The northern wilds carried their biting chill, a sharp sort of discomfort that seeped into his hide, but he ignored the discomfort as he trudged along. Redrum moved haltingly through the bleak landscape, his golden eyes sweeping over the snow-laden terrain. His blood-red coat stood out like a wound against the paleness of the frozen expanse, a target if ever there was one. A calling card, if you will. His muscles twitched sporadically, each involuntary spasm a maddening reminder of his body’s rebellion—a betrayal etched into his every movement. His imperfections.

He paused atop a gentle rise, his long ears swiveling to catch the faintest sounds carried by the wind. The world stretched hollow and still, the silence broken only by the occasional caw of a raven overhead. His breath escaped in small, fleeting clouds, vanishing into the cold air as he scanned the desolation below. It was all pine trees and scarce brush, nothing he could use for cover should he need it. His long legs sank into the fresh snow, each step at an uneven pace as he moved. He’d been here before—Insomnia had raided these territories, striking at the Syndicate pack nearby. He could still picture the monochromatic woman with her mocking half-smile, the one who left a scar carved across his cheek. A phantom pain flickered in his memory, his tongue moving to caress the inner wall of his mouth where the flesh was a raggedly healed slice. Maybe he’d run into her again. Give her a taste of her own medicine.

Redrum’s nostrils flared as he sniffed the air, his head tilting in thought. The sharp sting of cold dominated, but beneath it lingered something faint—prey, perhaps, or the trace of another wolf wandering. His predator’s instinct pulled taut within, though he forced himself to slow. His prowl brought the bulk of his mass lower to the ground as he moved in an uneven semicircle, advancing cautiously, his paws breaking through the crust of snow that clung stubbornly to his vermillion fur.

His teeth clicked together, his jaw twitching with growing frustration. Golden eyes narrowed, his sharp gaze scanned, searching for something—anything—that would shatter the stillness.


"Murder"

White paws silently stalk around a massive tree trunk. Her dark red fur flecked with embers brushed against the rosy wood bark. She walked around the massive trunks, wondering how they could possibly grow to this size. Seeking to fully understand her world and her place in it. Could they be ancient or fast-growing? Is she merely a blip in their massive existence? Small, inconsequential, a fly hovering over a carcass. Would they be here when she takes on the world? Or would they remain immobile, indifferent, endlessly reaching the sky making her effect on this land inconsequential at best? Humbling.

She wound her way around another massive trunk and under a gargantuan root as if it were an elegant gateway between monstrous plants. As she entered the new realm the puppy paused. Dark ears shifted this way and that to catch what whisper had attempted to allude her. The air was winding through the trees at a leisurely pace and no scent was carried to her nose quite yet. That meant someone was downwind of her.

Silently she crept toward the edge of a massive tree and peered around it, a vermillion male was stalking toward the opposite edge of the tree. Her deep black maw broke into a mischievous grin. She had never a red one like her family that she didn't know!

Sinking low to the ground she whisked her paws over the ground, skipping over the snow drifts, leaping from bare ground to bare ground as silently as she could. Her last foot prints would be easily found if he kept on his search but she was already skipping toward a new hideout, careful not to leave a single spore, the trees offering little space beneath them where snow would never reach. Perhaps he'd think he was getting haunted by a ghost!

Speech // thought