Take from One, Give to the Other

The grey fea made her way through the tall, draping willows. It was chilly out in the afternoon light, a slight breeze passing through the lands with Fall's touch. Winter was soon to approach, but Tessi had done what she could to make sure her body was ready for it. Eating every chance she'd gotten during the falling half of Summer in an attempt to build up some fat in her body to protect against the coming cold. A few extra pounds could always serve a wolf well in the scarcer seasons. Of course, it fit her nature as well. She couldn't afford to lose her edge. Not just because it was cold outside. Not in a world so dark and cruel and unforgiving as this one. No. Not with all the demons she had to run from. Which, here in this land, that was essentially all she had left to run from. Her own demons. Here, no one knew who she was, and no one knew about her past. Here, everything about her was nothing more than a riddle in the dark. But that was never enough to change such learned behaviors as hers.

Something you've known from pup hood was hard to cast aside. Her guard was always up to a degree. That was clear enough to the keen eye in the way she walked. A steady pace, not too fast as to give off being in a hurry and be noticeable. But not too slow ether. She had somewhere to be and she wanted to be there. Because trouble was less likely to find you when you found somewhere for your ass to be. And right now that was underneath cluster of willow branches on the pond at the center of the woods. This stride was second nature at this point. Something she could do on demand with out the first thought or pinch of effort. And every now and again as she walked, she would look over her shoulder, a neutral expression on her face. Her two toned gaze scanning her angles every so often. And as she did so, even though the rest of her did it's best to remain neutral, her eyes always remained the same.

Angry. Ever and always, angry. It was better that way. It was all just better living his way. Because if you never believed you where safe, you couldn't be hurt with the disappointment of that safety coming to an end. If you didn't trust, then no one could break your trust. And if you didn't have allies, no one could stab you in the back. It was a bitch of a concept to look at, but survival ain't pretty at it's more basic levels. And Tessi had retreated back to one of those levels. Forget being happy. She wasn't in the mood to be happy. Right now her only concern was being alive tomorrow.

And so, with no catastrophic disasters, she arrived at the pond. She'd slept here once or twice before, and something about the spot put her at a state of ease. So, at one corner of the water, she hopped up onto a large rock half submerged in the water, and worn smooth and flat at the top, with long willow branches draped over it, and checked her angles once more. Finally, she lowered herself to her belly, resting her head on her paws as she laid out. Her eyes remained open, and her ears up and alert though. It was always like this with her. She wouldn't give into sleep so easily. Not until she was certain she could. No one had challenged her for her little corner of quiet so far. But she refused to allow that to give way to complacency. Such was her way. Everyone in this world wanted to take what you had, and the day you gave up some slack, you got hung with it.