She sneered at the pitiful creature on the ground. How easily the icy demon had caught it. It was a man, he looked old. A dark brown coat. She had simply taken him by surprise. He wasn't quite dead yet. She liked to savour the pleasure of the kill. Watch the light slowly fade from their eyes. He whined, begging for his life. She grinned at him. Blood trickled from his throat, where she had punctured it. She had broken his leg with her jaws, making sure he wouldn't escape. She looked to him, pitiful man. She leaned down to him, and grabbed his neck in her jaws. She bit down as hard as she could, bones crunched, and crimson liquid filled her mouth. Oh how she longed to taste it again, but she never would. The light left his eyes almost instantly and she threw his body back down. Crimson staining her immaculate pelt of white, a dark red. She sauntered away from the body, not giving anymore of her precious time to him. She would walk up to the top of a short hill. She could see quite far in every direction. But the man was in her sights. She didn't want to lay eyes on him. She walked away stopping to sit at the bottom of a smaller knoll. The ice queen would hold her head high, in a regal stance. Even though she felt more like a slave than a queen. But it was in her blood. She was destined for greatness. People were just too blind to see it. Speech, Thought, Others,

Qanik trotted amongst the hills, her mind more occupied with the thought of finding food than her surroundings. The buffalo held no interest for her - a single wolf, even one as sturdy and experienced as she was, simply could not take down a bison alone. Instead she was searching for smaller game; rabbits, mice, birds. Anything that would be an easy catch but could fill her belly. Ears rotated like radar dishes, moving independently to try to catch every little sound that could lead her to a tasty morsel. Nose twitched as it sampled and categorized the scents on the wind. But the sound coming toward her now was no rodent, but the whining call of a wolf in distress, a pitiful plead for mercy. The scent of blood on the wind, too much blood. Qanik threw up her head, all attention focused on the anomaly, dark blue gaze fierce. All protective instincts flared, sending her in a headlong rush in the direction of the call. She slowed just out of sight, experience trumping instinct in this case. It would do no one any good for her to run right into a trap and find herself in the same situation this other poor soul was in. Instead she crept forward, as fast a pace as she could manage in a quiet crouch. Her caution was for naught, though, for as soon as she came in sight she knew she had been too late before she even started. A limp brown body, the snow around him stained far too dark for him to still be alive. Qanik slumped a little, disheartened by her failed rescue, before cautiously moving forward once more to examine the body. She was a warrior, tried in battle and experienced in blood, but her stomach still turned at the sight. The murderer must still be nearby. The body was quite newly dead, leaving another wolf not long to escape. And another wolf it was, judging by the wounds that had killed him. A snarl creased her muzzle. Murder was what this was, plain and simple. Her nose twitched once more, seeking the trail of the killer. Why, she could not fully say. To confront the murderer, and what exactly? Bring them to justice? Exact revenge for the death of a complete stranger? She wasn't sure, she knew only that she needed to. Her intense blue gaze swung around. There, pawprints in the snow, the scent of blood and the wolf-scent that was all around the body. The white female followed the trail up the short hill, and her gaze traveled down the other side to catch on the crimson-stained white wolf at the base. Her fur bristled, and she let out a short, challenging bark to catch the murderer's attention. Speech,

The icy queen smiled as the other female's bark reached sensitive auds. She looked to her, a pelt of white like hers, but blue eyes. Well that didn't take long A grin spread over crimson stained lips. She cocked her head to the side, almost asking What are you going to do about it you bitch? She remained seated. Golden pools drilling into her. The icy bitch hoped she was unhinged, god she thought it was bad for him. She hadn't even been able to taste his flesh. A delicate paw was raised and Illja made a beckoning motion with it. Telling the woman to come closer. She felt liked screaming, I don't bite! Sometimes she wondered if this woman had a death wish too. Speech,

The killer's head swung around, gaze fixing on Qanik's, and Qanik saw a smile spread over that blood-stained maw. The other female seemed to be mocking her, silently but still expressively. Qanik glared back at her from the top of the small hill. Then a paw came up, an obvious invitation to join her if ever she saw one. Qanik narrowed her eyes consideringly, but what other choice did she have? Turn around and walk away? No, that was no choice at all. She stalked down the slope, coming to a stop a short distance from the other wolf, and surveyed her. Her ears came forward and her tail raised aggressively, and Qanik drew herself up to her less-than-impressive, but by no means inconsiderable height, but she made no move to attack. Everything about this yellow-eyed white wolf screamed that something was seriously wrong with her, and the blood staining the white pelt was an obvious sign that she'd killed the poor male on the other side of the hill and her face showed absolutely no regret for it, but it was not in Qanik to simply attack anymore than it was in her to just walk away - she had to know. You killed that wolf over there? she growled, the question coming out in a deep husky voice. Without waiting for an answer, for the answer was obvious, she continued. Why? Speech,

Illja

As the fae walked over Illja wanted to laugh. Laugh in glee. His life had been so easy to take. The female spoke up You killed that wolf over there? Why? she pasted mock horror on her face, and gestured to herself, then shook her head. Almost in a sort of me? Never but quickly that expression was replaced by another grin. And the woman shrugged, for the hell of it. The woman probably enjoyed walking or something, whereas she, preferred murder and sex. They were just simply different people. Murder was fine in her eyes. She sought out the dame's reaction. She was a rather good looking beauty. She certainly wouldn't mind to see her sometime again.

