A wave of sullen eeriness cascaded not only over the land just outside the border, but extending to the far reaches of the horizon. The sun, normally a fleck of gold in a blue sky, now hung large and red. Vehement and menacing, daring any to doubt its wrath. That alone would be enough to terrify anyone, especially after a full night of pure darkness and trembles that shook the very ground they walked on. How could one explain this sudden phenomenon if not for the gods beginning a war in the heavens?

Gods or not, something was amiss and the boy was determined to find out what. Not a look over his shoulder at the pack territory as he trailed through the sparsely grown pines. He noticed how the animals had seemed to scatter, appearing as if only wolves now roamed the lands. It was a peculiar feeling. Being so alone and yet, always feeling like someone was watching from a distance. Internally, he tells himself to stay calm, keep his breaths even, his heart rate down as he travels south, following the rest.

Just when his paws begin to tire to the point of exhaustion, black, pointed tips rise over the nearest crest of a hill. His steps falter slightly, if only for a moment in hesitation. What was he looking at? That brief thought of exhaustion wipes from his body, a new surge of energy propelling him forward to the top of the knoll where he finally stops to see what had occurred seemingly over night.

"Whoa," Maelstrom whispers, his eyes going wide with awe.

"Maelstrom"

Xina had traveled here with her family, she had lingered around the spires and found them... boring. They didn't do anything except make weird noises and look dumb. A familiar blue and black kid showed up! She knew him! Meals.. or Malestorm or somethin!

She bounded forward as soon as she saw him, someone to pester! She jumped up to a moaning spike and poked her head through one of the weird gaps.

"Storm! You jus' got here? I been here for a while already." She boasted, struggling to get out of the strange gap, and pushed herself through. She landed next to him.

"Look at this!" She urged him to the base of one of the spikes she had just jumped through.

He wasn’t done admiring the expanse of new territory when a rather aggravatingly familiar face popped up in one of the holes on a nearby spire. His brows instantly draw downward and lips pull up in a snarl as the girl calls out to him, struggling to pop herself through the leaning tower of metal.

“Not everyone is in a rush, Tina,” Mael taunts, sticking out his tongue after the fact to add onto the rudeness. It appeared that only she was capable of bringing out such a grump side of him.

His curiosity would get the better of him though and he listened when she beckoned him closer. Trotting down the short slope and closing the distance, the boy doesn’t get too close. Mael’s gaze lingers on the base of the spire, noticing how the carvings appeared to be some sort of screaming face, but he couldn’t place what kind of animal it was.

“What is it?” He asked quietly, his fur standing on end as another wail drifted through the air.