A comforting warmth settled over Lexi, gently easing her away from sleep's embrace. Her snout curved in a faint smile as she gradually unfurled herself, letting the brush of the fire's soft heat relax her tensed muscles.

She couldn't remember why they ached so much. They didn't usually get that much usage. Had she injured herself the day before?

"Morning, Lexi," whispered a familar voice from right beside her ear, even softer than the fire's crackle. Lexi felt a snout touch hers, and she nuzzled back, content that this was the best way to be awoken.

Then she opened her eyes, and her smile fell.

Her mother stared back at her, eyes sparkling with joy, her brown fur like the bark of a lean tree. But the sight no longer brought Lexi joy. She remembered the concern widening those eyes, and the tears that had stained that fur in damp streaks that traced the sides of her snout. So many tears. The cries of how much Lexi worried them, and how thoughtless she'd been, and how she should never, ever leave again.

"I'm sorry," Lexi told her mother, her tone quiet but heavy with meaning. "I'm so sorry."

They folded over one another, curling into a tight embrace. Lexi felt a wet trail slide down her snout, and she let it fall. It was a tear of relief, and of sorrow, and of guilt.

The comfort she should have felt to feel her mother's warmth was marred by the bittersweet nature of it all. Her parents were the most important thing in the world, more so even than her best friend. They'd cared for her all her life. And instead of gratitude, she had left them in the middle of the night, with not a word or even a note left behind.

They didn't have to tell her all of that. Lexi knew already.

Not only that, but she hadn't returned for days, taking it upon herself to go off on an adventure she had no part in. She'd put herself in danger, gone against the officials of her own town, and nearly gotten herself killed on multiple occasions. All the while leaving her parents worried sick, not knowing whether she was dead or alive.

"I'm sorry," Lexi said again, the words now muffled as she spoke them into her mother's fur.

Eventually, she was forced out of the embrace. Her snout was now damp, her vision blurred. Reaching up, her mother swept a paw across her snout, wiping the worst of the tears away.

"Hush," her mother said. "None of that. You're back with us now, and that's what matters."

A small smile broke through Lexi's sorrow. It was swallowed again in an instant by the lump in her throat, but it lingered long enough to be visible.

All of this was for Toivo. She reminded herself of that firmly. Right from the very first time she'd stepped out of the door and slipped into the night, it had all been for Toivo.

And I'm going to save him. Even if it does mean leaving again. I have to.

Slowly, shakily, she climbed to her paws, still partically leaning against her mother. All of this should have been done the previous night, but she'd collapsed only minutes after she'd stumbled through the door. She hadn't had the energy to say a word against all their yells of worry. But now she did, and she was determined to make things right.

Her father approached from behind, taking over from her mother in curling around her. She nestled into him for a moment before pulling away, her gaze flicking between her parents as she fought back another round of tears.

"He's not evil," she whispered. She didn't need to name him. They both knew who she meant. "He's just the same, he really is." Pausing, she swallowed hard, ordering whatever was blocking her throat to subside. "That's why I had to go after him."

Her mother's eyes glistened as she nodded, meeting Lexi's gaze from over her father's shoulder. "We know."

"You're so loyal, Lex," her father told her with a smile. "Especially to him. We completely understand why you ran off."

"We just never want you to do it again," her mother added, a slight sternness hardening her tone.

Taking another deep breath, Lexi parted from her father. She wanted so badly to obey. Her throbbing limbs begged her to curl up beside them and stay there, hiding away from the danger, returning to her bubble of safety. Her heart ached at the sight of her mother's tears. It felt like the worst crime in the world to turn around and leave them again.

But the safety in here was false. She knew that now. If she wanted, she could hide in here all her life, and never achieve her dream of changing the world. She could wait until the danger marched right up to her door, until it was too late for her to change anything.

Or she could leave, and stop the danger from ever growing near.

"But..." She hesitated, shifting under her mother's gaze. But she forced her words to stay firm, because she knew she believed them, even with the guilt they brought. "But he's still in trouble. I can't leave him there."

"You've already helped enough," her mother said, stepping forward to touch her snout to Lexi's flank again. As she pulled away, her eyes met Lexi's firmly. "The Wylfire have already dispatched a pack overnight. It seems your confrontation with them on the way here had an impact."

