much like another late night bender

The night was beginning to rise, the sun beginning to set, and he - oh, he of lanky stature and otherwise simple appearance - was just waking up. The nook of a tree, near hollowed out (presumably by a family of squirrels) is where he found his spot of rest. As his orange eyes did flicker to witness the evening sunset turn into moonlight, he did not appear taken aback.

For it was not the first time he woke up here, in this land so unfamiliar. No, that was about a month ago, where he found himself sleepily and drunkenly rising from the fallen leaves and underbrush of a forest. At the time he had simply assumed it was a night of eating spoiled berries and dancing with foxes that lead him to where he was. His head did feel quite hungover.
But, no, unfortunately as he did wander and his memories came back to him, he found that the land had nothing familiar about it. No landmarks that would remind him of where he came from. His home did have mountains but, they were much further away and their peaks did not look nearly the same.

He wasn't too depressed over it, though. Sure, the memories of his family were ones he longed for but, being at 3 years of age (nearing 4), he was already living his own life far from home. Away from all the hustle and bustle of the pack and his siblings. Some of them stayed and some of them did as he did, left to settle their own ground. He had already been away for almost a year, his mother crying that it was too soon.
Perhaps she was right, perhaps he was dead. The eating of fermented berries, mushrooms, and partying with woodland creatures probably got the better of his lean body and he croaked.

Would explain how he hadn't yet encountered another canine. Though the land did teem with life of other varieties, a wolf was not yet one of them. Or perhaps it was his own fault, he didn't much move from where he began. No, the beautiful woodland and the river that ran next to it were enough for him.
He could smell them, though. Strangers. There was no way of knowing if they were friendly or not so, he kept himself hidden from sight if their scent ever became too strong. Though he had never caught actual sight of them, only what they left behind, like spirits of the forest. To mask himself he frequently rolled in the river to wash his own scent from his fur. Also, to clean it of blood or berry juice.
Mylo's need for escapism was as much as it always was. Even now, where he had escaped to an entirely unknown land, he still longed to get away. No fault of anyone else's but Mylo's, however. His childhood was simple and calm enough. Though he always looked to the clouds and dreamed of more.

The wolf stood and let out a long and much needed stretch. The way his long and slender frame slept was unexpected, as he curled mostly into a tight ball. His hip popped as it usually did. One would guess he was older than he was simply because of how he acted (and sounded) when he got up. Grunts and huffs following him as he made his first few steps.
He guided himself in the direction of the river or, more particularly, one of the streams that cut off from it. Mylo would find it most useful to splash the cool water onto his face to help him wake up. His sleep schedule was destroyed.
the staff team luvs u

In the woods beneath the setting sun, there were freaks abound.

He could smell them, on the wind.

The scent of their borders on either side of him.

Cloying, and smothering. Headache-inducing.

He walked faster.

Unseeing, and unaware, of the long-legged freak until it was already too late.

the staff team luvs u

Perhaps it was the darkness coupled by his sleepy eyes but, he didn't see the other coming. Just as he was thinking 'Huh, I haven't seen a single wolf', of course one runs directly into him. He could only think of regret and slight annoyance as he was sent near off his feet by the collision.
Mylo corrected his walking quickly and the slender wolf stood, silent for a moment, staring at the other in brief awe.

"Hello there. Poor eyesight?" He questioned, his once serious face turned quickly to a sly smirk and a chuff. Though he knew that he too was at fault, he could've better avoided this one if he had been more awake and at attention. Mylo didn't seem to care, however, and continued his teasing.
"I'm not hard to miss." He gestured, clearly to his very lengthy and slender frame. It was true, the wolf was much like a tree that grew legs and began walking around.
the staff team luvs u

Legs met legs.

Or rather—

Bony, way too fucking long, seriously-is-this-guy-a-fucking-deer legs collided with his body, and he snarled. Snapped, with his teeth closing on nothing but empty air in warning, in threat. Turning. Twisting. Trying to put distance between them. His tail tucked between his hind legs.

And he stared, panting.

Blinking, at the too tall, too skeletal man.

“What?” He breathed.

What did he even fucking mean?

His eyesight was fucking fine.

And then—

“Fuck off.” He growled.

Pissed off, and wary. Standing, in an awkward half-crouch, his ears pinned back. Hackles bristling.

It was his fucking eyesight that was fucking shitty. All he had been doing was fucking walking. It wasn’t his fucking fault Mr. Daddy Longlegs was as blind as a fucking bat.

Tch.

