Dawn treader

IC joining!

There had been many opportunities for this wolf to die. Many days and nights of hunger and thirst. Many fights for scraps that even the vultures had left behind. He had crossed so much terrain that his feet hardly knew the difference anymore between rock and grass. He had been faced with more opposition than he cared to admit, and he had certainly seen much death and pain—so much so that he no longer feared the coming of either.

Pride kept him going. The will to live and not die a tragedy like most of his family. He searched the wild for peace, for a paradise that wouldn't demand he always be worried, agitated, and alone. He didn't want to be alone anymore. Thousands of empty, lonely miles had taught him this much at least. But he would be alone for as long as it took for him to find what he was looking for...

The appearance of fall urged him further into the vale of packlands. Normally he would skirt them, unwilling enough to be bothered, plus it was easy enough to survive on his own during spring and summer; but it would only get harder from here. This particular thought brought him first to these borders.

He did not howl for the company of their members. Instead, the stranger stalked and loped around, following the scent-line as if it would lead somewhere besides in a complete circle. He was careful not to cross it, having learned once the hard way, but he was persistent in his pacing—he was at it for a few hours in the dead of night, until the sun broke the skyline and illuminated the gray wolf like a sparkling stone.