Time just kept going by and that fucker wasn't anywhere. No sign, not trace. If they were lucky he went and drowned out at sea. Though, that wouldn't have been entirely fun either. Vesta wouldn't have been fully driven for any kind of revenge really. She had her whole life played perfectly fine without a father up to now, and forever because if they ever found that drunk deadbeat he would still be no father to her. And she'd love toying with him. Suffering was fun. Maybe she knew the feeling maybe not. She felt like her life was great.

Deadbeat... drunk, how ironic. Well, she might have been a deadbeat had she had kids. She'd be a little more responsible than just leaving them in a ditch. If she liked them enough maybe she'd let them stick around. The thought was funny to her when it floated around in her head. She'd made it this far without any mistakes. Or, at least mistakes like that.

Not entirely wasted, but definitely feeling a little fuzzy and woozy, she tried her paw at a hunt. She was practiced in her inebriated state, though not enough today. The weather? The way the sun and stars aligned? Anything but the fact that the drink was the problem. It certainly wasn't that. Her dinner was chased across the plains and into the dense forests, and she'd finally give up once she couldn't tell what was meat and what was tree. The whole world moved in some kind of motion at least enough to where she couldn't tell the difference once she was in here. She sighed a harsh breath, stretching her shoulders with the raise of her neck. She'd have to head back to her camp to keep that booze running through her veins. Summer may have been over, but that was no reason to stop celebrating. Though she wasn't quite sure which way was out. And she may have ended up being stuck here all night until the hangover found her way home.

"Vesta Abraxas"

R equiem was... not a happy wolf. In one fell swoop, it seemed as if the cruel hands of fate or some ill-spun joke of the gods had washed away all that he had worked so hard to build. Like a tsunami wiping a village off the map, everything he had known was gone. Mirovis, the Amarix family, his position of power, Lurid... Everything he had dedicated himself to supporting and serving gone up in smoke. Surely this was by design. No wolf could be so unlucky to have these misfortunes befall them one after the other. It had begun when Lurid fell ill, sick with some affliction that rendered her all but useless. He had stepped up to keep Mirovis in line, to keep the Amarixes together and hold back any who would try to usurp his queen's throne in her vulnerable state. But even he could not hold back the tides forever. One by one, the others left. Some simply disappeared, others tried to assassinate Lurid and take her place. They were swiftly and harshly dealt with, their bodies cold and buried beneath the ice now. But eventually, it was only him and the last ones loyal to Lurid.

W hen the pack challengers came, Requiem knew they had no choice. He sent Lurid away with the remnants of Mirovis to hide until she got better and could return. The possibility of her succumbing to her illness was not even a possibility in the brute's mind. No, she would recover and she would return. That had been half a season ago. Now, Requiem had no clue where Lurid or any of the others were. Mirovis had fallen, all but forgotten, replaced by whatever came next. Once more, he was on his own. Except this time, he had no purpose left to strive for. Aimless and angry, the crimson brute wandered the northern territories looking for any traces of Lurid, but every day he turned up nothing. His fury had claimed the lives of several innocent wolves and a number of prey animals just for something to take the edge off of his rage. Anything he could lash out at to vent the whirlwind of frustration and anger inside of him was a welcome reprieve.

T his early fall evening, that outlet happened to be in the form of a small deer running through the woods from... something. Requiem hadn't seen what was chasing it, but it didn't matter. The predator's natural instincts kicked in and he rushed like crimson lightning to strike the deer in motion, using his size and weight to bring it crashing to the ground with a furious snarl. The deer bellowed in panic, but that sound was swiftly cut off as powerful jaws locked around its throat just beneath its skull, crushing its windpipe and holding its mouth shut so it could do nothing but die in silence. Its legs kicked feebly against the ground. Requiem just shifted his weight to keep it held down, tasting the metallic tang of blood on his tongue while he choked his prey to death. He could have made this quick, but he didn't want it quick. He wanted the deer to suffer and allow him to exert more control over it. When it did finally expire, he dropped the carcass to the ground with a shuddering breath akin to the sigh of pleasure one would make after a night of passion. He rolled his shoulders, flexed his neck from side to side, then carried on trudging through the dark forest. He would need to make camp soon.

