{ Shades } Sunlight sifted through the tree branches and played in the varying hues of Shade's coat as she stalked through the underbrush. A few feet in front of her, a little mouse scurried through the leaves, unaware that a hungry beast was closing in on him. Wide-eyed and almost trembling, Shades carefully closed the distance between them, saliva oozing out from behind her jowls. Inexperience and maddening hunger quickly seized her, and, before she could stop it, a strained whine squeezed out of her throat, alerting the mouse to her presence and sending it dashing off into hiding. But, quick as the mouse was, Shades was quicker, and the tiny creature was soon smashed and dead between her jaws. A quick gulp sent the carcass down to her aching, hollow belly. Thirst drove her to the rivers edge, and she bowed her head to drink. Her reflection was gaunt and skinny, showing the consequences of eating only mice and wasting precious energy chasing fat rabbits in vain. Shades was an inexperienced hunter, having been separated from her pack before her training was finished. Mice, though measly, were easy enough to catch, but the plump, succulent rabbits in the area were too quick and agile for the novice hunter to capture. Even more difficult were the many fish swimming in the river, taunting her with their evasiveness. She was starving despite being surrounded by food. A crushing sense of loneliness and helplessness washed over her, and tears began to well up in her eyes. Winter was coming, and if she was having such a hard time hunting in autumn, then she would surely die once the snows fell and prey became more scarce. Shades, as independent as she thought she could be, would die living by herself.

Golden eyes flashed open in the afternoon sun, momentarily blinded Kypsis woke from his nap. His jowls sliped open into a large yawn that ended in an audible squeak. He shook his foggy head to lear his thoughts, he didn't wake from naps easily so something had bothered him. He wasn't dead, so obviously it had't been a threat. Bam, there it was again. His attention was brought to his empty stomach. His last meal had only been the night before, but he had been travelling a lot lately and using much energy. It was time to get up and feed himself. He pushed his front limbs underneath himself to gain height, simultaneously stretching his back and legs. It felt good to do that. He stood and limbered up for a moment, feeling a pull in each of his ligaments. He smiled, it was time to go for a hunt. He looked around the place he had awoken, it was still pretty green considering the state of the season. there would be plenty of prey rummaging about looking for food to keep themselves alive during the winter months. They needed to stay alive so they could keep him alive. He was used to eating a few squirrels a day at least, the winter would probably end up slimming him down a few pounds. For now though, he was enjoying the plentiful food. His first thought was to go down to the river, surely there was some type of prey animal looking to get a drink. He lifted his head to test the scent of water on the air, he was still not as familiar with the land as he could be. Where ever he was going it was fast, so he didn't catch a whole lot. Today though, he would catch a glimpse of his future. He smelled her before he saw her, but he was quick to catch glimpse of her. Pale coat and light azure eyes she was built thin. She also looked very young. He was curious about her, he saw no threat in her so approached. He put a smile on his face, but as he drew closer he became more concerned. She was thin, thinner than he'd seen a wolf in a while. She was also crying. He whined in her direction, unsure of what he should say. He was just some stranger that had come out of nowhere. He couldn't help himself though, she was so young. "Little moth why are you all alone?" The concern in his voice rang true. He was so confused as to why the young she wolf was not being cared for by her parents. speech,

{ Shades } Tears were free-falling down Shade's face, and she made no attempt to stop them. There was no one to see her tears anyways. All of her family and friends were dead, killed by the volcano eruption that she just barely escaped. She had survived by following the diaspora of Alacritian wolves she'd come across. Keeping her distance, she split from the group as soon as a new, safe land had been found. But now she was regretting setting off on her own. Her heart broke as she thought of her deceased pack. She remembered running with all of them away from the lava until, one by one, she pulled ahead of them. Then, reaching momentary safety, she turned around to see where they were and saw only a wall of fire. Now, she wished she hadn't run so fast. Now, she resented all the praise she had received for possessing such speed. Now, she wished she had died in the lava with her family, instead of suffering this slow death of hunger and sadness. She heard a whine and jumped, her eyes darting over to a black and white male not far from her. Immediately, her ears pulled back, and she shook her head to rid her face of tears. "Little moth why are you all alone?" were the male's first words to her. A bittersweet feeling rose up in her chest, sad that she was alone, yet overjoyed that someone had stopped to help her. Though wary of strangers, the longing in Shade's heart for companionship and food reached out towards the male. Though her posture was unfriendly, her eyes begged the stranger to stay. "Everybody's dead," Shades stated, surprised by the vulnerable, cracky tone to her voice. Her eyes didn't fill with tears again, but her face was hung with hopelessness.

