It had been a hard month hiking down from the Northern mountains. It shouldn?t have taken that long, he knew and because of that, he hadn?t prepared properly. At the beginning of his journey, Selyan had only suspected it would take one or two weeks at the most, after all that was how long it had taken him to get up into the lower apexes. But here he was, limping in through the forest, paws fevered from the snow. He was built for the season, but he wasn?t built for stumbling down hills and wading through chilling ponds. His coat on one flank was a partially frozen sheet of ice, similar to the frost across his cheeks. He didn?t feel terribly cold like he had in the mounts, though. Here, it was better. Even with tears streaming trails on his face and ears pressed down to his neck, he preferred this. So into the trees, he padded, following a trail he?d found at sunset. It wasn?t too clever to track during the night. He could be ambushed by healthier wolves or lose his way and with the temperature exponentially lower, it was even more dangerous in the weather aspect as well. But here he was, head dropped and nostrils flaring, desperately searching for the wolfly scents he?d held tight to for days. Sel?s breathing quickened. Where is it? Where?s it gone?? His chest convulsed with panicked collections of air beating at his lungs. No No No No NO NO NO! He turned around, backtracking. I couldn?t have lost it! I couldn?t have! His legs suddenly felt weighted, broken. He felt tired. Just moments ago, his body was alive with the hope of community, his body invigorated with the joy of a wolf. But now, he was only alive with dread.
