Takeshi had ventured out of the Ashen borders to Fern Gulley for reasons unknown to him. The night had drawn him out like a siren’s call, pulling his paws across the expanse of land from his homeland to the now barren landscape. The Ashen Dragon had been there enough to know that, in the summertime, the Gulley flourished with plant and animal life. It was packed with rare herbs that had his grandmother’s silver gaze light up as she gathered then and stashed them in the pack that he’d carried for her, unwilling to let the smaller woman carry them herself. But, in the dead of winter, all signs of this lush life was gone, replaced with fine powdered snow hardly blemished by prints other than his.

The earth sloped on both sides of him as he stared up at the large hills in the distance, watching the way the high moon that threatened to swallow up the star-blinking sky cast glowing highlights on their surfaces. A flash caught his attention not too far away and his glowing red gaze turned to look, barely seeing the silhouette of a rabbit already white with winter fur in the distance. He crouched, prepared to strike, when the rabbit’s head suddenly swung around, looking...directly at him? He felt himself freeze in place. Normally a rabbit would run after immediately seeing him, but it seemed this once had other thoughts in mind. This rabbit was peculiar in other ways as well...you see, it’s eyes seemed to glow a neon purple, rather than the whitish yellow an animal’s did in the light. What the hell?

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

You couldn't kill me if you tried Things had been incredibly strange this season...the night sky seemed to cling longer to the earth than normal, unwilling to relinquish its grip on the world. Plants had started to glow in a similar manner to her, but not as brightly. She was confused as to what was going on, but she also found beauty in it. She had left Valhallan lands a couple of days ago, letting her packmates know she was heading South to explore a bit and see if the phenomenon was happening all over. To her surprise, it was. The young babe carefully and quietly made her way through the Fern Gulley, a place she hadn't been to yet but was just passing through to get to the river that lay somewhere beyond. As was expected, snow dusted the ground here and covered most everything, stifling all the life that grew from the earth. However, upon closer inspection, she noticed that beneath the snow, she could see the faint glow of plant life. Head tilted with curiosity as she approached, wondering if she wanted to risk touching it or not. As she considered it, however, she noticed paw prints in the snow just a few feet from where she was. Curious, Tel scented the air and realized that she most definitely recognized the scent. Takeshi was in the area, and she was of course more than happy to catch up to her horned friend. Quietly, she followed his tracks, though she kept her wits about her just in case there were other creatures creeping in the night. When she saw the soft red glow of his body ahead, she uttered a soft bark to alert him to her presence before approaching his side, though she noticed he seemed to be watching something. "Hello, Takeshi," She murmured a soft greeting before she followed his gaze. She was not prepared for what she saw. A snow-white rabbit seemed to be staring at him. Only...this one didn't behave normally, nor did it look normal to a certain degree. It's eyes glowed neon purple. Something she knew was very unusual for just about any anima. "What's going on...?" WC: 628/2500 "Speak"

For a good few minutes, Takeshi and the odd rabbit just stared at each other. The boy then took a step forward, curious as to what the entity would do, and all it did was twitch a soft, white ear. He took another step, and it twitched the other. The boy watched it’s nose twitch, seemingly curious itself, and he was even more perturbed. The small vermin should be running for it’s tiny life from him, but, instead, it was just standing there oogling him. It almost made him angry. What, now he wasn’t even menacing enough for a freaking rabbit? He’d rip its throat out and teach it that it should have thought more of him.

The Ashen Dragon went to take another step forward, his lips drawing up to a snarl, when, suddenly, a light bark alerted him to the presence of another. He paused, head jerking up and auds twisting in the direction of the sound. The sweet, familiar scent of Tel’Teukiira filled his nose and he saw the gentle glow of her tail illuminate behind her tall, lithe frame. He felt the blush immediately grow beneath his dark fur, sending the bioluminescence on his scales flaring dramatically to life. He coughed, standing up taller and offering the girl a gentlemanly bow in greeting, as he’d been taught.

He watched her pale, reflective eyes focus on the animal now behind him and his attention turned back to it. The rabbit’s glowing purple gaze turned from Tel, to Takeshi, then back to Tel, then it winked. Suddenly, it turned and began hopping off, stopping for a moment to look back at them before hopping away, as if enticing them to follow. He blinked in surprise, turning to look at his company. His brows rose and he gave a gesture toward the rabbit, the question clear in his glowing gaze: ”Want to follow?”

