Lake Bismuth Ashes

Time of day = evening/night for this thread

It had taken so much to overcome fear.

Even now, he hadn't. Not completely.

Would he ever?

Well he wanted to. And this was a step towards that goal; breaking free of that chain which kept him from venturing outside oasis walls. He was getting older, and bigger, and soon he found there was a confidence in the limp that carried him, the result of strenuous work, long days and nights given to the task of restoring himself, training with Tamasi, in hopes that perhaps he could've become something resembling a wolf, rather than this broken thing. He would not let Pharoah, or any of the others be dragged down by him.

He made his way through arid land as the sun dipped beneath the hills, and the sky was full of stars, forever frozen in that vast expanse of darkness. The breeze ruffled gently through his fur and a wave of calm would settle on his shoulders, quickly shattered at the sound of a rustle in the distance. His head was quick to snap and look to the swirling shadows, where shapes of imagination rolled and skulked in the dark, he saw them; monsters, but now he knew better.

Not monsters, but men. And men could be killed.

A sigh rolled from his jaws as his nerves got the better of him, and he resumed his walk, settling at the waters edge and looking up to the constellations.

Was his mother up there? Did she know him? His father could've been too. His sisters.

He'd put on a good show, always quick to push others away, but the cold and cruel truth was that Nokht had been swallowed by this loneliness for so long, it's embrace so familiar, that he had made it a part of himself. Far way from home, he allowed himself a moment to grieve.