Something else shone beneath her tears. It wasn't clear, but Lexi could only read it as pride.

A part of Lexi's brain fully woke up as the memories came rushing back. Joeonto's fearful expression. Her public accusation. Of course they would act immediately. Her reappearance had shocked them, and her words had changed that shock to fear. Flamewylves feared Shadewylves as much as the rest of them, and judging from what she now knew, they'd been hiding similar fears for a while.

Her story had shown them that their peace couldn't last forever. They had finally decided to act, and it was all down to her.

Another tear trickled down Lexi's snout. But this one wasn't sad or guilty. It was a joyful tear as she realised that maybe, just maybe, her dream of changing the world might have occured.

Toivo, along with the others, was going to be saved. The Wylfire were a mighty force. And when her best friend returned, she'd be waiting here for him, ready to tell him that his rescue had really been her doing. It was all so perfect. 

So why did a part of her regret that she hadn't been able to go with them?

Nodding, Lexi touched her own snout to her mother's earthy fur. "You're right. I've done my part."

Somehow, speaking the words aloud only made her wish all the more that she had another part to play. But she focused hard on her parents, pushing away the stupidly heroic thoughts that tugged her to abandon them once again.

"But I still have some things I need to do," she added, her thoughts flicking to Damon. That was a problem she could solve.

As briefly as she could, she described the scene in the plaza last night - the beating, the taunts of Dimi and Ventura, the broken pup she'd once regarded as nothing but a mindless bully. She told her parents how she had to help him, and true to their kind souls, they agreed.

As Lexi stepped out of the door once more, her parents bidding her goodbye, her mother reminding her to come back and rest as soon as she felt tired, she kept all her focus on her new mission. It didn't matter that it was no longer dangerous. It didn't matter that it didn't involve her best friend.

They'll rescue Toivo, she told herself over and over as she turned to the path towards the labs. They will. Flamewylves are strong and powerful. He's still alive, and they will rescue him.

She shoved away the doubt that rose up at those words. No, she would see him again. Joeonto would bring him back, and the whole town would trust him again, because they would hear of his heroic journey. They would know how he'd stood up to those of his own Pelt, because they were the true evil. He only wore black. It didn't taint his heart. They would see all that, just as she already did.

Come on, Joeonto, she hissed. I was always scared of you. Make the Shadewylves scared, too.

The labs were now right in front of her, and she rounded them, giving her own lab a brief nod before poking her snout into Storm's lab. Silence and emptiness greeted her.

With a sigh, she withdrew and quickly scanned her own lab. It was just as empty. Perhaps Storm was still at her house.

Turning, she began crossing the plaza. Storm's house rose from the far corner, larger than Lexi's home. She cast the pool a disgruntled glance as she passed it, flashing her fangs to let it know what she thought of its choices. A flash of gold, briefly swallowing up the other colours before subsiding to its previous swirl, was its only response.

With a sigh, she flicked her tail at the smugly rippling Chroma Pool and moved on past it. Afzal, fulfilling his town prophet duties of always being stationed beside it, flicked his eyes open and stared at her. He might have wanted to say something, perhaps ask her about the rumours of her journey that had undoubtably spread since her return, but Lexi had no desire to listen.

Still, his wide stare distracted her enough that she barely noticed the wolf that approached until she was almost stumbling over him. Darkened orange fur greeted her, and she gulped, dodging his gaze.

"I apologise, Maynard--" she began, but his voice cut straight across hers.

"Thunderwylf! My son's friend! Alexa, is that you?" He spoke in a flurry of tumbling syllables, and when Lexi dared to look up, she realised that desperation lit his eyes.

"It's Lexi, actually," she tried, but he wasn't listening.

"Where is he?" Tiny flames reared up behind Maynard's ears, not heated and furious like the fire she'd seen him wear before, but instead a spluttering flame that seemed to burn with panic. "Where is my son?"

"Nefaris Cave," she managed to get out before his stampede of words took over again.

"Is he hurt? Did I let him die? Did I let my son die?"

