iNSOMNiA---

[Sham]

Small, deceivingly feminine paws pushed into the sort earth, dodging the driest of leaves with an ease born to a natural predator. The forest was thickest here, the sunlight struggling its wavering beams of golden dust through the dark canopy to illuminate the dense scrub below. The white-tailed deer danced between the thick trunks of ancient trees, doe-like eyes made wary by the restricted view. It is this part of the forest that is untamed by any animal, where even the wolves who rule the forest step warily. It was a small part of the forest nonetheless, and soon he had passed through it and into the lands of the Silphted; the nostalgia of a forest that would sooner be abandoned to the ravages of time and memory to be seen in a golden-edged light, rather than the brutal forces of reality. No other place would force such emotion from him than here.
Ragged fur clung with a vice-like grip to the gaunt figure sliding past the ferns, barely escaping the sunlight burning through the wood loam. It had been less than a year since the wolf had last made his appearance here, but so drastic was the change he was sure no one would recognise him anyway- with his face, no one would want to recognise him.

The initial lack of sleep had taken its toll. Originally deep set eyes had taken on a skull-like definition, sharp brown eyes, diluted black pupils snarling from their sockets. Smudges of grey wiped away the colour in his coat, fur as lank and limp as the leaves in the gumtrees he hadn't seen since his homeland had faded in his footsteps.