Cerulean Cape blood canticle

grains of sand caked his paw pads. he had ignored it for as long as he could but the salt that dried there among the grains burned in to him, and he began to limp. this was not something he would have done around others—showing such a small but obvious weakness—and it proved he was oblivious to the stranger tailing him.
it wasn't until she was level with his trajectory that he took notice of the shifting sand, the sound of weight pacing behind him, and he stopped to look over one shoulder. the darkness of his mantled shoulders, looking more haggard and pronounced given his recent thinning, prickled with an indecisive energy. was this a threat? was this something else?
he flashed his front teeth with a lift of his lip, but said nothing—not even a rumble.