Great Bear Wilderness and his mouth tastes like

he's in that grassy space between nwf & the heartwood. for @Phillip!

newt kept pushing himself. just a little further ...repeating over and over like a mantra in his head since leaving easthollow. cowardly; with nothing more than a howl and no chance for family to stop him. convinced, though, that this was not a mistake he shoves his guilt aside every time it tries to worm it's way into his chest; insistent and nagging. yet; he grows tired. he's crossed a lot of distance and he can feel the exhaustion lining his face, weighing down each step he takes; pressing against his shoulders like the sky slipping from atlas's grasp and falling upon newt's own.

you made your den. now lie in it, newt.

he pauses, thinking of stopping, of resting but there is no shelter to be offered to him in the grassy knolls between the woodlands. the closer he moves, the more he becomes aware of claim scents and considers turning back towards the heartwood. grey sky darkening with the coming of dusk, newt turns away from the direction of neverwinter and towards the heartwood, figuring it would be the best place to find shelter for the night.

As the horizon begins to swallow the sun, Phillip fled from the borders of neverwinter. That strange feeling in the pits of his gut had not gone away yet. In fact, they were worse after spending time with Mal. It made him feel guilty and frustration was starting to crawl up his spine. He desperately wanted to pin a name to this feeling, but all attempts were futile. So he does what he does best: he runs from it. 

Out here it was quiet, and spacious, and empty. A perfect little getaway for anyone else, but not Phillip. Sure, he'd be able to spend some much needed time alone, but in his heart he didn't really want to be alone. It's why he ran towards a distant figure.

Hey wait! he called when he was within earshot. Phillip stopped his pursuit and stared at the stranger, hoping he'd turn around.

hey wait!

the sound of a voice calling across the distance between them causes newt's steps to falter; muscles pulling taunt. he almost doesn't want to stop, afraid that it is one of his siblings or someone from easthollow sent to follow him. he didn't want to be convinced to return home ...at least not until he figured out what home was supposed to be. where he figured out who he was supposed to be. all he knows is that those two things could not be at odds.

his steps have already stilled, though. slowly, newt turns to face the other male that called out to him; likely around the same age. draped in a dark with a lighter grey undercarriage pelage and pale yellow eyes that remind newt of a dulled dandelion. there also appears to be a patch of missing fur on his head but newt doesn't deign to stare.

Well, he did wait. And he turned around. Phillip silently stood there and leaned forwards. He was expecting a 'Hello' or a 'Who are you?' at the very least. The boy said nothing. After a long, awkward silence, Phillip leaned back. His face began to burn from embarrassment.

Um, sorry, he averted his gaze and laughed nervously. Are you, uh. Are you from around here or something?

beneath the expectation of newt's gaze it appears that the other boy is just going to stand there; confusion takes root. eventually, after a few awkward moments pass, the stranger apologizes with a nervous laugh that articulates well what newt himself is feeling. anxiously, his tail flicks against his haunches. he is big, yes, but still young and was always focused on honing hunting skills rather than exploring hidden talents he might harbor as a tank. perhaps, he thinks that is the true mistake. thus, he must appear like he has the knowledge to wield his body into the powerful weapon it could be.

are you, uh, from around here or something?

no, newt replies. it's not technically a lie ...he wasn't from this specific area of the wilds. in fact, this was his first time this far east but, for some reason that newt can't place — perhaps his unwillingness to trust strangers — he doesn't want to give details of where he was from or even who he really is. in part because he's afraid that someone would cart him back to easthollow before he had the chance to find what he set out to look for in the first place ( though the image of someone trying to drag him back was pretty funny ).

are you?

If not here, then where had be come from? Phillip's mind wandered for a bit, going through all the possibilities. He briefly wondered if he was from Elysium. Most strangers he'd met thus far came from Elysium, or knew of it, or knew of him. Part of him expected him to say "hey I know you!" or something along those lines. To his relief, he says nothing of the sort.

No, he said before quickly realizing his error. He still felt like he didn't belong in Neverwinter, like he should be somewhere else. I mean yes. I came from over there, it isn't that far. He turned around and gestures towards the direction of the forest with his nose.