Fucking shitty bastard

the staff team luvs u

Mylo observed his defensive posture and his smirk only grew.
'Fuck off?' He thought, slightly surprised by the other's brash way of speaking and presenting himself. Though he cared not and turned away from him.
"Oh Fuck On" The slender canine contrasted, mostly to be purely annoying and return the rudeness with rudeness. His weird shape against the rising pale moonlight almost would appear ghostly. The markings on his face and the orangeness of his eyes causing the top half of him to resemble an owl.

Part of him thought to stop and play with the other being as he hadn't interacted with a single of his kind for a month but, the creatures of the wood were enough for him. Not like it wasn't too different from the way it was before. Perhaps he would get a visit from mom every once in a while but, they probably think he's dead now so, what's the matter in caring?

So he did turn, his skinny legs carefully navigating the undergrowth, as one must when walking upon stilts. Only giving the stranger one last gaze behind his shoulder before continuing.
"The tail between the legs was pretty cute, though." He lifted his paw to wave at the other wolf, a snarky chuckle following after. Off again on his way he was, to bathe the scent of berries and sleep from his fur.
the staff team luvs u

And just who exactly did Mr. Walking-Fucking-Corpse think he fucking was? Rising from beneath the growing shadows like a body from the grave.

Like he was so much better than him.

Like he was above the world, and all it’s earthly bullshit.

He snarled.

Snapped.

Spurned—by impulsiveness, by the desire to wipe the smug fucking look off his dumb fucking white face, by the need to finally rage and kick and scream at the sheer fucking bullshit the world kept fucking putting him through—Daighre lunged.

Aiming, to tackle him from behind, and send them both forward onto the ground.

the staff team luvs u

He had already decided to pay the fool no mind. Clearly he was an aggressive lad and Mylo hadn't even woken up fully yet. Though he was quite surprised when his spindly legs were taken asunder once more, he thought that the fool had run into him again.
But the weight on his ass kept him forward to the ground and they splattered in a heap of fur, to which Mylo realized the situation and began to wail.

"What in the hell is wrong with you!?" He screeched into the night. Oh the once silent night. It didn't take long for Mylo to wish for it's return. To be alone again. Not for any particular reason than the ease of it all. Not so complicated as getting attacked by a stranger who can't see straight.

The long legged wolf did flail and kick his legs about, attempting to turn himself around and put them on the other. Creating distance would be nice, Mylo was a fast runner. His sprint speed was excellent so, if he could just get far enough away he could run. To the stream and to solitude. All seeming so much more pleasant than here.

He let out another scream as they tussled. "Let go of me you freak!" Eager was he to get away.
the staff team luvs u

Together, they fell.

Crashing.

Colliding.

This time purposeful, but no less awkward, with flailing, spindly, too-long limbs that had knives for elbows.

And yet, he persisted.

Snarling, and pinning.

Trying—trying—to get a hold on the skeletal freak beneath him.

“Shut up.” He snapped, lunging, aiming to grasp his muzzle between his teeth to make him be fucking quiet.

the staff team luvs u

His ears perked at the others demands. Well, if this had been other circumstances that might've been interpreted quite a bit differently. Though Mylo barely noticed in all his flailing. He wasn't sure why we was so intent on getting away. So what if the wolf killed him? So what if this was how his life ended? Perhaps Mylo wanted to die not smelling of fermented, rotten berries, mushrooms, and dirt and thus, he continued to kick about his legs, particularly his back legs, until one became loose.

There wasn't all too much power in his spindly legs but, it was enough for him to deliver a sound kick to the other's face. Using this brief stun and surprise to wiggle off the ground and make a speedy escape. He panicked for a moment, wondering if the other would simply catch him if he ran but, he felt it best not to hesitate. He turned on his heels and ran, ran with the power of long legs underneath him. Thankfully the stream wasn't too far away, for Mylo's sprinting could only last him so long.

He did ease his run into a jog, and then to a trot, and finally back to a fast paced walk. The stream in sight and, at the moment, no longer the golden shaded stranger who intended to kill him for simply being in his way. Mylo stopped just before the stream and gave a glance around the area. The trees having stopped just a foot or so before the bank began.

Mylo did not dilly dally, he rushed into the water much quicker than it normally would. The cool liquid freezing his skinny feet down to the bone. He plopped, rolled, and assuredly attempted to get every bit of himself soaked in the fresh streaming water. His hair clumping up and forming a slight spikey appearance as his fur became more and more drenched.
the staff team luvs u

And with one well-placed, well-timed, kick to his chin—

Down came his teeth, over and onto his own tongue.

He cursed.

Stumbled.

Tasted, the faint bite, of blood in his mouth, like copper and pennies and rust.

