Let Snow be Tread with the Blood that's Shed

[zeety]

The snound of a paw, crisp and light as it tread against snow that fell sometime ago and has compacted to the point where it is not powdery or beuatiful but rather instead is solid and a danger to those who have less than four legs and do not watch their step. But to those who change their form, from the most predictible and useless creatures, to appear as one of the most magnificint, the icey substance is just another leaf on the forest floor. As the landscape ros a little and produced a steeping hill in the forest's breathy wake and the mount was scaled briskly by the padded extendants of the four-legged girl who padded in her feral form to its birth.

From her point atop the hill where the trees thinned a little she was almost able to make out the town, the lights and shadows of buildings, the crest of the grabeyard at it's edge, seperating the two. In the cold night air her breath because visable as a fine white cloud that drifted on the air for only a short moment before merging with the air and fading from sight, only to be replaced by another hot, panting breath. Amber hues gazed for a while, intent on looking at the human world, but not daring to venture any closer to it. Year not had passed and still she prowled through forest and city and mountain alike, unseen, unoticed and unwanted. That was to change.

Her gaze lifted a little to meet the silver loom that hung with the stars and lingered in the blackness as the only one of its kind in sight. The moon of course was important to her, as it was to all of her kind, a beuaty if there ever was one and in her excitement of seeing it full on this night she let her lips part and the song of her disguise rang from her lip sand echoed through the empty trees. She called to the moon to give her strength and prey on this bountiful night, and the moon could not deny er of her request. As her head dropped once more her aud flicked back to the sound of a shifting in the brambles. There was a flash then both vanished from sight.

Not much time had passed before she could be found again, resting by a stream with a half devoured hare tucked under her pay, lain dead in the snow with it's blood staining the ice red and trickling towards the fresh running water. The moon bathed the seen in rich silver light that rippled against her white pelt, illuminating the staines of blood that soaked her pure fure. The metalic scent and taste of blood thick on the air, a dangerous thing if there ever was one. It masked her senses and attracted other, but she had needed the catch, and as she lay panting and enjoying the scene she was as alert as she could be.

[Lupin Myles]

The scent of blood would always be attractive to other predators. Mix that scent in with the general scent of carnage that warned of a kill that happened and it could only be sweeter still. Even if a predator wasn't hungry, it often was the fact that something had preyed upon its grounds that caused the attraction to happen.

The forest did not belong to the black beast that was silently following the scent of the blood. He was a part of the group that was holding the lands, but he himself was not the leader. It was a position that he could not find himself wanting to take in any time soon. Not with the never-ending threat of the blood suckers to dog at his heels. That was something that Jericho could deal with, or someone foolish enough to attempt to take his position.

He could not think of anyone near his age or older that would be foolish enough to do it. Someone younger perhaps. No one that was older wanted to bother. Nor could he blame them.

However, he took his place as a warrior within the pack seriously. His father had expected far little else from him. The constant threat of being ambushed taught him to be on guard and very careful of how he tread within the forest. The black wolf rarely had time to be as carefree and relaxed as he could be within his human form.

He was large for a male, his body toned by years of battle and running. Countless miles and battles under his belt had shaped the black frame into something out of nightmares. His pelt was the truest black possible, not a single strand of pale hair within it. The darkness seemed to spread into his eyes, which were the color of the midnight sky. The night was the best time for him to hide when he wanted to.

But the closer he got to the female the less he decided to keep his presence a secret. He let a low growl roll within his chest as he approached and lowered his tapered ears to his scruff. He wasn't certain if he had seen this pale beauty within the woods before. More wolves came to this area all of the time and he could hardly keep up with the new recruits to the army that his King was putting together.

It was instinct in most every wolf he had met to be with their kind. To be around other wolves in a group. Safety was in numbers and they could only thrive in a group rather than alone. He paused a few leaps away from the female and lowered his head so it was even with his shoulders. He would smell of pack, of the musk of different wolves. The scent of the blood was burning strongly in his nose but he had a feeling the female was either very new or not actually within the pack. He could usually keep up on who was around. He had only been in this area for the last two centuries after all.

[zeety]

A white aud flicked back, catching the moonlight like glass as it did, reflecting the light and making it seem as though a light had flashed. Of course this had not been herintention, but that was to catch the sound that came from the trees about her, a low growl it would seem. She was of course smart enough to know she had padded into the home of another pack, hunted their prey and intruded their land, but she was still interested in the unseen company, even if he was to be a danger. Among the scent of blood that caked at her nostrals she was unable to use scent to know his whereabouts, it was only increasing the danger she was in.

