After his little accident the other day lighting the torch had been a near impossible task, let alone holding it. His burned and bandaged hands were stiff and swollen beneath the gauze and burn salve the healer had dressed them in, yet still he managed to clutch the torch as he moved through the Anathema caverns. Instead of holding the beacon aloft and high away from him he held it between both hands, his fingers unwilling to clasp around it firmly enough to clutch it in one. Having spent so much time lurking through the shadowy hallways when he was a mopey puppy, Scorpius could easily find his way in the dark, and the sconces that lit the halls were more than enough to see by, but the man had that strange affinity for fire – a thing that had hurt him several times now – and chose to carry a torch, like always.
The glow was dim and far off, barely glancing around a twist in the hall at first, but it soon glowed brighter as he walked toward the common rooms. He had a satchel full of brush and kindling slung over one shoulder, most of the contents he had already emptied in one of the other store rooms but now was on his way to deposit some of the branches that were better for whittling in the craft room. He had pilfered some of the supplies to make torches a week ago, and wanted to restock the shelf before they were missed.
But when he stepped into the room he was surprised to find someone else there. Not that it was uncommon to run into a fellow pack member in the Howling Caverns, but because it was a woman he had not met before. The light of his torch poured into the art workshop from the entrance way in which he stood, the flames dancing brilliantly atop the dry wood. His visible eyebrow quirked, but half of his expression was hidden beneath the partial skull mask that he wore.
“I know most of the pack, but I don’t know you.” was his stupid greeting. He was nonchalant, uncaring and not as dubious as it could have been.“Who are you?” It was unlikely for someone to have breeched the borders and gotten into the caverns without being caught by now, so he presumed she was supposed to be here and did not leap to arms, but still judgmental ruby eyes stared at her as though they could pierce down to her very core.