the quick red fox

Despite his new "domesticated pet" status, the call of the Old Blood was a primal urge Nero could deny no longer. He would keep true to his word to Scylla and return to Obscura in time, but the behemoth of a wolf needed to be out in the wilds from time to time to feed his feral beast's innate instincts. He needed to prowl, to roam, to hunt, to kill. So Nero took time to himself to set out and enjoy being part of the land and the food chain once again. His path wandered around the coast of Boreas to the north, then westward until he found himself in a massive forest of oak trees as tall as skyscrapers, reaching with mighty limbs up to the heavens above. It was an impressive sight that made even the gargantuan brute feel small for once—a rare occurrence to be sure.

Giant paws crunched through the fallen fall foliage with heavy steps, careless in his gait. When one was as big a predator as he was, you tended to walk with confidence that nothing could be a threat to you. Even bears were more or less suggestions of danger. But it did make hunting all the more difficult. To his credit, Nero didn't realize he had unintentionally become part of a hunt until he came crunching through some dried brush and found himself face to face with a panicked looking red fox. The pair exchanged surprised looks before the fox took off through the underbrush with a fearful squeak, its small paws darting through the leaves and barely making a sound as it fled from the giant arctic wolf. Nero tipped his head, curious. Something had definitely spooked the critter.

The answer to that unspoken question came a moment later when the barely perceptible sound of more paws coming through the woods and dead leaves caught his attention. From his towering height, Nero easily spotted the two other titanic brutes as they came through the copse of trees, sniffing and sorting through the leaf bed. Ah, so that's what had the fox so spooked... How interesting. Intrigued and feeling that urge to hunt once more, Nero decided to lend a paw to the two strangers. Once they had drawn near, he gave a low huff to catch their attention, wordlessly communicating with a tip of his snout in the direction the fox had fled in. The ancient wolf then lowered his muzzle to the ground, nose burying beneath the leaf litter on the ground and began to snuffle about the ground until he found one of the fox's tracks, grabbing its scent in his nares. Synapses fired in his brain, primordial predatory instincts activating as Nero turned into the baser predator that he was.

Moving with shuffling steps to avoid disturbing the leaves too much, Nero began to follow after the fox, leading the strangers in the direction that he had seen it flee in. It couldn't have gotten too far in the seconds it had been gone. He did not even wish to eat the fox; the other two could share that scrap of a snack if they wished. The gargantuan brute simply wished to hunt and to kill.

WC: 538
Total: 1210 / 1500