"Where are we going, anyway?" said a tiny voice coming from a wandering young wolf, much too tiny to belong to her. The landscape she wove through was an unearthly woodlands, dark even in the light of day, every ray being swallowed by the clouds and sparse treetops above. A mystical layer of gray mists blanketed the earth between the skinny trees all around. The phantom spoke again, but this time a little black reptilian head poked up from between the wolf's purple-rimmed ears and revealed the owner of the voice. "What'ss out here?" Now the wolf responded, the black-and-gray-furred girl with a swirl of fushia under each eye, "I don't know, Shini. Why do you think I would?" But she was curious, too. They had no real direction; she only did what she had ever since she was a pup: wandered. But what was this dreary place her roaming had taken her to? Petite paws, relative to the wolf's size, led the pair through the gloom and silence for a few minute more, then the loquacious snake said, "Sso... we're lost, then?" The shadowy wolf halted in her tracks, and sat upon her haunches. That was as good a cue as any to take a rest, she thought. She responded to the question of the little annoyance perched between her auds, tipping her head up habitually as she spoke, trying to face the other, "A wolf is never 'lost'！ Wherever we go is home." "Well if you don't know where your home iss, you're still lost！" smarted off Shinibana. "黙って！" snapped the she-wolf, as her ears shot forward. She lifted her light frame in an instant and looked about intently. The oblivious serpent kept talking, however. "Hah！ Just admit-" "No, really, be quiet - someone is near." she interrupted again. Those pointed ears had indeed caught a hint of something else existing in the eerie woodlands, perhaps hunting them. Her senses were much greater than those of the tiny reptile, especially when her scaled belly wasn't touching the earth to feel it's vibrations. Not that Shinibana much cared about predators. "What doess it matter?" she said, to which the larger creature responded, "You're food, remember? They might be hungry. Just stay down." Shinibana obeyed, but not before expressing her disapproval with a grunt. She buried herself into the wolf's scruff and became nearly invisible while her black scales blended against fur as dark. The dark wolf scanned around for the yet-to-be-revealed stranger, keeping her head up to better conceal her pet, while also trying to look like she wasn't just talking to the wind. Mouse over Japanese speech for translation and pronunciation!

The dame was hidden in the soulless forest. Just hiding for the sake of it, was a pleasure in itself. The sullenness was heavy, like a muted heart in cotton, or a blanket of down. The atmosphere was gruesome. It was nothing like the females home. Zarzenova enjoyed her freedom, being able to pick and choose where she went and when. She supposed most did not know of her ventures, that she did it all in secret. As the undergrowth enfolded her, the leaves caressing her she heard a voice; actually a pair of murmurs. They were hard to hear over the fog. Her ears perked up, standing at their full height, keen on eavesdropping. In an army crawl she ambled forward. Zarzenova was nearer, the rasping more clear. They talked in hushed tones; something seemed urgent and mocking about them.


As the mystery creatures spoke, Zarzenova thought of what monsters they could be. She had heard tales about the soulless forest, tales of horror and fantasy. Some had said monsters lived here, that they grew on the very bark of the trees. Others said they were canine eaters and loved feasting on the ripe flesh. Oh stop playing games with yourself nova. She scolded herself inwardly. Even so these thoughts sent chills down her spine. Shaking slightly, the lady listened in to her performers.


As she edged closer, she found the voices had stopped, that all movement on their part had ceased to exist. Damn it She mused. Things had finally taken a turn, and not in Zarzenovas? favor. Knowing what could very well happen, she decided to ambush first. Rising from the cold, depressed ground, leaving the security of the forest cover behind, she approached. She did not know who she would face, or what would become of this chance encounter. Either way she hoped for the best.



