Big Salmon Lake ruin my moonlight

@Dehlilah

Night fell and soon the pair were swallowed by darkness. 

Dehlilah was the name of the female at his side. He had conveniently withheld from her his own name. There was no doubt she would ask for it eventually.

They had been walking for an hour or so now, their previous banter replaced by silence.

Despite all this time, he still wasn't sure what to make of the woman, they seemed dissimilar in most ways. He lived on edge. A constant state of awareness. Processing, expecting, anticipating. He slept with one eye open. 

She was, to him, the opposite. He began to give merit to her story; her deafness, even partial blindness. The signs were present, she still had no reaction to sound. Especially subtle sound, sound that was of enough instinctual concern to the average being to address with a flick of the ear, or at most a fleeting glance, elicited nothing from her. Sometimes, her eyes even seemed to misjudge the location of her intended target. She was a bird caged within her own body. 

His mistrustful tendencies screamed at him that this was still a ploy. Obviously, this situation was beneficial to her. He was guiding her at her behest. Yet, a part of the resistance had died pathetically and given in.

However, it gave him solace to know that he could make a mad dash in the opposite direction and escape if he wished. 

They continued, walking step in step. He offered her subtle guidance with the occasional tap or brush of his tail—which streamed behind him as he walked—against her side.

There's a lake, He began, breaking the silence—speaking lowly near the woman's ear. She probably wouldn't hear it all anyway. We'll be there soon.

They had continued on into nightfall together, walking step in step. The brute had offered her his best guidance with the occasional brush of his tail against her side. She couldn't help but exhale deeply at each touch as she kept them synchronized.

"lake..." The faint rumble of his voice had begun,  speaking lowly near Dehlilah's ear. She softly swallowed and smiled faintly. Although the damsel had marched many treacherous lands over her time in solitude, she had really begun to become aware of her now extreme exhaustion and hunger rate. She was in desperate need of a meal and a night's full of rest and with the brute's short remark to her, she could only now hope that's what it had meant. 

She then broke their syncing gait as she now began to increase in speed to get to the destination he had mentioned hopefully times sooner. 

Only faintly could he see Dehlilah’s form as she slipped further into the darkness. He was surprised by the deftness at which she navigated without a shred of light. Then he remembered her vision troubles. The darkness probably didn’t affect her much, if at all.

In the distance, he could see the glittering waves of the lake as they shifted underneath the moonlight. Bitterly, memories of this lake and a young woman he had once encountered, what seemed like eons ago, began to resurface in his mind. 

They’d had a meaningless run-in. She had wanted directions, and potentially a pack; both of which he did not have. Still, he had remembered what she’d said to him, regarding his solitude, remembered it vividly, now. 

That’s a hard path to choose.

A hollow ache bore through his chest. Not because he had any sort of attachment to the wolf, or any general loneliness. It was because he still couldn’t remember where time had stopped and began. Where, what felt like years, had slipped away from him in a fog. Then one day, it cleared, and he could feel the sun on his face again. He didn’t question it. It wasn’t in his nature to question himself. He’d re-awoken and swallowed the bitter pill that was reality. And truthfully, it wasn’t that different now than before. He was still alone. At least he recalled where he was. His keen sense of direction had not failed him and he clung onto that pride as strongly as he could.

All he knew was that he was not the same wolf as he was before. As if he has been completely disassembled and reassembled, yet reassembled wrong. The pieces were all there and some were in the wrong place.

This tumultuousness brewed quietly beneath the surface of his consciousness. His thoughts were a brewing pot, which he could hear bubbling, but continued to keep the lid closed. He refused to venture into his own mind and see how much had escaped from him. And so, the pot continued to brew.

Now, it was him and Dehlilah. That’s all he needed to focus on. He called for her now in the form of a gruff bark, almost protectively feeling the need to shepherd her as she drew nearer to the lake, lest she topple into the cold water. It was a genuine, pathetic concern of his.

She delayed at the crest of the clearing as she furthered more away from the brute, dark-tipped ears swiveling to meet each noise and a busy nose testing the air to its best ability. Dehlilah knew well enough about the dangers in these woods. This lake would have gotten together creatures from all walks of life. Some were outwardly monstrous, and others were monsters who knew how to play at being wolf. 

