She had come to these woods earlier in the day and finally, feeling sheltered in their depths, she had allowed herself to rest. Sleep had come to her swiftly and there she had remained -- curled into a tight ball in a dense thicket she had encountered, until the shrieking of foxes caused her to stir from her deep slumber. She arose with a disgruntled groan and found herself highly dissatisfied upon awakening.

The Rikudōu had dreamed of her time in battle. Rushing forward, jaws slung open with adrenaline coursing in her veins like river rapids, and enemies falling before her superior might. She remembered the rush and in her dreamscapes, relived it from time to time, much to her frustration because she missed it. Although these peaceful days were what they had fought to have, Ame couldn't help but feel out of a place in a way... a creature bred, raised and taught to war now without a cause to give herself to.

The distant fox screams had played into her dreams -- a fitting soundtrack to the falling of her foes until they had become just too much to bear. She arose with annoyance stitched plainly onto her dark features and with the fluidity of a dancer, she slipped into motion to streak like a shadow through the night.

'I will choke the very life out of them,' she thought as she navigated the dense woodlands, her ears still assaulted by the screaming vulpines and her eyes squinting to see despite the fog. Amekaze did not know the paths well yet, but she was well-versed in forest living so adapted somewhat. In a way, it reminded her of Shikkotsurin although perhaps less menacing. This forest sang with a voice similar to her father's home. It only made it seem even more familiar to her but this fog made matters difficult. Still, she progressed forward and the foxes grew louder. She wondered fleetingly what had them so worked up in the first place.

Then, suddenly, she found a wolf. A male, small, and hunkered down not far from the path she had intended for herself. Her lips were quick to a scowl and she breathed a hiss in his direction. Fool she thought and stiffened her tail marginally. This was not what she sought and all the while, the foxes continued their noise-making. Her patience was being tested, it seemed, although now she realized that there were more screaming voices -- eerie and to her ears, without meaning.

The other presence in the area remained undetected, but now she was paying more attention. Finding other wolves here in these deep dark woods so heavy with fog was not what she had anticipated, although perhaps it was a more interesting turn of events than she was willing to give it credit for.

As eerie as it was, she did not see the need to fear this time and place. The woods were dark, deep and shaded in a heavy fog while a cacophony of shrieks rang out and yet, she only felt annoyance that the foxes were squawking up such an otherwise welcome place.

So she decided to move on, after tsking towards where the wolf hid and launched her nimble body into motion. Through the fog she streaked, weaving a rapid path around the trees and deeper into the heart of it all. Her ears flicked forward and her nostrils flared. Wolf scents, new ones to her, were prevalent. Ahead she saw the figure of one appear fleetingly through the fog only to vanish again. Amekaze kept moving forward.

Her path drew her closer to the other. She could smell her better now -- female, obviously, but Amekaze had not caught a better sight of her yet. Her senses were being pulled in so many directions, so near to overwhelming as the mystery of these woods pulled in her further and further. She welcomed it.

Then again, she suddenly smelled another. A stationary presence similar to the one before. She debated approaching it at all, but already she was so very close so the Rikudōu slowed up. Why so many hid at a time like this seemed bizarre to her -- they were wild wolves! Her lips pulling tight into a scowl while she sniffed him out, hidden amongst the foliage and appearing much like a shadow himself. If not for her nose, she felt she never would have found him here tonight. Rise, koinu, and run with the night, she grated with only a momentary pause to see if he would comply. If not, it was his loss. She felt generous for stopping for him at all and wondered if he could recognize this.

Amekaze then spun on her heels and set off with a trot, pursuing the female scent first and foremost while the forest sang its hallowed tune.

She gained speed through the dark with every stride she took away from the hiding wolf and the deeper into the hunt she went. Her blood rushed and her senses drank in the stimuli. The night was beautiful, deep and full of mystery and she intended to let the feeling flow through her -- empower and enliven her.

Amekaze became the shadows and would run until she saw to the end of this hunt or the sun began to rise, whichever would c first.