Haunted Wood something wicked this way comes

@Aries

Unconsciously Epic was drawn to the territories that were haunted, dangerous and filled with shadows. The lands of the haunted woods were no different, its reputation was not for the faint-hearted who would suffocate in a spooky atmosphere. When the sun settled behind a chain of mountains and the world was slowly being eaten away by an unsettling darkness, he ventured deeper into the hidden woods. While following a narrow path, he came across willow trees who would have blocked much of the sunlight coming through, hadn't it been for winter's breath. They were entirely naked, with only a cover of wood. Not a single leaf was attached to them any longer.

Witch hour was just starting out; when the wind blew past the trees it created an eerie, hollow sound and sometimes it gave the fake appearance that the trees were dancing. The phenomenon caused his heart to race and shots of adrenaline surged through his body. His golden eyes scanned the environment, almost nothing would escape from his gaze while his ears stood erect as little beacons, catching any strange sound. What kind of craziness would the Haunted Wood bring?

Pelt of stars glistened in the moonlight, flurries of delicate snowflakes falling to dust over his spine and tumble to the earth - a blanket of frigid white coated the frozen dirt, and he drifted over it mindlessly; solemn, a soldier. He was not ambling, sucked into his thoughts… that would have been careless --The reaper stalked across the land with a carefully constructed demeanor of pure ice to match his gaze: a frozen river, bullet-proof glass with glacial shards of beryl.

The woods suited his appearance, a dark mass of looming trees - even they had embraced the death of winter, and stood like ugly spears jutting from the ground. The snow beneath his paws would ordinarily crunch at every step, but those frosted lacings were silent as he stalked, light in every turn and sweep that he made. The wind howled, whipping around his pelt in surges of polar fury, but from the swirling air came the scent of another - Aries halted, lips parting to drink in the smell from afar, before skulking through the shadows in pursuit of whichever stranger dared to wander the forest alone.

When he drew close enough to spy a figure amongst the monochrome backdrop, dark steel ears tipped forward and he waited, watched, to see when they would feel his sharp eyes tracing their spine.

It was dead silent; even the zombies -- if there were any -- would not make moaning sounds as they dug through the earth, their hands would be stiffled by a layer of cold, thincrust ice. Now there was just the hollow, eerie silence that was only scattered once in a while when the wind would sweep by once more. Epic continued in his tracks, leaving behind a trace of his paw steps wherever he went. Until new snow would fall or other creatures who would wander through his tracks, he was easily found. His presence in these unforsaken woods were no secret. Yet he wondered what exactly made them haunted.

Because adrenaline pumped through his body, the yearling male was completely aware of his surroundings. The sight of another creature who stalked the haunted woods, turned out to be no secret to him. Not only did he feel two preying eyes, it was also the scent that betrayed Aries. Had he not been a creature of flesh and blood, Epic might have been genuinely spooked. Right now he was baffled and surprised; at least more wolves dared to stalk these lands.

"What's up with the staring contest?" Epic replied as he glanced back for a second or two. "Or are you just playing a game of jeepers creepers?"

His presence was noted quickly, but he remained still - as still as a statue, frozen in stone with the ever-watching eyes of something lifeless, and yet alive all the same. Untold secrets were kept locked in the security of silence, guarded with a shield behind the pools of his gaze, the icicles that protruded from within; the key had been discarded long ago, swallowed and cast away.

Foolish, the reaper thought, as careless words were passed on the wind toward him. Foolish, that he would dare to test the snakes that slithered in the undergrowth, the knight who guarded the shadows - but who would expect anything more? It was no mystery that the wolves who trailed outside of the Clan or the bloody borders of Blackfeather were often plagued with stupidity.

The Svartell almost let a sigh of boredom flee his lips, but sealed them together with a blank expression. "Who are you?" came the low voice, deep as a storm's grumble.

Belle, I enjoy your darker characters and it inspires me to find a spark of darkness in Epic ;)

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Well, well this was going to be fun. His tongue flickered out as he licked the edges of his leathery lips, his eyes glinting back in short seconds at the shadow-y outline of the other yearling male that had ventured as far as he into the deep woods. His curious eyes found no emotion within the eyes of the other, only a hollow emptiness that bordered on the line of coldness. But no matter how hollow, he was not native as a supernatural being, finding home, peace and comfort within the territory of the haunted woods. No, in the end it was simply a wolf; like him.

Half-way hidden behind a crooked tree, Epic too froze like a statue, lost in the dawn of time. Ears and eyes alert with adrenaline coursing through his veins, he was still aware of Aries' every move. Every breath was heard and seen as smokey plumes vaporized in the wintery atmosphere. "Bromance." The yearling male lied, his words speaking of ill-intent as he felt drawn to the male in an undescribable manner. Oh yes, in one way or the other this would be a meeting he wasn't about to forget anytime soon. Haunted Woods knew many tell tales, adventures and daring moments. No doubt about it, this would be one of them.

o: <3

The answer he was given was not the one he desired, but the dark knight's attention was drawn away from the words to listen to the wind - the wind that had ceased to pummel the forest, still. The sudden cover of silence had his senses perk, coiled and ready to spring into action with less than a second's notice, like a snake; he was a skilled fighter, prepared to kill if it was required, watch as the blood was drained from a limp body, staining white snow a vivid crimson.

