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The week spent with the lynx wasn't that bad. She fed and watered him sparingly, but it was enough to keep him moving. It was entirely possible - and actually quite likely - that Larus would've perished if the lynx had abandoned him at any point. She was a volatile beast, but her hatred had kept her attentive to his care; Larus had come to appreciate the roughness of her tongue when she tried to clean his wounds. But he was alone now. Very painfully alone. As the boy paced across the wet forest floor, he couldn't help but think, 'How did I get here?'. If he had stuck with that cat, however erratic she was, maybe his parents would've found him.
Larus sniffed sharply, drawing his emotions inside along with some rain which dribbled down his snout. He sniffled and tried to keep himself composed despite the lack of company he held. Back at home he had been a crybaby - a weak little cherub who relied heavily upon his siblings and his parents. Something steeled within him now, catalyzed by the crisis that the boy now faced, so he held in his desire to sob and wail. 'I can't be loud, the scary cat might come back.'. He knew this. He trusted his gut as the thought presented itself within his mind: stay quiet, stay safe.
But he wasn't quiet enough.
As the child sought a path over a cluster of slick exposed roots, as he scrambled to gain purchase against the wet and mossy bark and lift his sagging belly over the obstacle, there came a sound. It was dull at first - and somehow familiar, as the intensity grew. Thinking suddenly that the feline had found him after all, Larus ducked and stumbled, falling backwards in to a pile of leaves which barely cushioned his body. The sound was a growl, but it wasn't the lynx that had found him.
Poor thing -- poor thing.
The stranger murmured, and Larus swiftly picked up on the voice. Leaves and dirt clung to his sodden pelt, and a greater layer of detritus attached itself when he was suddenly pulled close to the stranger. He was stupefied - fearful of course, as it was his natural state, but also excited. It was childish to believe that this was a member of his parent's new family, but he entertained the thought. This little one is lost.
He was close enough to the stranger to bury his face within her fur, which Larus did without much hesitation. While dominated by a wave of various emotions it was impossible for the child to ignore his need for comfort, for physical contact. Her fur was damp like his own, but there was a familiar scent to it - like the river which ran alongside the old den. Larus was ignorant of the existence of the ocean at this point, else he may have recognized the saline quality of the scent. His hopes were raised tremendously at this discovery.
With his face and body still buried as close to Caiaphas as possible, Larus' voice was muffled as he tried to ask the most important question: Ah yr hrr tuh tah me hmm?
This of course caused him to gather the stranger's fur in his mouth and fail at expressing what needed to be expressed. So he pulled back, peeking over a mound of the woman's fur with his golden eyes shining with gleeful tears. Are you here to take me home?