The female lifted herself slowly and growled ever so softly in responce, simple acknowledging the male's presence. She knew ho wto act and what to do, but for so long as blood bathed her muzzle one of her keenest senses were useless to her. It didn't take long for the male to show himself, he was unlike her in many ways. While yes he was werewolf and handsome he was her complete opposite, while she was lithe and adapted to be fast rather than strong he seemed more adapted to be strong. His figure was larger than hers and the muscles that rippled under his pelt as their defining lines were caught in the moonlight did not resignate from his limbs like hers, but rather about his back and shoulders showing that he was a fighter. Another variation that seperated the two completely was pelt, her's was as white as fleshly falled snow, soft an pure. His was as black as the night sky that loomed over them.

As she let her amber gaze roam over his figure she let a thin canine smile wrinkle her maw and greeted him by flicking a single aud back and grazing his black hues with her own orbs of amber. It was the white wolf's turn to show herself and her abillities, she padded forward with a length, elegant gate. The muscles that caught the light for her were all about her shoulders and strangely long legs, having four limbs that appeared to be longer than those of most of her kind. She tilted her head a little to the side and flicked her tail. She was curious of him and she showed it, but he seemed to be alone. Though she did at last manage to catch his scent between the masking of blood. He was a pack wolf for sure, his pelt seemed caked in the scents of various other wolves, female and male.

To show respect she held her gaze from his, not meeting it for longer than a second. Instead she admired his figure for a while and his handsomely coloured pelt and the beuaty of the way the moonlight caught him. It lasted a short while, as she assumed he would be taking in her features too, as means to recognise one another in the future. At last she took a step forward, her paw pushing into the snow and bringing her muzzle to his chin and whimpering softly. She was not showing fear or submission really, for all other of her body language was relaxed and if anything slightly dominant to show a lack of weakness. Instead her action showed respect and acception, she was accepting him to be a stronger higher ranked than herself.

[Lupin Myles]

It would seem that he was right. Her scent was free of anything that resembled a pack. Loners usually were smarter than to go and boldly hunt on another's territory. He knew exactly what Jericho would likely do with her. Entering his territory was one thing, but hunting without any permission? The man was not known for being that kind. Though since she was female, it could mean a slightly different outcome for her.

But there was still something about that that seemed wrong to him.

He was not nearly as old as their King, though he was one of the older wolves around these parts. The scent to this female was still fresh and new. She was young. Likely barely able to be on her own by human standards. There was a certain freshness and innocence to the scent of a female so young.

His coal nose twitched, just another section in his never-ending sea of night. It was wise that she did not answer his warning with a challenge. She was more lithe than he was, but he knew these woods far better than a novice could hope for and while he was not the fastest beast, he was able to continue running at a steady clip for hours. He was a very skilled tracker and killer. Her scent was already memorized and his dark eyes were sliding over her frame, looking for unique points to remember, signs of past struggles.

He remained still. Unyielding. She closed the distance and showed him that she would not be showing outright aggression. It was not the sort of submission that he was used to from outsiders, let alone other members of the pack. He had been around long enough to get the respect of most of the wolves.

He moved forward a step, his sheer size likely something that was overwhelming. The sort of growl that an adult would often give to a puppy who was doing something wrong slipped from his chest, the sound having an almost nagging slant to it. His gaze drifted to the remnants of the rabbit, then back toward her before narrowing. His lips lifted a fraction before he lifted his tail over his back.

Communicating in wolf form was often hard. He was basically asking her why she dared to do such a foolish thing. If she paid more attention to the trees around, she would realize the scents coming from him came from the land about him. This place was usually full of wolves. Because she only saw the one did not mean that the others were not lurking somewhere.

He was more lenient in how he dealt with trespassers than others could be. It was likely only a matter of time before another wolf arrived. The sound of the call she had made. The scent of the blood on the air.

She sealed her own doom.[/size][/font]

[zeety]

Taurn watched uneasily as the male approached and voiced his thoughts in form of a grown and indication of the wrongdoing he seemed to beleive she had done. She could only whimper and tuck her tail in beneath her. She had never let herself think for even the briefest moment that surviving could be wrong, but it seemed to be true that to hunt in another pack's territory was a great wrong that she had done. Her heart only sank at the suggesting, a great first impression she would have given on the so far unseen pack. Her ears flattened against her skull and she dropped her head.