When she was confident she was alone and now having company it still didn’t wear this trait of hers. She trailed down quite quickly towards the bank, her gait breaking into a full sprint forwards— not necessarily aware of what’s before her she took her chances at getting to the bank. Before she descended into the water. The lapping waters greeted her, cool and welcoming, licking her sides with ice and flowing between strands of her thick coat. She lowered her maw and lapped up the chilled water onto her teeth, fulfilling her severe cottonmouth. Perhaps now her speeches would be more clearer. 

With all the excitement she had just endured her self with, after successfully pinpointing the correct location for once she had now noticed the absence of the male she had been traveling with. Blazing yellow eyes set to work, looking back for the potential flashes of his similar fiery gaze peeking in the shadows. She drew herself a little ways from out of the water, her coat dripping as she narrowed her gaze towards the darkness. Only light to be shared upon this night was the moonlight, which delicately reflected off the falling droplets from her elegant charcoal coat, as she still continued searching desperately for any signs of the loner nearby.

He watched, frowning, as Dehlilah took off, plunging into the shallows of the lake. 

Tahoe continued on at an easy pace, stopping before where the tall grasses ended. There, he sat quietly, mostly concealed as watched her. She was sopping wet. Once she had exited the water, he now could tell she had begun to search for him.

He stayed hidden, curious if she'd be able to find him, and curious to what her reaction would be at his absence.

He vanished. Not only could she not see him but she couldn't even feel the man's presence nearby anymore. Had he left? Led her here just to finish off what's left of her? Or was this just some other trick? She huffed deeply as she scanned the grass vigorously. 

"Sir?" She barked clearly, shaking the loose droplets from her pelt as she dipped her head down to try and pick up on his scent. Nothing.......nothing...rabbit pellets. She scoffed in annoyance as she shot her head back up. Now directly outside the grass line, she pinned her ears back, her lip curling to reveal her teeth. She stared at a spot in the darkness as if he were to be hiding behind that barricade of darkness. "heLLO.?" she barked once more yet, this time in an irritable tone now getting impatient with confusion, still unbothered by the fact that he might not even be around the area anymore and she's just talking to the wind again.

She yelled into the void, there was nobody to answer her.

The male lowered his belly to the ground, placing his head on his forelegs. The cool night air and the ambience of the lake was tranquilizing. Sleep called for him, but he refused to answer. 

He lay there, with watchful eyes and tail swishing behind him—disturbing the reeds with each subtle movement. Perhaps that would be enough for her to find him.

She rolled her eyes at the returning silence. Her eyes widened as she watched the different faint movements she could make out along the top of the grass. The wind blew it gently which led her gaze to a small patch where the grass divided out differently. 
Moving slowly closer she forced her nose to clear so she could hold onto the lingering smells. Blindlessly walking into the brush she stumbled almost immediately as she got to the divided-out grasses, her feet tangling up with a soft...stick?

She huffed as she fell forwards onto her chest, clumsily regaining the balance she stood, snapping her head around it like a punch in the face. Her nares filled with the wolf's scent her lungs growing warm as she breathed him in. Narrowing her gaze once more she saw what looked like a log merged into the ground but she had no doubts that this wasn't who she attending to look for. 

She sat down a distance away from the "log" and gave a faint smirk, now more confident in her improvement of tracking.

Closer, and closer.

Dehlilah could see his movements. He stilled, and watched as she continued toward him. Her pace was too deliberate, she still couldn't see where he was. 

Then, she toppled clean over him, crashing nearly face-first into the ground. He'd done little to make her aware of the danger. Partially, he regretted this, as she was still drenched with water and had gotten some on him. At least this proved to him that she wasn't completely senseless, in a physical aspect.

He had little reaction anyway, only shifting slightly. 

Thought I'd left? He asked.

His voice echoed and crawled through her ears as she foolishly wagged her tail blankly staring at the brute. "I-" her voice shallowed out as she began to speak, her tail flicking irritably momentarily. "I found you." her tail wagged once more as she spoke pridefully towards the brute. 

