Wheeling Gull Isle krampusnacht

He slept somewhere amid the Skybowl, a pale body that was dead to the world for a solid four or five hours. He did not dream. Or, if he did, Titmouse could not recall the dream upon waking; it was a sign of his harrowing.

He'd left the shore where he'd seen Maegi and had felt his heart shatter with each step she took away from him — and now that he was on the island, groggy from his sleep and with a sharp withdrawal headache stabbing at his eyes, he wasn't sure what to do. Maegi wasn't here so it could never truly be home. At the same time, Titmouse knew he could not just sit there, he had to do something to earn his keep. So he got to his feet, stretched and popped his tense body, and began to roam the island.

It’s weird to be in a new place, even if she likes it. It’s not as harsh as the glacier. Is this what Tahani meant when she said they’d find a new place? Somewhere like this? She’s surrounded by water, which is nice, but it’s too angry to play in but she does find other sources that capture her attention. All of it is cold, though, but maybe when the air isn’t freezing it won’t be so bad.
 
Currituck finds herself at the heart of the territory where the wind still reaches but not nearly as badly. Her thin coat can maybe get the hang of it here.
 
Her belly is full, which she hasn’t felt in weeks at this point, but she finds herself still search for something else to add to her stomach. Going so long without food continues her drive but she’s suddenly distracted by a pale figure. It’s not the same white she’s used to on the snow wolves and his face and ears are tipped in darker colors. The scars are scary, too, and her large ears fall back against her head. Currituck doesn’t make herself known (though she hadn’t really been disguising herself) as she watches him move through the area.

As he walks he tries to think of a plan. Something to keep his mind off of his troubles for the day. Yet, as he goes, he notices a familiarity to the wooded areas of the island — and to the sand, the sound of the water — until Titmouse is distracted from his desire for distraction; he thinks of Undersea as a place where Reed and Seelie live, and inevitably finds his mind trailing back to Maegi, only, thinking of her makes him pause in his stride. His chest hurts. He aches so deeply for her.

This place will never be the same without her. Is she safe? Will she survive the winter, wherever she is?
Should he go backwards — go to Blackfeather, tempt fate and the will of Sithis? The boy is soon frowning as he slinks along, finally reaching a state of distraction but it is not the kind he yearns for. He wants to forget about the girl and her forest for a little while, but can't. He misses her so much.

Titmouse is lost in his thoughts, and the weight of them press down upon his spirit. He feels that weight, feels like he's moving through dense water or like he's wrapped in invisible seaweed, something, and does not notice the wolf that trails him. They're pretty small and, had he been more aware, he would've noticed how apprehensive they were of his presence. He let out a deep sigh, a fully-body-pulse of sorrow that engulfs him and forms a billowing puff of air as he exhales.

Wherever she is, he hopes she's alright.

He does not notice her, list in his thoughts (she assumes) as he begins to move away. Currituck does her best to follow, keeping hidden as much as she can. He looks like Siarut when he is concerned, thinking hard about what he’s meant to do. He’d been so sad the last time she saw him, tucked away in the underbrush, before she’d been pulled away.

Something else seems off about this wolf, something than Siarut doesn’t necessarily put out, and slowly she emerges out of the cover of large leaves and low hanging branches. She clears her throat to make her presence known, not wanting to startle him.

“Why are you sad?” she asks, large pointed ears pulled back against her head and a low sweep her tail to mimic the sad feelings he’s putting out.

Why are you sad? Asks a child's voice, and he pauses.

He does not look to where the voice has come from. Emotion springs to life upon his face, cleaved from his aching heart so that he may choke on it; he cannot look because he might just lose the last bit of control that he's got, so he stares at the dirt for a little bit too long, that pressure holding him down. Finally, swallowing a few times and hoping that a deep breath will help, he opens his mouth — turns his ruined face towards the voice's origin with certainty that he can handle an answer, but — he sees the boy and loses his nerve.

Even if Titmouse had wanted to explain the details of his awful little life, all that he'd lost, the people who were no longer a part of it, the family he no longer had, his voice would never allow it. So he gathered what composure he could and somehow drawled, Loss-a fren. Maegi was so much more than that; but she had left him, and in time he'd have to figure out what that meant.

The scarred wolf is quiet and won’t acknowledge her. Maybe he didn’t hear her? Maybe he doesn’t understand her words, like Ephraim. Maybe… maybe he’s just ignoring her? Her brows knit together and she opens her mouth to say something—whether the same thing or something else, she doesn’t know—and all her words cram back into her mouth. When he looks up, she does not expect the sight she receives. The scars continue onto his face and one of his eyes is missing. She trembles. She remembers what Tahani had said to her, what happened to her mother, but this wolf still had one eye.
 
“I-I-I’m sorry,” she manages, not really sure what he’s said. He lost a friend? Maybe? She can’t focus on anything else for a few seconds, struggling and shaking her head. When she looks back up, she stares at his left eye instead. “Are y-you looking for…?”