the harbor is teeming

with commerce and crime

the last few weeks had been zophiel’s own personal brand of hell.

after the issue of spirane falling from daenerys to roman, and then to tithe, he had left the mountainside - with little intent to ever return. the mountainborn queen had been his hero - daenerys was a fair ruler and genuinely cared for each and every member of her pack. in his mind, she had been a force that could not be beat, as unmovable as the mountains she ruled. her removal from spirane’s throne had left her fallen from grace in his eyes, a bit unreasonably he would acknowledge later in life. however, to his adolescent mind, she had been the only reliable, solid thing in his life. he could simply not comprehend her loss, and he had remained in spirane, denial in every inch of his being, until tithe had taken leadership from roman. the instability of spirane had left him feeling all out of sorts, and without his mother or sister to keep him bound to the pack, he had decided to live as a loner.

in retrospect, zophiel should have known that he was not fit for being a loner. he knew himself well enough to know that, even within spirane, he had been all too aware of his surroundings. his paranoia had only increased tenfold when he was without the protection of a pack, constantly plaguing him. he had managed to feed and water himself, could maintain some semblance of rational thought during the day, though it was flipped completely once night fell. his thoughts ran rampant with worst-case scenarios and images of his murder, making for many sleepless nights. his rest came in short bursts during the day, his body forcing his mind into submission. these naps were never long, the noise of passing loners or fauna jolting him awake with his heart pounding and blood rushing through his ears. this lack of rest had not only taken a toll on his mental state, paranoia clogging every logical thought, but also on his physical state: his appetite had faded to almost nonexistence, his eyes were bloodshot, and he had developed a twitchy and jolting manner of moving.

logically, he knew that he was the least of other loners’ concerns, however paranoia had long since removed logic from his train of thought. he knew that finding another pack was his best option and would once again give him a task, such as the one he had within spirane, and as such he had set out in search of somewhere to call home. his mother hadn’t spent much time talking about the packs, but from what he had gathered from the news floating on the wind, asteraia would be a good fit for him. it was the home of the strange, as his mother had once put it, and he was nothing if not a bit strange. zophiel did not know where, exactly, the plains were, but he was certain he would be able to find them if he looked hard enough.

he set out just as the sky was turning pink, at least half a night of rest pushing him onward. his decision to find asteraia had brought some form of peace to the adolescent and allowed him some kind of rest, something he was extremely grateful for. he avoided other loners as he made his way through the valley and towards the woodlands, keeping a careful eye on the sun. he didn’t want to approach the borders too late in the day, much rather preferring if he had daylight on his side when he met an unknown wolf. he caught the scent of what he assumed were the plains as he was making his way through encora woodlands and he hurried his pace, eyes falling on the vast green hills as he broke through the trees. he approached carefully, taking his time to snuffle around until he was certain of where the border was and that he was a respectful distance from it. he shifted around uncomfortably once he was certain of his position, finally choosing to simply stand and wait - he would be able to remove himself quickly if the situation demanded it, and someone would eventually come to find the loner on the border, wouldn’t they?

zophiel

mute | male | no soul & no heart | homeless