Cricket Creek Bog it just ain't anywhere

backdated to the 5th, for @Mal -- this can be a quickie just to get everyone caught up on what's what!

another swamp. he was tired of swamps, although this one was not as dense or vast as the one he'd escaped days prior. normally, he'd be home by now. he'd made good progress in that direction.

and then the snow had hit.

the shrieking gales and walls of white hindered his travels. sometimes, he lost all track of where he was headed. he walked until he could walk no longer, fighting against the blizzard, and then found some small nook to rest. he didn't even know how far he'd gone, or how far he was from home.

cam had made it about halfway through this latest bog when he realized his exhaustion. panting, blinking back blinding snowflakes, he looked for shelter. he found it in the form of a felled tree, knocked down by some storm or another (perhaps even this one). its trunk was cradled in the crook of a neighbor, creating a small respite from the wind and ice.

he made a beeline in that direction, sitting with a sigh. then curling into himself, regretting leaving his siblings—hell, regretting leaving the shelter of neverwinter forest in the first place.

after all, that was the point, right? never winter? oh, he so missed the fragrant boughs. . .

Vague about what happens, will edit if I need to I guess?? thonk goes here

Whatever he learned, he wasn't going to rush back -- at least not as the crow flied. He'd take a bit of a winding path back, even if he moved relatively quick through the storm. He thought he caught a familiar trace on the wind. Hm. he veered towards it, loosing the track a couple times before finally catching on to the main trail. Cam.

He barked into the wind, ears swiveling for a reply. But whether he got one or not he had a good sense of roughly what direction to go to get closer. He thought Cam wasn't likely to come back -- for a while at least. This seemed like some awkward intermediate time. Through the storm, he looked for a wolf-shaped shadow. Cam? He wasn't too far now.

he assumed he was hearing things. with this blizzard, it was more than likely. he'd caught traces of familiar voices on the wind and turned, only to find empty air. when he opened his eyes and peered into the snow, he expected more of the same.

and it was. . .until a figure emerged, and soon after came into focus as the wolf he knew as—

mal! cam exclaimed, clambering to his paws and leaving the shelter of the makeshift alcove. he sputtered for a moment in some shock. what— what are you doing out here, and not back at the forest? 

something was wrong. mal shouldn't be here. he should be home with the rest of the pack. just like with the pair of saints wolves, the hair along his spine began to prickle, and a feeling of unease formed an icy pit in his stomach. 

something was wrong.

It was him! Mal scampered over. Short version, Simmik is missing. I think Donovan or Kynareth or whatever from the Saints kidnapped her -- I just.. I couldn't just sit around and wait for Moonspear or someone to do something. I don't know what I'm doing. Which was true. There wasn't much he could do, and so he was lost. Metaphorically at least.

He changed the subject. I thought you were travelling -- why are you here? It's dangerous. Duh. And Mal shouldn't be here either, honestly. But here he was. Flailing. Wanting his friend back.

nothing could have prepared him for what came next. you could have knocked cam over with a feather. his jaw sagged, eyes rounding to full moons. what?! he burst out, heart hammering in his chest. 

god, if he'd only known, if he'd only been able to— he wanted to dash back and take them on, but what could he do?!— what could even they do, the two of them, against those behemoths and their presumably similarly large packmates—

i was on my way home, cam gasped, but mal—i just ran into the saints. into him—k-kynareth. i was lost in the swamp and this woman, nyra, offered to help me out and then he came and— 

he was completely and utterly flustered, a total mess. we have to get her back, he moaned, his stomach churning painfully. we have to try—get wolves from moonspear, from the island—

do something! his cowardice and sense of moral responsibility were warring, with the latter coming out haphazardly the victor.

Did you tell them where you're from? A half breath of a pause no matter what he'd say, You were lucky -- I don't know what they actually want, but they're definitely dangerous. If Cam had said and had survived, he was half tempted to not lie next time they crossed paths. Would it get Simmik back faster? Or would it kill her?

Moonspear knows, one of their wolves was with me when I found where I think it happened. But I haven't heard from them since. Hua knows too -- I think she might be going to talk to Moonspear. But I just couldn't wait -- not that I can do anything. He was too weak. His strength was elsewhere. It's been too long. We have to do do something. But-- look, are you coming back? We shouldn't linger around here. He looked around, not that the range of vision from here was that great. They could talk as they walked.

he shook his head quickly, thanking whatever gods there were that he had the foresight to lie. i told them elysium, far away, cam said. and they'd believed him—or at least pretended to. they're not. . .good. we need to get her out of there.

and none of what mal said about their allies was comforting. couldn't they get any help? of course i'm coming back, he said, the slightest bit of hurt seeping into his voice. he couldn't blame mal, really; he'd left more than once. 

but he'd always, always, come back. and he always would.

let's go, he replied in fervent agreement, and began to trudge forward through the snow. he was more than happy to leave that swamp behind. if only he could say the same about the saints. . . because he would see them again. he'd see them again when they rescued simmik from their clutches.

they would. right?

last from me!

There were too many close calls out here. It wasn't safe... At all. He looked around again, just in case some specters came out of the storm. Think I ran into a couple of them too, but not sure -- they were sketchy as hell chicks that's all I know. I gave 'em the same thing. Elysium. Said some things that might get back to Simmik. Hell of a use for my bad memories. Fingers crossed. Or paws, whatever. 

Mal's reason for asking had just been to find out if Cam was still traveling with his littermate or not. Well, then I hope your trip out went way better than some of the stuff that's gone down here. I'll get you up to date as we go. Let's scram. They needed to get out of here, get to familiar grounds, safe grounds.