Earlier that night, Ollie had been waken up by a sound he wasn't familiar with. Noticing that he had been left alone in the tent, with everyone else out somewhere, he peeked outside, hoping to see where they'd all gone off to.

He heard the sound again; though quiet, he could tell a howl was echoing across the woods. This time, it sounded like it might be coming from someone he's very familiar with. But, it still sounds different...

Wanting to find out, Ollie crawls out of the tent. Right away, he sees a dim light hidden behind the sea of trees to the west, and assumes it's Claire and Umbra. He considers heading towards them, until the howl is heard yet again, coming from the east. The voice itself carries a tender, delicate sound, like whoever is howling has done it countless times.

Guided only by his ears, Ollie makes his way through the trees, finds another clearing, and starts walking uphill, hoping to find what's making those noises.

The cause happens to be right in front of him now.

Sitting alone, with his back to the woods, the moon above him, and nothing but greenery beyond the cliff, is Luke. Just to clear any doubts, he lets out another howl into the night, echoing through the land with a docile tone.

"...Luke?" Ollie calls to him, astonished.

Luke hurriedly cuts his howling short. "Ollie! Uh... how long've you been standin' there?"

"I just got here," Ollie says. "I heard you all the way back in the tent, and I wanted to see where the noise came from. But, I didn't know..."

"That I, uh, do this sometimes?" Luke asks.

"That you had that kind of voice in you!" Ollie answers, starry-eyed. "It's amazing! How come this is the first time I've heard you howl?"

Luke messes with his hair a bit. "'Cause it's... it's a li'l embarrassing, y'know? It's not like I'm just doing it for the heck of it."

Ollie looks pretty curious...

"The folks who raised me," Luke continues, "they were always howlin' at night, always on full moons. Guess it's a wolf thing. Even though I'm just, y'know, half-wolf."

Ollie's got his answers now. "If that's the case, then don't mind me, I'll go and..."

"Ah, come over here, already," Luke says with a toothy smile. "If you've never heard me, then I want ya to stick around. Hell, I just got here like five minutes ago."

The bobcat hurries to his partner's side without a second thought, sitting down and nuzzling up to him.

Taking in a deep breath, Luke lets another howl loose, and Ollie hears it clearer than ever.

At this point, Ollie briefly considers joining in on the fun, and letting his own voice be heard. "Luke... if you don't mind, do you think I can..."

"Wait." Luke whispers, almost inaudibly, as his ears perk up.

Ollie's ears, on the other hand, don't pick up anything.

"Did ya hear it?" Luke whispers again. "Listen."

With one more deep breath, Luke howls again, in a slightly higher volume.

This time, both of them manage to hear it. It's another howl.

"Oh, boy," Luke mumbles. "I think I heard 'em from the north. You see anything?"

As Ollie shakes his head and keeps his eyes northward, Luke howls once again, this time longer and louder.

The other howl is heard, clearly, coming from a nearby cliff in the north. Ollie focuses his eyes on it, and sees a figure sitting there, howling back one more time. They stand up, and walk out of sight, into their side of the woods.

Luke stands up too, staring at the spot where the mystery figure was. He then turns to Ollie. "Whoever that was... they're up north, and the trail goes east." He pauses and thinks for a second, before deciding the proper solution. "Eh, let's get some rest."

"We're not gonna go find them tonight?" Ollie asks, kinda perplexed.

Luke has a typically aloof answer. "I'll be honest: if I'm sleepy, then they're sleepy, too. We'll figure this out tomorrow, so don't sweat it. Plus, it's cold. Don't want ya to be cold either."

Ollie quickly notices something. "Hey, of course it's cold, you're not even wearing a shirt!"

"Well, that's how I focus! Works like a charm." Luke says proudly as he wraps his arms around Ollie, keeping him close as the two head back to the tent. Now that Claire and Umbra have fallen asleep, the group rests peacefully for another night.

Yet, even as he warms up back inside, with Ollie snuggled up to him under the sheets, Luke can't stop thinking about the strange encounter that just took place. As he starts drifting into sleep, he hugs his partner a little tighter.