Hideaway Strath one microscopic cog in his catastrophic plan

@Arturo ♥

NOTE: In Lotte’s personal timeline, this takes place directly after this thread.

In the midst of the commotion, Lotte abruptly and silently takes her leave. Everything suddenly seems so loud and open — although her voice had been the loudest one present, and although she had found the press of the Family heartening only moments before, now she just wants to get away. She flattens her small, bearlike ears against the echo of the pack’s voices and melts into the shadows — an easy feat for her, as the faint light of the stars is swallowed up by the matte quality of her colorpoint pelage. Her black-masked face is furrowed with concentration and her sides heave as she pants raggedly, overheating from the fever born of stress, pain, and exhilaration. Still, she moves with fluid intensity, for the moment free of the gripping, twisting cramps that contort her spine and cloud her judgment. Her surefooted paws are too weary and heavy to be silent, and they move haphazardly to churn up the earth or push aside low-hanging boughs. She is, to all appearances, looking for something — but the something in question is something she doesn’t even know she’ll recognize upon sight. A whine tangles in her throat as she pokes her snout into a fallen log.