Bearclaw Valley «The Thorns of Roses»

« @Raziel  because yup. »

It was a shame that rabbit thought a midnight trek would do it good. Cry swiftly showed the mammal it was dead wrong. A snapped trachea was the cause of death in the rabbit that the shade dropped in an eerily professionally made cache hole that he had added 2 squirrels to, earlier that day. 
Then he moved on. 

A silent guardian of the Valley, his obsidian pelt giving him advantage over the visually impared and his soft steps over the hearing dependants. 
His only give away was scent, and  usually he had already found you by the time you smelled him.

On he circled, checking in soundless motion, the securities of his home, and the pack he cared about.

Raziel shuddered, gasping for breath. It had happened again because he had forgotten to take his medicine once more. He cast a wary glance at the den entrance and sighed in relief, glad that Scarlett and the rest of the kids were still asleep and could not catch him. He didn't need the albino female to worry about him; he was absolutely fine (not really), it was just that the stress was finally catching up on him. In fact, he was rather amused that it hadn't happened earlier (no he wasn't amused at all)

He forced himself to take deep breaths and waited until his heart stopped thudding against his rib cage. He couldn't go back to the den and sleep, that was for sure. He would go on a midnight patrol, yeah, that sounded brilliant. He blinked, seeing everything as clear as day; another benefit of being a wolf. He shook his head and made his way to the borders, not knowing that another wolf was out there patrolling too. Raziel needed a solution to this problem, yet he could not find any.

«Any specific date set, W? Or just a random night on the Valley? xD»


The silence that surrounded him was what made him relatively calm. At least for right now. While using the solitude he had for the time being, he reflected on his happenings. 

As he ran down and murdered yet another startled rabbit, the ethereal wolf contemplated. He has joined this pack, and he knew of no one other than the Alpha, personally. 
Was it so bad that he was completely content with that?

As he buried the warm corpse as if it was a mastery skill, he continued his circuit. 
How could he get to know Raziel, even more?

random night in the valley!

He walked by the borders at a slow but steady pace, bright teal eyes practically glowing through the darkness as he gazed around, alert of his surroundings. Even under the cover of the shadows, the Roman was a formidable force to be reckoned with and if anyone dared to approach him, they would find themselves tackled to the ground with jaws to their throats. He was very much awake, the thing had made him anxious and worried which obviously would make that more prone to happen but..he couldn't really prevent it could he.

The wind shifted directions, blowing a scent towards him. Hackles bristled as he stalked forward, as graceful and as silent as a feline. Only when he identified the scent did he relax. Cry. What was the male doing at this hour in the night? Ah, who cares? He would just have a bit of fun then. The shadowy onyx might be well...a creature of the darkness, but surely even he knew how to play.

Raziel leapt forward downwind and silent, so Cry couldn't have known it was him and nipped him playfully in the bite, tail waving as an invitation to play behind him.

Cry was completely caught off guard on the signals of 'look being you', and failed to do such. The silent guardian was initially out of common sense when the nip touched him, and only swift reflexes drove him. The sudden touch made him leap forward, and whirl his body in a complete 180° crouch. He didn't growl because whoever this entity was knew stealth extraordinarily well, being able to sneak him. 

His face committed in a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and relief once he had reeled to assess the situation. The alpha. Speaking of the devil. His pack leader was feeling an unusual but of gaiety in the nocturnal hours, and he didn't cringe from the spark that transfixed into his own usually stoic self. 
Out of all wolves, if the usually serious Raz could be put in such a desire to romp around, who was he to deny such an urge? 
The ebony needed a bit of play, anyway.

The couch switched from defensive to playful in a matter of seconds, as his forelimbs slid further to to flat on the ground, his back rearing higher, and banner swaying high arched in its flagging telltale of intent. 
Face low, he even went to smack the ground swiftly with his forepaws, his own eagerness showing though body language, and an unusual twinkling of mischieg in his usually careful eyes.

It was the Alpha's choice in game, and poised to react instantaneously, the shadow was intent of following him, vigilant even in play.

If Cry thought Raziel was good at sneaking around, then he should meet his little brother, Shadow. Shadow wasn't nicknamed Shadow for no reason; his half brother was so silent that no one could hear him if he didn't wanted anyone too; he moved around swiftly like a shadow and used his surroundings to an advantage. Compared to the other death angel, Raziel wasn't really very good, but now he knew his skills hadn't gone rusty yet for he managed to sneak up behind the ever vigilant ebony male.

Raziel watched with amusement as Cry leapt forward and turned around in a 180 degree crouch. He committed the man's look to memory, his unusually inscrutable yet open countenance shifted to a mixture of confusion, disbelief and relief. Ah..this was brilliant. I should go on more nightly patrols like this one, he thought to himself, grinning internally as he did so just to sober up immediately when he remembered what drove him to be out in this hour at night.

Nevermind that for now.

Raziel watched with a grin as the shadow shifted seamlessly into a playful crouch. He slid his forelimbs further onto the flat ground as his rump reared higher into the air, tail swaying rhythmically as he did so. Glad that his invitation to play was accepted, the Roman switched into a similar position too, tail wagging so quickly he wouldn't be surprised if he ascended into the air. He did nothing for a moment, canting his head as if confused.

Then the Roman leapt forward with a playful bark, hoping to wrestle with the shadow.

As the moonlight embued Alpha twinned the position of play, and Cry tensed himself, preparing for whatever the Alpha had up his paw. 
Well, shit. Almost everything.