The male seemed to say the least pleased with himself, he had located the intruder, he had caught her hunting the pack's resources and he was the one who would take the credit after he had torn her apart. Of course she could have tried running, but it would have done no good. He would obviously know the forest and he didn't look like the type who would give up fast enough for her to get away. Her gaze slowly lifted, perhaps he would listen to reason, if the werwolves were to turn on even eachother who else would they have.

As he might have found she knew communicating as a wolf was difficult. But she spent most of her time in wolven form, she was often communicating with wolves, so she was most likely more practiced than him at it. She started by giving a whimper as she indicated the remains of her kill, then whimperinging a little more and flicking her aud, giving a slight growled undertone. The meaning to her was clear, but to him she couldn't be sure, 'I'm sorry, I was hungry'. It didn't stop with her reason, she kept her tail tucked beneath her and pulled her auds back, she whimpered a litle gave a high pitched yelp and paws at the earth slightly, 'I did not know it was bad, please don't hurt me'.

Still she felt inside that she would not be safe until she was away from him, or at least felt accepted by him, which at that moment seemed an even more unlikely chance. She stepped back away from him a little and looking out into the forest, she dropped her head and looked back at him, this time the meaning could be misinterpreted more easily, as it was difficult in wolf communication to make an offer or bargain as wolves almost never did. In the wild real wolves chase eachother off, or run away, or show dominance and submission and wait to be told what to do, they didn't ask if it was ok. But she was doing something very different to what real wolves do, she was doing something much more human, she was asking if he wanted her to leave, she was offering to leave.

Of course she remained in a respectfully submissive posture, she tried to remain calm but she felt watched and endangered. She couldn't help it, he was right and she knew it. There could have been a whole pack, crouching in the shadows, watching her from behind the treeline. She had only wanted to come and join a pack, but now she found herself feeling hunted by them. The whole place stank of them and blood, she couldn't be sure if they were a foot away or a mile away. Besides that the male himself was a danger to her, she could outrun him but only for so long, he would hunt her down and tear her apart if he felt it was the right thing to do, she knew he would.

[Lupin Myles]

Even a normal wolf knew the dangers of hunting on another predator's territory. It was why they stayed in groups rather than alone. A lone wolf was target to all that came on its way and had to struggle to survive. In a pack, even the least dominant wolf was safe because the others would stand at its side and keep it from danger. The loss of one was a great loss to all involved.

Survival was something that all creatures had to deal with, yet in this world of modern conveniences, it was not that hard for a beast that could become man to get by. Wanting to join in a pack it would be far more logical to seek acceptance before merely hunting. It was a mistake. A novice mistake. It only furthered his deduction that she was younger than he by far. With youth came a certain arrogance that only was won by time.

Mistakes such as this were always something far more common with the young than with the old.

He watched her posturing and movements carefully. His dark blue eyes remained steady on her, and his posture was still a threat. Hunger was something that many knew well. It was still not a reason to hunt upon another's territory. To do that would risk the exact thing the female was facing.

Potential death.

His hesitation was because of a few factors. The first was that deep down he truly was not a bad guy, not cruel enough to kill her over one rabbit. Secondly, he knew that Jericho wanted to get as many wolves together as he could, though Lupin was quite aware that his King did not care for weakness or other signs of it. She was fairly confident in herself until he pointed out her obvious mistake. Youthful arrogance. Hopefully it would not get her killed needlessly.

The last factor was that she truly seemed to feel remorse over her actions. Enough that she was offering to leave. He was silent and still for a time, his eyes never once wavering from her. He barely blinked. He had a few choices to make in this case. It was not his place to tear apart a wolf that his King possibly could find use for. No. He would not be the one to make that choice.

He snorted and smoothed out his pelt, letting his tail fall and his ears return to a more natural position. He trotted with purpose over to the kill she had made, snatching it up in his jaws without pause. She may have killed it, but as it was their land, he was taking it.

With the half of the creature sticking out of his muzzle he turned to her and moved his head sideways, indicating that she should follow him. He was uncertain where the King was, but he could hopefully find someone who could point him in the direction to find him. He would leave the girl's fate in his hands.

That was, if she went with him quietly and did not attempt to run. It was always a danger to run near a predator. The instinct to chase was far too great to ignore.[/size]

[zeety]

Watching the male made it increasingly difficult not to run, he was large and obviously strong. He would have found no difficulty in killing her, yet there seemed to be something in him less agressive, and she could see in his gaze that while he intently watched her he was thinking it over, he said nothing, made no attempt at all to communicate, but in his silence he gave an odd dominant and wise feeling to her. So it was that she watched him in return, her gaze of course set lower and her posture much more submissive.

