Haunted Wood it's a melody; a battle cry; a symphony

blood seeps into the girl's left eye, bloody tear across her shoulder. her breath sounds too loud to her own ears, her gate swift and clipped and sure. ahead, ungrowth shifts, leaves crunch underfoot. another ragged breath, faster than her own.

I know enough. Lazy. Spoiled. A good for nothing.

the coyote stops, changes direction. it clips right, now, having regained enough of its orientation to know where the borders are. she shifts, gaze finding every flicker of movement, auds thrust forward, frame stiff. 

You believe that life should take it easy on you because your mother passed away.

she charges, low and sure through the undergrowth, pivoting around a trunk tightly and launching herself at the creature's rear. jaws seize flesh, and she wrenches her head violently to the left. something tears, and the coyote arches around with a scream to meet her with his own jaws. her shoulder, again, fur and skin rip away as she abruptly drops back. the coyote lurches forward, moving at a trot now. limping. she, its shadow, following low.

The general had been following the borders was the sounds of rushing footsteps met her ears. She chose to ignore, at least until a cry echoed amongst the trees. She would care less had it not come from within the territory, so the firey woman stalked forward until the shape of the pup and coyote came into view.

The young girl seemed to be hunting, or just scaring off the coy, who knew. She wasn't exactly one for kids. The Bel could smell the blood in the air, and from the way the whelp was moving she had been injured pretty badly. In all honesty,she almost left, survival of the fittest after all, but Vengeance took these kids in for a reason. He probably did not want them dead yet so she followed close behind.

they are speeding up, now. the trees open up, and the coyote and running, desperately, she an arrow loosed behind it. they run on a long moment, too, and then the coyote stumbles. hela is on the creature in an instant, fueled too by desperation of an entirely different sort. 

you're alone. you're worthless. you're weak.

she seizes the same leg and tugs, wretching the creature back towards her. it yowls again, collapsing on its side, and she moves forward tearing at its face in the same way valour tore at hers. her attempt is only somewhat successful; the coyote lurches away just as she moves, and the damage is minimal. it turns on her now, understanding that its chance to flee has faded. with the ferocity of a creature cornered, it moves to tear at her shoulder once more, and in a moment the two are embroiled, the scales tipped only slightly in the coyote's favour now that the girl has worn it down so long.

Alison moved closer as the girl ripped the coyote closer. She was running weak and now had the fury of a trapped animal dying. What made the general step in was still a mystery, but soon Hela would find another paw shoving down the creature's body.

She could feel the coyote turn it's attention somewhat to her as it tried to bite at her leg or the girl, but now it truly had no chance of escape. The leg is to ground your prey, but the leg is not a finishing blow. She motioned to the neck Stop toying around or you'll wind up dead

there is someone else beside her now; she turns with fangs bared to meet this new threat. but the face is half-familiar, it is wolf, and her attention returns just as quickly to the dying coyote. she dodges a desperate snap, tearing at the creature's muzzle as it withdraws. the woman is giving advice, now, and she pauses just long enough to shoot her a gimlet stare that proves clearly just how much she cares about dying just then. 

for a moment longer they squabble, and then she surges up. the coyote senses her target, the shift in energy, and she is met with fangs. they clash a long moment longer, and then she feels fur then flesh then blood betwixt her fangs and her strike has landed true. she whips her head left and right, tearing, and feels something give. it's gory and messy and she burns with the pain of half a dozen new wounds and old ones too, but for a moment she feels alive. 

at some point the coyote becomes a deadweight and she lowers herself to the earth, the creature falling beside her. her jaws are still buried, possessive, and it is only the presence of the older woman that has her carefully dislodge herself from the creature, coat matted in blood and dirt, gaze gimlet.

The kid dared to glare back but did not respond, her stare said it all. Alison let go of the coyote as Hela's attention turned back to her prey, her fangs intending to tear into the poor creature, but it did it's best to fight back until it could no more.

An icy gaze would burn into the young girl's pelt as she finishes, waiting for the full attention of the pup before she continued. She was slow to move away from the now-dead coyote, but soon their gazes would meet. Listen closely, girl, as I rarely give free advice. Nothing matters more in this world than survival. Clearly you do not crave death since you still fight, so you must grow strong. There is no room for wilting flowers here.

she glares, unrelenting, as the woman speaks. and then something falters in her gaze, shifts, as unknowingly the woman half-echoes something that cass had told them once, what seemed like aeons ago, now. caught somewhat off-guard, she stiffens, glare returning just as quickly as it slipped. "I won't wilt." she decrees, staring a moment longer before moving to tear open the coyote's side, any reservations about this choice of meal disappearing when faced with her hunger. 

it is scrawny, thin, and likely won't yield much, though the girl leaves room for the woman to join her if she would, possessive over her victory but not over the body itself.

Alice watched carefully, the slight waver in her will noticed before she covered it once more. It seemed the girl decided to heed her word as she tore into the coyote's flank. As temping as the free meal was, she would leave it. The girl earned it and the creature was scrawny as is. It would hardly provide. Next time save your strength for the neck then, yes?

She moved closer to point under the coyote's jaw. If it can not breathe it can not live. If you have it's throat, it can not bite back. Sometimes strength was not a battle of who outmatched the other, but a battle of wit, or being capable of reserving your strength and use it as needed.

she eats quickly, dull sense of wrongness spreading as she swallows the still-warm meal. if she's willing to eat this, what's to stop her eating one of her own kin? she'd never. but what separated wolves from coyotes, really, besides some physical differences - she thought they very well might taste the same. Hela withdrew, the meal sating her hunger but becoming to unappealing to continue any further. the lecture did not help matters; the knew the lifeblood that flowed there, knew to target the soft underside of it, but was unwilling to explain that she'd been following Vengeance's advice. 

instead, she merely nodded her head, stepping back. "you take the rest." she offered, nausea threatening before she forced it back down. she looked once more to the woman before walking away from the carcass, willing the meal not to resurface as she did so.

Something seemed to change in the girl as she ate, only for her to slowly back away before offering the rest of the carcass for herself. She considered saying something or touching on the fact that Hela never truly acknowledge her, but alas the girl was already retreating into the woods. It mattered little to her as the welp would have to find her own way through life. She was not going to stand there holding her hand the whole way, she wasn't even her child...so when the girl left, Alice would gladly take what was left of the free meal before trotting off herself.