Hoshor Plains Been there, done that, came back

Tags for ref, current day, gasp.

He'd left home yesterday. @Simmik was in charge while he was gone. Mal had told @Caerus his plans previously, but had made sure to confirm that his son could probably stay with her too if he didn't want to be alone. Or @Aibreann. Or hell, even @Miriam. Anyone. Either way, they were informed of his trip too, and that he'd see them in not-too-long when he returned. Mal didn't want to go, but @Cupid had been gone so long that he couldn't in good conscience just let it pass. He had to go look. Nobody had looked for Mal's mother, nobody had really looked for his sisters, but he couldn't let the same thing happen to Caerus. He needed his family -- Mal had watched his own just slowly filter away.

So here he was. The rain was worse out here when there was no canopy above, and it certainly didn't help him track. But well, he wasn't finding any signs so far. It seemed logical that Mal would stop by the Saints if he didn't run into some sort of sign of Cupid before then. Mal had wound towards the north side of the plains. He'd decided against checking the river pack -- he'd changed routes part way, figuring if for some reason Cupid was stuck there, they'd have sent word. So what seemed likely was he was lost in the wilds, much farther away, or trapped. Or dead, but Mal was going to leave that as the .0001% chance worst case option. Soggily, he walked on.

Run, run, run, it was all he knew how to do. Ruvik fled the scene as soon as he had been able, heading in the direct opposite direction of both the pale beast and Huā. The wound where it had struck him still ached and had become a disgusting patch of red-brown scabbing, though thankfully (and surprisingly) he had avoided infection for now. Perhaps it was due to the rain that relentlessly hammered upon his back as he trudged on aimlessly.

He wasn't particularly sure where he was going, but Ruvik found himself lost in a wide stretch of plains after days of travel. His joints were weary, his coat water-logged, yet he could not rest, not yet. He now had two other beings to watch out for now, not including The Savior. The feeling of being watched - of being stalked - by the ever hungry cat, he just could not shake it.

Speaking of, the man froze as he spotted another in the haze of the rain, though quickly realised it was a more lupine form than he was expecting. Larger, darker, but still with the familiarity of his own kind which drew Ruvik towards him. Friendly or no, it was the only other he had seen in days. He hesitantly approached with as meek of a look as he could muster, and whined a soft greeting.

He had company out here, apparently. Not a familiar face, but one that didn't seem to be much of a threat. Mal expected threats, so though instinct told him that the guy that approached was anything but, he didn't shrug off all remnants of his guard. But he did pause his wandering and peer at him.

Mal, despite his sogginess, was amiable enough -- sure, this wasn't a pleasure trip so it wasn't like he was grinning ear to ear, but if he was just meeting some rando out here, it didn't seem bad. He didn't recognize the guy's scent, either as one that was a Yuelong when he visited (if timelines aligned) or as the one when Hua came back hurt that one day recently. Probably a good thing because he'd be apt to jump to conclusions right now. Little gloomy to be out for a walk, huh? He wasn't missing the fact Mal was out here too.

Despite the rain dulling both of their coats to a flat, darkened colour, Ruvik could still make out the odd patchwork of black and white that cloaked the other's form. He had never seen anything like it. He stole a glance to the man's face, catching his mismatched gaze for a moment before looking elsewhere nervously.

He didn't seem unfriendly, at least. His jovial comment was acknowledged with a flick of an ear and swallowing of the lump in his throat. "A walk," he echoed quietly, though the utterance was barely heard over the din of the rain. He paused for a moment, as if deep in thought, before suddenly his head snapped up to look directly at his company. "N-no walk," he said, the sound drawn into an almost pleading whine. "Ruvik running."

Oh yeah, this dude was definitely an odd duck. A hushed whisper Mal didn't quite catch and the sort of birdlike, twitchy movements made the spotted man kind of perplexed. What was wrong with him? He caught sight of what might have been a wound but it wasn't like Mal was gonna poke his nose over to examine the freshness. He wasn't a medic anyway. 

But what he did understand only left more questions, ones that maybe would seem more urgent and threatening if he wasn't fairly sure that they were otherwise alone, Running from what? Had he run into the guy that had attacked Simmik? He couldn't scent the one that had attacked Liliana. Mal still wasn't sure if they were two people or one, but he did crane his neck to look behind where this guy -- Ruvik? -- had come from. He didn't see anything, but rain didn't exactly help anybody see long distances. So he glanced back to his drippy companion here.

