Whitewater Gorge An Unexpected Party

The weather had been cooler recently.  It was nice, even if the air was rather damp as it had brought with it the chance of rain.  Perhaps that was why the forest had been quiet.  Even if he didn't spend every waking moment near Okeanos, Ibis, and Cam (Mal was more like a ghost, let's be real), he was starting to accept the fact that he should actually maybe do something to find a few more wolves.  It would make things easier for them all, wouldn't it?  Not to mention the fact that it would give him a few more individuals to use as buffer between himself and the two siblings.  Mal needed to do things at his own pace, so he'd gone off on a solo adventure now.

But Mal was kind of paranoid and gave the gorge a wide berth.  He had no desire to get any closer to the edge than he was now.  He could hear the echo of water somewhere in the distant, unseen void, and wasn't keen on stepping on any unstable ground.  Right now, taking a swim wasn't on his list of things to do anyway -- he just was looking for a more interesting pathway than through the hot springs, which was a foul and malodorous place that he was not planning on revisiting.  For a while he paused, ears tipped forward towards the sound, then finally he turned away, head lowering to sweep the ground for scents of anything interesting.