Distracted, for just long enough, for the bony-legged fucker to slip and escape away from beneath him.

He pursued.

Slower—slower—but not less determined, through the brush. The ground pounding beneath his feet. Moonlight filtering in from above, from between reaching tree branches.

“You!” He barked.

Panting.

Standing, at the water’s edge, where the man had submerged himself, soggy and laden like a half-drowned cat.

His own chest rising and falling. Expanding, with each breath, each pant.

“Fight me.” He demanded.

And when that didn’t feel like enough—

“Coward.” He added, spat, with a single step forward. The water, lapping at his toes. A smile, rare and mean, across his face.

the staff team luvs u

He had almost just finished, the water trickling down his fur and returning to the water below. Breath slowing and heart rate returning to normal. He was quite content with standing in the almost freezing water. His sleep schedule had become so ruined that he was most used to it at this point.
A voice did startle him, one loud and invasive to his ears. He jumped slightly, feeling the hair on his back bristle and his eyes widen. It was the stranger again, panting after a seemingly tough pursuit. Was Mylo's walking speed just as quick? He didn't feel nearly as out of breath as this one.

'Fight me?' He thought, confusion on his face. Mylo almost looked appalled, baffled, perhaps even bewildered at such a request.
"Okay, weirdo- no. Absolutely not." He finally spoke, interrupting the silence. He kept to the water, despite it freezing his paws, for mostly his own safety. The drag of the stranger's soaked fur and shorter legs would make him much slower if he stepped in, giving Mylo all the more time to escape once more. A second time being clearly more successful as the scent had been drenched and washed from his short coat.

"First you attack me in the woods- alone- and then watch me bathe?" His head turned to the side as his shoulder pulled in, keeping his eyes on the other.
"You're a perverted little freak, ain't'chya?" Mylo struggled not to crack a smirk, trying to seem more serious than he actually was. Knowing to keep his eyes on this one and to simply run away if he tries anything. He wasn't so much intimidated or scared by him as he was before with the knowledge that it'd not be too hard to run from him.
the staff team luvs u

He bristled.

Indignant, and offended.

And—

“Fuck you.” He snapped. Instinctive, and reactive.

Moving forward to close the distance, but stopped, by the water flowing at his feet.

“You’re the fucking freak.” He spat. Vitriol, with his upper lip curling, peeling, twisting. Staring at him with derision, with hate, with anger.

At his too long legs. His too pale face. A body that was nothing but pitiful fucking skin and bone. Gaunt, like a rotting tree.

He was never the one that did anything wrong.

No, it was everyone else’s personal fucking damage that was the fucking problem in the world.

He was just like everyone else.

A fucking goddamn waste of space.

the staff team luvs u

"And You need a fucking nap, sir." He did chuckle at this comment, for he thought himself a treat and a humorous lad, fit for a good laugh. The other was so bristly and intent on intimidating Mylo but, Mylo merely looked down upon him and smiled. The kind of mischievous and uncaring smile that he was known for back at home. The kind of smile that told all of his intent and his plans and that Mylo, truly, did not care. No, not for others or his life.
Well, he cared that they went on living, just not their obsession with him living alongside them.

"Do you think I'm cute or something? Leave me alone." Mylo would dash the trickling stream with his skinny paw, splashing water up and towards the stranger. A playful gesture but, lazy in it's execution. To be honest, he didn't much care for this one's drama. Being dragged into complicated things was not what Mylo excelled at, thus why he left his own pack so many moon's ago. Foxes were also great partiers where he was from. Their whole coven would be out dancing and riling, offering him drugged concoctions that Mylo didn't even question the ingredients of.

So while his words were playful, his face only held an expression of exhaustion and annoyance. He pitied this creature, to be so caught up in what Mylo was doing. Not much was always the answer. He was content with wasting away, becoming a past and distant memory for those he'd encounter. Okay with simply disappearing.
Keeping an eye over his shoulder, he walked onto the other side of the stream, across from the stranger. The water had begun to bother him a little bit so, drying off a bit on the bank was nice. The chill of the night's wind began to creep in. He missed the fires that foxes used to light. How crafty those creatures were. More of a family than he had ever had, ever been, even to himself.
the staff team luvs u

He stared.

In hatred.

In disgust.

In quiet, simmering, red-hot anger.

Twitching, at the water that hit him, sent by a skinny, bony paw. His lip twisted. The beginning makings of a sneer. A growl, rumbling low in his throat.

Watching as the fool made his way across the stream, to the other side of the river’s banks.

He snorted.

Huffed.

Shook his head once, before turning on the spot.

