We crave a different kind of buzz

The swirling mists of this particularly swamp felt apt to his mood - not that he was angry or upset or whatever emotions people normally associated with foggy swamps, oh no, Wendigo was actually in a good mood. To him the mists felt playful as he stalked through them, swirling and dancing around his movements and between the trees, playing tricks on the eyes as they changed with the shadows and hid reality behind them. He reveled in it, as playful as those mists as he romped through them, chasing this way and that after all manner of swamp critters he had no real interest in catching, only to dive the next second beneath a fern and lay perfectly still, just another shadow in the fog with only his brightly colored eyes noticeable to track everything around him. He gave the impression of a very large kitten in his play, rather than the giant adult wolf he in fact was, but, well... it did run in his blood. Some days it just felt like his father was watching over his shoulder, his grandmother Cascade and grandfather Valentine behind him, and some days that put a lot of pressure on him. Other days - like today - he reveled in that imaginary attention and he lived in the trickster mischief he knew they'd put in him.

Now, he rolled over on his back, paws kicking at the fern above him idly, as he stared up into the tangled canopy with eyes half-lidded and dreamy. He wished he could have known them - he'd barely known his father, mostly towards the end when he'd been trying to stuff as many stories and memories into Wendigo and his littermates as he could before he died. His grandfather Valentine had outlived his father, but Wendigo had never made it up to the Range to meet him before the old man had vanished, and then Wendigo had left too, and, well, now he'd never get the chance to meet the Imperialis progenitor. It didn't matter, not really - it was his grandmother's line he had been entrusted to carry on and bring into glory and renown. Valentine had others to carry his name forward.

Wendigo hummed thoughtfully, still caught up in his own thoughts as he played in the foliage.