Ugh, labor pains...

He would be agile one day, made for hunting and war, she could already see the makings of such in his determination and will. Lurid smiled gently at the pup as he attempted to follow, genuine affection on full display. She did not hold back her love as her own dark parents had, instead she gave it freely to those she was fond of, and Kichi was soon to be her son.  It had been decided the moment she had seen him in that deep den in the gorge. She waved her glittering tail, the fur seeming to shimmer and sparkle as she gave the stormy boy a kiss once again. "We are going for big game. It is too dangerous. Have no fear, tiny hunter, one day we will teach you." She meant her promise, though she made it seem as though she included his parents. Nefarious plans saw her part ways with the small lad for the moment, leaving him with a smile and hope. Lurid caught up to the boy's bearers, giving them a reassuring grin and nod as they asked if he had been okay with staying behind.

Smiling, she urged the two on, explaining their quarry had just moved north, to enjoy the brief summer. Elk would be on the menu, she explained to them in detail her plan to get one. It seemed like a true hunting trip, until the moment of the takedown. The bull elk was thrashing wildly by this point, nearly on the ground with exhaustion. Lurid stood panting and waiting for the right moment to strike. It was when Kichi's father ran passed her to finish the elk, Lurid stuck out her hind paw to trip him as she watched the elk sling his thorny crown around. The top tine's points then ran themselves through the spot where his neck connected to the bottom of the male's jaw, curving back to come out of his mouth a bit. The wound was grave and gruesome, and a strangled cry came from both wolves and the elk. Having the female distracted so, and the bull elk held exhausted and weighed down by one body, Lurid was amazed. She ran behind the female as the elk turned to watch her, then rammed her shoulder into the female's rump.

In spectacular fashion, the elk swung his head at the wolf he thought was attacking him and slashed the female's throat with a well-placed, razor-sharp antler. As he swept his head, Lurid charged in and grasped his throat while he was distracted. With a whole-body thrash, she ripped the giant deer's throat enough to make him stop and stare at the one who got the better of him. Kichi's father stared at her as well, and his mother came crawling toward her, choking and crying for her son. The woman bled out, but she held on for Kichi. The father was gone, and the elk on its way, but it was the mother she had one last thing to say anything to. Leaning close to the grey woman's dark ear, she whispered in her cruel, dual-toned voice, "He's mine now..." At this point, the female's blue eyes grew large with pain, fear, and betrayal. She choked out a soft, 'Why?' After which she died, staring aghast at the pale demon. Lurid smiling darkly at her as her light faded, a wicked sounding laugh bubbling up from her. The rush she felt after such a success was akin to being drunk in paradise, but she could not openly gloat about this one. This was one that needed covering.

The demonic queen moved then to find soft earth, digging just enough to cover up the bodies and quickly making small grave markers as though she really cared. The deed had taken her the rest of the day to complete, but it had to be done, for authenticity's sake. Once she finished, she worked on stripping a hind leg from the elk and worked up the best tears she could on the way back to the den they housed Kichi in. By the time she got back, the fur of her cheeks was matted together with still wet tears. She had made sure to limp a bit as she came up to the entrance. It was night by now, and the little one should be in the den sleeping. This was the thought that made her tears genuine. Having to break her little one's heart. "Kichi?" She asked gently, dual vocals sounding thick with tears and sorrow. It was not for the parents that she cried, it was for him, his grief would be real. His heart would truly be broken and she would have to be the one to tell him about his pain. Dropping the elk leg, Lurid waited in her shimmering glory as the moon sat fat above. Her poor baby, hopefully, this would be the only time she would have to kill for him. Oh, how would she tell him? Another soft sob had her, but she cleared the lump in her throat and pulled herself together enough to do what she had to.