Swiftcurrent Creek something has to happen

tags for reference!

the idleness is beginning to drive panther, slowly, to madness. his strength has returned though he is still more rawboned than he would like to be, for though eating is easier and beginning to return to some nuance of 'normal' he at times still finds it difficult despite the thick, fresh raw pink scar tissue that has sutured the once scabbed wounds on his face, neck and throat. the pain has lessened to a more sickening feeling than anything else as the nerves, stubborn still cling to life as damaged as they were. he cannot stand the spine any longer. there is something dark about it, something that makes him want to avoid it. it is, after all, the place he died. not physically, of course ...but whoever panther'd been before the assumed fight and plunge to his near physical death was gone. those memories, that sense of identity: evaporated like smoke dissolving in the air.

his past was gone and without realizing what had been stolen from him he found it hard to attempt to mourn it. there was no sense in it, panther knew. his future was what was important now. forward; it was the only path laid before him now. he offered @Reiko his gratitude for saving his life and informed @Easy in the best way he non-verbally could that he was leaving the spine behind him. he was well enough for travel now and couldn't bear the swampy bowl any longer. he extended an invitation to join him and set off whether she was in tow with him or not.

panther's path took him north and he stops at the first pack he crosses, lured in by the scent markers though he is instinctually sure to keep a more than amicable distance between himself and their actual borders. it is here, panther pauses and hesitates. he knows that even though he can create sounds ( and even if he could muster verbal communication ) he does not have the power in his vocal chords to howl. not yet, anyway. perhaps not ever again. so, with little other choice he waits for someone on patrol to come across him.