When the sun rose, the girl would retreat back to the gorge and take refuge, scurrying her way into the nooks and crannies that would conceal her from the light of day, but now, under the cover of night, well, it felt a bit safer to come out.

The tiny wolf travelled with twitching movements. Pause, ear flick, sniff, scurry, pause and repeat. Her head had to crane to see over the grass of the basin, her green markings offering her further camouflage in this place under the cover of night. Only the gentle rustling of grass and fleeing insects and small rodents could possibly give her away. Speaking of... her stomach gave a grumble and she attempted a poorly planned pounce, catching a clump of moss where she had hoped to find a mouse.

“Motherfucker.”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

He was relearning how to walk. After spending nearly two seasons trapped in a den, he was ready to get out in the world. Both of his hind legs were strapped with tourniquets so he hobbled more than anything. Thankfully his front legs were free to move but nothing like they used to. No longer could he move, run, jump, and pounce. Hunting was not an option. The thrill of the chase was so far out of reach he felt the fury build up in him every time he thought of it. Every morning he woke, it felt as if something else went wrong. Life was just shitty, wasn't it? Feeling more than pissed, Ghoul wandered the basin. His ruby eyes scanned the grass as he kicked at every rock and pebble he passed. While he spent most days with Mac nursing his and Mac's wounds, he needed fresh air for today. He would get plenty of it until he heard a scurry of little feet scrambling through the grass. Looking down between his paws, he watched as a mouse zoomed past. Ghoul's browed furrowed since he hadn't seen a hawk or any sort of predatory bird swoop down. So what was going after the little rodent? Glancing around as the mouse ran past his legs, he saw a glimpse of vibrant green a few feet away. The whisper of mother fucker on the breeze almost made him chuckle. When he scented the wind, it smelled like wolf but what wolf would waste their time hunting a mouse? His curiosity, what of it there was, got the better of him and he approached. "Oh," Ghoul said quietly as he spied the very small wolf. "Trouble getting a snack?" He mused with a smirk on his lips as he continued to get closer to the girl. Not that he was making fun of her... more like he understood her struggles.

The girl startled at the sound of a voice, she'd been too busy muttering curses under her breath and scratching at the thatches of grass in which mice might nest to notice the looming beast bearing down upon her. Her front legs splayed and dipped low and her head whipped to look over her shoulder, ears back and teeth bared. She wouldn't let her genuine fear show, short fur bristling in warning... for all the good it would do her. He wasn't just big, he was huge... but he also could have stepped on her and snapped her spine for all the attention she was paying so maybe he wasn't going to eat her up in one bite... yet.

Cricket swung her back end around, the movement rapid and twitchy, like a grasshopper jumping off a blade of grass right before a frog managed to munch it down. Her expression morphed from fierce to sour, a distrusting look clear on her face. Now that she could see the other wolf, she realised he wasn't exactly in the best shape either. Her ears unfolded from the flat of her neck, curiosity quickly taking hold, her expression growing more bland by the second. He smelled like other wolves too, so what was he doing out here? “Whatsittoyer?” she shot back sardonically. “Y'don't look like you could catch much either at the moment.”

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

Ghoul had caught her off guard. He saw it in the way that she shot a look over her shoulder. A chuckle nearly escaped his lips. Stopping short when he saw the fur bristling along her spine, he instinctually lowered his skull closer to her level. Upper lip peeling back in a snarl as she acted in a jittery motion. Nearly becoming dizzy attempting to watch her quick movements, his own fur bristled and shortened tail lifting up over his spine. Itching to snap at her face in retaliation to her behavior, he held back. Who did she think she was anyway? Releasing a forced huff of air in her direction as she spat words toward him, Ghoul fought to not roll his eyes. Yeah, yeah, he was in bad shape. Grinding his teeth together, he lifted his head back up so that he was obviously looming over her. "What's it to you," the boy retaliated with as he turned his nose up at her. "I could at least catch a mouse," Ghoul hissed as he once more showed her his teeth in a snotty way.

The fact that she had seemingly hit a nerve, that he bothered to lift his lip and loom made her back end give a happy wiggle and a grin pull at the corners of her mouth. Most dismissed her, she wasn't much of a threat after all, there wasn't much to her. “I dunnooooo” she taunted in a sing-song voice, slapping the ground with her front paws before springing back up again, “They're pretty fast and you look really slooooow.” Her giggles bordered on hyena-like as she spotted movement behind the larger wolf and to the right.

For a moment she was statue still before leaping into action. It started with a leap, her back legs slipping out from beneath her in the tall dense grasses of the basin, the angry sound of teeth closing on air could be heard as the grass rustled around her. A short squeak and then silence before the girl returned with a fat hare dragging between her front paws. She seemed to contemplate for a moment before dropping it in the space between them, her tail waving proudly at her back. “Y'look like you need this more'n I do.” Besides, it was bigger than she was, there was no way she'd be able to eat it all on her own.

