Neverwinter Forest whip cracks, we jump

Mal hadn't been entirely awake. He'd been just drifting off to sleep nestled at the base of a tree when the unfamiliar and not-right howl roused him from his slumber. The ending seemed ragged. He was up and heading that way before he really was conscious of what was happening -- he just knew he needed to get there because something was wrong.

What he spotted was a big reddish wolf with a much more familiar smaller figure draped across his back. Wait. Wait wait. What the goddamn hell had happened? He ran forward, halting in sort of dancy anxious steps as he tried to figure out what to do and couldn't think of anything, as if his touch might also make something worse, What happened?! I -- come on, can you keep going? There's the clearing just ahead-- His thoughts were scattered, and instead added a second howl, specifically calling Mango while he desperately tried to remember what Ceilidh had done for Cam. Hell, she said something about hazel--! but as if he knew what it was, and chances were his comment wasn't gonna mean a damn thing to the wolf that was probably the previously-mentioned Firestorm.