"Mom, please." whined Conri. "I look fine." With a sheepish look, Debbie straightened up. "I know, I just can't believe my baby is finally growing up!" The dark-skinned woman wiped her eyes with a sad smile. "It feels like just yesterday you were a tiny bundle of fur." Suddenly, she became quite serious. "Are you sure you want to do this? The mountains can be quite dangerous," Conri nodded. "Of course I'm sure. But I'm getting a drink from the Café first."

Neal snickered, earning a glare from both his wife and son.

Glancing over her shoulder, Conri pulled a face at his dad. "I wasn't that small, was I?" His father might not have been the best person to ask as the light-skinned man grinned. "Nah, of course not," Conri let out a sigh of relief. "You were a lot smaller than tiny, you were micro-sized."

With an indignant huff, Conri shook his body. All of Debbie's hard-work brushing his fur was all undone in a matter of seconds as his light brown, almost blonde, fur ruffled in every direction. Conri backed away with a yelp when he saw his mom grab the hairbrush with the intentions of brushing his fur again.

"Run, Conri!" Neal called out dramatically, tackling her to the floor with a thud. The two adults rolled around on the floor, the sudden bang as the door swung shut made them both jump out of their skins. Neal grinned. "He's gone now. How about we-" he was cut off as Debbie whacked his shin with the brush. "Not now! Besides, don't you have work today?"

The man ran a hand through his dark hair before he stared down at his pyjamas. "Shit, I forgot."

Hurriedly, Conri backed away from the door, letting it forcefully swing shut. In time world or timeline, did he want to hear what he knew would come out of Neal's mouth. The mere thought of it made him shudder.

The streets of PontyPandy were quiet, apart from the occasional car that drove by. A stone bridge, connected to an Italian restaurant and a grocery store soon came up in front of him. Padding under it, Conri soon saw white houses, all neatly lined up in a row. Salty sea air hit his nose and squawking seagulls were in no hurry to be quiet. Frost decorated window panes, the grass was dewy in the early morning hours. Conri's breath swirled in the air like smoke, then disappeared without the slightest trace.

Over by the harbour, there was a lot more noise.It was never hard to hear Sarah and James arguing, it was often said that they were heard by people in Newtown. Conri winced, his ears perking up. The twins were over by the railings, staring out to sea. It was clear that they had no idea how loud they were being, especially since neither of them noticed Hannah groan loudly and cover her ears.

Not wanting to involve himself in the argument, Conri swiftly darted inside the WholeFish café. The bell above the door rang. A blonde haired woman behind the counter looked up with a smile. "Morning Conri. What can I get you today?"

"Just a latte today, please Bronwyn." Jumping up onto a seat, Conri settled himself at one of the circular tables.

"I'm telling you Mandy, it's true." an annoying voice whined.

"We all know that there's no way you saw a half-blood. You can't stand them." Mandy placed her hands on her hips.

"I did," the ginger boy insisted, folding his arms.

Pure stupidity overtook a usually rational mind as Conri approached the two children. "If you wanted to see a halfblood, then there's one right in front of you." Usually, Conri was meet with a range of different reactions when people found out he was a halfblood. Some were okay with it, merely smiling and petting him. However, some people, who were more prejudiced, would sneer and throw hurtful words in his direction. Upon seeing him, Norman yelped, running out but not before throwing a "freak," at him.

Conri stared up at Mandy. "That went better than I expected." The girl stared at him, blinking her brown eyes several times to make sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. "You.. you.. You're a wolf."

Blue eyes stared at her. "Uh.. yes?"

"You talk!"

"Um.. I do?" The wolf was temporarily distracted by his latte being handed to him. The mug burnt his paws slightly, but the heat was welcomed on the rather frosty day. "I mean, I do." Conri had never been any good at talking or holding a conversation with other people. Instead, he preferred to keep to himself and go unnoticed by everyone else. The thought of socialising with others made his heart race, sending shivers down his spine. The wolf was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Mandy leave.

A bittersweet taste hit his tongue, mixed with a slight hint of caramel. Conri whimpered, grabbing his tongue with his paw as the hot drink burnt his tongue.