"No, no!" Lexi's voice rose to a yell as she raised a paw, automatically tapping it to his paw in the same way she might have done with Toivo. The action seemed to snap him out of his panicked daze and he stared at her, hungry for some hope in her words. "He's alive," she told him, as calmly as possible. "I don't know how hurt he is, but I know he's alive."

Her words were true. Though she didn't have any logical reason to draw that conclusion, something deep within her told her that her best friend's heart was beating alongside her own. It was the fear that any one of those beats could be his last that fuelled her own fear.

She held Maynard's gaze. It was a stare she'd shied away from so many times, but this time the way he looked at her was different. He didn't pierce her with the knowledge that she was beneath him, a wolf he only tolerated because his youngest son had somehow befriended her. Today, his stare fixed her with a strange reverence, as if she had far greater power that he did.

"And he really is a Shadewylf?" he asked, the fire raising higher. He was hoping that she would say no.

A part of her wished she could. But it wouldn't be true.

"Yes," she said, feeling her shoulders fall as she exhaled the word. "But he's not like them, not at all," she added hurriedly, because that was also the truth. "He's still your son."

The flames shrank away. Maynard sank to the ground, sitting so that his snout was now level with Lexi's. He stared at the paved stone.

"It's all my fault," he whispered. "All of it."

Lexi glanced over at Storm's house, at the edge of the plaza. If she slipped away now, Maynard wouldn't stop her. He barely seemed to notice as he muttered that phrase over and over at his sagging paws.

But then she looked at her friend's father again. Broken, even more so than Damon. There was a deep, pure guilt in his sadness; a real care for the son he'd lost. Lexi never thought she would see those things in him, but she did today, and she saw how they were tearing him apart.

Perhaps he was another wolf she could help.

"I... I'm sure it's not your fault," she began. "You can't help what Pelt--"

"But it is!" Maynard's head snapped up, a blaze flaring around his snout. Lexi flinched back. Yet it was gone as quickly as it appeared, sinking into the cold of his sorrow. "I failed, Alexa. Don't you see? Our youngest was my son." His tail lashed out behind him. "Calder was always his mother's son. He followed her into the ocean. I wanted my son to follow me into the Wylfire. He should be a strong soldier beside me."

"Surely you shouldn't try to force him into what he doesn't want to be?" Lexi asked as he paused. Maynard only shook his head.

"He had the potential, I saw it. But he didn't want to use it." He growled, but the sound was half-hearted, a long-lost anger he no longer cared for. "He would rather spend his days uselessly frolicking in the forest and dreaming about fictional stories. I thought if I raised my expectations, challenged him and pushed him, he would be who I wanted him to be."

"But instead, you pushed him into darkness," Lexi finished, but she was already shaking her head, tossing away the lie. What Maynard had done was wrong. Even now, he didn't see the full extent of quite how wrong it had been. But that wasn't what he needed to hear right now, and it would only break him further.

"Whatever you did, Thirty-Four would still have become a Shadewylf." She kept her words steady and firm to match her gaze. "The Pelt isn't made by circumstance, remember? It's made by what the wolf is inside. However you treated him, your son would still have the same fierce heart and pure soul."

She paused, and Maynard didn't interject. He merely waited for her to continue. With a deep breath, Lexi obliged.

"I saw the dark within him, moons before his ceremony. But it wasn't an evil dark. He was fascinated with the night, and how pockets of the world could hide from the light, even in the day. Whenever he did something, he threw himself fully into it, always fighting to the best of his ability. He's made for the Shadow, he really is. But it isn't a bad thing. It's just who he is."

Silence fell over them as her words hung in the air. A sense of relief washed over Lexi. Ever since the black had consumed the magical pool, she'd known what she spoke to be true, deep in her heart. But she'd told herself not to trust her heart, that her heart ruled on recklessness and untrustworthy emotion. Her mind said the Shadow was evil, and so it was.

Now the words had left her, clear and out in the open, even her mind couldn't fail to accept them.

For a moment, Maynard opened his snout, eyes wide, as if perhaps he might agree. Then he set his jaw, and his head tipped downwards, the dismissive action casting away her heart's passion.

"You're the one who read my son the stories of dark and light, Thunderwylf. You know as well as I do that dark is evil." He sighed heavily. "And I'm the one who sent him to that evil."