The sterling had tilted his crown, and the silent guardian too was confused. He was confused as to his leaders confusion.

Deceitful!
After the ploy had been pulled, Raziel launched his playful assault, leaving Cry in a seconds delay to retaliate. 
It only took that one second for him to lose the advantage, because his Alpha got an extra second worth of height in his leap, while Cry wasn't yet there. 

Collision happened, and due to his unusual disadvantage, Cry had no idea what was going on, so everything that wasn't pitch black coat was sure as hell getting nipped, till he did! Jesting barks and half growls were issued in between the light bites.

Raziel leapt forward with the grace of a feline. He was pleased that his strategy worked. Even in play fights like this, one should always have a strategy at hand because even games like this had to end, right? And they only ended when there was a winner. But for once, the Roman wasn't really intent on winning this game; he just wanted to play and get his mind off things. It didn't mean he wanted to lose, hell no, but that he didn't mind if he lost to the shadow as long as Cry put up a good fight.

The silver Alpha collided into the ebony male, grinning to himself as Cry didn't seem to know what was going on. He loved tricking others, it was amusing to see how their reaction when they finally realized what happened. The shadow wasn't stupid, unlike many others the stone coated Roman had played with before (which were few), but sometimes even the smartest could be deceived. You had to always be suspicious, to always be on your guard if you didn't want to be caught off guard, and even then, sometimes you could still be tricked.

Raziel laughed before he backed away, tufts of black fur caught in his teeth. He spat them on the ground, turquoise eyes practically glowing with delight in the darkness. He panted, his tongue lolling out from between his teeth. They were two beings who did not need words, but embraced their wildness which weirdly enough, most of the wolves in the wilds suppressed. He would never understand them, but that didn't matter right now.

The silver feinted a blow to the man's shoulder before he backed off, just for him to bound forward once more, hoping to tackle the shadow and pin him to the ground.

As contrary as to what many believe, there are different kinds of silence. There's awkward silence, paranoid silence, and comfortable silence. Cry specialized in recognizing the different silences, and adapting to them appropriately. This was a silence he had not interacted with in a while, but it was him who reacted to it the way it was meant to be. Comfortably.
 
A separation was underway between the two wolves, and as swift as they unfurled themselves from one another, Cry studied everything about the situation as his play partner prepared another blow. They were equal in body height, though Raziel had more muscle bulge than he, while color and composition were obviously different. One thing that mattered between the differences of both men, however, were scars. Scars told stories that eyes could deceive you on. Your scars were mistakes that you had made. And right now, the scar that tempted Cry the most, was the nick on his Alphas ear. 

However,  there was a rush he had to deal with. Most spars he had dealt with had come from cowards, those who struck, and retreated, camping their defense while looking for another advantage. Raz however, was no coward. The alpha was aggressive, and wise. A deadly combo. While Cry was keeping his mind's eye on the next spot he was to deal a bite to, the sterling sent his body a warning to his shoulder. The shadow swiftly leapt to evade the jaws of the silver, yet he was not finished. Raziel had not camped, the silent ebony could see he was not the type, yet he was unprepared for another assault immediately after the feign, and for it to be launched in he exact degree in which he landed from the evasion. 

The tackle his alpha had launched was indeed successful, though Cry had not lost footing in the impact. Instead, he kept low to the ground, while trying to shove the sterling from his own four legged security, from below.

Despite what others might think, Raziel was much more agile than he looked. His thick northerner fur and his height made others think that was was burly but clumsy when in fact he was the perfect mixture of both which, he must admit, served him quite well in his three years of living this life. Cry seemed to be a mixture of both too and he was of the same height as the Roman, which would give Raz much of a challenge as he hadn't fought much who rivalled him in height. The shadow bore a good amount of scars too, which told Raziel that he had a rough life too but the Roman didn't care too analyze the meaning of them. 

The nick in the silver's ear was because of a mistake he had made, though he didn't make in the midst of a fight. He still recalled the moment as if it had only happened yesterday. Aku, his brutal biological father had him pinned roughly onto the cold, hard ground. His teeth was gnashed together and his pink, viper-like tongue protruded from between the knife-sharp fangs. His father's silver fur was bristling, the fur that he'd inherited - it still scared Raziel that he resembled that bastard so much - and his tail was curled over his back like one of those dogs. Raz was still a about a week, give or take a few days, shy of three months but already Aku decided he needed more..physical punishments for the tiny mistake he made in his footing. So the male tore a part of his ear off, which he did without blinking an eye. Raziel had made a mistake, yes, but he didn't deserve the harsh consequences that Aku delivered so ruthlessly.

Raziel's feint worked, and while Cry dodged his blow to the shadow's shoulder, he could not evade the silver's tackle. But while his blow connected, he did not topple the shadow which impressed the Roman more than he cared to admit; he quickly dismissed that feeling. Raziel felt Cry try to topple him from below and he obliged, allowing the shadow to push him 'off balance' but the moment he landed onto the ground, he jumped up, uttering a playful growl as he did so.

The sky was on Cry's back once more, as the platinum wolf was launched from atop him. Yet, as quickly as he was pushed, the alpha was back on his fours, a playful rumble floating from his throat. 

The ebony barked out a short lived laugh, incredulous at the ability of his leader. He was quick, even for his size. Cry only knew of one other wolf that could have grace like that, and he was currently trying to keep him out of his head. 


Cry lolled his tongue, a wolf grin etched on his maw. With most of his fights, Cry made a swift kill, heightening his lethality but lowering his endurance. The obsidian man noted to reserve his energy and take defense, or call quits