They Have Hunger In Their Eyes

Callie finds the humdrum day to day workings of what her parents and the castle wolves do to be extremely boring. The plains and the grove beyond are of far more interesting to her than the complicated rules of something called ‘manners’. Pleases, thank yous, and all that jazz are difficult for the young girl to remember and, now that her parents are trying to squish her tendency to want to bite everything, she cannot help but feel like a stranger inside the walls of the castle. At least, out here, under the maple trees that give way to fruit laden bushes, the young Carpathius pup is able to feel like she can truly be herself.

The bright summer day is a welcome sight to the small pup and she quickly moves along, eager to enjoy every moment of it to the fullest. Since Kipling has made it clear that he does not need her help, Caladia has begun to hang back more often and allow him to go do what he wishes… without her. The thought of her brother, who the pup adores with all her heart, not wanting her around makes the girl sad but, out here, away from it all, she tries not to let it dampen the joy of her day. The ground is soft underneath her small paws and the girl silently pads along, ready to feast on the berry bushes at the end of her trek when, suddenly, her right front paw steps into a puddle of something moist and sticky.

Shrinking back, the pup casts her eyes down to find out what exactly, she has on her paws and, what she finds in front of her, is a slowly concealing puddle of bright red blood. Mismatched eyes dart around, trying to figure out what left it but finds no evidence of wounded animals nearby. Stepping back up to the edge of the pool, Callie leans down and pulls the scent into her nostrils, hoping to try and identify the animal that left it. Immediately the memory of rabbits springs to the forefront of her mind and the pup is confident in her assumption that something wounded one but the creature managed to scurry away. Those little guys can be very fast.

Skirting the drying puddle, Caladia moves to resume her journey when another problem suddenly appears. Three coyotes are in her way and they move toward her, their eyes wide with hunger and lips pulled back to reveal their pearly whites. Now, they may be smaller than a wolf but, to a young pup barely a season old, these guys are huge. Tail tucks as the hodgepodge colored girl backpedals, attempting to put some distance between her and the hungry creatures. Pain suddenly flares to life along her scruff and the small pup does the only thing she knows how to do; she screams.

Small lungs push the air out in a series of loud, piercing wails that fill the forest and startle her would-be attacker. The pain and pressure subside and Callie quickly darts away, moving to put a tree behind her so that they do not take her by surprise again. Facing the group of four, she bunches up her scruff and sets the defense she remembers before baring her teeth at them. The creatures seem thin and more than a little desperate as they slowly converge on the pup, seeing her as a meal and nothing more. Panic flares in the girl’s chest and she suddenly releases a pleading howl for help.

Silva drips from the coyotes mouths as they stalk forward and the girl silently hopes that help will be here soon.



WC: 613
Total WC: 613 / 1500


"Caladia Carpathius"