The other's inquiring gaze over his shoulder had Ruvik's heart begin to start to thrum like a hummingbird's. He followed his look, glancing behind his shoulder with his features twisted into a mix of dread and terror. Only, there was nothing there, just rain, rain and more rain. Unless the stranger knew something he didn't.

He snapped back to attention in an instant, before lowering his body and creeping forward a little, not unlike a scolded pup seeking forgiveness. "M-monster." It was always a monster. Whether it was a fearsome deity in the form of a cougar, a scorned sea witch, or a pale demon with a taste for wolf flesh; they were all monsters to him.

"A white wolf...he attacked! Tried to eat..." Ruvik could barely string together a coherent sentence. He skittered even closer, regardless if the man allowed it or not. "Almost got Hu..." He choked back the words as the Empress' name almost slipped out. "...h-her."

Geez this guy was twitchy. Seriously, if he kept this up then that was actually gonna make Mal kind of nervous. But as he talked, things clicked together. Wait, this was the guy that Hua had mentioned. Ah-- I think I know what you're talking about. A slight tilt of his head. Probably, at least. Unless it was super common for people to get chomped by monster cannibal wolves these days. The groveling about was also pretty weird to Mal -- he wasn't one who absolutely demanded physical submission, and certainly not to that degree. 

But if the guy ran off before, would he be afraid he'd be in trouble for it? Maybe. For once, Mal did something that was maybe kind of smart when it came to his yammering away. You should go tell Hua you're alright, she'd want to know you're ok after what happened. Her pack is staying with mine, back in the pine forest to the west. Did Hua want the guy back? He wasn't sure. That was her problem. Mal still had his errands to do, so it wasn't really like he could drag Ruvik back anyway.

Surprisingly, the man understood his predicament. At least, sort of. His response, although uncertain, caused Ruvik's ears to perk up slightly, before flicking back just as fast, his wide-eyed stare remained locked upon the stranger. Huā. He knew her? Not only that, but Ruvik drew the conclusion that she had also told this man about the incident, and that he knew about his...cowardliness.

He shook his head stiffly at his suggestion. He couldn't. He didn't dare face her again. The mention of her pack staying with his, however, did pique his interest. "Yu-Yuèlóng moved?" he rasped in surprise. Yuèlóng choosing to live somewhere besides the sea was incomprehensible to him; what had happened that could have possibly caused that? "Why?"

He wasn't gonna go talk to her? Why not? He let himself be kind of perplexed in silent reply. So call Mal biased but he was fairly sure Hua would want to know. 

But that wasn't what was asked, so for now Mal kept to just the spoken question, The weather. With all the rain she didn't want her people to be stuck on an island if things got worse. Now they're safe and not exposed to the storms. A shrug of his shoulders, Mal was no master of the weather. With the way things have been, can't blame them. What would the coast be like now? Mal wasn't gonna go find out for himself. Other stuff to do.

So the rain was a constant over on the island, too. Perhaps before he had been washed away by the ocean, he would have wondered why Huā had chosen to move the pack inland. The island seemed perfect; secluded, plenty of resources, a place where the only predators that roamed were their own kind. Only the ocean had proved to be a much bigger threat than any mountain lion.

But now they were safe. The man said so himself. He glanced to the west, in the direction where the stranger had mentioned this pine forest. For a moment, he almost wanted to head there. If Huā knew it was safe, that meant it must be, but then he would almost definitely run into her again. Ruvik let out a small whine of indecision before looking back to his company.

"Thank you," he said, genuinely thankful for the information he had shared. "Ruvik need to...k-keep moving."

Weird dude. Oh well. Mal couldn't drag him along with him, but if this was the return trip, maybe he would have. He needed to find Cupid, which was far more important (to him, at least) than wrangling a scaredywolf. Rain or no, he was gonna have to press on.

Okay. Well. You should still probably go see Hua. And if you run into a wolf who says they're from the Saints, you should probably just casually leave. Did he even know about the Saints? Well, probably best to be vague, Mal could imagine if this guy was this twitchy when nothing bad was happening, telling him the whole list of things would probably have the guys screaming and fleeing in terror while peeing himself.

They parted ways, and Mal continued on his trek.