“Kill yourself.” He called, toneless, flat, over his shoulder, making his own leave.

the staff team luvs u

'Kill Yourself'

Why, the words hit him like feathers hit the floor. Soft, unaffecting, and unnoticeable. A chuckle again escaped his lips. It was a chuckle that drifted off into a quiet whisper, hidden among the sounds of the stream.
The cold water appeared inviting, for some reason, in some way. He felt himself stand up as if controlled by another and he neared the edge once more. Stepping his feet further in until they rested at his ankles again. Perhaps that's what he needed to hear. For someone to affirm what he wanted, to leave, to not exist. Not because he was sad but, because he was contrary and curious. He longed to know what it felt like, to have each breath slip away. To never wake up. Slumber underneath a dying tree, peaceful and infinitesimal.
He didn't think this was the way he was going to do it. Mylo always imagined a late night of shoveling unknown plant life into his maw would lead him to it but this, no, this idea was new. It was like god spoke to him through this aggressive stranger and Mylo was compelled to listen.

The freezing water felt nice on his face as he knelt into laying in the water. The liquid now rushing over his entire body. He let out the last breath he had under the cool water, and it felt nice. No obligation to breath in again. And though his lungs ached for him to lean back up and breath in another fresh breath, it felt so nice to ache. Perhaps when it was all said and done the aching would be over, and he would never ache again. He wondered if the afterlife had hangovers. If he could eat and party and sleep and die and nothing would come of it.

He did not move from the water, despite his body occasionally jolting and struggling. The leftover fermented berries and whatever plant he last ate still lingered in his system, and his body felt weak. It still jolted, though, trying to force an instinct that Mylo cared not to listen to. It didn't matter. His curiosity was just too strong. The water would splash but, his body remained planted and his head remained under the cool, soothing, breathtaking water. If he did not die from lack of air, hypothermia was a great second option. He was excited to see which would reach him first.
the staff team luvs u

And there was a sudden silence in the night.

Stretching.

Looming.

All consuming, in its wake.

Like he really had gotten the last word.

Interrupted, by the splashing of water.

He watched.

The world suddenly zoomed in. Everything shifting to the right.

“Hey.” He barked. Called. Stepping closer, to the stream’s edge, but still not entering. “What are you doing?” He asked. Demanded.

And he felt, he felt it, as his heart beat inside his chest.

The way his breathing picked up from behind his rib’s cage.

His lungs inflating, then deflating, over and over again.

He watched, as the body jerked.

Violent, fighting, thrashing motions, casting ripples across the stream.

And yet he remained submerged.

A horrible, distorted gauntness to his body, from under the water’s surface.

There was a numbness spreading, growing, from his paws. Up his legs. Inward, from all his extremities.

“Fucking, stop—” He called, voice breaking.

He didn’t even have his fucking name.

the staff team luvs u

Was that the stranger's voice he heard? Like a soft, distorted echo from underwater. How strange did it sound, even stranger how it became more distorted and even harder to discern. He closed his eyes, far too late in fact. They froze within his own skull and it only aided in his discombobulated thoughts. He could feel it, that just out of reach drift, growing closer with every second he had without air.
He did stay, within the freezing water that made his face, belly, and legs numb. The jolting and fighting did began to cease, how kind of his instincts. To have this moment, to live in it peacefully. He never thought of it, such a unique way of taking one's own life. Though it was nice, much nicer than he was expecting.

The seconds turned into minutes and his body did roll flat, onto his side. His face still half under the water, one nostril poking out. Mylo's maw hung open, lifeless in how limp it was. Long legs crumbling out from underneath him. His short fur drenched and cold.
His breathing attempted to continue, with his brain now unconscious and only the instinct left. Though the water gurgled into his lungs from the one nostril still submerged and the jaw swung open. And the sounds his limp body made were grotesque and grim.
the staff team luvs u

Seconds stretched into minutes.

And still he remained on dry land. Watching, as the struggle seized. The movements growing slow, and languid, from frantic and hurried. From pained, to calm.

The body continued to breath.

It was a wet, gurgling, sticky sound.

Struggling, and laboured.

His mouth open.

Nose partially submerged.

Finally, he entered.

And the water was cold.

It was cold and biting, against his legs. Soaking through his fur, to his skin, to his bones.

He waded.

Clumsy.

Awkward.

Slow.

His paw slipping, once, on the stream’s bed.

”Hey.” He repeated.

Closer now.

The agonal breathing louder now.

”I said stop.”

He shoved him.

(It?)