Within minutes, the mug was empty, the heat was welcomed by Conri. Placing the mug down on the table, he soon left the Café. It was strange for it to be so quiet in PontyPandy, the small seaside town was usually bustling with activity.

As he headed into the mountains, Conri shivered slightly: ruffling his fur to create more heat, he soon let out a bark of pure delight when he arrived at the Mountain Activity Centre. A wooden hut sat on a flat piece of land, surrounded by daunting, rocky mountains.

A blonde haired man, wearing what looked like an orange pilot's uniform, approached Conri. "G'day, mate." he said in a thick Australian accent. "Are you the new mountain guide?" Conri nodded, sitting back on his haunches. "Y..yes.. I am." Tom tilted his head sideways, making Conri shift uncomfortably. "Right, okay then. The kids are over here."

By a large billboard, holding a map of the mountains, were Sarah, James, Mandy and Norman. It seemed the twins had finally ceased their arguing with each other, only to be taking part in an argument against Norman. The boy was well known among the halfblood community for being rather rude towards those who weren't considered fully human or fully animal: he believed that people like that shouldn't exist in the world, viewing them as monsters. After the incident at the WholeFish Café, Conri wanted nothing to do with him.

"Oh be quiet Norman!" snapped Sarah, flicking her blonde hair out of her blue gaze. "You're just making it up."

Norman was quick to retaliate. "Am not! A wolf attacked me! Look here he comes now." Conri sighed, shaking his head at Tom, as the tall man glanced down at him with a curious look.

"You and I both know that isn't true." Conri frowned, looking quite dejected. "I did not attack you, nor would I ever think about hurting anyone," his voice somehow managed to remain level, lacing it with disappointment. Norman was rendered temporarily silent, glaring and folding his arms over his chest. Not wanting to dwell on matters any longer, Conri smiled. "Now, let's get going. It's a lot easier to explore these mountains in daylight." This suggestion was met with several cheers as he led the group down the trail.

The mountain air was quite chilly, but Conri simply shrugged it off: the thickly furred wolf wasn't exactly bothered by the cold. However, the humans behind him didn't agree, all of them tugging their coats into their bodies. He could easily hear the children complain about the cold, to which Tom joked that they should grow fur like Conri; that was quickly met with a loud scoff, and some mumbling which Conri easily heard.

"I wouldn't want to be anything like him," Norman mumbled under his breath.

Ignoring the boy, Conri carried on walking. Every so often, the group would pass the odd hiker here and there but other than that, the trip was spent mostly alone. The trail started to climb upwards, steepening slightly. "Watch your step." he called, darting around some stray rocks that had fallen from the mountain. Conri didn't consider himself an expert when it came to the mountains, however his excellent hearing an sense for danger did come in handy when one was climbing the mountain trail.

Now it was getting slippery to the point where even having four paws, he was struggling to maintain his balance, and he was certain the others were struggling a lot more than he was. Coming to a halt, he turned to face them. "Let's stop for a break." he smiled. Loud shouts of relief echoed throughout the air and Conri had to quickly move out of the way to avoid being trampled as the children stamped over to several rocks, and each took a seat.

Tom sat on a rock, glancing down at the wolf sat in front of him with a worried expression. "Why do you look so worried?"

Shaking his head, his tail stopped wagging. "Am I doing alright?" he asked. "With giving the kids a tour."

"Of course you are," he replied. "Why wouldn't you be?" Conri didn't answer but the way his gaze drifted towards Norman gave Tom enough of an answer. "Don't worry about him." Conri smiled slightly, but his reply was soon cut off by a scream.

"What's going on?" barked Conri, racing over to where the children were. All of them seemed shaken but looked okay. Suddenly, he noticed something that made his heart race. "Where's Sarah?"

James looked at him tearfully. "S.. someone grabbed her. They ran off with her.."

Already, the young man could hear the worried voices of her relatives, blaming him for allowing one of their children to be taken. In mind's eye, he could see faces of anger and disappointment. Gulping, he looked at James, who looked terrified. "Don't worry." a sour taste filled his mouth. "We'll find her."

He only hoped he wasn't making an empty promise.