Blacktail Deer Plateau I've been sleepwalking

the fragrance that rose over the landscape took taltos' breath straightaway from his chest -- the smoky scent of the fire still hung in his nostrils, and the fear therein surged to the fore. but he was running suddenly, his legs churning with blurring speed -- they carried him in the direction of dante's wordless call.

the leader's disappearance had struck more than a single chord within him -- it had fluted along the strings born by the grief-sistrum, for in one fell swoop lasher had found himself bereft of a companion, a brother, and a man he loved perhaps more deeply than himself. the man epitomized all that the beta had sought in a lover, but he had resigned himself to the fact that he and the gunmetal wolf would never come to such an understanding.

lasher had instead forged a deep appreciation for the man's strength of character, his gentility, thrown about with a rampantly handsome set of features of which the romanesque man seemed to be unaware. lovers they would not be, but the aokatti with which he had never been blessed -- yes.

dante.

his pace quickened ever further until he burst breathlessly into the little space wherein the man was attended by a surprised mordecai. he gave the ostrega no heed -- the wolf knew he was well-loved by the beta -- and with abandon he sought dante with a wordless embrace, desperation and relief mingling in his murkwater gaze.