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

Anyone but Ghoul would know that he was a sore fucking loser. So the fact that the girl was pointing out how obvious it was that he possibly couldn't even hunt down a mouse made his insides ripple with an anger he hadn't felt in awhile. Even her happy little wiggle of that tiny body made him want to snatch her up and crush her between his teeth. Ghoul let out another indignant snort as she laughed like a hyena. "You could just fuck off," he hissed under his breath as she bounced over to his side. Flicking one ear in her direction but trying not to obviously pay attention, he held still. There was really nowhere else for him to be anyway so might as well stick around to see if she could actually hunt. If someone couldn't hunt, they weren't worth his time. After some rustling and squeaking, his ruby eyes trailed toward the pipsqueak until she was dropping a hare at his paws. One brow lifted in a curious way as she offered it to him. "I don't need anything," Ghoul respond as he reached a paw out to push it back in her direction. "You're the one who looks starved," he hissed, that annoying smirk returning to his pale lips.

There wasn't much to her, that was for sure and when he offered it back to her she threw herself on the ground in a sploot next to it, hell she'd even met pups that were bigger than she was. The fact this hare had at least 3" on her was just salt in the wound. “An where am I gonna put it huh? As much as I'd rock rabbit ears, leftovers just attract bobcats and coyotes,” She flopped over onto her back, pulling her paws up to her chest dramatically and letting her tongue loll from her mouth, “An' that'd be curtains fer me! Really, you'd be doing me a favour... I don't need much to get by.” Clearly. As she rolled back over again, bits of dried grass sticking out of her coat, she added “I'll take the guts if you insist but you have to promise to finish it for me. I don't wanna be catsnacks.” If he held any genuine concern that should keep him happy, it was the most nutritious part after all.

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

Her behavior was almost as odd as Medusa's. As she splayed out next to the hare, Ghoul looked at her with a furrowed brow. What was the point of sprawling out beside your fresh kill? How weird was this girl after all? Narrowing his ruby gaze, he listened to her talk. Not like he had anything better to do and she was offering him food. How could he say no? Keeping quiet for the moment, he considered how he should respond to her before giving her a roll of his own eyes as she popped back off the ground. "Maybe if you ate more, you'd actually grow," he pursed his lips as he looked away from the toxic green girl down to the bloody hare that lay between them. "I don't do favors but a snack for myself wouldn't hurt," Ghoul finally agreed after a few beats of silence. "You can definitely have all the guts you want," his nose would curl up in disgust at the idea of eating the innards of any animal. Scooting his butt beneath him in an awkward fashion until he was sitting as comfortably as he could manage, Ghoul took the hare back. Efficiently slicing it open until the fur fell from its body, he would slice the stomach open and offer her the insides with a curious gaze. Would she really take them or was she bluffing?

Cricket hadn't had a lot of socialisation as a younger wolf. When she failed to thrive in the same way the rest of her litter had they'd quickly stopped investing time and resources into her, which probably further contributed to her stunted growth. Before she had even hit a whole year old she had been pushed out and attempts to return had been met with teeth. She quickly realised there wasn't much point to hanging around at all. As such, she hadn't had much exposure to things like butchery and so she watched Ghoul work with rapt fascination, “Y don't use yer teeth for that? I don't have to crawl inside a little body cave to get the good bits?!” The girl was practically dancing at this point for the way her paws were tapping the ground excitedly. She hated the way she would have to go and almost drown herself after every meal so she wouldn't smell like a snack for other predators. This was practically a life changing revelation.

As the innards fell to the ground, practically still steaming, the girl dove in, noisily and messily eating up the bits others would probably leave behind. It was not a pretty sight, or a quiet one. By the time she was done, viscera coated her face and chest, her stomach even had a small bulge from the way she had absolutely gorged herself. She gave a big contented sigh and a stretch, she was definitely ready for a nap about now, and she was pretty confident this one didn't want to kill her yet. She sauntered over and curled up against the big guys hip, wrapping her paws around his shortened tail and resting her messy chin on it with a yawn. “Name's Cricket by th' way.” She finally introduced herself groggily. If he didn't stand up, she would probably start to doze in short order.

