It was a cold morning, cold enough for the dark forest to find itself covered by a thick veil of mist that glided through the southern reaches of the land, and stretched out to the heart of it, right where the dark brotherhood resided. And it was quiet, so quiet...

The bat of a dark bird echoed above the young Northerner. It had been following him for days now, but Bane decided to ignore it in an attempt of making it loose its interest. But on the other hand, the bird's intense stalking behavior raised questions in the young warrior's head. What reason could there be for the creature to be so interested in his activities? It had been heavy weeks for him, he had been working hard on filling the caches as the priestess instructed, and it wasn't an easy task, but it didn't seem a reason to be stalked.

It was one of those task the priestess assigned him that he was on on that day, hunting for the cold season, and her instructions had been clear, hunt either alone or in pairs if there's availability, and go for small prey only. The reason for such detailed instructions he didn't know, and if he hadn't cared about what the female said he would've either rejected them and do it his way, or not doing it at all, but Bane was bonded to her in a way he still didn't have clear, and apparently, her wishes were his duty. The swamp was ugly, and smelly, but it was were most of the "small prey" was found. Fish and water birds were abundant, so it was the right place to start, and that's were his strong legs were taking him, one long and fast strode at a time.

Hell it was smelly. How many dead things had he touched already? What was that thing moving? He could swear he felt something moving under his paws.O hell no! he shouted and jumped out of the marsh. He wasn't gonna do this, not alone at least, he wasn't just about to let the marsh monster eat him alive.

The Northerner youth was turning around to try his luck at the creek when the sound of an approaching wolf startled him. He jumped back and his guard hairs bristled, he had the nerves on edge ever since that damn from jumped out of the water only to be eaten by the dinosaur (okay it was a fish, but it was huge!) Slay! he barked as he recognized the older male. Where have you been man? I thought you had left the pack. Bane said in an amiable tone, but still keeping that pint of 'I'm a dick' flow to it.

What was this guy laughing at? To be honest it was kind of creepy the way he so evilish crawled out of the shadows with his deep-voiced laugh. Like some kind of evil being.... But he liked it nonetheless. It gave him that mysterious vibe... Cool... That came included in the 'follower' package, right?

Oh cool... Bane said as he sat back on his haunches. I've been doing just the same man... Meldresi has been weird the last days... I haven't seen her in days so I figured I would just.. Do what I'm supposed to... he said without much conviction. Yes he had been a good boy and done what Meldresi told him to do, but he wasn't always like that and he was getting bored and tired of the whole shit. He needed to do something crazy or he was going to explode!

I was gonna hunt in the marsh but... he said looking back at the smelly swamp in the background, just in time to see another frog be eaten by a reptile. Turning back to the obdisian beast, he said raising a brow, Not my style...

Did he have a red nose and a wig or something? Why was Slade still laughing at him? His thoughts about the swamp were pretty damn serious, he wasn't just gonna dive in messing up his pure white perfection... Not my style... he thought to himself once again. They could still go hunt somewhere else anyway...

"If anyone or anything is causing this to her, death will be delivered to them on a platter of pure gold."

Wait, what was that? Did he have some kind of crush on Meldresi [size=xx-small]too[/size]? Little did he know that the Priestess was carrying his own children inside her, but, mates or not, he wasn't just going to let this guy step over him to take her... Bane didn't even want her like that, but he didn't want anyone else to have her either.

It isn't the danger what bothers me, he said puffing his chest at the beast's compliment, or was it sarcasm? But the smell... he wrinkled his nose in disgust, That shit stinks! he chuckled.

Slade was becoming his only friend besides Meldresi inside Blackfeather. They shared that misterious something Bane liked to think he had, and he was starting to warm up on the coal coated beast. I was going to try my luck with fish, but the reek was unbearable man... I couldn't even open my eyes! he said with a warm chuckle of his own. I was going to try the woods instead, the boss asked me to go for small game, I don't even know why... Wanna join me?

Never would've Bane thought of Slade's intentions with him, but Bane did feel flattered by how the obsidian beast referred to him. "Artic Bearer" "White Warrior"... Those titles were pretty badass.

Alright, Slay. Let's see what we find... the Northerner said with his thick accent and proceeded to walk away from the murky and smelly waters. The woods burst in life even though it didn't seem like it, the creatures were just perfectly adapted to the mysteriousness of it, making it even more mysterious.

The path Bane chose was just as dark as any other. The light that was present in the swamp slowly disappeared leaving them in the shadows once again, and during the time they walked Bane didn't say anything, expecting that the bigger male would do the same. His attention was on the hunt now, on any sign of movement in the ground, in the trees, on any scent in the air, on the slightest sound around, but the place still seemed deserted, and not a single sound could be heard in miles.

Got anything? the pale youth whispered, looking back at Slade.

How the actual hell did he do that? Sure, there were little squeaks every once in a while but they were barely audible! Slade was just impressive. Now more than ever was that Bane wanted to ask for the Nightmare to train the hell out of him, just as he did with the rest of the nightmares as he said he did. He wanted to become a warrior and a hunter of the best class.

Uhm... Right... I heard those too... the young Northerner lied shifting his gaze to Slade. Lets go for the racoons, they're slower... And beefier... easier to catch was what he meant... But they were a better target nonetheless. He knew the basics and he was fast, so he wasn't a complete mess... He was actually pretty good, but lacked real training, he had the potential to be a beast, maybe even greater than the great Slade Nightmare himself... Or that's what he believed at least...

Rabies? Well that was one thing Bane sure didn't want to get. Nasty things happened to you. Like drooling and stuff. Not cool at all. But unluckily, the young Gamekeeper aspirant didn't know how to difference the ones infected.

Uh... Well... I usually don't pay attention to that... I just jump to the head ripping part... the pale northerner said after a long silence. Yeah. Death was a bitch. But killing though... There was nothing like it. Seeing the light die out in his victims eyes were the thing that he lived for, even more when your victim was an enemy, someone that had made you suffer before. Those were the most satisfying ones to kill.

Well... That was more... Simple than he had thought at first. Avoid the foaming ones... Easy... Turns out Bane wasn't such a bad hunter after all.

Stray from the fizzy ones... Got it... Bane said partly actually paying attention to it and taking mental notes, but kind of sarcastically dismissing it at the same time. Are you ready, Slay? I'm getting hungry... Lets crack some coons open, shall we? he said licking his lips. It was time for the action. They had the prey on their radar, it was only a matter of striking.

Slade made a swift move to kill one of the fat coons they had chosen as target. Good ol' Slay, always getting the shit done without hesitating... That too was one of the things Bane admired most of his mentor.

The cracking sound of the mammal's neck gave the pale warrior shivers, shivers of pleasure that brought a malefic smirk out of his face. It was his turn. Just as the Nightmare, the pale warrior darted forward to give chase to one of the coons that tried to escape after Slade's attack. But they were all too slow for the swift northerner. A fat one fell behind, screeching for his life... Crack! The sound of its skull as Bane smashed it in the ground with his strong paw getting stained with blood.

Do you think this is small enough for Meldresi? the young warrior asked Slade, yelling from the distance.

The reason for asking such specific things of them was unknown to them both. The beastly shadow and the savage ghost. Both of them caught under the web of the same spider. Meldresi. What was it about her that was so appealing to them? Who knows. But it had them stuck, tied, and the worst thing: none of them knew it.

Yeah, I guess you're right Slay... the pale northerner agreed. Holding the coon in his maw, Bane followed his mentor back to the darkness of Blackfeather, back to Meldresi. She was beginning to make them her minions in the master plan she was, without a doubt, plotting... Why else would she be so.. Mysterious?