Swiftcurrent Creek color me badd

The longer he sat, the more he began to recognize things. He'd been here before; this had been his area too. Fox had been his at some point, and now he began to realize with an unfortunate and deep-rooted understanding that he had been replaced. Haunter was not as hurt by it as he would have expected. But the effects of his disease came in waves—right now it numbed him.

"Yes," he said when she finally arrived, his one ear flicking in her direction, and he regarded the small female closely, warily. "I caught it for you," he rasped, and then hesitated. "But I ate it." There was a high margin of guilt in his voice, something that alluded to the fact that he simply couldn't help himself, and he tilted his misshapen head at her. "It's the first thing I've caught all summer," he added, as if this somehow made the skeleton more valuable.

Regardless, he'd brought it to her, so that meant something.. right? If he'd had the forethought, he would've rolled his eyes at himself. "Who is he?" he rumbled abruptly, slender muzzle motioning slightly towards her den.