"But he's not evil!" Lexi protested. He was no longer listening. Instead he was rising, and turning away, every part of him drooping downwards.

"I failed my son. I failed him."

Repeating it in growled mutters, Maynard trudged away, and Lexi knew there was no use following him. He was set in his self-blaming attitude. Nothing she said could change that.

With a growl of her own, she tore her gaze from his pitiful form and began towards Storm's house once more. Toivo was so much stronger than his father. Perhaps in a different way, but a far more valuable way - one that kept him going, forever determined, rather than retreating to a shell as soon as physical strength failed him.

But before she could reach her destination, another thought struck her. Maynard might not be the only one who needed reassurance of his son's welfare.

With a sigh, she carried on past the edge of the plaza, bending down the path that curved in the direction of the beach. "Sorry, Storm," she muttered as she passed the house. Her friend would have to put up with Damon for a little while longer.

Lexi had a couple of Seawylves to see to first.

Their house wasn't hard for Lexi's well-versed paws to find - though she hadn't been allowed to visit often, she'd walked the way enough times to know it well. Sometimes she had even walked Thirty-Four home, told him firmly not to rise to his father's taunts, and then run away before anyone could spot her there.

At a younger age, she'd even been jealous of the house's pretty decoration, though she knew well enough now that her own home was far more perfect than this one. Her lightning crackled at the sight of it. But with a simple shake of her fur, she forced that anger away, reminding herself that today was a day to be sympathetic.

Part of her hoped that Toivo's mother had spiralled into the same guilt. Yet she suspected otherwise. Maynard had said that Calder was her son, whilst Toivo was his, and as Lexi thought back to how little she'd seen his mother she realised how true that was.

After a few deep, calming breaths, she raised a paw and rapped the wooden knocker. Her claws punctured a set of grooves, carving them deeper, and she couldn't help but smile. Her best friend's small revenge still remained.

Several moments passed in silence, until she began to wonder whether anyone was in. But just as she made to back away from the door, it flung open, revealing a pair of blue shapes.

Hurriedly, Lexi bowed her head in respect. "Greetings, Sarai."

"That's princess to you," Toivo's mother snapped.

Peering up at her, Lexi observed the decorative pearls that coiled around her ears and cascaded to the tip of her snout. She bit back the remark that no, Sarai was no princess to her, since she only ruled over those of Sea Pelt. It was tempting, but she doubted it would earn her any credibility or favour.

Behind Sarai, Calder raised his head, eyes lighting up. "Lexi! So you are okay!"

A smile tugged at Lexi's snout. She liked Toivo's brother, despite how closely he followed his parents. She understood his fear. They scared her too - or at least they had, before she'd met the truly fearsome Shadewylves.

"Yes," she said, giving Calder a brief nod, "but I didn't come about me. I thought you might like to know how Toivo is." At Sarai's puzzled head tilt, she quickly added, "I mean, your son. Toivo is his name now."

Strangely, the confusion didn't fade, nor did her eyes light up with interest. "I have no need to hear it from you. My partner is a member of the Wylfire. While he has been deemed too emotionally compromised to assist them, I already know about their mission regarding my son."

She spoke as if it were all meaningless fact, just another proceedure she'd been forced to oversee. Lexi waited for the question of how he was, whether he was truly a Shadewylf, or even how Lexi herself had escaped. But nothing. Sarai simply didn't care.

Inwardly, Lexi sighed. Sometimes, she hated to be proved right.

Thankfully, Calder did care. His eyes were wide with concern, his snout twitching as if he were holding back a question of his own. But one flashed glance from his mother kept him silent.

"Are you sure you don't want to hear any more?" Lexi tried. One last chance to prove me wrong. "I was there beside him, and I can tell you--"

"My son and I are rather busy, Thunderwylf," Sarai snapped. "We have no need for your pointless tales."

She was already nudging the door shut, the conversation over. Lexi could try all day and never get anywhere. But even though Calder stumbled back, bowing his head as dodged away from his mother's stare, the desperation in his eyes to hear more was clear as lightning's flash.

"May I speak with Cal--Prince Calder for a moment?" Lexi blurted, sticking out a claw to block the door before she could even think about it properly. Thankfully, in the seconds that followed, her mind reviewed the choice and deemed it an acceptable move.

