Whitewater Gorge deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked

The stranger had eluded him and while that bothered him some, it did not stop him from continuing with his life. There had been other Titanias; given enough time he would find more, and do as nature dictated. As the wolf meandered through the valley he was careful but not afraid, cautious but bold in equal measure. The forests of this region granted him many clues in regard to those who called it home and he was hopeful - no, expectant - that his luck would change for the better.

As he had before, Ailithir left gifts for the people of the hills and the trees each time he was blessed with a meal. He scored the earth and let a fresh hare stagnate within the trough, smelling the thickness of the blood on the air as it pooled. Unbeknownst to himself the wolf had stained part of a paw with red and the snow gave way to his path; by the time he reached the edge of the massive gorge he had trailed a path of blood more than half the way.

The beast loomed over the cascading crevice without a thought to his own safety. If the fates were on the side of the natives, perhaps a strong wind would carry him to the depths - but the only gust he felt brought a flurry of fresh snow which, tousling his thick coat, merely added more salt to his already silvered spine.

He spent most of his time, as he spent most of his life, searching for his next meal, be they of lupine or other origin. In this way he was nothing more than a spirit on the breeze, terrorizing those he met and leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. He supposed that it suited him, this life. It was what his Maker had done, and what he had done for years. But he could not shake the gnawing feeling to change his normal course, to switch to a new path, even briefly. He had attempted it before, many a time in the past year or so, but yet was compelled to do so again.

But for now he hunted. He followed the bloody pawprints of a wolf not too far away from him. It was not the wolf's own blood, which would have excited him to no end, but a rabbit's. This did not deter him in the end, however. The contrast of snow and blood was always arousing for him and so he followed, slowly making gain on the wolf in the distance.