Lion Head Mesa I look up at the gaps of sunlight

Pulling the date forward a couple days with permission!

It occurred to him, after a few days of hiding from his packmates and licking wounds both literal and metaphorical, that maybe he should give his task another go. He'd technically failed the first time. So Panacea set off from the pass again, flinching at every shadow and cursing every unknown forebear whose insistence on procreating had led him to existence.

It was all a load of shit, really. He walked around the outskirts of the mesa for a few hours before he cottoned on to the fact that someone was already there. The exact someone he was trying to avoid, actually. He froze, ears pinning to his skull, and stared.