It was near dark when he came across the borders of the golden grove. He wrinkled his nose, unsure if he wanted to throw his chances to the wind by summoning an Alpha; he would decide by morning. The Doktor tucked himself and his elkskin bag under the high roots of a tree, blocked from the worse of the wind. He found it nearly impossible to sleep, nearly turning to his poppy seeds to help him relax. He had weaned himself off of the opiates with the onset of winter, but he still craved their mind numbing effects, carrying a pile of them within his bag, just in case the itch became too unbearable.
[table][tr][td valign=center] [/td][td]
It was during the night when the child was most active. As all of those that surrounded him slept, the young Prince remained wide awake. Into the darkness he would stare, right before looking directly through it as his eyes sought the glow of the fairies. The shadows did not shift or creep towards him like he’d witnessed the one night, leaving him to wonder about what the shaded entity had been. The sight had been a curious one, and not something that he was so quick to forget—but one could always grow distracted without forgetting, which is exactly what had happened with Bramble as a bright light emerged from behind him. The size was great, towering over him as its wispy figure glided over the earth. Seeing it made the boy smile, but never was a sound made. He had learned already that being loud awoke the others, and waking them always resulted in his friends leaving him. It was frustrating at times, knowing that his family was not worthy enough to bear witness to such exotic creatures, though their lack of sight was something that he often felt appreciation towards, too.
As the large fairy began moving, Bramble followed after it. There was only silence between them as they walked the physical plane, but, within their minds, there unfolded a grand conversation that was filled to the brim with previously unknown information. It was made known to him that it was the Fairy Queen herself that he’d taken to following, and that she was guiding him towards something wonderful. Always did he trust his friends, so never had he stopped. Even when he’d grown tired, the child had pressed forward until nothing looked familiar, and even then he had not stopped.
There came a drastic change to the terrain that they walked upon, and then the spirit was gone. Her sudden disappearance had confused the child, making him twirl around and wander this way and that. At last he’d come across the reason behind his friend’s departure, having spotted a dark form a little ways off. Curious, he hadn’t turned around and fled, but had instead proceeded towards the stranger. The space that he’d claimed for himself seemed comfortable from a distance, which only made him move quicker. It became clear that the Fairy Queen had led him there for the purpose of meeting the wolf whose body was one with the trees, so caution was thrown to the wind. He’d not stop until his muzzle was touching the forelimb of the man, or he was stopped in his tracks—whichever came first.
[/td][td valign=center] [/td][/tr][/table]
He nosed through the elkskin laying near him, trying to seek the small black seeds that relinquished him of thought and worry for those few blissful moments. A wet nose touched him before his tongue could lap what seeds he could; Bastian pulled his head out of the bag to see the small creature. His face split into a smile, his momentarily dull eyes flickering to life as he realized what this was. Hello zere,
[table][tr][td valign=center] [/td][td]
Not a single entity had made itself known in order to prevent the child from proceeding, which made for a most joyous moment. Never before had he seen someone that was not within the boundaries of his pack, making the stranger a rare and fascinating sight. It seemed as if he’d ignited some sort of positive feeling from within the man, just as he’d done for the boy; there was a slight difference, however, since Bramble’s wild imagination was able to amplify everything tenfold. Having the attention of an unknown being on him set his tail to wagging a mile per minute, twirling around in a way that mimicked the blades of a helicopter. He could not speak and had troubles understanding the majority of the English language, but the greeting was something that he’d grown accustomed to hearing. He related it to pleasant experiences—for the most part—and so there wasn’t even a hint of worry in regards to what the wolf might do.
A fairy flitted about behind the man’s head, drawing Bramble’s eyes towards it. He stared for a moment before an excited, high-pitched yip slipped passed his lips. Having seemingly frightened the wisp, there was a distinct lack of surprise in his eyes as he watched it vanish into thin air. No time was to be wasted chasing after something that did not feel the need to hang around with him, thus allowing for the child to focus entirely on the unknown wolf and what he was up to. Without giving his actions much thought, the Prince stumbled towards whatever it was that Bastian had with him, mouth wide with the intention of fastening his tiny jaws around some part of it.
[/td][td valign=center] [/td][/tr][/table]
He looked to where the child dashed forward to so eagerly. He saw nothing there. The man chuckled darkly. Schizophrenia...
