Something about the incoming cold weather had made him feel restless. He didn't have a preference when it came to the seasons, caring only that each of them had something new in store for him. Finding a new haunt, eating a new food, seeing a new face. More often than not, he enjoyed the slow change of the weather and the way that the days were warm when the sun was up and cold when the moon hung in the sky. Tonight, it was the emerging moon that lit the landscape as he trudged through a loblolly and closed in on the rushing roar of Bramble Falls.

Navigating with little aim along the banks of Heartleaf Creek, the boy's gaze strayed from the pale light that filtered down through the near-barren tree tops to the glistening waves of the water as it flowed past him. Up ahead he could hear the cascade, crashing down from the mountainside with might, the sound of it drowning out the quiet that otherwise permeated the forest. Mist from the falls hung in the air and settled upon the golden and pewter fur along the bridge of his nose and between his eyes. Licking some of it from a single side of his lips as he approached the pool where the falling river ended and the creek began, the youth was so distracted by the sight and sound of the place that he'd failed to notice that he wasn't alone here.

The girl's delighted moans were lost to his ears, but the scent of her met his wet nose in a moment of surprise. Wild-eyed and on guard, he stiffened for a moment before glancing briefly over his shoulder.