He had run from the caves. They were no longer safe. No place was safe enough. No place was hidden enough from his pursuers. They eventually tracked him down, sooner or later. And they trapped him with their lies and false identities. It was all a matter of time. Though if nowhere was safe, where could he go? Would he always be on the run, unable to let down his guard, relax for a minute? Living in a state of frenzy, unease, panic even? It sure described him now, running through the thick tundra. Frigid gusts of wind violently shook his fur and the trees around him. Charcoal paws thundered through the snow. The light drained from the sky as twilight emerged. All he could think of was how exposed he was from every angle. Exposed, exposed, so exposed. But there was a glacier up ahead; maybe that could offer some shelter for the night. Just for the night. He couldn't stay in one place for too long. He had to quick, swift, nimble on his paws. He had to leave no trace of his existence.

Esarosa was not a wolf to stay still and complacent in one place. Although she may call one place home, she was one to venture away frequently, growing bored of familiar territory quite quickly. It wasn't that she disliked home, or the individuals that surrounded her, it was just that she needed something new every now and then to inspire her. So she had traveled from the pine forest to come here, to explore a land that was very, very different. If anything, it was void of anything. Just a bunch of giant glaciers pressed together to form a vast, frozen prairie of sorts. The territory was rather bland, and had become quite repetitive by the time she began to wonder if she should turn back. But out of nowhere, a wolf bolted past her path as the sun began to set, daylight shifting into twilight in less than an hour in this northern territory. The midnight-coated femme wondered where the stranger had gone off to. They'd seemed in quite the hurry, although it appeared there was no danger on the wolf's tail. So why were they apparently fleeing so fast? Esarosa was curious, so she would follow the faster wolf's trail. He may have been running fast, but she knew in this season no wolf could keep it up for long. Little time passed before she found herself quickly approaching a tall glacier that blotted out any potential remaining sunlight. The stars had found their way into the dark sky by now. And at last she had spotted the dark form ahead of her. "Hey!" she called out, finally making stride with the young wolf, "What's the rush? You don't have to run anymore, there's nothing coming." Except for darkness. The navy-black of the night would be upon them in no time, but other than the seasonal darkness, there would be little else to fear. Few animals roamed upon this lifeless, glacial tundra. So why did he run? Perhaps he would pause and address her, or perhaps he was in a state of mind that wasn't rational. Either way, she supposed she would find out soon. "Speak" "Listen" Think

ooc: sorry for the wait!

Whoever said the night was the best time for travelling, fleeing from danger without a trace, surely hadn't experienced the constant terror and fear of having an entire pack after them. Not being able to rest, let their guard down, stay in one place for too long, being too aware of the world around them. A snap of a twig could be an enemy. A rustle in the trees could be an enemy. A lurking shadow could be an enemy. He had to doubt everything, second-guess it. Was it really a paw-step? Was it really the shape of a wolf? No, the night was for hunting.

And he was being hunted.

It seemed he was never alone. They all caught up with him eventually. Whether their faces were of familiarity or not, it didn't matter. He couldn't trust anyone. He had taken that risk on his arrival in these lands, with the woman in the caves. Had she been a mere traveller or an assassin? He would never know, and he wasn't willing to take that risk with any other wolf he encountered. He had to assume the worst. The world was his enemy, and it was coming after him. Only nature was on his side, the flora around him. The forests could hide him, the caves could conceal him, but for how long? Even nature wasn't on his side.

A feminine voice called out to him, as innocent as the rest of them. He didn't stop running. No pause, no hesitation, no looking back. This time he wasn't going to allow himself to be cornered like a rat. He would run, run through the tundra towards the glacier. Maybe she would lose her interest; a rogue wanderer was all she could be. Fat chance. Then he burst through the trees, ebony paws almost slipping on the icy surface. The glacier spread out as far as the eye could see, curving in an irregular shape. Just a sloping blanket of ice and snow. So what did he do? He ran.

He didn't stop at all, not for a nanosecond. It looked like this guy wasn't slowing down at all, despite her efforts to tell him it was okay. So she stopped in her tracks as he went running onward, looking behind them to see if he was really running from anything. All was quiet, and there was nothing dangerous in sight. What on earth was this wolf running from? It wasn't any of her business what he was doing, but she wondered if she could get him to stop and just catch his breath. She'd have to catch up with him again, though, as he'd taken off pretty quickly. So she followed his tracks and picked up speed again, soon coming to the icy surface that spread out from the massive glacier. From here it was easy to spot the wolf that had zipped by her earlier. He must have been tiring. It was cold, food was scarce, and it looked like he'd been running for a long, long time. Maybe she could catch up to him... boy was he running fast. With time and effort, she was able to close some of the distance between them again. "Wait!" she called out, knowing her words would fall on deaf ears, but she'd try anyways, "Why are you running? There's nothing coming! You're just going to hurt yourself!" There was no way the boy's body could keep up this pace. Trying to put on a burst of speed, Esarosa opened her jaws and made an attempt to reach his tail. She at least had to try to stop him. It wasn't her responsibility, but she'd try this once, and if it was in vain then so be it. She had tried. "Speak" "Listen" Think