While he thought over her fate as did she, he was part of a pack, and currently while it seemed her chances were slim it too seemed a possibilty for her to work her way into the pack, of course their would always be a leader to check this with but she remained hopeful. In her youth she had failed to see the other oppertunities, she had seen the rabbit and when it had run she had hunted on pure instinct, not having the wits to stop and think about the danger she was putting herself in. She of course regretted this action, but she had never really gorwn up and learned the proper way to behave in the packlands of another, or for that matter others like her.

In her travells she had found werewolves to be a rare thing, and it seemed the amount was decreasing rapidly. In the past few years she had sighted only a handful, only one of which had she actually communicated with. And now she had quite possibly destroyed her chances of ever being accepted by a pack, she had no doubt if she did survive her encounter with this male she would not survive the anger of the king when he found out of her crime. It set a misty shadow over her mind to think her life would end so soon, but suddenly everything was clear once more, the male had taken on a softer appearence, one much easier on the eyes, relaxing his figure slightly to look a little less intimidating. It made the young female feel more confident in herself and she too brought herself into a slightly more relaxed posture.

She watched with her amber hues eagerly as the male strode forward and without hesitation took up her prey in his jaws, no matter, she had eaten and felt better for it, besides if he ate it or took it to the pack it seemed to slightly increase her chances of acceptance. Or at least to her feeble young mind. She watched with a soft gaze, never letting her tail rise or her auds slant too far forward, she wanted no sign of threat to be eminated from herself, she seemed determined not to get herself into trouble again. Mind over matter she told herself. She had to focus. She watched as the male indicated for her to follow and hesitated slightly.

To run would be to wave a red flag in front of a bull, by instinct he would be drawn to chase and most likely through a mix of anger and bloodlust he would kill her. But follow and she may be led into a whole pack that would tear her apart if given a single commant from their leader that instructed them to do so. She had to admit that her chances in such a situation were weak, but better to go out like a wolf, than like a coward. The fea lifted herself up, steadily feeling the tenseness in her limbs ease as she was more instructed than invited to follow the male. She flicked her tail a little and gave a pant to show her obedience in the matter. It was simple enough speak, even to the common dog. She accepted him as higher rank, she would follow him without question. She had to.

[Lupin Myles]

Age often made others seem harsher than they truly were. Generally Lupin had an easy going attitude when it came to dealing with females. He felt little threat from them, nor was he cultivated to feel such a threat by his father either. Years of other males suddenly ambushing him had left a definite toll upon his mentality. He could hardly watch others without looking for that hint of a threat, that trigger that would let him know he was going to get attacked.

It led to him just lashing out before another could manage to get a hold onto him. He made it clear that he was not going to stand being treated like that, and gained a good deal of respect for it. It was easier to see how he had molded himself into a warrior of his own right in his wolf form compared with his human form. He had frozen himself close to the age of twenty, still retaining some of his younger looks. It was as much a trick as to piss his father off. Who would see the eighteen year old kid as a threat?

His massive paws moved easily over the land, picking and choosing their way with care bred from experience. He knew how to move in the forest with absolute silence, picking through trails he had gone over time and time again in his years. It was ingrained and automatic. He knew the way back to the heart of the lands. He knew it very well.

The cold in the air had frozen the remainder of the rabbit, so the scent of blood and its tang had been frozen within the creature. His breath moving over its body thawed out the flesh and he found it harder to ignore the hunger that was brewing with the taste of fresh meat and blood within his jaws. He had thought of bringing the creature to the others, but his stomach was convincing him otherwise.

He stopped just before the woods thinned before a hill and set the rabbit down. His tongue slipped out and around his jaws before he glanced back to see where she was. He watched her for a moment or two in silence before turning his attention down to the rabbit.

His jaws crunched down and he placed one large paw upon the carcass, tearing a part of the carcass off with a crack. One ear stayed turned in her direction as he quickly inhaled the creature, focusing more on cracking the bones down so he could swallow chunks than chewing the meat apart. It took little more than ten minutes for him to finish the evidence that she had hunted without permission.

His tongue moved about his jaws again when he finished. He glanced at her before he looked around. His coal nose twitched as he tested the wind. Clean. Empty. The woods were far too quiet. His ears fell against his skull before he snorted and took a deep breath, releasing a deep howl. Unlike the stereotypical thought of a howling wolf, his head remained level with his body. The sound still resonated around the area, a call to other pack members who were possibly around.

His ears moved forward as he listened, hearing the echo of his call in the air. Silence.

He snorted and glanced back at the female, gesturing again for her to follow him before he made his way down the hill and further into the woods.