[FIN-Sum] Strangers Journey (Abyss x Shade in Total Dark)

[FitzRoyal]

Shade in Total Darkness lay in the inky blackness of the night, head resting gently on his paws, tail wrapped around his side. Never ever in his life had the fox-wolf felt as physically drained as he had for this last turning of the moon. His limbs had never been worked so hard before and his form had leaned out into corded muscle. Although he had steadily gained endurance from the days of walking, trotting and running, the little wolf still collapsed every evening from pure fatigue.

His first meeting with Abyss had gone poorly, he'd almost been attacked for saying the wrong thing and in that moment he'd made a promise. A promise to himself. A promise he probably shouldn't have made or should've abandoned after a few days. But he hadn't. Shade had persevered. He knew it was foolhardy at this point, as it was quite obvious to the fox-wolf that Abyss had no plans on apologizing to him. However, somewhere along the way Shade had started to enjoy their journey together. Which was saying something considering the state of their travels. Early on it had become obvious that the other male could outpace Shade by a lot. In fact, the little wolf had spent most of his time tracking his companion in those first weeks, usually not arriving to the nightly resting place until well after Abyss had already chosen it. But that hadn't detered him. Not on bit.

So what if he never spoke to his companion? So what if his legs felt numb with exhaustion? So what if pride may be the only thing driving him?

.
.
.

Why did he enjoy this again?

A hard question to answer. Not one that Shade could at the moment. Perhaps it was the reward of Abyss' attention.

Sure, first impressions hadn't gone well...nor had the weeks following. But the dark wolf was slowly opening up to him, Shade was sure of it. Although few words were spoken, Shade could feel his companion's gaze on him often when they stopped for the night. And when he'd met that gaze, the earlier hostility had disappeared, replaced with an even thoughtfulness. No longer did Abyss turn a snarl on him, no longer did he backpedal or walk through streams to make it difficult on the little wolf. Slowly it seemed that he had begun to acknowledge Shade.

The most telling sign of, if not fondness at least acceptance, had come a week prior. The day had gone much like those before, full of tracking and running, tracking and trotting, tracking and walking. That evening, when the little fox-wolf collapsed among the mountain grasses, chest heaving in exhaustion, he hadn't been able to see his companion. Which was odd, cause usually Abyss was somewhere in the area he'd chosen to rest for the evening. But not this evening. The area was obviously the nightly spot, it smelt too strong not to be the spot. But no dark wolf. Shade had been too tired to investigate, and he easily slipped into sleep moments after his head had touched the soil. A soft plop had roused him back to wakefulness, and a grin slowly spread across his maw as he took in the sight before him. The carcass of a bunny lay a foot from the fox-wolf's face. Immediately he was on his feet, gobbling down the meal before he even had a chance to register what had happened. Once full, it dawned on him that Abyss had brought him dinner, but the other male had already closed his eyes for the night, stalling any questions Shade had. That had been a week ago and every night since the same scene had played out. Shade had never had a chance to ask or thank the other wolf, but the food was a welcome as surely as if Abyss had spoken the words.

Tonight was no different, Shade was curled in the dark, alone for the moment. But tonight he would stay awake until his companion arrived.  

[FitzRoyal]

Tonight it had been easy. Easy to snatch up the plump muskrat for tonights peace offering. That's what Abyss considered it anyway, a peace offering for the crazy fox-wolf who just never seemed to give up. Anyone could see the wobble in the wolf's legs as he plopped down for the night. The heavy breathing that immediately evened out as the white splashed wolf dropped into dreamless sleep. Abyss assumed dreamless, since not a noise, not a twitch was made by the other wolf in the night. And Abyss had watched Shade all night before, for the first week anyway. Of course he'd managed to snatch a few hours of rest here and there to maintain his own stamina, but it had been a trying time. It hadn't helped that no matter what trick Abyss had tried, the little wolf had still managed to find him every night. Pluck. The little wolf had pluck, Abyss would give him that.

Admittedly, Shade had started to grow on him. It was kinda nice to know that you weren't alone in the world. One star among an endless sky. Every evening held the trepidation of whether the fox-wolf would show up, and every daily trek had the added challenge of leaving little clues for him to follow. It was something interesting to break up the tedium of travel. It helped that no words needed to be exchanged. That had been a point of anxiety that first week...when would the questions begin? When would the little wolf get bored of silence? So far he hadn't pressed Abyss, which was surprising since it was obviously in his nature to be chatty. Abyss hadn't forgotten how many words he sprouted upon their first meeting. This silence, Abyss had pondered it many a night - was the other wolf just being considerate? A sign of respect? or perhaps he was just sulking in silence. Maybe he would not talk to Abyss ever, just a silent shadow stalking his footsteps. It was a mystery. But one that Abyss could accept for now.

