Ciel woke with a start, shaking his head and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. He felt… strange. His head throbbed a little, and his vision was blurry. Its blinked harder, trying to get his eyes to work properly. Something wasn't quite right.

It paused. It listened. Just like his fathers had told him. Smelt the air, tasting the crispness on his tongue. Something was missing. All at once, Ciel forced his eyes open. Where was his family? Fear clutched at his heart. Green eyes darted about, irritating its aching head. All around him - white. That wasn't right. Winter was months away, or at least that's what his father had told him. The months of cold, hunger, loneliness should come when it was about a year old, but he was nowhere close to being so.

This was all too confusing. Ciel got to its paws blearily, inhaling the crisp, cool, dry air, almost enough to make him cough. His lungs ached. The weather was the least of its troubles, it decided. ”Dad? Papa?” He called, hesitantly, before adding with more volume, ”Veres? Arcene?” They had just been here, right next to him. It had gone to sleep without a care in the world.

Did they abandon him? Ciel scoffed, immediately discarding the thought. Of course not. They would never. But, he scented the air thoroughly anyway, making extra sure there were no trails around him.

But… nothing. Not even a hint of familiarity. There were wolf scents here, sure, but it recognised none of them. The thought of asking one of them made him cringe. He didn't need help, he just…

He just what?

Where would Ciel go from here? He sort of knew how to hunt, but assuming it was winter, he had no idea how to hunt in these conditions. Dad often mentioned how difficult he found it, although he mentioned it was because of his dark pelt. Maybe Ciel would find it easier…

But, wait, it shouldn't have to be worrying about this. His family should be here, where he'd left them. It wasn't possible to vanish into thin air!

”Where the fuck am I?” Ciel muttered, trying to push down the sliver of anxiety he'd never felt before.

Skoll

Somehow, in the process of trying to figure out where he was and where his family was, Ciel missed the approach of the stranger until the sound of snow crunching made its way to his ears. The pale wolf turned to take a look at whoever was approaching. It wasnt entirely comforted by the youthful appearance of him, and definitely not by the size of him. They were of similar sizes and builds, at least, and didn't seem too threatening.

Still, Ciel knew better than to let his guard down.

"No," it says, almost on habit. He never accepted help from anyone, not even his family these days. But, he supposed he did look out of place here, too young to be on his own and fending for himself. Ciel wasn't self-absorbed enough to deny the fact. "I... it's supposed to be autumn." The cooler months had only just made their appearance, the leaves on the cusp of yellow. It just didn't make sense.

Unfortunately, Ciel didn't have the words to explain himself without seeming helpless, so he chose silence afterwards, pale sage eyes settling sharply on the darker of the two.

Ciel puffs a breath, distracted momentarily by the way it forms in the air. Come to think of it, he'd never seen snow before. It was rather pretty, in a way, but his pawpads stung a little, having stood in place for a little too long.

"No," it said, carefully. He'd never been here before, but that didn't mean he was lost. He didnt need help... right? The other young wolf seemed knowledgeable on his situation, it seemed, although Ciel's head spun with the new information.

"Am I dead?" Was this some sort of afterlife? Had it died in it's sleep? That would explain why he'd just been dropped here unceremoniously. Ciel had heard of wolves dying in their sleep before, but they'd always been old, or sick. He hadn't been either of those things beforehand.

Ciel furrowed his pale brows, puzzled. "Did you wake up here, too?" He'd said sometimes, though, which nullified his thoughts of being dead. What the fuck is going on?

Not dead, then. Ciel feels an instant relief, even though that didn't completely solve the issue of being here in the first place. If wolves just woke up here, could they even escape? "Well, can I leave, then?" It hoped so. What was here for him if he couldn't?

The stranger had woken up, too, which was mildly comforting. Being similar ages, either he had not tried to escape, or escape was impossible. Ciel couldn't imagine why anyone would want to stay here, after all. A strange world, with no family, no place to call home? He'd much rather leave.

He didn't know.

Ciel couldn't help the small sigh that escaped his mouth. Dismay made itself known, the sinking feeling chasing away his previous relief. He was as good as dead if he couldn't leave. Would his family start looking for him? Obviously, but no one would search forever. They would eventually move on. Ciel might never see them again.

The thought made hot tears prick at its eyes, and it shook its head hurriedly. That was uncomfortably unexpected. He cleared his throat, attempting to save face, as the other boy continued. Ciel couldn't look him in the eye for a little, wondering if he caught the way his eyes likely shone with uncried tears for that split second. How embarrassing...

"Alright," he agreed, not really seeing another path to finding out. "Lead the way, then." Ciel wasn't going to turn down free help. This boy seemed agreeable enough, which boded well.

"Ciel Bissette. What's yours?" It doubted anyone would know of the Bissette's here, but it felt weird not to introduce itself using both names. Although, if anyone could come here, maybe he had a distant relative or two wandering around. Not that it would do it much good. Ciel couldn't imagine helping a relative he didn't know out of the goodness of his heart, so he doubted anyone would do the same for him.

He wondered what this boy had to gain from helping him, as he could see none in his point of view.