I will work this body, I will burn this flame
09-11-2016, 03:20 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-11-2016, 03:36 PM by Vadim I.)
The drought had extinguished most of the snow he'd known as a whelpling, most of the Sparse Pines that he'd grown up in now holding a foundation of well-packed and partially frozen soil. He didn't mind the soil, it was just different.. Still, in the North, the heavy blanket of cold was a near constant around his youthful, thin summer coat.. he loved it, truly- it just seemed a little lackluster without the presence of twinkling snow to light up his path in the twilight. At least, he thought, it would make for a stealthier get away.
His head was kept low and level with his spine as his molten gaze scanned the area around him. He'd taken to sleeping outside of the den they'd inhabited as pups, now far too large to find it's confined space comforting even in the slightest. Something in his gut told him that they were catching on to his midnight escapades, but for the moment? No one seemed to be watching. The teen's neck twisted backward one last time to check on the entrance of the den before cautiously deft paws begun their trek through the pines. He tested the waters at first, weaving through the pines that surrounded Ivalice's borders and flirting with the dangerous idea of crossing that border. When no one seemed to come swarming around him to reprimand him for his actions, he hastily made his get away and broke off into the night at a full sprint.
He was heading West this time, as it seemed to be the direction that called to him the most. He knew what lied in the North, he knew the mines in the South, but there were trees far larger than he could ever imagine in the West and he desperately seeked to know them. His sprint transitioned into a light jog once his lungs began screaming out in protest, but by then he'd reached the Red Woods and took his time to admire the spectacular trees that grew there. There was something mystical about these trees that tugged at his heart, the sensation of vertigo as his vivid eyes looked up their trunks in awe made his stomach flutter with wonderment. This area would be one that he remembered for the rest of his days, and he would return again some day. For now, however, his little misadventure was just getting started. He walked the full thirty miles through the Red Forest before he'd finally grown tired. He'd curl beneath the low-hanging branches of an evergreen just before the dawn broke and remain hidden through-out the day, drifting in and out of light sleep. Afterall, this was unknown territory.. his ears never really did let go their hold of consciousness.
When the night came again, the chubby teen pulled himself out of the pine with a coat now littered with it's needles, though only a few remained after a vigorous shake of his pelt. For a moment, he hesitated.. his thoughts pulling back and forth at the idea of returning home or venturing even further. A part of him wondered, though.. would anyone truly miss him? Would anyone notice that he was gone? Vadim certainly appreciated his solitude, but some part of him.. actually wanted evidence that he was indeed important to someone. Anyone. He'd not seen Ramsay for some time now, his dad hadn't been seen since the last meeting.. and Abelinda? Did she even know he existed? She birthed him, of course, but her knowledge of his existence could have fooled Vadim. Was it his own fault? Had he failed them as a son? The thought brought a scowl, though it was a scowl that masked his heartache over the distant relationships he held with his parents. The hurt had developed a hunger in the youth's mind, a new sensation that he'd never before felt; the need to inflict pain on something else that was greater than the pain that threatened to swallow his heart whole.
There was a newfound purpose in his step, heavy foot falls moving quickly across the tundra while he left the Red Forest with the slight stiffness of agitation in his gait. He wanted to get out of the coverage of trees and into an area where he could truly see what was around him. He was no longer moving to remain hidden, he was moving with the demeanor of a predator; his eyes narrowed and observant, fueled by not only the will of his stomach but by raw bloodlust. His steps became slower, steadier as he finally neared the edge of Gale Gorge; the winds whipped around his coat, but with them they carried the scents of the birds that resided in the crater of a valley. He'd run into ptarmigan before, in the pines, though he'd been younger than and did not feel the primal craving like he did now.
He followed their scent into the valley, his knees bent and his rounded stomach kept low to occasionally kiss the grass beneath him and keep himself shrouded in it's provided guile. His talons would tear through grass and soil as he kept his balance on the slope of his descent, until finally his eyes fell on their dappled bodies. It was a mother and five juveniles, grazing on the summer supply of insects in the thicker grass of the valley- Vadim understood very little about the rarity of ptarmigan's indulging on insects at the moment, but the happening was the perfect setting for his first attempt at providing his own meal.
He crouched, slunk, and came down as close as possible with the wind in his favor until finally he was less than ten feet away. That's when he pushed his forelimbs against the earth, his hinds acting like springs as he would leap forward over the grass with his limbs tucked to his chest to make him as aerodynamic as possible. When he hit the ground, they had already begun to scatter which caused him to instantly bolt in a full sprint once again. The red muscle of his tongue was excitedly spasming behind his jowls even before he swung them open in anticipation, his bright eyes wide as they kept on the fattest of the flock- the mother. With her wings spread and flailing, she'd just been able to lift herself off the ground by the time Vadim's teeth made contact with her fat rump.
Feathers flew around him as he pulled her to the ground, not once did she cease flailing her wings and kicking her chicken legs while Vadim snorted a heavy breath out his flaring nostrils, his chest heaving slightly from the burst of adrenaline that had spent his lungs. He threw a paw down onto the hen heavily and redirected his bite to the skull that was attempting to peck at his own, though he didn't quite expect his teeth to crush and splinter that skull as easily as it had. Birds were frailer than wolves, he'd discovered. Her flailing had slowed, but Vadim's teeth had already begun plucking feathers from flesh and adding them to the collection that loitered around him. It was almost beautiful, the way they danced in the gales around him before becoming trapped in the tall grass. Angelic, white feathers that landed closest to him quickly became stained crimson as he'd finally ripped apart her breast and savagely devoured every bit of meat her small carcass had to offer. It would not completely sate the growing teen, but it was a successful hunt. His first successful hunt, and he would always remember it.
![[Image: vadim_by_nnightcrawler-dais3pi.png]](https://orig00.deviantart.net/54c9/f/2016/267/0/0/vadim_by_nnightcrawler-dais3pi.png)