He had been alone for quite some time now. Ever since leaving his siblings, Gallahan had instead taken the path of a loner, and stuck a little too close to the title of a loner. Being a husky, he knew that he needed to become stronger to live in this world; so that’s what he did. While he built up some muscle, he knew his gifts lied in stamina and speed. So he had been practicing, practicing, and only living the life of a gym rat. 

   Gallahan didn’t know when to stop when he would be ready. But after closing himself off from the world, he had gotten ballsy. He started to go into clear areas, where he couldn’t hide amongst the trees or caves. He had started to adventure out into new lands. Today was meant to be like any other, living a life without others. It was around midday, and Gallahan grew hungry. The dog had given chase to a rabbit, picking up speed easily and almost gaining on it. 

    With the idea of food on his mind, he didn’t even notice where he was going. The rabbit made a quick turn, and usually, Gallahan would have been able to match it, but suddenly his paws were slipping out from under him. The rabbit escaped. He growled, getting up and testing out his legs; they were fine. But now that he wasn’t focused on food, he was able to look around. His jaw practically dropped, and he walked in little circles. This place was beautiful!

Gloom, much like Spirit felt more lost than she ever had, Void had promised he wouldn't leave them, and yet- well it certainly felt like he had. The trip they'd taken all those months ago felt like a lifetime ago now, though she had been glad to find her sister returned the truth was very little seemed to have changed since then. That was, except for her willingness to wander. More than ever she'd found her paws itching to leave pack lands, to feel that surge of confidence she'd felt away from all those prying eyes, the weight of the pack's expectations on her when she knew, knew she would always fail. She was retracing the steps they'd taken when they'd left to try and find their mother. It was calming and familiar to feel she was truly alone in lands she recognized. A situation she never got back in Abaven, it also gave her the breathing room to actually think. Her feelings about Void were... well complicated. She neither wanted to tell him not to chase his heart, but neither did she want to live without him, to be forced to give up the only stability she had. Spirit for all he tried did was not the rock in her life their brother was. Gloom had found the falls they'd passed all those months ago and begun the long trek down to the pool the water cascaded into. She settled herself a ways from the base of the falls, somewhere she could lounge and dangle her forepaws into the water but not be getting sprayed by the crashing water. And so that was where she was for some time, just trying to sort through her jumbled thoughts. Eventually, she had started to drift, eyelids drooping... But that was suddenly stopped when the pounding of paws hit her, the sound preceding the canine that rounded the corner only moments after she heard him. And then in true Gloom fashion the panic set in. The girl dropped her head, suddenly trying to flatten herself into the ground, tail curling so it was tucked as close to her rump as possible and her ears pulling back as eyes grew wide in the fear she struggled under each and every day.   It seemed he hadn't seen her yet... but it was only a matter of time and each moment Gloom could feel the way her heart hammered in her chest, so strong she would have been surprised to find he couldn't hear it. Speak! Think!

Image by Blue-Onyx

There was so much to take in. The colors from the sun hit the water and made rainbows of color. The water was almost gentle in its falling. While it wasn’t quiet, it wasn’t as loud as a regular, rapid waterfall. This felt oddly soft. With so much going on around him, he didn’t initially notice the she-wolf that wasn’t all that far from him. It was more like Where's Waldo for Gallahan. His eyes dragged from each pot, the man looking rather peaceful.

Until they finally landed on the girl. Once he caught sight of her, it was hard to miss. Instantly Gallahan’s demeanor changed. It wasn’t exactly aggressive but is easily read as he’d put up a fight if they put up a fight. For a few, long heartbeats, he simply stared. First into her eyes for an awkward amount of time, and then letting his eyes sweep over her body, her posture. From what he saw, she wasn’t exactly thrilled to see him, either.

“I don’t want any trouble. If you don’t want to fight, I don’t either.” Gallahan’s voice started out almost squeaky, but about halfway through he had a clear, strong voice. His posture relaxed some, to see if she would copy and there would be an understanding of peace. Part of him wanted to run, run away from meeting someone new. But also, he had so much curiosity. There were probably thousands of lives being led, without him knowing a lick of anything. None of the packs, none of it all.

Gloom had never seen any dogs before and she wouldn't probably have been able to identify a husky in particular, maybe if she'd been a bigger wolf but he was easily a few inches taller than she was anyways... which is why the idea of fighting had never even crossed her mind until he brought it up. A whine pulled from her lips and she began to shake her head frantically. "N-no." Was all she could manage, her voice catching in her throat and she curled further into herself, pressing her stomach as hard into the ground as she could as if doing so would allow her to sink into the ground and disappear to safety. Gloom was so enveloped in a sudden fear this stranger might attack her she didn't even realize she'd started crying until a tear hit her paw, causing her to jump slightly and another long whine to rise from her throat. "P-please don't." She managed between sobs, she wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and block out the whole world and yet was unable to take her eyes off of the new potential threat. Speak! Think!

Image by Blue-Onyx

    Oh fuck, Gallahan thought. The woman let her words slip out as if there were a dam holding them back. He had never found himself that much of a threat, seeing the bigger, bulkier creatures, but apparently, he was just enough for this woman. While part of him was thinking ‘damn, I’m tougher than I thought”, he was also feeling sorry for frightening her so much. Maybe he had jumped the gun, thinking anyone would straight-up want to fight him right off the bat. Then again, he had honestly not interacted with many others in his life, and only knew of abuse from his family. It was almost eye-opening to him, but he would only realize that later on.

    “It’s - it’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He actively tried to make his voice softer, and tried to put on a more casual, sorry as a body can say, look. “I promise I won’t hurt you. If I’m being honest, I kinda got a little frightened, too.” He was only admitting that to help make her feel better. Anyone else, he would never admit to such a thing. To help even further, he started to sit down and moved a little awkwardly when he realized the ground was wet, which would make his ass wet. Eh, he could deal with that, it was just a bit awkward. Gallahan tried to give a soft smile, but he probably didn't exactly have a soft smile.