The Bracken Woods death is on the wind

The forest was heavily blanketed in snow on this frigid winter morning. Ice coated the trees...every branch, every needle. The pale golden sunlight filtered through the thickly settled spruces standing tall in their natural grandeure. It was rather silent, the snow had a way of making everything quiet as if smothering the world beneath its weight. The farther south he traveled, the less harsh the terrain became. This place was lush compared to the arctic cold further north from whence the black male came. This morning he found himself atop a large rocky formation covered in green lichen. The brute was wrapped into a rather tight ball to conserve his body heat, ebon fur softly coated with some light snow. The only notable thing in the shadowy mass was a pair of glowing orange eyes glaring out from his dark face. Saul could not have looked more displeased if he tried.

The lone wolf had been wandering south for quite a while now on his own. Constantly battling against the furious weather and harsh elements was exhausting. Doing it on his own was quite the task, nevermind trying to take down enough prey to sustain himself on this voyage. It had been a very tough trip, there was no doubt about it. But it seemed to be coming to an end. Saul had been up the night before watching from his perch as the storm rolled in. He could smell all the other wolves on the wind, their scent telling him their stories. He had found a new population of wolves. Little did they know this could be a very dangerous development for them in whatever pathetic little lives they had been living out here. He wondered if they could smell him too....would they know that was death they were smelling?

It had not been her intent to wander this far north, as she'd tethered herself, in the figurative sense of the word, to the southern range. She'd done too much wandering, too much empty bloodletting, and it was time she settled her paws someplace. But habits died hard, and thus the wraith had come to the north, back up the way she'd come when she'd reentered the Wilds a few weeks ago. 

It was silent; the silence of the Wilds, the holding in of a thousand breaths after the fury of a storm, waiting to see if the peace would last. Last night's storm had waylaid the wraith, had her take cover and fade beneath the onslaught of ice an snow. There was a certain beauty after the storm, in the light that set the ice-covered needles and branches afire, the silence and the golden light. But the woman looked at none of these things, concerned instead with the male that had come to lay in her path, settled firmly atop his perch of rock.

The wraith stopped, appraising, gaze lacking any spark as it trailed once over the hulking form. He reminded her in some ways immediately of Vengeance,  but that male was gone, now, and the promise he'd made with him. She was motionless, the only sign that she had not stepped into the stranger's vision only to turn to stone being the twin columns of mist that floated before her every few moments, lit by morning's light a fleeting moment before dissipating.

The wolf's solitude was about to end. Months and months of not a single other wolf and then this.....like a ghost she appeared from thin air. At first he did not even notice her as her coloring made her blend into the winter landscape. But slowly her form took shape and he realized he was staring at another wolf. His expression did not change. His brows still furrowed in constant disdain. All at once, the great beast rose to his feet....his massive black form unfolding into a stunning sight. He shook out his thick black coat, grey hairs on his chin falling into place. His spire like ears pointed tall on top of his large head. Giant black paws gripped the rock, his clawed toes curling to grasp its rugged surface. There he stood, ominous and imposing looking down upon the frost wolf. Her eyes were as cold as the ice that clung to everything around them. Her spirit felt cold and calloused....he could relate.

This female did not seem weak, or unworthy, as he found a lot of wolves to be. She was coated with scars here and there giving others warning that she had fought, could fight, would fight.... His blood coursed with a burning sensation and a devilish grin spread across his black maw, gleaming white fangs hung from his large mouth. "Hi...she wolf." His voice was venomous, powerful and sharp. For a new place filled with unknown wolves, she was not a bad example of what this place had to offer. If there were more like her, he was in the right place. Maybe he could find some like minded beasts here after all, what an unexpected thing that would be. If so, he would be sure to use these wolves to their full potential. He didn't come here to lay low. He would be known, and he would be feared.

Gradually did the beast unfold himself, standing upon his spire like some demon come to deliver judgment. Unabashed did she stare, tracing to new contours of the form revealed to her, before falling back to rest briefly on the burning gaze. She did not shift, cool still, though new interest sparked in her gaze at the unveiling of the brute. Here was power, the likes of which she'd seen in Vengeance, she likes of which she'd followed. Vengeance, however, had vanished, leaving her sore in his going, until he simply faded from her memory. 

The words that left his muzzle, however, were less than she'd expected. Perhaps it had been some great wisdom of great threat she'd expected to issue from the maw of the brute; not the common greeting. Still, she remained unfazed, incling her muzzle a fraction as she finally broke her stillness.  "what do you seek in this place?"  The male smelled of otherness, something new, and did not carry a pack-scent. Perhaps he was like the others the simply passed through on their search for food, but something, the same intuition that whispered always at her ear, told her that as there had been something different in Vengeance and in Kelina, so would there be something different in this male.

Saul watched the female looking back at him without even a flinch. She was a cold one for sure, and he liked it. What he did not like, was being questioned. Especially by a stranger who he didn't owe a single fucking explination to. She probably didn't mean anything by it, but she obviously was unaware of who she was talking to. The black beast huffed and his eyes narrowed even further if that was at all possible. With a great show of power he sprung from his perch in a single fluid movement and came slamming to the ground in front of her. His huge paws crashing through the snow and planting themselves firmly in the ground. He towered over her, craning his thick neck to glare down at the white wolfess with molten eyes. This time there was no grin on his face, the skin of his muzzle wrinkled up with tension. A low groan could be heard coming from his throat as he looked her over.

"What I do is none of your fucking concern." The words spat forth like sharp daggers from his mouth. "What I seek is of my own business...." Saul trailed off a bit, looking past her and around the clearing. His tone giving the feeling he was up to something. The shadowy male found his gaze upon her once more, looking her over a bit. He slowly began to circle her, taking mental note of everything about the female. She was smaller than he was, but almost everyone was. He was of almost abnormal size and not many could compete with his physical prowess. But whatever she lacked in size she seemed to have an abundance of in mental strength. He growled a bit to himself. "When the time comes, you will know and may be lucky enough to be on the right side of things." He wouldn't give too much away but did not want to write the female off completely. She may be useful in the future.

He slammed into the ground before her, and the woman did not flinch, instead regarding him cooly as he postured. She knew the bluster of others, and especially of males, used to the way they parade their strength and put on display their prowess. This one was no different, except for the fact that he did not need his bluster to compensate for what he was missing, rather, he ranked (physically, at least) along with the likes of Vengeance and Nemesis. She hummed a small note as he claimed it to be none of her business what he sought, beginning to move around her with movements she tracked carefully with detatched gaze. 

For a moment after his proclamation, she was silent, watching him still. The words came a beat later, smooth as honey and yet detached and matter-of-fact. "there have been many like you. Nemesis; the Dark Lady, Vengeance, Slade, and others beside."  Her muzzle canted smoothly, breaking the stillness of her stance. "there have been many sides; what makes yours the one to stand behind?"  Her gaze watched him cooly, but with a flicker of greater interest, wondering if her question would have him snap; as she expected one of weaker will too, or have him provide a satisfactory answer.