Sarai's frown deepened. "No."

Lightning skipped down Lexi's snout before vanishing again. It set her on edge to release her grip on it, but her power had seemed to help accent her point against the Wylfire. Perhaps it could work again.

"Please," she said, fixing Sarai in a stare. "It'll only be a moment. I just... think he should know what is happening to his brother."

"No," Sarai repeated, the word firmer. She shoved away Lexi's paw. "Good day, Thunderwylf."

The door slammed shut.

With a sigh, Lexi turned away, her tail lashing behind her. She hated what Calder had been reduced to by his mother. The whole idea of Seawylf royalty had always angered her, but seeing it in action just made her lightning flash sharply within her.

Out of all the Pelts, she'd always prayed that Thirty-Four would never become a Seawylf. Of course, the current situation was far worse, but she couldn't help but feel glad that her best friend hadn't followed the same fate as his brother: nothing but a follower, mindlessly trailing after his parents. She suspected that Calder feared his mother more than she had feared the Shadewylves.

She turned away from the house, forcing her thoughts to Damon. Him she could help. At least he'd been freed from his parents' grasp. But before she could leave the path and re-enter the plaza, a voice called from behind.

"Lexi, wait!"

Her eyes widened. Whipping around, she saw a deep blue shape bounding after her, his sprint frantic. As she hesitated, he sped past her and threw himself into a gap between two houses, huddling into the shadows.

"Come on," he hissed. Not knowing what else to do, she followed, squeezing into the narrow space.

"How did you get away?" she asked after a moment, automatically lowering her voice. It felt silly to hide like this, but if Calder thought it necessary, she had to oblige.

He glanced around, taking a few moments to peer out into the street, before answering. "I said I'd search for Father. She wanted me too, anyway. And I will," he added, firmly, as if convincing himself of something, "but I had to speak with you first. I won't have long, though."

With a nod, she settled in her position, sliding her paws as comfortably as possible in the confinement. "Well, your brother is a Shadewylf," she began, "but he's not like them. He actually fought them, alongside the... uh, some loners we met. They helped us out." Her throat tightened at the thought of the battle. "The loners got captured, and so me and your brother - Toivo - we journeyed to Vendett, to get help."

"Vendett?" Calder's eyes were wide and his ears bent forwards as he listened intently. "Isn't it really cold there?"

She nodded. "We weren't there long, though. Konrad, the leader of the Wylfrost, met us there, and we all went to rescue the captured loners. Except we didn't. It went wrong." She sighed, trying not to think too much about the words. "Now the loners, Toivo, and loads of Icewylves are trapped there."

"But it's okay, right?" Calder's tail was flicking nervously now. "The Wylfire went to save them. Toivo will be okay."

She nodded, unable to verbally confirm it. I hope so.

"I wanted to go with them," he added with a sigh. "But Mother wouldn't let me. She says I have duties here. I think my duties should be with my brother, but she won't believe that." His head bowed.

"The Wylfire wouldn't have let you, anyway," Lexi reassured him. She knew the same was true for her. Both of them were left to staying here and merely waiting.

Paws padded outside. Calder shot upwards. "Thank you, Lexi." He wavered, then rested his snout briefly against her flank. "Toivo will be okay. He's strong, and so are the Wylfire. We'll both see him again."

Lexi smiled. "We will."

Toivo had always said what a great big brother he was. Even in those few snatched words, she saw why.

As he dashed away, racing into the plaza, she too rose to her paws. Perhaps Calder did have the capabilities to break away from his parents, somewhere within him. But he couldn't be her mission now, and neither could Toivo.

Wait, Lexi. You've just got to wait.

Wrenching her thoughts away from them both, she stepped out into the open, dragging her paws towards Storm's house. The lightning inside cracked and hissed, but she pushed it down, resigned to yet more time of not letting its anger escape. She had to be calm with Damon. Even if she was tired of staying calm.

"Lexi."

In her shock, the power briefly did escape, zapping between her claws. As she pulled it back in, gaze snapping to the Mystwylf before her in the street, an instinctive grin curved her snout.

"I heard you would like another mission," said Dawn. Her silver eyes sparkled. "I have come to give you one."