Blackfeather Woods jack the ripper

there was a taste of blood on the air. one so pungent that it tickled the dark whiskers on the beast's face. he carried the taste of his last victim in the back of his throat like a sour reminder that he was still the way he was. it drove him to madness to know that he was trapped within the confines of a body with no soul. the devil would surely not have placed the markings there if he had not wanted the ghoul to attend. so, he did. 

the beast drew closer to the edges of the strange pack. from within, he scented life, but the macabre sighting of the bloody marks against their border was peculiar to him. sniffing closely to the edge of the terrain, the reaper felt his mind drift back to the days of his youth and the life that had been so prematurely stolen away from him. if he was dutiful, he was certain that he could steal it back. 

drawing his crown upward, the beast parted his lips and released a gurgled howl of summons for his acceptance into their lands. surely, it was what was destined to be. 

she was a ribbon of black-broken ivory; relmyna wended through the eldritch glow of tangled branches. the brackish calls of gathered corvids echoed overhead, disturbed by the oilslick voice that climbed into the air. she did not pause; though the call was for kove, their numbers were low enough to warrant that she attend the supplicant.
relmyna knew well the shaded path; the she-wolf drifted unseen near to the borders, melting from the embrace of the darkness with muzzle cocked to reveal its torn side. turquoise gaze settled upon the newcomer; she openly drew her eyes along the lines of the man's figure, flickering along the tar-hue of his flat stare. and her own was cool; why have you come?

Not far off was the summoned northerner, on the trail of a fox that simply did not belong—though his tracking was cut short. A voice called to him, creating a task far more important than his current, thus they were swapped; he headed towards the source of the call, pausing but a few times. But when he arrived he quickly realised that his body had not propelled him quite as quickly as he’d hoped, for there was another soul present already: Relmyna.

Slowly, Kove came to a stop alongside his companion, at whom he cast a short glance of approval. His eyes were not permitted to linger on her for long, however, as his attention was drawn back to the stranger. “What’s your business here?” he asked, providing the words to match his packmate’s gaze.

not one but two bodies appeared before him. the darkness of his gaze met the silent wolf with some interest. the ghoul knew her sufferings; the devil had taken his voice too. should he fetch the desired number of lives, it would be returned to him as a reward. perhaps she had suffered a similar loss. 

the white male broke the silence with a question. the ghoul turned his inkjet gaze to the brute with confusion. was this how matters were conducted there? the reaper had no words to share; his voice had been stolen from him. the greasy hell hound lowered his crown toward the earth and his tail swayed to the left. grant me a place to live he seemed to exude in his posture. 

it was not long before kove arrived; relmyna greeted him with a soft nudge to his pale jawline before her eyes turned back to the stranger at their borders. and as he lowered himself in supplication, relmyna noted with interest that he did not speak. ah — one of her own, then, and the woman wondered what great malady had befallen the man, to steal his voice.
she had been a part of blackfeather when her own had vanished; without the gift of tonalities, the priestess had settled to other methods. with her daughters she had developed a way of communication that was comprised of body language and low sounds; now relmyna wondered to herself what devisement this man had to answer kove's question. she herself glanced toward the leader, wondering what the northerner might make of it, another mute seeking their shadows.
but it was not to be — he turned away and melted into the wood. kove and she followed suit after a moment, and it was only for a moment that she wondered at the wraith.