Southbound, Minshi had continued onward with his journey, leaving behind the ragged woman he'd seen. Though he'd not actually interacted with her, the memory was burned into his mind. It was primarily due to her having been the first living, breathing wolf he'd spotted since his departure from home. Prior to his leaving, he'd always assumed he'd be able to go right up to the first stranger he'd come across and strike up a conversation, but his nerves had gotten the better of him at the last second. He'd instead opted to abandoning his own path, letting her get past him and then watching as her form had steadily disappeared beyond his line of sight. Looking back, he recognized the fact that he'd missed out on an ample opportunity to learn a bit about whatever land he'd crossed into. Luckily, such a notice was something he'd been able to get past, allowing his paws to touch base with a new terrain without any negative thoughts buzzing around between his ears.

Dried mud coated his legs and underside from his trek through the waterways, which, when combined with the tall grasses of the meadow, had him wanting to scratch his skin off. Thankfully, Minshi didn't go quite that far, but he had stopped on several occasions to sit and scratch away, attempting to scrape as much of the gunk off as he could. Some stops were more eventful than others but, for the most part, the itch just didn't want to subside. No matter, the star child had forced his focus upon literally anything and everything, doing his best to forget the tingling of his skin so that it might stop bothering him. Mind over body, right? Right?

The further Minshi progressed, the greater his ability to forget the temptation that was scratching at himself became. It had, perhaps, diminished entirely when he'd spotted the first little cluster of wildflowers. They weren't much of a sight just yet, many still being nothing more than buds, but he was amazed all the same. That single spotting had lured him into a search for more, dragging him closer to the heart of the territory as he sought to check out every inch of the land. His steps were partially aimless, however, and his attention not slipping from the task he'd assigned himself to.

Minshi had been making a great deal of progress in exploring the land, loping around and investigating anything and everything that had managed to snag his attention. He was excitable, clearly, forever a child at heart (and partially in body). Aside from the various flowers and the overall scenery, however, he found there wasn't much else to peek around at within the territory. But the land itself was somewhat flat, stretching on for miles in either direction, so there had to be more out there. And, just as he'd suspected, there was.

Ahead of him there sat another wolf, whose appearance was quite the sight to behold. That observation, however, had yet to ease it's way into his mind. No, instead of the patchwork male, Min's eyes were pulled right down to that which he seemed to be munching on. Rabbit! Food! The sight had his tail wagging and stomach guiding him right towards the unknown wolf, the dangers of doing so entirely lost on him. In that moment, he could see only the plump bunny and nothing else, tunnel vision having set in. Of course, he did end up slowing down as the distance was shortened between the two boys, but never did his eyes part ways with the other's meal. After realizing he wasn't a thief, though, the younger's eyes darted up to meet the mismatched ones of Cicero, briefly, stumbling over his words as he said, "H-hi!" Nice save, Minshi. The stranger totally won't think you're weird and after his meal (even though you are) now!

The greeting was returned, and Minshi did his very best to focus on what was being said, rather than on the rabbit. For as silent as the corpse was, it still managed to cause an uproar within the boy's mind, for he wanted nothing more than to dive right in and eat. However, it was not his kill and he was no thief—but, there then came the most magical words he'd ever heard. An offer to have some, and all he'd needed to do was greet the stranger... it was amazing! Initially, he'd planned to nod only a few times before digging right in, but that all changed when his grandmother's voice had decided to echo throughout his mind. The warning she'd given to him, the words he could not let himself go against. It frustrated him a bit, electing a pout as the ruler of his features. Strangers can be dangerous, Minshi. Ask before you shoot.

"Why are you offering me some?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. "Is there something wrong with it? Has it gone bad?!" The latter question had ended up being exclaimed, the mere thought striking fear into his very soul. To learn that a meal so appetizing in appearance had gone bad was his worst nightmare, a true crime against nature.

The other male spoke, telling of how it would be unwise to eat it had the body gone bad. From there, he'd proceeded to take a bite, revealing to the younger fellow that the rabbit's expiration date had yet to pass. Surely that meant it was okay to eat, right? After all, the stranger had taken a bite from it, proving it hadn't spoiled. That also meant it couldn't have been poisoned, but Min's mind hadn't even considered the possibility of that having been the case. "I guess it's safe then..." he'd murmured to himself, his previous pout being replaced by a wide grin. Behind him, his tail had started to wag, overjoyed by the fact that not only was he being given a meal, but a free meal at that!

"Thank you!" Minshi's words had just barely made it out of his mouth before he'd closed the distance entirely, digging right in to the leporine's body. In his haste, he'd not even taken notice to the plants that'd been stuffed into it, gulping them down right along with the meat. Halfway through, however, he had stopped himself and looked up at his guardian angel sheepishly. "Can I, um... can I have the rest of this?" It was still the patchwork male's kill, after all, so the star child didn't want to scarf it all down unless he knew he was allowed to.

The second he was given the O.K. to do so, Minshi finished off what remained of the rabbit, taking the rest of the berries down with the meat. Once done, he sat back, tongue drawing out over his muzzle and incisors as he began cleaning himself off, barely catching the question. "Nope," the boy had answered absentmindedly. "I did, but I wanted to travel..." He didn't elaborate any further, his attention being pulled elsewhere. His skin started to itch again, but of course, he blamed it on his previous trek through the muddy waters. It'd come back much worse than it'd previously been, however, making it impossible to ignore. One of his hind legs drew up to scratch as his stomach, which was when he realized that it wasn't just the parts that had been coated in mud that itched. It had spread to other regions of his body, filling him with dread. Skin growing irritated wasn't too out of the norm, but when his mouth had started to ache, the skin beneath his fur reddening, he'd started to suspect something was off.

