The Heartwood Forest of Victims

His gate was checked by his impeding injuries, but he still managed to move softly through the forest, disturbing little as he went. He could feel saliva welling between his teeth and pooling over his tongue as the scent of the kill grew closer to him, and his hunger was not extinguished by the presence of a female wolf guarding it.

Her piercing eyes came into view between the trees and judging by her stance, she had little trust in the movements of the forest not to take her prize from her. Against a scavenging coyote perhaps her catch would be well defended - but Kadezj was only half coyote, and he could not take a meal from someone by force if tried at the moment. He could rely only on his wits. Dropping his ears to the sides of his head and lowering his skull, he limped forward to a stop, tail waving lowly behind him.

"Apologies for the intrusion," he stated, keeping fair distance. He held up his injured leg from touching the ground and so stood three legged, his weary and tired body hopefully doing most of the talking here. His ribs were highlighted with every deep breath he took, his fur pulled tight against them in disarray. He would have to appeal to the wolf's empathy before anything else - and see if this valley really were full of the fabled "good-natured" canines he'd only heard of in fairy tales.