|Awoken|

[Moon Seeker]

|T|he evening was still and calm, twilight was just setting in as red veins interlaced the deepening blues as if a goblet of wine had fallen, spilling its bitter contents across the darkening sky.
A sense of silence began to settle over the land as the creatures of day commenced composing themselves for the impending hours of darkness as the creatures of night just started to stir from their daylight lull.
Only the constant sound of the icy wind could be relied upon, biting through the trees whistling eerie tones as they rushed across naked branches, previously stripped bare, turning into dull moans as the gusts receded in strength.

|T|wo seemingly dismembered lanterns flitted between trees, swaying back and forth to an untimely beat. Though it was only a deception of the mind as bits of light cast down from the skies revealed a sturdy blackened body, the lights just golden disks embedded in the figures skull. At the moment opaque and glazed over as if dead, with no soul attached, like the large body has been dragged forward only animated with the invisible strings to some unknown puppeteer.

|S|harp twigs and thorns from bushes and branches pushed against the onyx fur which covered the outlander’s body, weaving among the hairs like outstretched fingers, sometimes reaching all the way through to tickle the toughened skin underneath. Finely shaped face and jagged features blankly facing the uneven earth, moving with the constant pace of heavy legs.
Along the stranger walked, never slowing nor gaining speed, marching to the tune of an unknown drum. Awareness to the earth and its surroundings switched off, not even thoughts swirled through the varg’s mind, as if everything was a dream in which they had yet to truly awaken from.

|A|n object suddenly obstructed proceeding and caused the stranger to stumble absentmindedly making the great skull swing to the direction of the hindrance.
Hollow eyes stared vacantly at the bleached remains of some great foe long gone. Curved ribs and bits of spine laid open to the harshness of their surroundings, jagged lacerations embedded along their lengths, the result of jaws from mighty beasts.

|L|ight began to creep into the depthless amber, stirring life into the nameless wolf as if the sudden appearance of death had rattled her back into reality, breaking free from the waking slumber.
Long thinly pointed ears swivelled as the dame lifted up her rectangular head, slowly twisting it left to right observing her location. The land she now stood was strange and foreign, never before had she set foot on such turf. It seemed her blind trek in the mountains had brought her somewhere else all together.

|D|arkness cast benevolent and ghastly shadows against rocks, stumps and trees which looked more like great clawed hands arching up from the frozen dirt. It was then that the wanderer noticed the strangest of all, silence. There was nothing, not even a cheap from a bird or a scurry from a mouse. It was like this place had been covered under a veil where no life could enter or leave.

|W|ithout thinking the matron found the long hairs across her nape beginning to lift with the sense of doom and fear, left by the souls of many who had wandered here to never return home.

|B|y now fog has began to set in, the transparent tendrils sweeping against her haunches while swirling about her forelegs like cruel and twisted serpents.
A familiar sensation began to prick itself along the base of her spine causing rugged claws to dig rivets within the terrain as a sudden chill caused her sturdy frame to convulse momentarily.

|A|n unforeseen blast of wind whipped through the she-wolf’s fur and trees, creating an unearthly howl as the varg’s head snapped to side in which the wind blew. Piercing gaze slicing into the surrounding darkness as the fog which lapped about her legs like waves commenced forward, rolling out over the barren earth toward the presence of a stranger for which the she-wolf just sensed.

|W|ith the abrupt realization that she had been being watched and maybe stalked, for who knows how long, a new discovery dawned in her mind. Finally the kerl knew where she was and on whose land she tread.

|T|his area so tainted by sons and forefathers alike which still had silent cries of agony hanging in stagnant air from those long gone, of whom still to this day was guarded and haunted by the legendary putnar of night could belong to no other but the… Balkar…

[Nearo]

Darling, you can trust me
completely.
If you even try
to look the other way,
I think that I could kill this time.

The lands of the dead were mysterious and forsaken. Few who entered ever left…mortally wounded at least. Often mist furled its way through the land, wrapping its ghostly fingers round the dead and disfigured trees and slithering across the muddied earth – the Lead Nihtgenge lavished this extra cover with mirth and delight. Not many lera or varg expected such thick fog and mist to shroud a small area of land so thickly, but that was the entertaining factor of the Balkan terrain – everything was unexpected and – amusingly dead!

