Majesty lay deep within the pine forest of his island. It was raining lightly at the moment, for which he was grateful. The temperature had dropped at least ten degrees since that morning, and was now much more bearable. He was beginning to think of taking a nap, as nothing very interesting was happening at the moment. But then a distant howl broke into his thoughts. He sat up, his ears rotating in the direction of the sound. It was... Erika? What was she doing so far from Silvertip Mountain? Was she in trouble? She sounded angry.

He rose to his paws quickly, and bounded through the forest toward the shore facing the mainland. After a time, he saw her - a black speck on the Sea Lion Shores. Quickly, he bounded into the water, swimming towards the sandbar. The late afternoon was pulling the tide higher, so the water rose to his chest even when his feet touched the higher ground. He didn't mind. He'd gotten used to the water by now, and his paw pads at calloused so that the sand no longer bothered them.

He reached her as quickly as he could, and then stood before her, panting slightly. When he caught his breath, he said, "What is it, Miss Erika? Why have you come all this way? Is something wrong? Are you in trouble?"

Erika's words echoed in Majesty's brain, pounding into his skull like the ocean beating against the shore. Why did he leave? This was a question he knew the answer to. This wasn't what bothered him. It was the way he had left that had destroyed a part of him. He had only been part of Jinx's pack for a few weeks. He thought leaving wouldn't be so difficult - and, in truth, it wasn't. It was... the fact that he had been a coward and told no one. That was what ate at him at night, nibbling away at the back of his mind like an itch he couldn't reach. It drove him crazy when he thought of it - so he had pushed it away. Pushed, and pushed, and pushed. And now it was pushing back, in the form of this black she-wolf with the face of death whom he had once stood beside.

Majesty took a step back, stumbled, and fell onto his rump. He felt as though she had lifted a paw and raked her claws across his face. He was shocked into silence for a long time, breathing heavily, mind blank. She had opened a wound that had never healed. She had made it bigger, and now it was bleeding all over the ground - bleeding his torn emotions about the situation onto the sand. He could not look at her. Could not face her. Could not bear to see the pain in her eyes. His own eyes stung with salt water that he knew was not part of the ocean.

He felt the tears track lines in his fur. He had left them. Again. He had left his family. Again. He lay down on the beach, covering his face in paws, his body wracked with sobs. He was a traitor. He knew it. And so did she. And so did the rest of the Mountain wolves. Especially Jinx. "I'm sorry..." he tried, voice cracking, thick with emotion. "I'm sorry!" He got up, went to her, and bowed his figure before her, throwing himself at her paws. "I'm sorry! Please! Please forgive me, Miss Erika. I was selfish. I know it. I was! I cannot look upon your face now! I could not bear to the see the look in your eyes. Please... forgive me. Tell me what to do, to make it up to you. To make it up to all of you. Please..."

Of course no one else in Silvertip would forgive him. He had defended the life of a lone wolf and gone directly again Jinx's orders by doing so. And all of the other wolves seemed extremely loyal to Jinx. He had pissed her off - so he had pissed them all off. Probably the only reason Erika forgave him was because she had not been there that day when he had defended Berik - though he was sure she had heard about the incident by now. He was sure Jinx had probably told her to attack him if he was seen near the borders again.

He looked up at her slowly through blurry eyes. He let out a choked sob, and then shook himself. He could not be like that. Not now. He sat up quickly, shaking his head. He made himself stop crying, and looked at her quite seriously, though with kind eyes. He said, "You should leave, Miss Erika. Jinx would not be happy if she found out you had been here to see me. You should wash my scent from your fur before heading back. Do not tell anyone we spoke, or there would be dire consequences for you."

He paused, and then bowed his head. "And thank you. Thank you. You are kinder to me than I probably deserve. If ever there was a safer way for you to come and visit me, or vice versa, I would love to be in your company again." He looked up at her once more and took a long shot. "And - because I might never get the chance to say this to you again - you are beautiful, Miss Erika. And do not ever let anyone tell you otherwise. The side of your face that you hide - do not be afraid to show it. I know I once showed horror at the sight of it, and I apologize again for that. You are beautiful because of it - and beautiful despite it."

He paused a moment to let the seriousness of his words sink in, and then said, "Now go. Go, before someone realizes you are gone. Please. I could not bear it if anything happened to you because of me,"

Majesty saw the change in her expression when he called her beautiful, and it lifted his spirits. With a giddy look on her face, she said goodbye in her native tongue and took off back towards Silvertip Mountain. He watched her go until she was out of sight on the horizon.

He murmured, "Goodbye... Erika." And then he turned and made his way back to the Isle, feeling strangely as if he missed the black-furred female already...