for a moment, then resumed his speech with a more commanding tone. "Your alphess has requested that we all go on a hunting trip, so let's get to it. If I have to be awake for this, so do you!" That said, the Rohan clan roused, shuffling out of the heated den and into the frigid morning.
On the way out to the meadow Evain's olive eyes studied the morning sky, which seemed to be painstakingly brushed with all the most beautiful colors, then splattered with translucent clouds and set ablaze by the sunrise.
The burly male yawned and watched his breath transform into warm smoke with a sense of light-hearted amusement. Eyes now considerably wider and more alert, Evain fell into line next to Altair. The pair of guardians headed the rest of the sleepy Rohans and were led only by Willow, who marched proudly in front of her family; Obviously her mood had been brightened by the sense of purpose the hunt always gave them.
Willow stopped near the edge of the meadow and turned to face them. "Now wake up, you lot! We need to do a bit of planning before taking on those cows; they are much different than the deer we normally hunt." She was answered with a few reluctant grunts, but by now most were awake and ready to go. Their leader's expression changed drastically as something seemed to dawn upon her. "Where is Ava, and Marlene?"
Evain's left eye twitched in annoyance. He hadn't seen little Ava since he'd been back, how long had she been gone before he'd arrived? He wished someone had taken the time to bestow upon him this little golden nugget of information; Though he felt like a failure in himself for not noticing the absent she-wolf. It was his job as a guardian to watch over his family, all of them. As for Marlene, he'd seen her only a few hours ago talking to the new male on the edge of the campfire. Evain winced slightly, not happy with the idea that the rogue had stolen her out from under them on his patrol. He hoped that someone knew where she was, and pained on the inside to think of what would happen if she didn't turn up soon. The only thing he did outwardly, though, was to laugh under his breath and shoulder Altair slightly at the mention of Marlene, as though joking that she'd run off with the stocky little vagrant they'd seen her with the previous evening.