Just enough, at least, to get the head further out of the water.

the staff team luvs u

The shove did shift his body mass, moving his head just enough from the water to not be half drowning in it. With his face slightly out of the water, fresh, unadulterated air poured into his aching lungs. He lay there, a few breaths in, still slightly gurgling but much more clear before a hack and a gag followed. Tinted water and stomach fluid poured from his mouth, and he threw up into the water he once bathed in.

His tired and exhausted body lay there for a few moments more before he head lifted, only inches, from the surface of the water. It hovered, swaying back and forth in a dazed and ghostly way. Soaked, skinny limbs reaching from the water like a kelpie or a monster. Fur flattened and sticking to his skin, clumped and drenched. Mylo began to drag his body, rocks and debris cutting into his stomach as he did, towards the bank.

It wasn't until he lay there, dripping and just barely out of the water, did he realize what he had done. He longed to return to the water, finish the job, but, once he rested his body would move no more. He just lay there. Soaked and lifeless. An occasional weak cough or two as water still infested his tired lungs.
Mylo had failed and for that, he did briefly resent himself. God came down and told you the one thing he looked to hear, the one thing that his family never could say, that the foxes didn't believe in, that he only said to himself in the quiet of a desolate den. And he failed.

He only lay, defeated and cold, staring at the moon casted earth.
the staff team luvs u

And from beneath the shade and shadow of overhanging trees, bathed in moonlight and water alike—

He watched, as the body reanimated.

The fear from before leaving him as he watched his body rack, coughing and gagging, vomiting water and stomach acid onto himself and into the water, and what always remained returning to him.

Anger.

“Hey!” He called after him, slogging through the water. His fur wet and dripping. Body leaden, as he pulled himself ashore.

“What the fuck was that?” He demanded. And when there wasn’t an immediate answer—

“Answer me, freak.” He spat.

His lip curling, peeling.

Aggressive.

All bark, with no bite.

Standing.

Shaking.

Dripping.

Beneath the filtering moonlight.

the staff team luvs u

The water in his ears wasn't the only thing that made him ignore the other, it was also the self-loathing. Although he lay there motionless, his mind raced and racked, constantly coming back to the same place of 'You Failed.' This had happened before however, every day it would seem. When he woke up after passing out from eating too much toxic plant life, clammy, cold, and aching, but still alive. And thus he didn't let it persist beyond that, knowing he would just try again later, tomorrow, the next day, until it worked.
He exerted pressure beneath him with his paws, legs shaking and tired as he did. Just barely enough to stand. He walked in the strangest way, towards the tree line, one foot at a time. Every step was agony. Stopping halfway through to hack again, more water, albeit less this time, came pouring from his throat and lungs. Mylo stood for a while, unsure if he could make the next few steps, before pressing on.

His body flopped, harsh and painfully, onto the shrouded undergrowth beneath the trees. What little air left in him escaped as he did, and after a second he replenished it. A long painful breath that dug into his sides like knives. Mylo used this stranger as a distraction, as more and more pain flooded into his body and bones.

"Whats'it' to'ya" A tired voice crept from his maw, a small and weak smirk following after. That was one thing that could never die; his sense of humor. Or, in this case, his sense of being annoying.
the staff team luvs u

He moved—

And Daighre followed, hot on his heels.

Oppressive and demanding, but never touching him.

Never coming too close.

Eventually coming to settle near him where he fell. Sitting straight, while he slumped; sprawled. His right ear twitching when he spoke, water-leaden and ragged.

He snorted.

Huffed.

Bared his teeth, until, finally—

“You’re fucking fucked up, Spooky.” He spoke. Quiet. Low. Staring into the darkness around them.

And anywhere but at him.

the staff team luvs u

"Heh... heh... hahaha...." The trickle of a laugh escaped him. 'Spooky'. He had never been called that before. Despite everything, it was probably the funniest thing he had heard in a month.
"It's Mylo." His teeth softly chattered as he spoke, his own name said in a sarcastic and silly tone- at least as one could get at the time.
He was so tired, so very exhausted. So strange from having just woke up not too long ago. Though, sitting there felt like hours, and his mind drifted to an unknown reach of his brain. One filled with strange emotions and memories. Memories that, we're nice but, forgettable. Nothing ever too exciting or special but, warm.

With a mind full of warm memories, his head fell limp onto the ground. Ears half-staff, he was barely moving. Only the subtle rise and fall of his chest as he shakily breathed. Sleep clouding his mind.
the staff team luvs u

“Whatever.” He muttered. Tense teeth, tight lips, a stiff and rigid spine, and eyes that refused to meet his.

Mylo.

Spooky.

It was all the fucking same in the end, wasn’t it?

He shifted, settled, sitting more on his hip.

In for the long watch, while Spooky slept.

the staff team luvs u