Greatwater Lake and like weeds do he only came and grew back again

feb 16th

When he sat there all night he felt nothing. When he slept he dreamt of nothing. Phillip was stuck in this place of darkness where he could not move or speak. He thought he was dead.

But then he woke up. The morning sun's rays pierced through the darkness and revealed the an unfamilar world.

He remembered the water first. Then the man. His stench still clung to his body.

His breathing grew rapid and his heart hammered in his chest. He bolted out of the bushes and ran a few yards before falling. Phillip curled into a ball and began to shake.

After Zephyr had told him that no, Phillip obviously hadn't left with Alarian all that time ago, Mal had done a better job trying to keep tabs on him. If Mal noticed he left the territory, he'd check and make sure there was sign of him coming back in the next day or so. That hadn't been the case this time. Like Mal didn't want to be a controlling freak or anything, but if Phillip needed some extra care or whatever since at least two people seemed to agree, then he'd at least make sure that he got home safe again. So, after giving Phillip an extra little bit of time just to make sure, Mal finally started off along the days old trail, to find the kid and bring him home -- or at the very least make sure he was okay.

 And the trail kept going. One territory, two territories, onward still. The farther it went the more concerned Mal got, the more he regretted not doing so earlier and the faster he went. At the lake, it was fresher -- maybe the day before? Hm. Someone else had been in the area then too, but he hadn't found the two scents intersecting at the same time so he didn't think much of it. Mal slowed, looking around. Should be easy to find a black wolf in the snow, shouldn't it? He wandered a while more.

But he did eventually spot a black blot in the snow and hurried on over that way. Phillip? Seemed like an odd place to have settled down for a nap, but as he got closer, something was off. Philip had obviously met that guy he'd smelled earlier and things just didn't seem right. He slowed to a few careful final steps, trying to discern, well, anything, Phillip, you ok? Dumb question, probably, but Mal wasn't sure what else to ask, let alone do. He shouldn't have let him be gone this long.

He needed to hear his name twice before he realized anyone was there. Still, he doesn't recognize the familiar face, even when he stared straight at him. He may as well be invisible.

He's here, he whispered frantically. His scent was all around them; in the snow, in his fur. He had to run, but he was too scared to move. Tears began to well up in his eye and trail down his cheeks. Please n-no. I wanna go, I wanna go.

What the hell had happened to him? At that whisper, Mal's head shot up to scan the horizon. He was pretty sure they were alone. It sent a bristle down his spine, though, just in case. Mental note, whoever that guy was, whatever he did, he probably needed to have his face ripped off and fed to himself -- find someone who could do that.

He came closer -- he didn't smell horrifically injured or something, but Phillip's response was way out of Mal's realm of understanding. What had gone on? He tried to speak as calmly and soothingly as possible, but whether that was working, who knew, It's just me, it's just Mal. We can go. We can go back to the forest. I'll take you back there, and you'll be safe. You won't see whoever it was ever again. He'd know that scent. Add it to the list with the black headed crazy lady and the two dark wolves.

Phillip scrounged up what little sense he had left in an attempt to steady his breathing. It wasn't any help. It just got worse as the stench enveloped him. Soon it became hard to breathe.

It was clear he wouldn't be able to calm himself down, so he relied on all these problems. We can go, he repeated whist quickly nodding his head. L-let's go home. Please. Despite wanting time stand, he can't gather up enough courage or strength to do so.

How could he fix this? Getting out of here would help, yeah, so they should do that first, right? Step one and then they could figure out step two after they got away from the scene of.. Whatever.

Okay, good. They could get out of here. Away from the mystery dude who hopefully wasn't going to suddenly show up again, but Mal kept an ear out for anything suspicious. He waited a second, but Phillip didn't move. Pause, Do you want me to help you up? With how weird he was acting, maaaybe it was better to ask than to just reach on over and give him a shove. Might avoid the whole teeth in the face thing.

Somewhere deep down, Phillip does want someone to help him up. More simply (depending on how you look at it) he just wants help in general. But that help would require touching and speaking and he does not want to speak nor be touched.

Phillip shrunk away from Mal and swiftly shook his head. This was something he had to do on his own. He looked around for any signs onlookers, and when the coast was clear he pushed himself up on shaking legs. He slouched and tucked his tail between his legs.