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The gloom of the forest thickened around the no-longer-moving Nurra as she stood still, intently surveying the world for signs of her stalker, but none could be found, nor were any sounds at all but the sinister slight humming of the haunted woodlands. Only the slowly creeping plumes of mist that covered the earth and dominated vision could be seen in any direction. Dreadful moments passed like this, and the dark wolf's heart was racing as an effect of the horrifying situation. Then her adept ears caught a sound, the slight sound of paws rushing, choked by the fog, but still just audible. Her body tensed and her attention shot toward the disturbance, just in time to see an apparition of ferocity melt from the cloud, dashing toward. In that instant, it seemed to be a terrible beast made of the mists, a clawed and fanged ghost pouncing at the pair that trespassed in it's domain. Nurra managed to hold her heart in, and in a quick move, stepped from the monster's path and faced it. But the ghost materialized as the lingering mists fell off of it's form, and what stood before Nurra was a very real female wolf wearing fur of a shade that equaled the gloom's. The darker girl eased a bit. Maybe this was just a misunderstanding? "What do you think you're doing? I'm a wolf too！" At that, the restless snake moved up behind her friend's left ear and whispered into it, "It's another wolf? Let me see！" "じっとして！" said Nurra, though keeping her gaze on the intruder to seem like she wasn't talking to someone else, and hoping that this other wolf wouldn't understand her. Wisps of mist still clung to her, like tendrils attached to her revenant form but as the agitated mists started to settle again, it seemed like the silver stranger might fade back into nothing. But Nurra thought, what if this isn't a misunderstanding? "You're not one of those cannibals, are you?" she said, trying to sound confident despite her racing pulse, "You should know that I won't die easy, and I will take you with me!" Mouse over Japanese speech for translation and pronunciation!

Before the damsel stood a beast in black, a beast that crept deep in your heart and ate your soul. Ceasing her ambush, her heart beating rapidly, she noticed this monster was not a creature of the deep in fact, but a mere wolf. As the alabaster dame proceeded yet again in a forward motion, and again it was terminated. The lupine before her spoke. Its words floating through the fog, entering the females hearing range. A cannibal? How funny, she mused. She could play on this key factor, that the wolf was scared of her eating it. Thinking of how she would answer, suddenly she thought of the fact that she had heard two voices. Where was the second creature? Peering around the black one, she saw no one.


Maybe I am a cannibal, maybe I?m not. She said with a grin. Fear not, I am not going to kill you. As for dragging me down, I very much doubt so. Of course the female was not going to do such a thing. Zarzenova only toyed with others, never drawing blood unless necessary. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she actually questioned the black spawn. Who were you talking to beforehand? No use hiding the fact, I heard you. Right to the chase; no lingering or delaying the question. She scrutinized the wolf, awaiting her answer, if she even got one.




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The pair struggled to keep a sighting on the pale wolf as the spectral bodies of mist strolled around her form, but her words carried through well enough. Nurra stayed as tensed as before even while the stranger told her that she wasn't in danger, but the dark wolf's companion responded differently, and whispered again into Nurra's ear, "Ssee? She'ss not going to hurt uss！ Let me say hi！" She dismissed her serpentine friend with a low, short growl. Then she heard the white lady confess to hearing the both of them, and she grew a bit nervous. She would have to cover this up quickly! "Hmph - I wasn't talking to anyone！ It must be the wolf flesh getting to you; I heard cannibalism can make you crazy！" she said, trying to sound and look as confident as usual, and doing quite well. She put on a smile and kept her head high, but it would soon be dashed away when her little pet decided that she didn't like her plan. "You're alwayss trying to hide me！ What if I wanted to make friendss too? I'll yell..." she whispered. Again Nurra responded in Japanese like talking in code to her friend, hoping in vain that the stranger wouldn't see through it. "私はあなたを守ろうとしてんだよ！" "彼女は私たちが安全であると言いました。" "彼女は私が安全であろうと述べた、あなたわけではありません！" "まあ、私は彼女を... uh... not afraid... of her, anyway！" "I don't want to get into a fight over this. If she's anything like my pack -" "Hey, she can hear you！" "She... oh." Her speech had slipped into English! How could that have happened? Distracted by her argument with Shinibana, she had even stopped looking at the misty wolf and let down her defenses! She stood there, with a dumbfounded look on her face as the snake poked her head up from between her ears, laughing, and then called out to the stranger as loud as her tiny lungs could, "Hello, wolf！" An annoyed Nurra looked up at Shinibana, and with a growl said to her, "That was your plan, wasn't it?" Shini only kept a smug smile on her little mouth, confirming without words Nurra's accusation. (OOC: Shinibana isn't fluent in Japanese, Nurra is teaching her. That's probably relevant information to this post.) Mouse over Japanese speech for translation and pronunciation!