Once in a lifetime

When the Long Night had descended upon the world, Kane had been the only one to not immediately see it as an ill omen. His tribe had worshipped the stars, moon, and universe, so the increased amount of nighttime to unveil the glory of the celestial heavens had been welcomed by the tribal brute. He spent almost all of his time reveling and singing to the moon, basking in the ethereal midnight. But as the world began to shift down into a helter-skelter of madness and horror, the beauty of the night that Kane had been so eager for took on a sour taste. He saw his friends and family fall to the strange sicknesses one by one, and thankfully Tamsyn hadn't been afflicted, but seeing each of her children and his pack mates take ill had brought him distress and worry.

As the night stretched on, Kane began to avoid going out into his beloved night in favor of tending to the castle and the sick with Gwynevere and Syanna. He began to burn bundles of sage and lavender—cleansing herbs to ward off evil spirits and bring positive energy into their home—and wandering the halls spreading the incense in an attempt to heal the pack spiritually. He could feel the shift of the world; the crossing of the ethereal realm of the dead with the world of the living. Things were strange and unnatural, and he had to do all he could to protect those he loved. He spent much of his time with Tamsyn, venturing out with her to hunt and explore the changing land, though they never went too far in the dark. Kane continued to gather up any rare herbs he could find to work into his project, his goals still unchanged from the day he'd arrived in Auster. They had merely been postponed.

After a successful evening hunt, Kane had caught and dragged a large wild boar back into the Carpathian castle with Tamsyn at his side, taking it down into the coolness of the food larders for storing and butchering. The dire brute gave a deep chuckle while Tamsyn praised his hunting skills, flashing a wide smile through saber fangs to her. "It's not the size of the trap, but how you use it, my little blackbird," he replied in his husky tones, giving her a wink while they crossed back into the great hall, brushing along the side of her thigh with his bushy tail. "I've seen prey twice my size brought down with the right application of a stick and a few plants, and I've seen the most elaborate traps fail to stop a rabbit. It's all about knowing your prey inside and out."

"Kaneonuskatew"