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

Ghoul wasn't sure if he should be disgusted or amused. The way the tiny girl danced on her toes as she watched him dress the hare was comical if not strange. Yet, he was what some would call friends with Medus and his brother Macabre so strange was normal. And though his claws were not as sharp as a feline's, he had spent many months recuperating in a den with only his caimans and Macabre for company so filing his claws was one of the very few things he was capable of doing. Plus it meant that he could skin a hare without tools or having to carry it back home. Glancing at her as he finished, he raised a brow that clearly stated he was curious. "My brother and I are proficient hunters and have much skill in skinning and stuffing," he mentioned before his jaw dropped a little bit. As the innards hit the ground with a splat, he watched with those bright ruby eyes as the girl dove in. Never in his life had he heard such animalistic noises before. Even his own companions had better manners than that. Once more, Ghoul was unsure if he should be disgusted or amused. Blowing out a breath of air, he waited for the little pipsqueak to finish scarfing down every bit she wanted. Words would not suffice to describe how his stomach currently felt. Really, he was awestruck as he watched the puke-green goblin of a girl stretch and sigh before plopping down against his hip. He hadn't even had a chance to do much else before she was cuddling his own tail like a pillow and introducing herself as Cricket. "Like the bug?" He questioned with another raised brow. Ninety-nine percent of him wanted to stand up and punt the girl across the basin. It was that one percent that kept him still in place. Maybe she would provide useful for something. Releasing his own sigh, Ghoul turned to finish what was left of the hare. "They call me Ghoul," the boy finally adds before digging into his portion of the snack. Ghoul Klein

An ear flick would be the only sign that what he said might have struck a nerve with the girl, for her contented full belly kept a smile readily on her face. “Yeah cos I'm small like one an' twitchy.” It hadn't been her name always, but it was the one they gave her when she failed to grow and her peculiarities came to light.

When he gave his own name in return, her lip curled in a grin wide enough to expose white teeth and she wrapped her paws a little tighter around his short tail just in case he did decide to dump her on the ground. “Y'might look scary like a demon in the right light, but y' don't act like one. I like you Ghoul. What's your pack like?” She tried to hide the tinge of sadness in her voice as she asked, knowing that sooner than later he would have to go back to his home and she'd be out here alone again.

“Speech”

It's time to play the music, It's time to light the lights

Ghoul was in the middle of devouring his portion when the irritated flick of her ear happened. If he had seen it, he probably would have played into it to piss her off. Yet, she would be let off easy this time. Instead, he would finish the hare with nearly all the bones licked clean. Kicking the remnants away from them before settling down, he turned his chin over his shoulder to give her a questioning glance. Small and twitchy like one she said but he wasn’t so convinced. Honestly, she appeared more feral than anything.

A grunt of a laugh leaves his lips as she states he doesn’t act like a demon. “Real demons are not vicious for no reason,” he replies with a curling grin of his own as he reveals his own teeth to her. “I’m not so sure you want to like me,” his voice lowers in pitch as he moves his face closer to her’s. Holding stiff for a moment, he lets out a huff of air before turning his head back to look out across the basin.

“Mm, doesn’t really feel like my pack yet. Not sure if I’ll be kicked out or not, but for the time being the Alpha doesn’t seem to hate me being around,” Ghoul’s shoulders shrug because he’s being honest. Whatever Medusa had planned for the ex-Habari wolves was a mystery even to him. “I can take you there if you want. The Alpha would gladly take a little shit kicker like you in,” he teases as he steals one more glance at the munchkin before resting his chin on his paws.

G H O U L

One eye cracked lazily open as his rumbling voice grew closer, and when he huffed she poked out her tongue and blew a raspberry in response. "Y' can't tell me what to do. An' I don't think you're half as scary as you want me to think you are." She responded, hiding her questioning look back as she wondered if the words she had said even made sense. She thought she did, but a food coma was rapidly approaching.

Black ears tipped forward with more interest as Ghoul spoke of the pack and she fought back the post gorging nap that threatened to swallow her up at any moment. "If y'think they won't run me off, it might be worth a shot..." Her history with packs hadn't quite gone so well to date, but if there was at least one familiar face, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad? "But if you leave, I'm leaving too." She almost pouted around her yawn, darkness creeping in at the edges of her vision.

”Speech”  ’Thought’

it's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights

The raspberry she blew in response got a scowl out of him. Huffing once more as she said she didn't think he was scary, Ghoul made a mental note to work on that. Surely he had grown soft during his days of recovery. He was taking a runt in for fuck's sake. Not bothering to question his motives, Ghoul turned an ear in her direction as she continued to speak. "Nah, Medusa won't run ya off. She's a weirdo like you," he smirks knowing she can't see his facial expression. Again, he was only being honest. Both females were weird but they were weird like his brother and he didn't mind the oddballs. "Yeah, just take a nap and when we get up, we'll get going," he finished as his own eyes closed and a small yawn left him. Before fully falling asleep, he made sure she was tucked as close as possible with his tail as a pillow. No sense in getting her stolen after just promising her a fucking home.

G H O U L