WC: 952/2500

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

She grinned when the boy's scales brightened up, and despite her having her own g̷͑̂ľ̵̌o̵̺͂ẘ̶̀, she was fascinated by the red glowing scales that he had. She had never met a wolf with scales nor glowing bioluminescence on the inside before. He was the first. He gave her a bow, and she dipped her head in turn to him. Maybe he was extra polite because he couldn't talk, but that would be rude of her to ask or even think, right? If he was born that way, it wasn't his fault. Though she couldn't help but wonder what he would sound like if he could talk...the thought was certainly an interesting one for her to think about, and it brought a bit of a smile to her face. Though the possibility of that happening was likely unrealistic, she still couldn't help but entertain the thought.

Both of them focused their attention on the white rabbit, and alien gaze watching as it looked from her, to Takeshi, and back again. She blinked in surprise when it winked at them, a small gasp of surprise slipping past her lips. Almost immediately, the rabbit turned and hopped away, pausing to turn and look at them before continuing on. That was...strange behavior from a rabbit, wasn't it? Normally they bolted at the sight of wolves...but not this one.

She glanced at Takeshi, noting his gesture and recognizing the look in his eyes. She nodded, tail briefly wagging as she started forward, tail flicking gently against his side. She was curious as to where the rabbit was going and what it wanted. "What do you think it wants?" She asked in a whisper. That is...assuming it wanted anything from them. Her mind started to turn a bunch of scenarios in her head about this rabbit. What if it led them to a trap? Was the rabbit capable of that? She doubted that...rabbits were innocent creatures. Maybe it just wanted to show them something interesting...

WC: 1,282/2,500
"Tel'Teukiira"

Tel’tukiira, thankfully, seemed to understand his intentions through his motions. She was a perceptive girl, intelligent behind her odd silver gaze and he continuously found himself appreciating her...in more ways than one. It was an odd feeling to a boy who spent all of his time with his family. The feelings he felt around the girl were distinctly different from the love and affection he felt from his sisters, mother and grandmother. The feeling made him warm all over, blush easily, and made his heart pound loudly in his chest. He was becoming more and more sneakily suspicious that he was forming a crush on the large, pretty Valhalla wolf, but a part of him knew it would bode him no favors. For starters, she was from an entirely different pack. Sure, they could meet outside the borders, but it would ultimately be fruitless even if, by some miracle, it did venture further. Takeshi knew he would never leave Ashen, nor did he want to. Everything he really needed was there, even if it meant he would never have romance in his life.

Secondly, the boy was mute. No one would want a mute who couldn’t even voice his feelings or thoughts. His partner would always be left wondering in silence, watching from the side while every other couple whispered sweet nothings to each other and had deep, heartfelt conversations. Eventually, the partner would come to resent him, no doubt. And children...what kind of father could he be if he couldn’t even inspire them. Couldn’t whisper words of condolence or encouragement when they were down in the dumps, or make them laugh with stupid dad jokes. No, the kind of life that he imagined came with a voice would never be for him, it was best to not ruminate on it.

She continued forward with him, the boy nearly jumping out of his skin when her big, bushy tail brushed against his side. He gave her a side eye, wondering if she was doing this on purpose, and the thought that she might have been made his heart speed up even more. No, certainly not. He was mute, no one would find that attractive, and he was an imposing looking brute anyways. So many wolves he’d known looked like angels, including the girl beside him and his grandmother, but he looked like a wolf from hell. Perhaps he was predestined for misfortune, or maybe he wasn’t destined for anything at all. Either way, he knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up.

She asked what he thought it wanted as they tracked it, his nose twitching every so often so that he could make sure they were on the right path. He rumbled a deep, vibrating, thoughtful sound in his chest, white checked tail swaying at his hocks as he considered her question. Rabbits didn’t usually want anything other than food and safety, and maybe adult rabbit stuff. But then again, this rabbit didn’t seem to be particularly normal, right down to the wink and the glowing purple eyes. Really, there was nothing normal about anything going on in the world at that moment. Fungi were glowing, crystals were popping up in places crystals really shouldn’t be, and voices from faceless, formless beings invaded one’s thoughts at any hour of the day, even during slumber. Why would a rabbit, of all things, be immune to the strange woes of their odd little world. In the end, he just gave a shrug with a scaled shoulder.

