The Deep Forest Ghost in the World, Ghost with No Home

"Food does fix everything." He chirped, rising to his paws and trotting after her. It was something he believed was a well-known fact, seeing his own stocky frame. And even if the past few months were starting to wear down on him - it just made his enjoyment of eating all the more stronger. Who didn't enjoy a nice meal when everything else seemed to be going wrong? Certainly not him, that's for sure.

He trailed behind the girl, his own search for food admittedly poor. Because he really wanted to talk, a lot. The kind of talking that would have him rambling for hours if he wasn't mindful about other stuff. Like the fact that he himself probably wouldn't know what he was talking about, and sometimes people got annoyed by him when he did that. Really, he was just waiting for the go ahead from the she-wolf to chatter. He had learned the hard way about being quiet and generally good during hunts. But if the girl started — he couldn't go wrong, right?

When she asked his name he bounded forward, tail lashing and hindquarters wagging as he caught up to her side. He gave up even pretending to look busy. But that wasn't much, really - he'd just been staring at his paws as he walked and sniffling now and then. There was no need for that now in his mind.

"'m Cottongrass." He chirped down at the girl he may or may not have been accidentally brushing into with his every other step. With a more directed nudge of his shoulder to her, he spoke. "Who are you?" It wasn't the best wording but he got the job done and that therefore meant good enough for him. He wasn't much for perfectionism, really, at least not most of the time. Right now was just another one of those moments for him.

Cottongrass. Her head tipped up to him with an easy smile, not bothered with they mixing light and dark coats. She couldn't explain the feeling, but it seemed as if she had always known this boy, or knew him from some time before time even existed. But how could that be? The farthest back Sahalie could remember was Spieden's warm, tense body and the uncomfortable stares, and she was sure that nothing came before that. Not for her anyway. Maybe it was just the casual nature of the boy that lent familiarity to their interaction. Jostled slightly by the boy, the sensation fell out of her heart suddenly, and her golden eyes blinked up at him. "Sahalie!"

"I live in Oak Tree Bend," she tossed her muzzle over her shoulder where she had vaguely decided was a northwesterly direction, "Where the forest becomes foggy. Lived there my whole life." What a short life it was. And this time she returned the nudge, "I suppose you don't live anywhere, Owlboy. But is there a reason for that?" It was so rare for the girl to meet a loner, as they weren't very common in her parts. Everyone either wore the scent of oak trees and mist or they came from some other pack. The loners she met nearly always became a part of the Bend. It was just how things seemed to be, since otherwise it would be a far walk to find anyone else to take a starving wolf in and feed them.

Oh! Suddenly Sahalie remembered what she was supposed to be doing and her nose rocketed back to the ground. But there weren't many traces of anything. She wondered if perhaps she should take the boy back to one of their caches, but that was a far walk from here. Not looking up, the dark brown girl guided their path off to the left, hoping to find some creatures at the lake looking for water.

There are several fresh rabbit tracks in the mud. Hunt Opportunity

He followed the girl's - Sahalie's - muzzle as it pointed over her shoulder. His head cocked and he squinted, peering into the forest that he imagined this Oak Tree Bend was. He was sure he'd have to visit someday, because he liked Sahalie and therefore that meant he liked her home. It made sense in his head, somehow. Except he couldn't imagine living somewhere his whole entire life, as evidenced by the fact that he wasn't anywhere near his home. But he didn't get to voice his thoughts as she chose then to nudge him, putting a falter in his step as he give a stumble forward.

He went to return the gesture, not quite nudging her but instead shoving the tip of his muzzle into the thick of her fur. Just a few repetitive pokes against her neck and shoulder, fully intending to annoy her at least a little bit. Except he didn't get a chance to headbutt her like he was about to, the movement stilling as she teased and asked him something. He pulled back a few steps away from her side, falling behind as he thought about it. Was there a reason why he didn't live anywhere? Probably.

"I dunno." He shrugged, catching back up to her side. If he wanted to he could've told her the truth, but he didn't want to so he didn't. Instead he followed her as she swerved left, only for his steps to putter to a halt as she kept going. In the snow he saw a muddy, faint little set of footprints and she must've missed them or they suddenly weren't hunting anymore. His tail wagged and he cocked his head, nosing a little at the fragile prints that led off the path they were heading.

"Hey hey, Sahalie." He called ahead to her, or at least tried to. Because her name came out more of a garbled Sa'lie when he said it, but he just called it a nickname. If he was going to be Owlboy (which he really loved,) she deserved a different version of her name too. Even if it was just him mispronouncing things while distracted.

Putting a fade on this due to Pinecone's profile note

Her ears twisted at the sound of her new friend calling her name with such excitement, and she bounded over to him, crouching over the small marks in the snow. "Good job!" she barked, as if she was talking to Marina or Mako on their first hunting lesson. "C'mon," her nose pushed his shoulder onward and they continued their search for rabbits.

In the end, they were not as successsful as Cottongrass had hoped--only one rabbit instead of two--but Sahalie was happy to see the owl boy eating something. And though she longed to invite him back to Oak Tree Bend it appeared he would not come. He was the adventurous type, and at this her heart throbbed, thinking of Drift. She didn't press him or discuss the topic further. There was a lot of Relic Lore to see and she was happy to point him in the right direction before heading home.