T1 Muted
"dweller by the bank"
Dark air engulfed Balk as he moved carefully through Garmr's hallowed grounds. Each pawstep taken with care. As the breeze rose, bones linked with twine clicked together gently dangling from the trees around him. He made his way to the stream and stood on the soft shoreline, listening to it babble. Dark shapes slipping in and out of view beneath it held his attention. One, two, and with a slight tense of his muscles, Balk reached into the stream and snagged a fish out with his claws.
When Balk first met Shore, they didn't get along. Both wolves were headstrong and stubborn. It was only after they'd been trapped in the dreamlands and Shore had sacrificed a piece of herself to get them back home did something change in their relationship. They looked past their quarrels and found that they were alike in many ways. Combining their efforts proved to make them a force of nature and there seemed to be nothing they couldn't do.
While battling an Elk, Balk lost his eye. Now his rat companion, Rambo, helps him see the world. (Literally lost his other eye in the same day, like damn). The transition into blindness wasn't an easy one. Balk took the change hard but he never gave up. Day by day, he became used to the darkness. His ears picked up on new sounds, tiny indications that he would have never paid any attention to before. His sense of smell was getting sharper as well. The trees lit up all around, each carrying it's own scent. The surrounding plants, his pack, even the wind brought smells to his nose all at once. It was overwhelming. Balk spent many days sorting through his newfound noticings in almost a meditative manner. He worked on getting around with the help of Rambo and his packmates. Eventually he sparred with a few of the Tellurian hunters, losing terribly but he was still determined. He was an accomplished fighter before this incident. He worked and worked and worked on everything and after a few long months, he felt almost back to himself.
When the Tellurian discovered the cave led to a deep interconnected system of tunnels, they weren't sure what to do. Through careful exploration, led by Balk who'd become accustomed to darkness, they eventually worked out how to navigate the underground. They'd just begun to move into the caves a bit when the monstrosity started to hunt the Druids.
