[i]Brushing a hand through the gray fur of the wolf’s back, up through the fur of the neck, finally reaching the top of its head. Gentle scratching along behind one ear, then the other, the wolf let out a single huff before playfully ‘attempting’ to nip at his fingers. Feeling the sharp teeth graze his fingertips, the shade paid no mind, but did draw his hand back for a moment in hesitation.

As if understanding the gesture, the gray wolf leaned closer to him, and he returned his hand to the fur of its head. Letting the shading of the fur seep into his being…the recent memory of not the beast, but its shadow, was brought into his mind. 

The wolf watched the shade reach a hand down and under the wolf, wiggling off of the object it hid just in flattened tufts of grass that had just previously been under it. The object itself was noisy, the beaded string rattled easily with each movement, though the gray of the embroidered headdress was nothing to scoff at. Looking it twice over, the piece was elegant yet plain; the beaded portion was to veil the face of the wearer.

Gently brushing dust off here and picking the grass off there, the shadow leaned over the now still wolf, placing the headpiece onto it…[/i]

XXX

Awake before his eyes even opened, red of the sun was seen before Knox realized he could feel the warm from the same source touching his eyelids. Cheek felt slightly colder and numb, and there was a moment where it was much needed for whatever reason, then a moment when he just needed turn away from the glass. Squinting, blinking his eyes lightly before keeping them closed again. The tow truck wasn't moving anymore, and was instead parked at the side of the building.

Reaching into his jacket pocket with his sore arm and hand, the man put on his sunglasses calmly and properly opened his eyes, blankly staring out his window at purple clouds high up in the air blowing away much too quickly to be normal…and his cracked window. A vague memory of freaking out in the vehicle was there, a man awashed in memories that shouldn't have felt as foreign as they did, but it was gone as quickly as it had surfaced. Was that him?

Almost, it was almost like he was outside of himself, that recollection. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, a memory of confusion. Frustrated, in a diner throwing an empty mug at a wall, being unable to heal that...human...betrayal at losing the moon, shock at that Ivan being deceptively strong and breaking his arm, Baba Yaga--or was it that sister of hers? Fucking his mind with her magic...the one fight with Day that [i]he[/i] has actually lost, didn't even know the man had it in him to fight dirty...opening a bloody sack to...!

Almost pitching forward in the car, Knox almost emptied the contents of his stomach onto the next seat. Shakily holding his head in his hands for a few minutes, willing away the memories over and over again like a prayer...it was gone, and he felt gone. From where he sat in the car, he could see the driver of the tow truck just a few metres outside, speaking to another individual before carelessly leaving him behind.

Paying no mind to this, none at all, Knox stared blankly ahead as he pulled his gloves on. Half asleep or not even all there anymore, a gloved hand was pressed to the broken glass…hard. The crack grew with the exerted force, harder he pressed as more cracks formed, before he finally withdrew. Clenching his hand into a fist, he drew his hand back as if to smash it with force, but instead lent the free hand to the action of simply opening the door.

Leaving the tow truck and continuing down the sidewalk on unsteady feet, for a moment Knox couldn't remember where in town he was, or the layout of the town for that matter. What came back to him for the moment were a small memory of a different many towns, and the clock tower of this one. The clock tower was the center of this town; he’d be able to navigate from there.

Turning to walk down his chosen path, it was only then that Knox realised how heavy he felt physically, and yet felt like so much more weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Heavy, yet light. Humans, full of contradictions. Lethargic? Sluggish. Laying down anywhere and just sleeping during the day seemed to hold much more promise.

Mindlessly staring over at the passing scene of an old man and his granddaughter, his mind's eye and actual vision were obscured and overlapped with a series of distant memories...an old man with his granddaughter, an old man with a young tavern wench, an old man with his daughter, an old man with a wife much too young for him, an--

Blinking in rapid succession with the vague images and memories passing through his head, Knox blinked slowly and just saw...an old man and a young girl. Strangers to him. He continued on his way.