"What did-" pause, scratch, continue. "-you do to that rabbit?" He tried to look towards the patchwork male, but was forced to blink several times as his eyes began to water. They stung, making him lay down and draw his paws up close to them as he tried to wipe away whatever it was that was irritating them. By the time he'd moved his paws away, however, his vision had dimmed. In his peripheral he saw only darkness, and it was closing in on the rest of his sight. The star child's body jolted upwards, bringing him to his feet and having his legs spread apart in an attempt to balance himself. "What is this? What's happening?" the words came out as a confused whimper. It was then he'd realized that the stranger was not his guardian angel, but some imp that had been sent to trick him.

The itching sensation seemed to worsen, forcing him to scratch at himself more often. He had trusted the other male, trusted the notion of a free and consequence-less meal, and now suspected that it was coming back to bite him in the butt. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if it was only the itching and the watery eyes, but the inflammation of his muzzle and his diminishing eyesight pushed it over the top. Was he going to die? The thought had crossed his mind, but he'd quickly shaken it away—a movement that had nearly sent him toppling over—not wanting to even consider the possibility of that happening. He was still young, after all, and had many years ahead of him to look forward to. Would he really be done in by some poisoned rabbit? Certainly not! ... well, he hoped not, anyways.

Minshi's questions went unanswered, the stranger acting as if he had no idea what was going on. Actually, was he really only acting? The boy couldn't tell. "It's so itchy!" he'd exclaimed after a moment of thought, trying to gaze at the patchwork male but failing miserably. It was in that moment that he'd discovered his sight was no more, that he could see nothing but darkness. "I can't... my eyes..." Getting the words out became difficult, the shock of the situation having set in. Without thinking, he tried to push forward, moving blindly but with reason. He had to get out of there, he couldn't stay near the mischievous imp for any longer.

Minshi could not see yet, his eyes remained clouded by the never-ending darkness. Even still, he'd wanted to at least try and get away, ignoring the risks that might come from literally wandering blindly. That is, he'd tried to, anyways. When the other had called after him, he'd found himself coming to a wobbly stop, swinging his head around in the direction he thought Cicero was (when, in actuality, he was a little ways off from his mark). His ears fell back in uncertainty, wondering if he could trust the other again, but also wondering if he even had a choice. If he were to live the rest of his life without his sight—at this point, he was certain the effects would last forever—then did he really even have much longer to live? With that type of mentality, he couldn't think of anything that the other could do that would worsen his predicament. It helped, too, that he didn't want to die a selfish boy, ignoring the pleads of another when he could have done something to help.

The star child tried to settle back on his haunches, but couldn't keep still. If it wasn't his legs moving, then it was his head or an appendage. Little twitches here and there, futile attempts at remaining aware of his surroundings despite his inability to see. It took awhile, but he was eventually able to calm his nerves, normalizing his breathing so that no longer was he left panting from anxieties. "Did... did you eat a lot of it?" he questioned, speaking to the space beside Cicero. "Maybe it won't do anything to you." Maybe. If it did, though, shouldn't he know what to expect? Min wanted to help, to prevent someone else from being so suddenly slapped across the face, just as he had been. "The itch..." he began. "It's everywhere." And it wouldn't let up. "My mouth hurts, and my eyes... my eyes..." It was that loss that troubled him the most. "I can't see!"

It was as if his sense of self was lost, solely because he could not see. To go through life without one's vision seemed like an awful thing, and not at all something he wished to do. But, perhaps, the stranger would be able to help him. He'd shared with him a meal—granted, it had been poisoned—so surely he wouldn't be against helping him again! Maybe they could work together to find a way to get his sight back, or maybe the other wouldn't mind looking after him until he died. Okay, so the latter thought would probably be asking a bit too much, leaving him to try and get for himself a temporary assistant instead. He was encouraged further, too, by the other male's question of what they were to do next. Minshi was certain he would be given some help.

"Can you help me?" he'd asked, his voice betraying the fear he felt. "Maybe you could find out who killed the rabbit! You could track them down and... and ask them what was in it!" Surely the culprit would have left behind some sort of a scent trail. "Please! I want to know if I'll ever... if I'll ever see again..." Min could live with the itch, he could live with the sore mouth—hell, he'd even live through the constant watering of his eyes just as long as it meant he'd be able to actually use them!

Just as he'd expected, the other male was willing to help! Minshi was glad he'd met such a helpful fellow, for he couldn't even begin to imagine what would have happened had it been anyone else. "Alright!" the younger had returned, easing himself into a sitting position to show that he had no plans of going anywhere. His ears perked as he heard the footfalls of Cicero, listening closely as they got farther and farther away. He thought little of it at first, believing the patchwork wolf to be heading off to find out who had poisoned the rabbit. Even when he could no longer hear the other boy, he remained there, partially because there was nowhere else he could go.

Some time had passed since Cicero's departure when the boy's sight had finally returned, exciting him quite a bit. Initially, he'd wished to share with the other the good news, and so even still, Min had stayed there in the field. He'd waited for the male to return for quite some time, before it had finally dawned on him that he might never see him again. That made him suspicious, of course, but he was quick to shake from his head such accusative thoughts. With a soft sigh, the boy had left the field, carrying on with his journey. In the future, he would be sure to be far more careful when offered a free meal.