Dirt lightly armored her coat now after her tumble, the growing stiffness of the dirt was only soon to become a blanket of cement, another quick walk in the chilling water couldn't hurt her.

time skip with my next post?

He stood now, walking toward her.

I found you. She'd said.

A smudge of dirt stained the top of her snout. He reached and removed it with a pass of his tongue. His face lingered near hers.

Stay here. He instructed clearly, studying her eyes for a moment before he turned away and sauntered off—

lost to the darkness.

She could feel the light vibrations on the ground from his approaching steps, entranced by his shadow as the world grew quiet around her. She then allowed her gaze to follow him until she was met face-to-face with him. So up close and personal now, she could see almost every detail going on in his blazing orbs, thanks to the moonlight.

She was almost awed by the sight of his vibrant eyes, how his pupils slowly dilate into a bright golden yellow. It was as if the moon and sun were crossing paths in his eyes and she could almost not pull away from the trance they pulled her into. Only to be brought back instantly to her reality, when a swift wet motion draped across her snout shortly. Her eyes opened bigger as he still lingered near her, watching his mouth begin to open 

Stay here. She hunched at the chills that ran up and along her spine as his voice clearly broke through her sound barricades. Dehlilah never had the correct and functional hearing capability like everyone else and the occasional breakthroughs of sounds always made her grow stiff. She was like a newborn hearing her first words all over again. 

She followed his instructions. Sitting down she relaxed, watching as his two small eclipses slowly fade away into the void, leaving her alone in this darkness.

❧

Hours and hours passed.

He returned to the lake, breathing labored as he carried the mangled carcass of a goose in his jaws.

More than half of it was gone.

Déjà vu struck him again. Except, it wasn’t exactly déjà vu. He had been here once, this had happened once, and was happening again.

This lake. A dead goose. A new face.

In a way, he created the circumstance himself. He’d been the one to lead his new companion here, and he’d been the one who sought the goose. It hadn’t been intentional, but perhaps there was a shred of him that wanted a convoluted sense of familiarity.

He walked along the lakeside, nearing where he had left Dehlilah. With the bird dangling haphazardly from his mouth, he searched to see whether or not she had left where he’d told her to stay.

She still sat patiently in the spot the brute had instructed her to stay at, boring away as the time stretched on, fighting to stay awake. Her maw parted revealing her sharp fangs, her tongue rolling out with a yawn.

Had he finally decided to depart on his way? 

She considered her question for a moment before her eyes narrowed in thought, Licking her lips to get rid of the taste of sleep, she glanced up towards the darkened sky. Only being able to make out a few stars in the sky, she thought about the beauty of the nightfall and how with such little luck she never has been able to experience it in all its glory.

The damsel huffed in defeat as she brought her attention back down to the ground, something a little less beautiful. She guessed it was meant to be this way, beauty had standards. Standards...Dehlilah can't reach, she could relate to the ground. As for him, she thought back again. He shined twice as bright far more than she ever could. Maybe, she truly was always destined to be alone. 

She was still there. With a snort, he continued toward her, stopped, then dropped the mess of blood and feathers at her feet. 

Eat. His eyes seemed to say, devoid of any particular emotion other than tiredness. He assumed Dehlilah felt the same. Tired, cold, hungry and wet. That's all he saw, and didn't care to look for anything else.

He wandered a few paces away and flopped to his belly, then rolled to his side.

She maintained a strong stare toward the ground. Still waiting patiently in the spot she was informed to stay put in by the brute. Unaware of his large physique edging closer through the grasses.

Her ears perked forwards as the ground now morphed into a weird almost pheasant-like shadow figure. She had then drawn her head up to face the brute. It was almost like a weight lifted from her shoulders, relief she wasn't alone anymore. 

Before she can even bring herself to thank him,  she instead quickly turned her head back down to the ground and vigorously began scarfing down the bloody mess. Her lips and chest quickly became stained from the scarlet ick.

As she ate, he watched her, still sprawled out on the ground.

His belly was full. Dehlilah was too unperceptive to even notice he'd taken the lion's share, he assumed. Beggars can't be choosers.

Exhausted, he waited until she'd finished and eventually settled next to him, then succumbed to a well-earned sleep.

How long would they go on?