If the Earth could nod, she nodded to him. She gave Hudson one unexpected lick on the mouth that left him dazed there in the arms of the thicket, heavy enough with relief to sink beneath the moist soil. For once, there was no reason to run. No reason to chase the hills in hope of beholding a flat horizon and then chase that impossibly small line until the sun sank beneath it. Hudson knew that if he kept chasing, that thin line would beat him. He'd catch on fire before he reached that single sinking flame, he'd drown in it, and his demonic memories would be holding the match.

In this thicket, the cold wind could not shove its fingers into his coat, rush through his body and deliver the past. Or at least he liked to think of it that way. He'd been running from the wind, the cold dead hands that carried everything he left behind, lapping tirelessly at his tail. Immersed in the beautiful tangle of otherwise obstructing thicket, no wind could move fast enough to be as cold as where he came. Yes it is warm here. The ancient trunks buried behind the walls of bracken radiated it with a soft, melted hum. He remembered the wise emerald eye that promised everything for him in this dense shield of woodland. It was one of the first memories that were good.

Though finally, minutely pleased with himself for discovering a new step in this great life, there were still nerves shifting around in the white wolf's gut. He felt weary of all the new eyes around as he weaved through the thicket. He must have looked awkward here, picking through the dense brush when any passerby could see he was better built for navigating the vast, treacherous expanse of the alpine. Hudson quickly discovered how careful he needed to be with his feet after bearing his right foreleg in a mess of thorns. "Shit! Ouch," he spat, glaring at the painful burrs splintered in his large paw. Nothing was easy.

Just as he'd stuck himself, Hudson heard the tell-tale crashing of underbrush acquainted with a loud, yet lighthearted greeting. Great. Holding his gimpy foreleg to his chest, the pathetic beast limped from the jaws of the bracken, smiling sheepishly at the timing of the girl's presence. 'Right now?' he thought to himself, clearly amazed by how ridiculous this was. The first day, already injured. Huck managed to settle himself nose to nose with an arc of thorny vine, as the tawny wolf invited herself onto his narrow pathway.

"Uhh, yep I'm the new guy," he started awkwardly, shifting his good paw a little beneath him for support. He was relieved when she continued on with the rest of her entry, it bought him a little time to glance sideways at his paw, which was certainly worse than he expected. Twelve brambles jutted like swollen towers from the tender skin and a few drops of blood had already started staining his white fur. He felt instantly weak at the sight of them festering there and shivered inwardly. Luckily he'd still been halfway listening to the rest of what she said. He returned his rosy eyes to her gaze. "Thank you, Kite I'm so honored to um," he blanked for a moment to swallow the throbbing in his foot. "To be a part of the Woodlands."

Hudson was not doing a good job at hiding the pain of the brambles. It was clear in his mind she was going to end up asking about what happened to him, so to make things all the more ridiculous, he went ahead and lifted his paw out for her to see. "Sorry, but I stepped in some burrs over there and I really need somebody to get these things out of my paw." He couldn't help but laugh, and the deep rumble of it kind of surprised him. The white wolf couldn't think of the last time he'd laughed, actually. But even with his foot throbbing all the way up his leg and the awkwardness thick enough to cut with a bear claw, there was room for it.