It was Umbra who had decided their course today. Since her captor had disappeared on her - assumed dead - Azariah had been trying to cope with freedom. She now had too much of it after two years of captivity. How would she ever gain her life back? Lucifer had been the only one she had, while he was cruel he also provided her meals for her and made sure she was well kept. The raven companion of Azariah called to gain the masked woman's attention, pointing out a mound of bones in the distance. The cracked earth here seemed to give no life, mostly due to the lava that ran beneath the surface of the rock. Carrion would have to do. There was nothing else for her and the bird she traveled with, having never learned to hunt even though the demonic king had promised to teach her, he had disappeared from her though and she hadn't been able to find him anywhere. Now, she had to learn how to hunt for herself.

Walk. "Talk." Think. "Umbra."

Art by MONSTER

the mountain regions were beautiful in these lands, but Benedict knew that most of the beauty came from the unclaimed status of them. as a loner, he wasn't privy to the loveliness that came with pack territory; all the good spots were usually swiped up before a loner could settle. no matter, he thought, with a shake of his thick neck fur. it wasn't like he had a place in mind anyway. wandering was nice until his paws ached. then he had to stop for a bit. hunt. find shelter. settle for the night and then move on again. this time he'd find his way toward another stranger.

bending over the remnants of a corpse, no less. he'd approach her, though kept his distance in case she was in a foul mood. he noticed she seemed a bit shrunken. "are ye hungry?" he'd ask softly, tilting his head. "I can... hunt for ye if you like." though whether he'd be fruitful was unknown. he hadn't tried hunting since he got here, surviving mostly on carrion himself or the good efforts of kind strangers. he'd stand before the woman now, head held high with no reason to avert his gaze or appear outwardly suspicious. he was calm and collected as usual, with no aggression shown to her.

The soft whisper of paw padding against dry earth alerted Azariah to the approach of another. Umbra had been shoulders deep in the corpse of an unlucky doe, too hungry to play lookout for the faerie queen. She had been made a queen, after all. Lucifer had made her so, and she would keep her secret crown. The skull mask she wore belonged to a king, her father, and she wore it now as a proud display of her grief and heritage. Her belled collar tinkled softly as she turned to peer at the stranger with blood red eyes through the empty sockets of her father's skull. His words struck her then, and her dark ears perked at his kindness. "I am eating death...though it is rotten and unfulfilling." Her voice was sweet, but there were mournful undertones that suggested she thought the meal would have tasted better somehow.

"Um...we can both go hunt? I have never done it before..." She wasn't afraid to admit her faults, though she did know how to kill. With an uneasy breath, Azariah gave a strange grin that betrayed her uneasiness. Perhaps, she had shared too much. Was it even okay to tell a stranger you didn't know how to hunt? It was too late now, she supposed.

WORDS TALK THOUGHT

he hadn't offended her, which was good. Benedict merely smiled softly at her admittance she didn't know how. "s' easy once ye get the hang of it" he assured her with a bob of his head. "I can teach ye a bit" he would feel terrible if he just left her without the meanings to support herself. but it there a rough start to any skill, he supposed. approaching slowly, he'd keep the space between them as he lowered himself to the ground. his muscles groaned as he went to his hunter's crouch, still listless from travel but gladdened to have something to occupy his time with. "before we find prey, we can practice this." he offered her, smelling the deceased doe and finding its way past suitable consumption.

"it's a hunter's crouch" he said this clearly despite his deep tone "n' if you do it right, you can transition to a good run to gain speed" demonstrating, he'd move slowly along the earth as if stalking invisible prey. suddenly he jumped into a running position, his muscles making the move easier than he thought they would as he switched to a short burst of walking. turning back to the woman, he'd chuckle. "why don't ye try?" it wouldn't do to go stomping around the foliage if she didn't know how to crouch down to hide from prey and the wind's direction. they'd scare every piece of food for miles.

Azariah listened as the stranger offered to teach her how to hunt, her skull capped head tilting just-so at her confusion. Why would someone be so kind? Was that common around here, had she run into the wrong wolf first? Did they not all eat each other as Lucifer had? She stayed quietly accepting of the help, her friends urging her to learn more. 'What harm could there be? You can defend yourself if you have to.' The young witch watched as the male took his position close to the ground. Beneath her mask, a dark eyebrow raised. Umbra crowed softly to her, urging her to do what he said.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Azariah's bell collar gave a small ring as her paws silently carried her close to the male. Lowering her frame, her nimble body moving easily into a delicate stance that spoke of grace and speed. "Like this?" Moving forward as he had, her gait smooth enough to silence the bell at her neck, she pretended to stalk something. Her lithe body moved fluidly as she eyed invisible prey, then broke into a sudden sprint that was blistering in its speed. Her bell rang wildly as she did so, which would probably add panic to her sudden assault, but there was hardly a solid sound from her paws. Only a soft pad of paw against earth could be heard, as if she were a ghost floating across the earth instead of touching it. She banked her body to the left and circled around, slowing to a trot then a stop before the stranger. "Was that okay? I normally hold my bell when I run, but I can't catch anything with my mouth full..." She admitted this with a shy duck of her head, not quite sure what to do about such a special trinket.

Walk. "Talk." Think. "Umbra."

Art by MONSTER