Qanik's brow wrinkled in frustrated confusion at the other wolf's strange motions. They made it even more obvious that the yellow-eyed female was mocking her. The question was, could she actually not speak or was she just taunting Qanik with her silence as well? The impression Qanik got from the motions was that the woman was truly unrepentant of her deed, and didn't seem to have a reason for having done it. It wasn't the first time Qanik had faced such a wolf, a wolf that enjoyed killing for the sake of killing, but it had always been with her pack at her side and the alpha making all the decisions. Qanik's father had called them psychopaths, and had not hesitated to remove them from the territory by force - usually killing them in the process. But Qanik did not feel comfortable making such a decision for herself. It would be easy to make the decision to kill; harder was the decision to not allow herself to fall into that trap. She was angry, upset at the wolf's cavalier attitude toward her misdeed, and wanted nothing more than to close her jaws over the female's throat and forever end the threat she represented, but it would be wrong. My old pack would have killed you already for what you've done, she told the other wolf, her voice deep and husky. She studied the wolf, wondering what she would say to that, or if she could even say anything at all, before continuing. But I refuse to be like people like you. Speech,

Seriously what was this woman's problem? He was old and he would die soon anyway. Plus, her face was a very, very pretty last sight. So she had really been doing him a favour. Why was the woman acting like such a goody-two-shoes anyway. It wasn't her problem. She didn't even know him. Probably. My old pack would have killed you already for what you've done. But I refuse to be like people like you. well what was the point in telling her that, if she didn't want to sink to her level. She stood, and looked at the woman. Letting her defenses down, almost saying Go on, hit me. I'm a murderer, give me what I deserve. Let the evil out. Everyone has it in them still staring seeing if the woman would make a move. Speech, Thought, Others,

Maybe this was weakness. Certainly some members of her family would have said so. But no matter how great the urge to wipe the smugness off that muzzle, she knew it would be wrong to kill in cold blood. To protect the life of another wolf, to protect her pack, yes. But for revenge, no. Part of her felt that if she started down that road, she'd never have the strength to stop. So when the other woman let down all her defenses, staring challengingly at her, Qanik just shook her head regretfully. Did this wolf want to die? I don't know your history, she told the female. I don't even know your name. To attack you now, what does that accomplish? Blue gaze didn't waver from the other wolf's golden eyes, trying to assure her of Qanik's sincerity. You don't need to be this way. Her voice lowered, intent. Just let me help you. It was in her nature to want to help people, to want to fix things and make them better. As much as she'd like nothing more than to shred the wolf's ears for what she'd done, she couldn't allow herself to. Speech,

Illja

She sighed at the woman's comment, she was beyond help. She had was broken, but she couldn't be fixed. It was sad really. She was so young and so delicate, yet so twisted and sick. She had fallen from her wall, but she couldn't be put back together again. She looked to the woman the sincerity in her eyes real. But she couldn't change. Illja just shook her head, a solemn look on her face. She wanted to be fixed she really did. But it wasn't possible. She was beyond repair. She just stood there. She was freaking exhausted, all adrenaline from the kill gone. She tipped her head back and yawned. She wanted to sleep. As soon as the woman realized that it was hopeless and left, she would do exactly that.

Qanik shook her head, one shark jerk of frustration. She couldn't understand the woman's attitude toward her own actions, simply could not fathom the depth of the issues that would allow someone to kill for pleasure, to simply not want to stop killing. But the most troubling part was, she could see it would be all too easy for Qanik herself to fall into that trap. Already her jaw clenched in aggravation, wanting to take her frustration with this other woman out on her hide. Part of her was saying that the woman deserved to be beaten and broken for what she had done, for what she would keep doing in the future if she wasn't stopped. Qanik growled and began to pace in agitation. I don't understand you, she told the gold-eyed bitch sharply. I can't understand why you would have killed him. I don't understand why you don't even care. She snapped her jaws once in frustration. Do you ever talk? Speech,

The woman was clearly frustrated, clenching her jaws and pacing. Then the freaking question about her speaking came. She sighed. God it was so fucking annoying. She looked at the woman, wanting to see her reaction. And opened her maw wide. Showing the horrid, scarred stump that was all that was left of her tongue. She would allow her a short look at it, before snapping her jaws shut again. At least it didn't hurt anymore, the first few days were a living hell. The pain was all she could think about. She had wanted to die. But she was not that weak. But no one would ever hear her rich accent again, hear her way with words, hear her opinion. She was nothing, she might as well be dead. She waited to see what the white dame would say. Speech, Thought, Others,

The sight of the other female's mangled muzzle stopped Qanik in her tracks. The blue eyes narrowed, focused intently until Illja closed her mouth, then the intense gaze moved to the golden one. The fur on her shoulders had bristled. How could anyone do that to another wolf? she growled, the words spoken to herself as much as to the mute wolf. What purpose, no matter the crime, could there possibly be to take a creature's ability to communicate? A clean kill if the crime warranted it, yes, but this mauling was nothing short of torture. White fur rippled once in agitation before Qanik calmed again. She was not so foolish as to have not known that there were packs who meted out such punishments, though she didn't know if this maiming had been such a punishment, but to her anyone who would do such a thing was as much a criminal as the one they sought to punish, and should be stopped immediately, without hesitation. A growl rumbled in her chest again. Speech,