His personal shadow. Abyss was starting to get comfortable with the thought, with this intruder who had decided to barge into Abyss' life and refused to leave.

The muskrat was a weighty little bugger and Abyss dropped the specimen in the usual place, right at Shade's nose. For once, blue eyes gazed up at him. Seems that the fox-wolf hadn't dropped off into sleep quite yet. Abyss quirked an eyebrow at his companion before calmly pacing a few steps off and laying down. Peace offering delivered, it was time to sleep.  

[FitzRoyal]

What was that look? Abyss had given him a look, Shade was sure of it. But Muskrat! His attention was quickly diverted by the scrumptious looking critter the other wolf dropped for him. With the same ferocity that a starving wolverine showed, Shade devoured the meal. Ahhhh wonderful. Belly bulging, the little wolf slowly lowered his aching body back to the ground. Like usual, exhaustion tugged at the edges of the fox-wolf's vision, but his gaze had snagged on his companion across from him. Shade could already tell that Abyss' breathing had slowed, shortly he would be asleep. Again. Another day of silence.

Gathering his measly courage, Shade heaved his bones back up. Making no effort to be stealthy, the little wolf crossed the distance to his companion and eased himself down next to the larger wolf. Sides touching, he felt Abyss immediate stiffen, tension coursing through the other wolf. Shade would've held his breath, waiting to see whether he was mauled, but honestly the day was already catching up to him and he just couldn't bring himself to care. Abyss would either attack him, move or accept it; it was in the claws of the other wolf now. Crossing his paws and resting his chin on them, heavy eyelids began to close.  

[FitzRoyal]

Sleep had just about taken Abyss under when he felt warmth against his side. He tensed, golden eyes flashing open. Shade was definitely not where he'd been before, meaning that he was probably the weight leaning against Abyss' side. What was this? Did he actually think after all these weeks that Abyss was actually just a piece of tail he could chase? Was that why he'd been dogging after him this whole time? Hot and cold flashes zipped through the larger wolf as contemplated killing the fox-wolf right here. Finally, stiffly, he turned his gaze on his companion next to him. Shade had the same position he'd had before, except now he was much, much closer. And he already had his eyes closed. Apparently he wasn't concerned about Abyss ripping his throat out. "Why are you so close? I'm male, remember?"  

[FitzRoyal]

"Hmmm, yes, male. I remember." The little wolf answered sleepily, not even bothering to open his eyes.  

[FitzRoyal]

"You remember. So why are you so close?"  

[FitzRoyal]

Now a blue eye blinked open, meeting the golden gaze. A little furrow creased Shade's brow. "What makes you think those two are related? It wouldn't matter to me if you were female, a bear or even a freaking monster. We've spent the last turning of the moon together, I'd hope you would be able to gauge my personality by now." The fox-wolf's mouth turned down into a little unhappy frown. "I have no intention to do anything more than sleep if that's what you're worried about. But I'll go back over there if you want." Getting his paws under him, Shade began to rise.  

[FitzRoyal]

Abyss' eyes widened at not only Shade's words but also his expression. He looked genuinely hurt. It was a bit of a shock for the larger wolf. He couldn't remember ever seeing someone look at him like that. His blood relatives had never shown him anything other than cold indifference, anger and violence. Strangers had never gotten so close as to have more than a few pleasantries exchanged. This little fox-wolf was the closest thing Abyss had ever had to a friend. As the white tipped wolf made to rise, Abyss instinctively reached over and placed his mouth around the smaller wolf's hackles, stopping him. When Shade looked over, Abyss released him, and gazed into his bright blue eyes. "Stay."

It was fine right? Letting him stay? Was he making a mistake?

Such thoughts could wait for tomorrow. Lethargy rising, the larger wolf decided it was time to sleep, everything else could wait for daybreak.  

[FitzRoyal]

As Abyss' jaws closed gently upon Shade's back, he halted his upward projection. The touch was not one of anger though and the little wolf swung his head over to his companion in surprise. Meeting the golden gaze, Shade could discern only confusion and awkwardness in Abyss. The earlier fury had receded. When the other male did speak, Shade was again surprised at the dark wolf's words. Was that actual acceptance? It is! The little fox-wolf couldn't contain the grin that sprang to his face. Thankfully Abyss had already dropped his head back down, eyes closing or else he would've seen the look of pure happiness that the little wolf couldn't hold back. As it was, Shade watched his companion for a few moments more before he too resettled, dropping his chin back to his paws and letting his eyelids droop shut.

Silence.

Then the soft swish as a tail rose and fell gently back to ground. Shade snuggled closer into Abyss' side, happy with how the evening had turned out.