Redhawk Caldera brother, you already were a ghost.

— Night, 70°F, Cloudy

Ten days.

It did not seem like a lot and yet each day dragged along at a devastating pace.

His voice did not return and with each day he felt more certain that it never would. So he relied on the communication he had used longest. Body language. Finely tuned depending on who he seemed to meet each day.

Tonight, he crept along alone. The territory was still majorly new to him, most familiar with the healing confines of the medical space.

Yet here was the edge of what seemed to be a lake.

Out there was an island. One he seemed to feel a pull to. Slowly he began to wade into the water, not thinking twice on if it might hurt the healing wound on his neck or not.

Eljay was out to take a drink when he heard the rustling in the water. Head perked up and he squinted his eyes trying to make out who or what was out there. The scent of wolf greeted him as he drew closer; a pack mate, then.

Teya? The island had housed Teya's den, after all, when Sorana was small. But when he drew a bit closer, Eljay was pretty sure this was one of his wolves that he did not know. Bridget's scent was present nearby, too, but this wasn't her. Hello? Was he headed towards the island?

He spun and with him he brought water droplets.

This was a man he had not met before, but he smelled like the others. He was older. He seemed soft, in a way that eased the anxieties of the patient.

But he could not speak and he hoped to convey this by flashing his healing throat. A creaky, low whine as his tail waved by his ankles.

The wolf turned around, sending water in Eljay's direction. The dark stranger showed his throat, and Eljay realised that this must be the new wolf that he'd been told about; the one who did not speak. The caretaker wondered immediately if the wolf would forever cease to speak, or if one day he might find his tongue again.

I'm Eljay, he said with a soft smile. I'm the pack's caretaker, and current Auspex. Not for much longer, he had decided, but he didn't want to spill the news to anyone before the pack meeting; not even one who did not speak. Eljay watched closely to see if the man could understand his words; considering he showed his throat, he must at least know it was expected of him to speak, but Eljay did not know if maybe he spoke a different language. He asked, just to be sure, Do you understand?

Eljay.

Caretaker.

Auspex.

The last word he did not understand. The first was clearly the man's name. The middle one was a title he had come to associate with those who were kindest to him.

He nodded his head in response, tail waving softly. Appreciative of the man's kinder approach to his lack of words.

His head swung to gesture toward the island and then looked back. Curious and wondering.

Eljay smiled as the other nodded and his tail waved. He seemed friendly, at least. Hopefully his throat would heal all the way again in time, so that Eljay could learn the man's name.

I guess Bridget's been taking care of that wound, huh? he asked. Are you hungry? There's probably a cache around here somewhere. His memory was failing him for now, but he was sure there was something nearby if the man was hungry.

The island would not be spoken of.

Such curiosity was hard to have quelled when he could not ask, but he accepted the kindness given. Nodded his head and fully freed himself of the water.

He sunk low in a respectful way, hoping to near the man now and offer a tentative show of goodwill with small nosing at his chin.

It was always hard to communicate when you did not have words; at least for Eljay. It left a lot of things unsaid and a lot of uncertainties lingering in the air between them. Eljay smiled at the man and he got ready to lead the man towards a cache. Instead, though, he approached and nosed Eljay's chin, to which the caretaker smiled in a soft and silent gesture of acknowledgement and thanks.

Then Eljay led the other to a nearby cache and suggested, Dig here, there should be some leftovers. Some fish, he was pretty sure, considering it wouldn't make sense to drag food that'd been hunted on the mainland to the island. Not to him, anyway. Eljay felt a little awkward as he sat down by the side, not sure what to talk about with someone who was not very talkative themselves; clearly, Eljay was a little uncomfortable in the position.