He thought of a way to ask her a question, maybe why she was out here, how she’d been, anything at all besides sitting there like a lame duck. Surely she had to be frustrated with doing all the talking. But, before he could, the rabbit dash across their path. He came to a screeching halt, eyes wide with startle as snow, dirty and other debris scattered at his feet. He felt the hairs at his scruff stand on end, a shiver going down his spine as a bad premonition jilted his bones. Takeshi knew he was no fortune teller, but his instincts were strong and unfettered and he tended to believe he could trust his gut in most situations. After all, it hadn’t led him astray as of yet.

It felt like it was going in slow motion, the way the rabbit scurried across their path, and as it went he could have sworn it grinned an impish grin at them. Another shiver went up and down his spine. Then, it was gone again and he found himself puzzled. The sound of bigger, louder pawsteps came sprinting toward them and they soon found themselves not so confused anymore about the little gremlin’s intentions when a tiger suddenly emerged from the brush, fury and hunger on its stripped face as it barreled toward him, unintentionally or not. He couldn’t help but feel the predator wasn’t in its right mind. Not that it was bothered by their presence, because it wasn’t uncommon for tigers to fell wolves, even ones of their size, but because of the glassy look in its yellow eyes. It was as if it were in a dream, its body acting on a will that wasn’t entirely its own. But surely it couldn’t be being controlled by anything, there was nothing in their world that would have such power. Even though the environment was strange, it had to abide by some sort of law of nature...didn’t it?

The boy let out a snarl, shoving Tel out of the way as the beast slammed into him, Takeshi having already risen to his hindlegs and his forelegs stretched out to cushion the impact and roll with the predator, sending them both a few feet away in a flurry of fur and claws. He immediately felt the beast’s sharp claws dig into his shoulder, ripping into muscle and pulling blood from his veins. His companions, ever lurking in the darkness with watchful eyes, came bounding from the brush with startled looks on their faces. His Akita immediately went to latch onto the tiger’s tail, teeth crunching on bone and the predator let out a faint noise of pain that should have been much louder, had it been in its right mind. It was as if it forgot all about Takeshi, like it had a one track mind as it turned to his companion now instead of him like he’d never even been there. It swiped at Benjiro and the dog barely managed to duck out of the way, nicking his ear as he went and drawing blood from there. The Ashen Prince stumbled to his paws, wincing at the pain in his shoulder. His glowing gaze went to Tel’Teukiira worriedly then back to the predator. He wasn’t sure what the best course of action was going to be in their situation, whether he should trust the girl to be proficient enough to protect herself, or maybe even smart enough to high tail it out of there (which he honestly would have preferred), or make the decisions for her, but he didn’t have many other options than to fight. So, he leapt back into the fray with jaws gaping and tail thrashing.

WC: 2,500/2,500

"Takeshi Ani Oritsu Abraxas"

Takeshi & Tel’tukiira

The tiger fights with all ferocity and no strategy. It is unsettling, the way the big cat doesn't quite seem to really register what's going on around it. A one track mind that cannot have served it well up until this moment. There is nothing behind those eyes, that seem to start glowing in the light of the moon. It almost doesn't seem to really register pain, simply rounding on whoever struck it last and not even flinching. There is a very real moment of realization for both young wolves that this thing might be able to out pace them, it doesn't seem to even slow down as it is injured and bleeding. It's blood picks up the light of the moon too much, and the blood splatters on all the combatants. Then just as suddenly as the big cat came barreling out at the pair it stops suddenly. It stands still for a moment, it doesn't even look like it's breathing. And then a disgusting muffled squelching sound comes from the big cat and blue glowing blood spurts out violently from behind the tiger's eyes and with a heavy thud the big cat drops to the ground. Dead. Blood slowly starts to ooze from it's ears and eyes, pooling on the ground around its head. As the combatants stand in stunned silence, the only sound of much panting, Takeshi feels his gaze drawn to something standing on the edge of the impromptu battle field. It's that same damned rabbit. It makes a sound he's never heard from a rabbit before... It almost sounds like laughter? Then it kicks off and disappears into the grass again.