Duskfire Glacier If he don't want me [J]

All the young man wanted to do was sleep. His legs quivered from the week of near-constant travel, and he felt the weight of gravity drag at every bone. Having returned from his trip to the coast only hours before, when the sun had just begun its slow descent from its crowning peak, Malachi had not had the time to check on the others to see how things had fared with them while he had been gone. He would catch up with them soon. As it stood, he only had the time - and the initiative - to sink into the mossy ground beneath a shielding conifer and close his eyes in hope rest would come upon him soon.

But his nap was fitful at best, and he almost thanked the giver of the howl that blinked him wearily awake. Rousing from the ground, Malachi slunk from under the tree's heavy boughs and stretched out his legs one by one to shake them from their drowsy stiffness. After testing each limb with hesitant steps, he moved into a reluctant trot to meet the unfamiliar voice. Swinging his head from side to side, the young man attempted to clear his hazy mind and snap his thoughts back into the role he'd left behind.

What greeted him at the border caused a tight furrow to crease his brows - a child, and in a state of emaciation that caused his chest to tighten. Heart ripe with concern, the young man pressed his way toward the boy, scuffing up clots of snow as he moved with weary legs toward the scent line. "Hey, you alright?" The answer was obvious - one look in the child's face and anyone could see that he was not alright - but the words slipped from Malachi's mouth faster than he could think, and he felt his ears cant sheepishly to the sides.