He breathed, watching the child as it yipped and chased an unknown object about. It ist regretable zhat I 'ave not found a way to open zhe skull vithout damaging zhe brain,
He said to no one in particular, seeing as the child seemed not to understand him. I vonder what malady grows in your head, Kind,
He dared not to move the bag away from the curious thing, instead watching hungrily, wondering what the child would ingest.
[table][tr][td valign=center] [/td][td]
Whilst the bag had been investigated, the adult rambled on. To whom he spoke and what his words meant were both questions that the child could not provide any answers for, nor did he care to. From what little experience he had, he’d come to realize that those older than himself often spoke about trivial matters—topics that did not concern him, nor would they ever. It was often shown in the way they held themselves, as well as how they addressed their partner in the conversation. Always did they speak directly from one to the other, and rarely to him, thus making it clear that their chosen words were not meant for him to worry over; this was assuming that he was capable of being worried and feeling anxious, which he most certainly was not. Being but a child, he could not possibly experience such a large scale of emotions, and so he existed then having only ever felt just a few. It had been two of those few that he’d felt shortly after nosing through the bag, for one poorly placed muzzle and an inhale later, and up into his nostril had a poppy seed gone.
Confusion pulled at his face, then panic stole the throne as he’d realized what had happened. It’d been most uncomfortable, having a seed lodged in his nose, and so he’d blown and snorted until it’d shot right out. Where it’d gone exactly, the Prince hadn’t been paying attention and therefore hadn’t the slightest of clues, but he’d known where the rest to be located. Thereafter, he’d been far more careful with where he’d placed his nose, especially as the rest of the stash had been spotted. They’d held his attention, despite what had happened with the first one, and, without thinking, he’d licked several right up. With hardly any flavour to be pulled from the seeds, he’d intended to rid his tongue of them, but had ended up swallowing the majority before they could be spat back out. Though he would come to learn of the mistake made in that moment, he’d remained painfully oblivious for the first several minutes. Turning his head up, he’d looked towards the stranger expectantly, awaiting some sort of sign that his actions had been correct.
[/td][td valign=center] [/td][/tr][/table]
It had been some time since he got to witness the raw, curious movements of a child. He stared at the boy quietly, not even attempting to deter him from entering the bag. Let him see. Let him search. There was a mish-mosh of herbs in there, with a range of effects. Perhaps something interesting would happen.
Something did — well, it started off amusing rather than interesting. A poppy seed went into the boy's nose. Bastian bit his lip in an attempt to stifle his laughter, making no attempts to help the child at all. Eventually the black speck was removed from his nose, but several more filled his stomach. Bastian's eyes widened with malicious pleasure. The child looked up at him expectantly, wondering if his actions had been right. In any other situation, with any other wolf, perhaps not. But this was all Bastian needed. Ach, du armer Junge,
He leaned down to gently push him, wondering if he had lost all faculties of movement right there and then. Du weißt wirklich nicht, was du getan hast, oder?
[table][tr][td valign=center] [/td][td]
At first, nothing had happened. He’d continued to stare at the stranger, eyes wide and trusting, for why would anyone bring him harm? Without a proper concept of danger, he’d opened himself up to a terrible world of darkness—but this was unknown by the young Prince. Even as the poppy seeds had started to take effect, he’d not realized just how stupid he had been. Attempting to move closer to the man, he’d stumbled and then fallen, driving his nose right into the ground. Startled and hurt, he’d yelped and tried scrambling back up to his feet, but was unsuccessful. Again, the boy had fallen flat, eyes widening even further from fear. The dark figure from before had appeared over him, seeming to press against the child and prevent him from breathing. It was all in his head, of course, but the line between fantasy and reality didn’t exist in his world.
Opening his mouth, the boy gasped for air and then stretched his paw out towards the good doctor. Surely he would know how to help, given that he’d been the one with the nose plugs seeds.
[/td][td valign=center] [/td][/tr][/table]
He had no bone to mark this down in at the moment, but he was sure he would remember it. The boy was placid at first, seemingly fine until the effects hit him like a brick. His eyes constricted into small black pricks, similar to the seeds he had ingested. The child began to wobble, falling flat onto his nose once, then twice as his motor functions left. Bastian all the while laid his chin against the ground, acidic eyes wide as he drank in the information.
Had he been another man, the little paw stretching towards him would have broken Bastian's heart. But the Doktor merely batted the little paw away. Nein, kleiner Junge. Ich kann nicht helfen.