Neverwinter Forest who sits at the curb

It seemed that Leader attracted followers, much like a naked light bulb attracts flickering, fluttering moths. The arrival of several newcomers recently had made Toothless feel disconcerted, jealous, sullen and curious in turn. Having long lived in solitude, it nonetheless instinctually craved company, especially since its memories of its mother's family were by now largely suppressed. It still did not trust easily, however, so while it occasionally immersed itself in the collective, it typically kept to itself, lurking on the outside of things and observing from afar.

Toothless found that, aside from Leader herself, some of the wolves kept a daytime schedule. This made it easier to avoid them. However, even as Toothless unwittingly inserted itself into life as a pack wolf, it also began to make occasional cameos during daylight hours. It didn't even realize this consciously most of the time. As if bolstered by its new leader and her company, Toothless simply began to change and adapt, all without really noticing much.

Today, it woke well before evening, though twilight bloomed in the park. Licking its dry lips, Toothless rose and clambered down the mountainside, searching for water. It somehow managed to miss the various streams that crawled down the slopes and eventually found itself at the edge of a forest. It stood there, blinking stupidly for a moment, its forelegs bowed indecisively. It then darted beneath the shadowy trees, now smacking its lips together, its dry tongue sticking to the roof of its mouth.

Instead of water, it found another wolf. Two separate but distinct feelings passed through Toothless. Firstly, fear tightened its chest and it turned, preparing to flee. Secondly, it felt an almost overwhelming sense of protectiveness come over it, which really took the edge off the fear. Slowly turning back around, its lips began to skin back from its teeth. The mountain—Leader's mountain—rose up behind it as it dug its tiny black paws into the earth and grimaced at the stranger. As its territorial notion built, its black ears pinned backward and nearly disappeared against its small, shapely skull.