Broad paws spread out with each paw step through the entanglement of undergrowth that the Balkan lands were covered in. Long, slender white limbs cycled in a rhythmical motion as the brown and ivory pelted male avoided each entwined brush as though he had made this same route a thousand times – which wasn’t far from the truth. Nearo, the clown and jester of the feared all male pack, was the master of stealth and cunning. He was as silent as silence after death. For moons now he had seemed dormant – thought of to be dead or wandering the Kerl lands. But no, he hadn’t stepped paw out of the Balkan terrain at all. Only now, with the calling of battle on the wind, did the Lead Nihtgenge see the need to show himself and aid his pack in war.
The wind picked up and sent a chill down the sly beast’s spine, prickling his hackles up on end and forcing him to chuckle madly at the thought of some impending doom…and yet it was not he who was doomed; it was another. Picking up the pace, Nearo closed in on his target. A stray feamme, lost her way perhaps? Well the lunatic was only too polite as to help assist this lone wandered in finding her way out. And yet…the prospect of having a little fun first seemed all the more appealing.

It didn’t take long till the golden hues and large ebony form of the intruder came into his sights. The thick foliage that looked uncannily familiar to that of entrails, not to mention the thickening mist aided him further masked the skulking brute. Wild eyes of green and yellow flashed and grew wide with the insanity that was safely encased within his head as he emerged from the undergrowth and rounded behind the bitch, appearing to as nothing but a swift breeze as he delved into the undergrowth on the opposite side of her.
Continuing with his silent stealth, Nearo moved towards her front and emerged once more, standing now to his full height and potential – long legs helping the brute match her size easily. “Needing any help ma’am?” he snickered, a foolish grin plaguing his muzzle.

[Moon Seeker]

|T|he ebony beast sucked in air between rows of clasped teeth, eyes rolling momentarily as the whites flashed as she rotated them to the right without moving the rest of her head. The skulking sensation of another nipped at her back like scorpion claws giving the dame’s nervous system a harsh jolt, as if thrown into icy waters.

|S|lowly she exhaled, the hot plumy breaths steaming from her dark dry nose at the very moment the silent monster brushed past. If it was not for her prickling nerves or the oh so delicate wisps of wind which brushed against her coarse fur the varg might not have ever known the thing which lurked within the mists had not been a figment of her grim mind, but a living beast.

|G|reat skull tilted hell ward as the fur along her nape began to spike further more, lengthy tail arching as she became aware of the air stirring and the brambles rustling to her side. It felt like the beatings of her heart ceased to exist at the moment, air snaring within her paining lungs. Was she being toyed with?

|T|he bitch kept her head down as she felt the brute move once more, his stench nauseating. The bottom of her eyelids twitched as she cricked her head to the side trying to suppress the growl which threatened to bore holes in her throat. Coal black lips trembled before finally twisting upward, pearly teeth just peaking through as some sort of twisted smile began to grow over her jagged features.

|J|ust as the unknown fellow had chosen to unmask his presence the dame chose to lift her head. Air was still caught within her lungs, the messed up smile still scaring her rugged appearance. Both were the result of her body instinctually reacting to emotions which muddled around in her body. Was it fear? Never… Excitement? Unlikely, maybe it was just anticipation, knowing the fact that she was in the only place in the entire Transylvanian land which could honestly pose a threat to her being.

|F|or a moment it seemed the kerl had forgotten that breathing was indeed needed to live as she stole a sliver of time away to struggle with the retched burning in her chest before feverishly sucking more of the rank air in between her exposed teeth.

“Why yes, now that you ask. How far am I in these foul lands?”

|S|he whispered her words coolly though refused to unclench her jaws incase an entirely different set of words might utter out. There was another foreign note lingering in her verses, a sense of mockery maybe? How odd. Lips finally lowered back into place against one another, yet again cloaking the matron’s body entirely in inky black excluding the vivid gold of her irises. She would not give into the games played by this snickering fool of a whelp.

|T|hough she couldn’t help but fantasize and visualize her own head lurching forward just slightly as her muzzle parted, jaws opening like a trap, front teeth snapped down into the frosted coated throat of her new acquaintance. Not a mouthful or deep...Just enough so she could feel her teeth snipping through the first few layers of skin, shaving off a patch of flesh and fur around his larynx. Now that might be the solution to wiping of his loathsome expression.

|T|he thought brought an amused glint to her eye a happy shiver to run along her spine. Beneath her closed jaws, rosy tongue flicked against her teeth before she swallowed down the saliva which watered from the morbid thoughts.
Dear oh dear it seemed the varg had found herself in quite the predicament…Totally giddy in some weird unexplainable way in a place where un thought of actions might cost a little more then she was willing to give.