Kypsis took in everything the female would give him, mostly because it was't much to go by. She was being so contradicting he was't even quite sure of what to do. Her eyes were begging him to swoop in and rescue her. Her body language on the other had told him to stay as far away as he could. After seeing her tears though he highly suspected that she was in need. Her voice only proved his suspicion. It cracked with disuse and despair, his heart broke for the young she wolf. "Everyone's dead," to tell the truth Kypsis was not even sure how she had made it this long, her fur was starting to lose its luster and her soul had lost hope. Kyp really had no idea why he was so concerned with her, but the sight of her tears was burned into the back of his head. There was one thing he knew, it was that he didn't want her to suffer again. No one deserved losing everyone they knew. He wasn't sure how it happened, but he wasn't ready to ask such a question to her yet. it would be more important to get her cleaned up and fed. The only problem was she probably wouldn't let him touch her yet. "I am still very much alive," he said more for himself than to her, "My name is Kypsis, would you like to come and hunt with me? Two sets of teeth are better than one." He smiled sweetly at her, hoping she would take him up on the offer. He had scented a herd of does on the way to the water. He hadn't thought about catching one by himself, but if he and the she wolf teamed up they would easily bring it down. Neither of them would be hungry for days speech,

{ Shades } "I am still very much alive." Shades took a deep breath through her nose and slowly let it out, her eyes drifting from the male down to the water's edge. She stayed silent for a few moments, slowly pulling air in and out of her lungs, quietly struggling to keep her eyes from filling with tears again. She didn't really care that he was alive. He wasn't her family, he was a stranger, a stranger who's life or death would never have mattered to her. She knew she wasn't the only wolf alive, she knew there were others out there who could potentially help her, but these wolves could also potentially harm her, or not care enough to help her. She didn't need to be reassured that someone could help her, she just needed to be helped. "My name is Kypsis, would you like to come and hunt with me? Two sets of teeth are better than one." "Yes." Shades voice almost cut off the end of the stranger's sentence. She was looking back up at the male, her eyes brightening at the offer of food. He was larger than her, older, wiser, and definitely a better hunter, judging by his healthy appearance. There was still a possibility this male could harm her, but she knew that, without food, her death was close at hand. Salivating, she popped to her feet, her lean muscles tensed as though ready to pounce on a meal at that very moment. "Speech." "Thought."

She was quick in her reply to his quick question. He figured she would have been pretty ready to hunt, but her enthusiasm slightly surprised him. It really shouldn't have though, he thought as he looked at her once over again. She was much slimmer than he had noticed when he first came across her, and he wasn't sure but it even looked like her fur might have been losing some of its luster. It made him sad to see her, his heart was breaking for her and he had only known her moments. He wasn't sure what brought him to her, but he was glad that he'd found her. Who knew the number of wolves that could have come across her, he felt so protective and he didn't even know her name. He could see the saliva starting to form at her lips so he was almost as eager as she was to get food into her belly. "Well then, lets be off my dear," His smile widened at the excitement of hunting, "What is your name young she wolf?" He asked as he turned to trot towards the deer he had seen earlier. "If we're going to take down a doe we'll need to work together." He moved his body quickly away from the body of water and back towards his earlier napping place. He signaled her to follow him back whence he came. They would be able to discuss the strategy on the way. Kypsis would lay in ambush while she herded the deer in his direction. He would jump at its throat while she came up the rear to provide back up. Sounded like a good plan to him. He tried to keep his smile on for her. He really had no idea what was going on in her life or her past but he knew of her future. They were going to catch this deer. After that, well she could do what ever she wanted. He would probably just keep running. Speaking of, he was unsure of the pace he was going. Would she be able to keep up with his quick paws..?

{ Shades } The compassion in Kypsis' eyes made Shades uneasy, and her posture lost some of it's fervor. Her eyes lost their sparkle as she averted her gaze and lowered her ears back to the sides of her head. "Well then, lets be off my dear," Kypsis said to her, and she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, agitated by the phrase "my dear". "What is your name young she wolf? If we're going to take down a doe we'll need to work together." Shades hesitated for a few moments before finally lifting her head to answer him. "Shades," she stated blankly, following Kypsis as he turned and walked away. His pace soon picked up, and she had to push herself a little to make-up for her smaller frame and shorter stride. But, although she was smaller, she did have long legs and an innate speed, so she didn't have much trouble keeping up with him.

(( OOC: Excuse my lack of Shades muse. :/ ))

He was quite impressed with the little she wolf's speed. Also kind of relieved because he would have felt bad if he had accidentally left her behind. It was also a relief to finally have something to call her. Although it was a bit of a odd name and quite unique. "Shades, that's pretty." He said to try the name out, "What I'm thinking we do is have you herd them while I sit and wait. They'll come towards me and I'll go for a kill shot. You will come up behind and help me get it on the ground." After that it would be no problem ending its life. He smiled, in no time they would be having the meal of the month. He let his eyes glance back towards her, noting the relative ease she held his gait. Maybe he'd get to race her one day, at least if she made it through the winter.