Hell. Good thing he asked. He took half a step back to give Phillip some more space. More complicated than he thought. Okay. Let's get going home. We'll go at whatever pace you need. And if you need to lean on me, you can, okay? Nobody is gonna mess with you now. He'd offer everything he could, which out here far from the pack wasn't all that much -- it was just whatever his own body could provide. He'd fight that guy if he came back, he could literally be a shoulder to lean on, but he didn't have the caches here. He didn't have the knowledge that others might.

In regards to pace: Quickly. It's the most assertive he's ever sounded before. It's also the most frightened. The more distance they put between them and the lake the better. He'd be safe, just like Mal said. And he'd never have to think about that man's touch again.

The thought of that had Phillip racing away from the water without warning. He just wanted to forget everything.

O-- he didn't get to finish the thought before Phillip sprinted off, leaving Mal to chase after. Phillip! Asking him to wait sounded like a pretty dumb idea, so he held off on that. Was he even going the right way? Together, we gotta go home together! he called, trying to make up the few strides he was behind. At least Phillip hadn't taken off like this when Mal had first found him, be thankful for the little things.

He didn't stop, he couldn't stop. The monster was here, there, everywhere. On that pile of snow, on that bush that poked from under it. He weaved around them like they had the plague. But no matter how far he ran, the man's scent was still latched onto him. He couldn't escape.

Phillip stopped and spun around to face Mal. Get it off of m-me! he cried helplessly.

Oh yeah, this running was definitely wild panic. And it stopped as suddenly as it started, Mal screeched to a halt.

The scent? Oh duh, dammit -- why didn't he actually suggest that earlier. Well, Mal wasn't gonna be in MENSA any time soon, but it was one of those cases where he really needed to speak his mind because he had a good idea. Some of the panic had transferred a little to Mal so his reply was a little less calm from before, but maybe it was just him catching his breath and hoping to blurt everything out before Phillip took off again, Roll in the snow -- like really, really roll. It should wash most of it off. -- Or you'd have to have it groomed off but... He took like half a step forward again and immediately stepped back again, Go with the snow? If he didn't want help up, then he definitely wasn't gonna want Mal to touch him, would he?

He looked down at the snow, up at Mal, and back down again. Without another moment of hesitation, Phillip dove down. He feverishly rolled and dragged himself across the snow, so desperate to rid of the last day. It goes away slowly and after awhile it's gone.

Phillip lay motionless, staring out at the horizon with this pained glint in his eye.

While Phillip tried to clean himself off, Mal kept watch. Nobody came, thankfully. 

But the way the boy acted, it certainly added weight to the whole thing. It had been bad. Bad enough Mal didn't want to really ask unless Phillip brought something up first. Mal was here to help, no matter what had happened -- the details didn't matter other than Mal should have gone out after him earlier, but he was going to do what he could now. 

At some point Mal had sat down to wait, and in that moment of silence, his ears tipped back a little. How could he have expected something to happen? Why did it happen? Ugh. Tell me how else I can help you? he finally asked quietly. We can go whenever you want.

The absence of the smell helps clear the mind. It wasn't a good thing, it just allowed him to think of all the bad things in a more coherent way.

Phillip sat there wondering all the whys. Why did that happen? He believed there were no bad wolves in this world: just good wolves who did bad things. There was always a reason to do said bad things, so was he the cause of that man's actions? That led him down a rabbit hole of questions. Why did it have to be him? What had he done to deserve that? He must've said or done something to upset the man. I'm sorry, he whispered more to himself than Mal. Maybe if he apologized aloud it would travel to the man's ears and he could take back everything he did. Phillip would be free.
The apology does nothing.

He slowly got up on his paws and looked at Mal. His eyes were still glistening from tears. I wanna to go now. I-I don't ever wanna be here again.

He'd had time to figure out exactly where they were supposed to go while they waited, so when Mal also got to his feet, Then we'll go and you won't ever have to.  Mal took a couple of steps the right direction, and looked back, We'll get going and be home before you know it. I'm serious though. If there is anything else I can do... Tell me. But otherwise if Phillip wanted to walk or run, whatever speed, Mal would guide him.

He otherwise felt pretty useless, but he was doing what he could, as little as that was. He could prove not everyone in the world was bad or something? Ugh. Whatever. Phillip was safe now, end of story.