if we could run away ⋆·*✦˚☾ open, disappearance

[bubbletea]

[align=center][div style="width: 350px; text-align: justify; font-size: 11px; line-height: 12px; text-transform: lowercase; font-family: arial;"]/ bub is disappearing for only a while, a week tops!! the reasons behind him leaving is to a) develop him towards plots and b) so that i can sort things out such as a more solid personality & get muse back to make better writing! all due threads will be created when he returns!!

he was gone. as if his form had crumbled into air, there was no trace, all except a small piece of bark. in pokeweed ink, scribbled by a sharp claw sloppily, it read: “gone on a trip. i’ll be back soon! - b”.

the motive behind his actions had been a blend of wanderlust and interest. as radiation hadn’t reached parts of the mountains, mostly the higher up parts, he wasn’t satisfied with the confines of camp and the little borders around it. every moment he stood still, he felt the need to escape. and so he did.

many people could point out how dangerous it could be to let a pup no larger than a squirrel travel so far. he understood it to an extent too, but understanding did not mean agreeing, nor did being vulnerable mean he would really care. the peaks of the mountains whispered to him. and he answered.

night was the only time he felt would be suitable. nobody was stirring, except a few stargazers or hunters. there was a thick tiredness in the air, and it tried to lull him to sleep as he waited. he did not give in. when all heads were turned, to the sky or to a stirring mouse, he slipped out of camp, into the fresh air. fumbling with the strip of bark, he paused to set it on a noticeable rock. then, he didn’t dare look back.

his bag was secured tight to his side by a belt, filled with all his belongings. it rattled softly as he trotted away, his paws silent. with nothing but the bouncing of the bag and his own breath smoking out in front of him as the temperature dropped, he walked for half an hour, the moon climbing slowly over a dark expanse.

halting at the foot of one of the taller peaks, where snow formed high above, he inhaled. this was it, his first exploration.

[QUIETUS]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 500px; min-height: 9px; font-family:georgia; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; color: black; padding: 20px"]It was funny - Quietus had originally planned to stay here for a small amount of time, enough to get back on his own paws and be on his way, but now he was here to stay; leaving never occurred to him any more, and when it did, he didn't usually associate with himself. So the idea that a small child like Bubblepup was off on his own, somewhere out there, confused and rubbed him the wrong way - why hadn't he asked for an adult to be there with him? Though, this was to say that, in truth, he could not read, but the scent of the pup was all over the bark and he hadn't seen him in a while. In fact, his scent seemed awfully stale everywhere else. "Does anyone know how to read?" he felt silly asking this, but he could never find the time or the compassion to learn such a thing, when it was for humans and he'd rather leave it far in the past where it belonged. The shepherd chewed the side of his cheek harmlessly, his body tense.

[recyling]

[align=center][div style="width:400px; text-align: justify; "]Angel didn't want to stop to see who'd left because new animals came and left each and every day. He only did so in order to lend his abilities—otherwise, he would have kept on walking. Paw steps silent, he slowed to a stop, a respectful distance from Quietus as he read the note. "It says 'Gone on a trip. Be back soon.'" He didn't know who had left, as all that showed their identity was a B. As he waited for a reaction, he noted the tenseness in Quietus' stature, tone neutral as he asked, "You know them?"

[QUIETUS]

[align=center][div style=" background-color: transparent; border: 0px solid black; width: 500px; min-height: 9px; font-family:georgia; line-height: 110%; text-align: justify; color: black; padding: 20px"]Quietus did not sigh in relief just yet; he'd do that when Bubblepup came back, because getting his hopes up of his return was not appropriate when it was so easy to get let down. Instead, he turned to Angelpaw, nodding his head in gratitude before replying in turn. "Bubblepup. He's a kid that hangs around Licorice." it was hard not to imagine the child being an apprentice of sorts to the healer - you usually saw the other when one was near, and it was a welcome sight to see, someone interested in practicing medicine. Certainly better than more power-hungry brutes that only came to dominate everyone else. "Hopefully he turns out fine."

[nuclear repository;]

  In Seija's experience, most children were perfectly capable of wandering from one place to another on their own without getting injured or lost along the way. Even ignoring the ally visits she'd had to conduct far too often since she was six months old, the sight of a kitten or pup (or even, on one particular occasion, a particularly loud duckling) sitting at the border with gifts had been awfully common. Considering that the Exiles had been on the loose in those days, along with BloodClan and who knew how many other anti-clans, it was a miracle that none of them had ever been slain on the way from one clan to the next.

  Still, as she came across the strip of bark with the others standing around it, and detected traces of Bubblepup's scent around it, the canine could barely push aside a pang of concern. She knew that the pup would be fine, and that more likely than not, allowing herself to care about him would get him killed- even so, just like with everything else, it took all she had not to care. The incident with the robot may have made that more clear, but that had always been true, for as long as she could remember.

  Clearing her throat, Seija muttered, "If he's not back within the next three days or so, we'll go look for him." She had to treat this merely as a logistics issue, one that impacted everyone else more than it did her; if they lost their only medic apprentice, they would be hard-pressed to find another. That wasn't caring about Bubblepup, it was just strategy- if he happened to die while he was out, it wouldn't hurt her. The gods couldn't use this as any sort of divine punishment against her.