A slither of frosted air slipped from parted lips, eyes trained harshly on the male. "What are you doing here?" He rephrased, determined to gather at least one detail about this stranger, a detail that was not gained by drinking the wind. He had been in service for essentially his entire life, raised in the shadowed domain of Blackfeather among the assassins and executioners - outside jobs had been acquired too, kidnappings included; what had this young man ever done? Was he worth Aries' time, with any hidden secrets beneath the sheen of gold in his gaze?

In the quick guerilla glimpse that Epic faintly caught from the other male, he could tell quite a lot in only the few seconds that his golden eyes saw the outlines of the shadow-y figure. Tall, muscular, scars. A soldier. In specific it were the scars that wavered on the lines of his interest, telling a tale of violent encounters, of being hurt once but now wearing them with pride. Those two scars carefully drafted upon Aries' muzzle. It was like a picture perfect was torn apart, now shining through imperfection. 

"Hey soldier." Epic said, breaking the silence as words shattered the silence and puff of breath-like white smokes filled the crisp, winter-like air. "There is more to you, isn't there? More to you, than only a soldier." Maybe Aries was a lean, mean fighting machine; a perfect soldier, a killer who never left behind a trace. But even still, there was something undefined that drew him to Aries. An unknown curiosity that triggered to find and learn more. Maybe it was dangerous. But even still, in those few moments they crossed glances Epic knew there was so much more to the male than being just that ... a soldier.

Again was his enquiry ignored, brushed away as if nothing more than dust - his lip curled, but it was the words that slipped from the stranger's voice that gave him a sliver of a chance. Soldier, he said, but in questioning such a title, he was questioning Aries' entire existance, his very being... then again, perhaps he was correct. Perhaps there was more to him than bloodshed and steel, death and violence-

-But what would this male know of anything? He did not know the Svartell, not the crooked starborn who stood before him now, nor the old one who had perished at the hands of his own daughter.A curse befalls all Svartell men - that is what he had been told; he did not bend to the rules of a curse, no, he snapped it right in two and used it to sharpen his teeth. Maybe Aries himself was the damn curse, a king of the shadows sworn to inject seething blackness into any crack of light.

"Like what?" he challenged, frosted slither of breath sliding from between his lips, prowling closer so they were forced to breath the same air.

Sorry for the delay!

He knew very little of the mysterous male, aside from the two scars which had already given him hints and traces of a few violent encounters. A soldier, a military man. And yet Epic couldn't help to bring attracted to the enigma; not in a romantic way, mind you, but like a detective who wanted to uncover shards of the mystery. The yearling lived very much in the moment, knowing that this encounter was dangerous and being prepared to come to arms, fighting with teeth for teeth and an eye for an eye.

"A leader, a king." Epic replied with a sheer of honesty. Aries was first and foremost a man of the military, of violence and bloodshed, but there was much more to him. Maybe it took the older male some more years of wisedom, of personal growth and experience but Epic would guess that the military qualities and the history that formed the other male would also one day make him a charismatic leader. A fair but harsh one; one that made his pack thrive and survive no matter the odds. A leader that Epic would certainly follow - if the time was right.

"A leader, a king,"

Aries was, by nature, a man led not only by his orders - a cold array of bloodthirsty commitments - but also by the streak of arrogance that flooded his veins. Perhaps it was among the few reasons that he allowed the stranger an opportunity to escape unscathed from this encounter, a single flaw between the frozen crevices of his heart. To be a soldier of a shadowed kingdom, emotions were required to be sealed off, in order for the jobs to be completed with the utmost efficiency. Quick, with no distractions. However, sometimes, the demon in his belly would lick through his throat and drive his teeth forward without his full consent. Uncontrollable, double-sided - the ice-blooded assassin and the ravenous killer.

"Perhaps we shall meet again one day, then," he mused, raspy voice of the darkest thunder. An invitation for a departure, unless the yearling had other conversational topics on his mind.

Epic balanced upon a thin line of innocence; his words were not driven with the intent to bathe the soldier in compliments or to up his vanity and pride. And even though Epic was kind of waery and on his guard, he was blisfully unaware that the other male was raised with harshness and cruelty in life at a young age. This situation could have ended quite differently, with bloodshed, teeth, pain and violence. A situation that the young male would rather avoid if he was offered a choice. His own tongue flickered out as he felt uncertain; he was out of words to say and he wasn't sure whether to go left or right. There was a certain unpredictability that gushed throught he air and it frozen him like a statue, lost in the dawn of time.

But even so, from one moment onto the next, everything changed. The swarthe soldier-male left the confines of the situation, shaking the world upside down until Epic was allowed to breathe freely. There was only one parting word that escaped from his leathery lips until he turned around, leaving into the oppsite direction. "Goodbye."