underground, beneath notice (open)

   The crisp chill of deepfrost blew over the Ruins, where the black and tan shepherd dog trotted along. His breath clouded in front of his maw when he stopped for a moment to catch it, but he mostly kept his head lowered and his ears swiveling. Admittedly, some sporadic gusts of wind had his eyes closing and ears lowering until it passed. Cold wasn’t exactly his favorite environment.

   Caleb has been keeping to himself recently. He wasn’t sure where he belonged in this world, and his schooling - rather, his life of being studied in a laboratory with tutors coming to provide general education - didn’t exactly give him the tools to build any kind of social skills or connections outside of the doctors and scientists he had been surrounded by. In a way, he missed that level of hell that was his childhood.

   Ultimately, he found the entrance to the Underground. It wasn’t his first time there, but he certainly hadn’t ventured deep within the tunnels. There were fresh scents, though. He hadn’t caught them before, and it sparked his curiosity, so he decided to continue in the tunnels at a brisk trot.

   The Underground was warmer than it was above, which gave him some kind of relief against the biting air. He wasn’t wearing his cloak at the moment, which was probably a foolish thing to leave at home, but it wasn’t something he felt he needed. His furs were enough. Hells, they would do more for him than the cloak would!

   A gentle light moved around ahead of him, and he listened with his keen senses to the plodding of hooves. A luxere? If he had been on two legs, he might’ve smiled. There was someone with it though, and that was what had Caleb cautious. Caution was typically overcome by his curiosity… Following after the figures, the shepherd released a whine and sped up if just slightly to maybe catch up.