P assing through a clearing, the scent of a wolf reached his nostrils. Well, wolf and alcohol. Someone was having a good time it seemed. Argent eyes gleaming in the twilight, Req was considering just leaving the drunken sod alone having just slaked his bloodlust, but it seemed once again fate had other ideas, as the drunk sod in question appeared across the clearing. She was a small light-furred fae, alone from the looks of it and meandering about the woods. Req raised a brow; was she the one that had been hunting that deer? Well, now things were getting interesting... One lust was slaked, but a different sort of hunger was stirring within his core as he eyed her up, watching her from the shadows. She was a petite little thing, pretty and curvy in all the right places. Requiem hadn't bedded anyone in some time, not since Lurid got sick. Perhaps if he was lucky and she was terribly unlucky, that would end tonight. If not... well, killing was always a pleasure of its own. Prowling through the shadows after the intoxicated fae, Requiem studied her movements like a hunter stalking his prey. Only once he got within a few yards of her would he emerge from the brush, silver eyes fixated on her. "Don't you know it's dangerous to walk the forest alone at night? Especially not when you can't walk a straight line," he teased her in his silken tones, approaching slowly towards her with a crooked grin on his lips.


"Requiem" | "Latin"

It must have been a miracle for him that she didn't see him. He was so dark and bright at the same time. One would think he'd be easily noticeable anywhere. But the soulless forest, and her not entirely professional appearance would keep her from doing so until he was out of the shadows. It was easy for her to turn towards him and she couldn't help but smile at his comment. "Sounds like you need some practice then big red." clearly unphased by his presence among her. Maybe she should have been more worried. She knew nothing about this man obviously, but it never hindered her before. She wasn't a weak little girl like most and she showed that proudly in time. She knew what men wanted. Surely there was nothing beyond that.

She barely stumbled, but still enough not to be clear minded. "I feel like I'd recognize you from this last season." Or maybe many seasons before that. Was she ever really celebrating just the solstice at this point in her life? "I'd offer to take you back for a drink but you wouldn't know how to get me home." She rose a brow though, maybe if they could get out of the forest she'd have a better sense of direction. Otherwise she may have been stuck here with this brute all night. Though maybe that wasn't such a bad idea in her mind at least.

"Vesta Abraxas"

R equiem was no stranger to the games faes played. He was experienced in the art of flirtation and seduction, so when this petite woman quipped back at him with a sharp wit and a snarky retort, he was equally unphased yet impressed. A woman who didn’t shy away from a strange brute was someone who appeared equally as familiar with this song and dance as he was. Little did she know what sort of devil she would be dancing with tonight. She made mention of feeling like she would remember him if they had met and Requiem just gave a husky chuckle in reply. "You are correct that this is our first meeting," he responded, still all smiles and charm for the time being. Interacting with a beautiful lady was a pleasure in its own right. Perhaps if he played this game well, it might not be the only pleasure he found tonight. Or if she wasn’t receptive, he supposed he could always kill her. That would also be its own pleasure.

T  he pink-hued fae offered to take him home for a drink, but lamented that he wouldn’t know how to get her back. Req hummed in pensive though. "That is a bit of a problem. And I suppose you don’t recall the way either." It was phrased as a surmising statement, yet the undertone was a pry for information, a test to see just how inebriated she was. If she didn’t remember her way home, perhaps it would be easy to abscond with her for a little private fun time. "How about my place instead?"  Requiem gestured back into the woods with a flick of his head and a gentle wag of his tail. "I just brought down a decent-sized buck a little ways back, and I have some summer mead stashed away in a nearby den. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share some dinner and drinks with you." The bait was set. Would this lovely little morsel continue to play coy and shy, or would she be the type to jump in feet first with a veritable stranger?


"Requiem" | "Latin"